Join us at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 21, for art talks with photographer/educator Jenny Kettler and fiber artist/educator Betsy Knabe Roe.
JENNY KETTLER
Jenny Kettler is an artist, educator and explorer based in St. Louis. In her ‘What Remains’ project, she surveyed the Midwestern landscape for three years photographing plastic bags caught in trees and bushes in a region with no bag bans. Her photographic work is hauntingly beautiful and explores the complex and interwoven relationships humans have with nature in the Anthropocene epoch.
She strives to use art as a tool for environmental education to create an eco-consciousness in America again. Her projects fluctuate between hiking meditations, photography, healing breath work, installations and organizing environmental justice based art programs.
She holds a master’s of fine arts degree in photography from Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville and a bachelor’s degree in photojournalism from the University of Missouri in Columbia, as well as environmental studies certificate. She teaches photography at Lindenwood University, Maryville University and St. Louis Community College.
In an eye-opening talk addressing nature, feminism and photography, Kettler will share how she unpacks climate grief and the consequences of a climate change to transform it into art and new ways of seeing and understanding the natural world. This lecture will include insights on healing and a brief meditation.
Notable media appearances: - Reclaiming Gaia: Artist Jenny Kettler Tangles with...Plastic (KDHX's Earthworms Podcast) - http://earthworms.kdhxtra.org/reclaiming-gaia-artist-jenny-kettler-tangles-with-plastic - Students install international art project in Ryan Hummert Park (40SouthNews, Doug Miner) - https://40southnews.com/students-install-international-art-project-in-ryan-hummert-park/
BETSY KNABE ROE
Betsy Knabe Roe is a fiber sculptor, educator and curator. She is known for her large-scale paper, dyed and stained fabric, and mixed media installations, and has exhibited internationally and broadly throughout the Midwest. Knabe Roe currently serves as the director of the Montminy Gallery in Columbia, Missouri. Prior to this appointment, she worked in community outreach and K-12 and university education for more than 15 years.
The 'Microbial Series' is influenced by interest and research into the unseen world of microscopic beings. The invented imagery of these sculptural pieces is referential rather than representative of cellular and molecular biology. Knabe Roe elaborates on the colors and patterns to highlight the wonder of these elegant, intricate, invisible-to-the-naked eye beings.