Farmers picking turnips, harvesting grapes, and herding cattle. Ranchers examining the teeth of black steeds at a horse auction.
This website brought to you in part by the following sponsor:
Farmers picking turnips, harvesting grapes, and herding cattle. Ranchers examining the teeth of black steeds at a horse auction.
Although these sound like typical activities in many rural American communities, these particular scenes are found in The Good Earth: Folk Art and Artifacts from the Chinese Countryside, which can be viewed from Jan. 15 to Feb. 15 at the North Central Missouri College Dorris Ryder Art Gallery in Trenton.
Considered one of the most outstanding art exhibits featuring Chinese work, the Good Earth includes 25 original, large and colorful paintings and 15 children?s toys and clothing articles from rural Huxian county, in central China. It is a region much like the agriculturally oriented Midwestern United States. The farmers who created these artworks were trained to be moralists during Chairman Mao Zedong?s Cultural Revolution. Today, they paint during the off-season for recreational purposes and supplementary income. This is an exhibition for viewers of all ages.
Narrative labels by a Chinese scholar of popular culture provide a context for the artworks and artifacts, and reveal details in the paintings not easily seen by American audiences. The brightly colored paintings, toys, and clothing articles inspire activities which involve the imagination, explore color and form, and introduce viewers of all ages to daily rural Chinese life.
The Good Earth exhibit is brought to Trenton by the Grundy County Friends of the Arts and NCMC. The NCMC Dorris Ryder Art Gallery hours for this display are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m and Tuesday and Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. For group evening arrangements, persons can contact Vicki Weaver at the college, 359-3948, ext. 203, or 1-800-880-6180, ext. 203. There is no charge for admission.
ExhibitsUSA is coordinating the national tour of The Good Earth: Folk Art and Artifacts from the Chinese Countryside. A national division of Mid-America Arts Alliance, ExhibitsUSA is sponsored by the Lila Wallace -Reader?s Digest Fund. The mission of ExhibitsUSA is to distribute and promote high-quality visual arts programs of local, regional, national, and international significance; to provide access to arts and humanities experiences among the broadest spectrum of the population; and to nurture the development and understanding of various art forms. Additional support is provided to ExHibitsUSA by the H&R Block Foundation, Samuel H. Kress Foundation, Phillips Petroleum Foundation, and Union Pacific Foundation. Mid-America Arts Alliance is assisted by its six partner state arts agencies, the National Endowment for the Arts and private contributors.