Sun 5/18 @ Noon
Spring showers have brought May flowers to Waterloo’s Maria Neil Art Project. Flower Power opened earlier this month for May’s Walk All Over Waterloo This weekend, Maria Neil’s owners, John Farina and Adam Tully, are hosting a special community event in their gallery and throughout the historic Waterloo Arts District. The Flower Power Spring Celebration is a family-friendly celebration of Spring and nature.
Activities include a flower making party, a neighborhood flower planting workshop and a “sky garden” flower release. Guests can enjoy refreshments while exploring the floral photography and sculpture in the gallery throughout the day. The show includes work by 3 local photographers – Cynthia Penter, Deborah Pinter and Daiv Whaley, as well as a sculpture by Moe Dixon. Additionally, the Maria Neil Art Project solicited floral photography from the public for an interactive element in the exhibition.
“I’m excited about the versatility of this show; not only with the artists we’re showing but also the way each artist depicts the nature around them,” explains Maria Neil’s Adam Tully. “This Spring Celebration is a way for our artists, and our audience to contribute to the versatility of how we view nature as well.”
Cynthia Penter’s work explores the relationship between people and flowers. Penter’s photographs capture people interacting with flowers, and explore the purpose (and power) of flowers. Deborah Pinter removes the camera from her work. Pinter digitally scans flowers, manipulates them with her computer and prints them on high-quality polymer sheets.
Daiv Whaley uses various techniques to create his photography using a Polaroid camera. His intense close-ups and intentional lack of focus creates surreal, dream-like work. Whaley’s photos sometimes look more like dreams of flowers than documented physical reality. The lack of focus is as if we’re looking at a flower, but thinking about something else entirely, as if the camera is daydreaming.
Farina and Tully have gone all-out for this exhibition. The gallery floor is painted grass green, and the center of the gallery features 3 identical yellow pedestals – resembling flowers themselves.
The event will help add color to Waterloo, which is in the process of a very in-depth street renovation including a new road, sidewalks, parking lots, bike racks, lighting and more. By the end of this summer, the residents and merchants of Waterloo are hoping for a complete transformation – referred to as “Project Lightswitch” among locals and developers. Upcoming developments on Waterloo include Loren Naij’s Satellite Gallery, Zygote Press’ Ink House, a number of restaurants overseen by local restaurateur Alan Glazen, additions to Zoetic Walls community mural project and more.
Stop by the Maria Neil Art Project this weekend to participate in this exciting community transformation.
Josh Usmani is a 27 year old local artist, curator and writer. Since 2008, his work has been featured in over 50 local and regional exhibitions.