Crossing borders

On most First Fridays, the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri is a place where visitors can see the creations of one or two featured artists and the ongoing display by the many artists of the local Visual Arts Cooperative. But on a few First Fridays each year, the Arts Council's wall space becomes a backdrop for artists whose styles are as divergent as their places of residence.

November is one of those months.

Tonight the Arts Council will unveil its Borders Regional Juried Exhibition -- a collection of 80 pieces of two- and three-dimensional art from artists within a 175-mile radius of Cape Girardeau. Artists from Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois, Arkansas and Tennessee all have work in the Borders show. The work ranges from the traditional to the contemporary, from photography to sculpture. The one unifying theme -- the art juried into the show must interpret the people, places or things representational of the five-state region.

Still life is displayed next to abstract paintings, landscapes next to photography, digitally manipulated images next to faithful reproductions of scenes from around the area.

For some artists, the Borders show is a way to get their work some face time next to pieces of a vastly different style and inspiration.

Rochelle Steffen uses fibers, photography and computers to create her art. But when she tells people she's an artist, the first question they ask is "What do you paint?"

"It's not just painting ... usually painting wins all the awards," said Rochelle Steffen, a junior art major at Southeast Missouri State University. "Computer art and mixed media pieces are usually a very taboo topic."

Steffen has six pieces in the show -- digital art, mixed media fibers and photography. One of Steffen's pieces, "The Bridge," won the Juror's Choice award. Steffen also won first place in the abstract/experimental category for her a group of small mixed media fiber pieces called the "Family Series," which explores her own issues without fear or embarrassment.

Nor is Utahna Hancock's art the usual Arts Council offering. Her ceramic sculptures use the female form in the abstract to create images reminiscent of sacred feminine figures.

Hancock's "Veiled Goddess" won Best in Show. While her work is being exhibited in the Borders exhibition, she'll also have a solo show nearby at the Fountain Street Gallery.

"When you get more 3-D work in a show like this it opens up the public to a larger diversity of art," said Hancock, an officer on the Arts Council's board of directors. "There are now two sculptures in this gallery, and I'm excited to see that."

The Borders' 3-D category is the smallest, with only two works, both by Hancock. But she hopes that will change in the future.

"For a long time photography wasn't an accepted art form," said Hancock. Now photography makes up a large part of the Borders show.

But the Borders show is about stepping over the normal boundaries of place and style, said Arts Council director Delilah Tayloe. Seeing a variety of work, some from names unfamiliar to the local art scene, fuels inspiration in artists and visitors, she said.

"It's neat to be able to juxtapose all the different types of creativity the human species has in a place like this," Tayloe said. "I think that anybody would get a charge out of seeing this."

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182

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Want to go?

What: First Friday opening reception

When: 5 to 9 p.m. tonight

Where: Arts Council of Southeast Missouri, 32 N. Main St.

Info: 334-9233