Each December, we welcome our Kentuck Studio Artists to the Museum Gallery for a collaborative show. These local, full-time artists represented in this show rent a space from Kentuck Art Center for below market value to help them make a living doing what they love. Kentuck’s Studio Artist Program fulfills all facets of our mission statement: perpetuate the arts, engage the community, and empower the artist.
We would love for you to see this show in-person, but if you're unable to visit the Museum Gallery right now, be sure to check out the work of four studio artists--Neel Alexander, Butch House, Kerry Kennedy, and Scott McQueen--below.
Neel Alexander
"I believe my art performs best when it subtly blends many styles, influences, and media into something unique for that moment. A lot of my work uses themes of nature and historical popular culture references. The mediums I have been using most are acrylics, paint markers, and spray paint. I also enjoy making sculpture. I usually make those out of sculpey or foam and sometimes adhere them to found objects. My main process starts by writing down ideas throughout the day and later revising them into drawings. Depending on the idea in the drawing, I then choose a medium to start working with. When it all goes well, I finish with a fully realized illustration, painting, or sculpture."
Butch House
"Among my earliest memories are the pleasant and peaceful auras at art shows my Pop was attending. I have always been immersed in an intense creative environment, so there was no other direction for me to go. Having always punched someone else’s clock, forms of art became my escape. I’ve played in most everything, but metal has become my unending challenge. These toys of mine have been coaxed from deep in my mind and heart. So many visions and so little time. Peace, prayers, and blessings.”
Kerry Kennedy
Kerry Kennedy’s first love is pottery and sculptural ceramics. She has thrown pottery for over ten years. As a student, Kennedy was deeply interested in sculptural works that fused thrown forms with organic aesthetics. These ideas are always influencing even the most functional shapes of mugs and bowls. Her passion for creative anachronism of the renaissance period takes her to several festivals throughout the nation each year.
Scott McQueen
Scott is an accomplished folk artist who was raised in Fayette, Alabama. He fondly recollects times during his childhood when he observed folk artist Jimmy Lee Sudduth create his now-famous mud paintings. Scott is a graduate of Samford University (B.A.), New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div) and Luther Rice Seminary (D.Min). Scott is an ordained minister who lives in Northport, Alabama. He has exhibited in Kentuck's Hotel Indigo Gallery and the Teer Gallery and has been a Kentuck Artist in the Schools for three years. He attends over 20 festivals every calendar year. He is a minister, and author of Reasonable Doubt — A Case for LGBTQ Inclusion in the Institutions of Marriage and Church. For more information, click here.
Our Annual Studio Artist Exhibition is in Kentuck Art Center’s Museum Gallery until January 27, 2021. We encourage you to visit to see this work in person! See something you're interested in purchasing? Give us a call at 205-758-1257 or email us at kentuck@kentuck.org. We'd be happy to help! We are currently open regular hours—Monday-Friday, 9:30-5:30 and Saturday-Sunday, 12-4. Facial coverings and social distancing required.