State quarter artist shows other works at Sikeston

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Starting Friday and running through the rest of December, the Sikeston Depot will feature artwork from a man best known by many for his protest over changes made by the U.S. Mint to his design of the Missouri state quarter.

"Not many artists claim to be under a Secret Service investigation," said Paul Jackson of Columbia, Mo.

The Mint had accused him of defacing currency when he put stickers with his original design on the backs of 250,000 quarters. "The Secret Service guys actually thought it was funny," he said.

Jackson said he will bring the original design for Missouri's quarter, a watercolor on a notebook-sized page, about seven inches in diameter.

But the show is not all about the state quarter.

The depot show will include "quite a cross-section of stuff I've done," Jackson said, ranging from older illustration work to masterwork pieces: "large, incredibly detailed watercolors."

The show will include several Lewis and Clark paintings, a new painting done in Alaska called "Yukon Gold" and several pieces from New York City including "Manhattan Memories."

Jackson's work was featured in the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal and hangs in collections such as the Missouri Governor's Mansion and the State Capitol in addition to private collections around the world. One of his most visible pieces is "Tiger Spot" at the University of Missouri, a 30-foot-wide mosaic of a tiger face done in smalti.

"It's a type of glass tile," Jackson said. "They're about the size of a Chiclet."

The depot is open from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday.