Yolanda (YORO) Newson | My Queen, brass, gold aluminum, crystals, recycled cigarette lighter holders
(model, Shenitha Laden; photo, Andre Jones)
Jo Stealey | Icon, kozo (inner bark of mulberry tree)
Mick Byrd at the Bluebird Café in Nashville, Tennessee
Benjamin Parks with Dad, multimedia painting
Meet our new Missouri Featured Artists for May
Each month we bring you a new group of four creative people from all around the state. Sample their works here! Find even more on their own websites—just follow the links we’ve set on their artwork and profiles.
Plus, you’ll find all the artists we’ve featured since we began this program in December 2020 still highlighted and linked on this page. From Cape Girardeau to St. Joseph, Joplin to Hannibal, stories to songs, paintings to poetry, enjoy the dazzling sweep of Missouri creativity!
Yolanda (YORO) Newson
jewelry designer, fashion artist, wardrobe stylist, set creator
St. Louis
Benjamin Parks | (right to left) Sheila, Mikey, and Sheina, multimedia paintings
Returning/Belonging: Artwork by Benjamin Parks and Kathy Liao, special exhibition at the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art in St. Joseph, Missouri, January 15–April 16, 2022
artist, painter | Kansas City
I believe honesty is the one true key to creating art.
My work is an exercise in capturing the essence of a soul. I paint subject matter in a state of being unmasked emotionally. I look for unguarded moments where the true nature of a person is visible. Emotional in nature, I paint these real moments on large scale canvases. As I am painting I transfer my own emotional experience into the process while also being affected by my perception of the subject. This ranges from my imagination of a stranger to real interpersonal relationships with close family members. Each step and layer of paint mirrors a life experience. Not all layers of paint are visible, yet they affect the outcome of the whole just as the subconscious mind affects our outer lives. My goal through painting is to bring the subconscious into awareness.
Jo Stealey | Fruitful, cast cotton, pulp painting abaca, reed, prismacolor, waxed linen
fiber and mixed media artist | Columbia
My materials are viewed as fugitive yet are skin-like, strong and enduring, capturing permanently the ephemeral nature of any given moment or overlooked experience.
For me my studio practice is a way of life—art is life and life is art. It is hard work, lyrical play, and how I make sense of the world. Mundane domestic moments and nature inspire the work. Gathered materials from my environment transformed into handmade paper, textiles, and mixed media form my vocabulary. Most of my art is autobiographical, reflecting interactions with family and my spiritual connection with nature. Forms of the work range from intimate books to sculptural vessels to large-scale installations. I want to seduce the viewer to touch the work—to initiate a conversation with a piece and, just like getting to know a new friend, learn intimate details as the relationship develops.
Mick Byrd at KKFI 90.1 FM, Kansas City Community Radio, Local Showcase with host Keith Washburn
original songwriter, musician | Vienna
The human connection between a performer and an audience is one of the purest forms of communication on earth.
“Ozark Blues” is my signature way of expressing my sound—a synthesis of traditional Blues, Roots Rock, and Country. Living in Central Missouri’s Ozark Plateau, my entire life has influenced not only my songwriting, but also my vocal style. My Dad played piano in Kansas City hotel lounges before World War II. He came from a talented musical family and shared his love of music (and baseball) with me. His music lives on in my music. I hear his piano echo in my guitar. Growing up in the 1970s certainly has a big influence, as well. Being a retired teacher and coach has given me plenty of song ideas! As musicians and songwriters we are all a product of all the music we have heard in our lives.
Yolanda (YORO) Newson | Crystallized Headphones, Collar, and Handpiece
Headphones: recycled headphones, hand-applied acrylic crystals | Collar: hand-molded acrylic with hand-applied acrylic crystals | Handpiece: silverplated crystals findings | photo, Will Sterling
jewelry designer, fashion artist, wardrobe stylist, set creator | St. Louis
Dubbed The Fashionable Artist, I choose to create using new, found, recycled, or thrifted items.
I enjoy finding forgotten, discarded, but still special parts and pieces, and creating something from nothing—breathing new life into them with flair and style. I’ve been honored to see my works in publications, art galleries, movies and on runways, and in the homes of collectors who have an eclectic eye for fashionable art. I’ve won various awards and competitions and have had my works displayed in Macy’s, but the real prize is being able to share my passion and to show others they can do it too. I thank my father, the first artisan in my life, and my mother, who always encouraged and supported me (even when I colored my hair red with cherry-flavored Kool-Aid). I always say, “We were created to be creative by the Creator.”
BT in America
musician, instrumental solo guitarist, music arranger
Stockton Lake Area
Michael Bauermeister
sculptor
Augusta
Kelley Carman
painter
St. Louis & Paris
Sheri Purpose Hall
author, spoken word artist
Kansas City
Karen E. Griffin, Art by .E Lewis
textile and performing artist, educator, tour manager, storyteller, speaker, co-author, radio co-host
Kansas City
Kaitlyn McConnell
Ozarks story sharer
Springfield
Ken Konchel
photographer
St. Louis
Ken Nichols
painter
Columbia
Joseph Puleo
filmmaker
St. Louis
Joha Bisone
painter
Kansas City
Linda Hoover
muralist, watercolorist, portrait artist, caricaturist
Houstonia
Limmie Pulliam
opera singer, arts activist
Kennett
Lee Copen
artist, teacher
Mountain View
Melissa Donoho
mix media artist
Kansas City
Vince Martin
musician
St. Louis
Dave Walker
fiber artist
Columbia
Joachim Knill
installation artist
Hannibal
Cheryl Eve Acosta
metalsmith, sculptor, jeweler
Kansas City
Andrew Batcheller
installation artist
Kansas City
Sukanya Mani
interdisciplinary artist
Ballwin
Dana Forrester
watercolor painter
Independence
Marco Rosichelli
conceptual artist
Kansas City
Candice Ivory
musician, vocalist, composer, visual artist
St. Louis
Janey Seamans Hale
painter
West Plains
Poet t.l. sanders
language artist, author, actor, educator, consultant, filmmaker
Kansas City
Priscilla Block
visual artist
St. Louis
Andy Thomas
painter
Carthage
Brie Duey
painter, magical realist
Bucklin
Denise Thimes
songstress, motivational speaker
St. Louis
Malcolm “Airbrush Assassin” McCrae
artist, author, speaker, entrepreneur
Southeast Missouri
Genevieve Flynn
silversmith, artist, educator
Kansas City
David Spear
muralist, illustrator, graphic/exhibit designer
Columbia
Mollie Chounard
painter
St. Ann
Eric Ordway
ceramic artist, potter, teacher
Columbia
Russell Nelson
designer, illustrator, watercolor artist, educator
Kirksville
Glyneisha Johnson
poly disciplinary artist, educator, community care taker
Kansas City
Allison L. Norfleet Bruenger
mixed media jewelry and assemblage artist
St. Louis
Kyle Selley
firework artist, visual artist, art educator
Kansas City
Lisa Bartlett
mixed media artist, painter
Columbia
Ray Cardwell
singer songwriter from the Ozarks
Jefferson City
Azaria Rianne Hogans
choreographer, dancer, educator
Springfield
Greg Holden
artist, photographer, inquisitive observer, thankful human being
Eureka
Patrick Rafferty
guitarist, teacher
Affton
Barb Byrne
fused glass artist
Pleasant Hill
Gary Cadwallader
painter of acrylics and watercolor
Warrensburg
Byron von Rosenberg
poet, illustrator, storyteller
Byrnes Mill
Regina Willard
contemporary impressionist
West Plains
Hyejin Cho
concert pianist, educator
Kirksville
Grant Kniffen
painter
Dardenne Prairie
Laura Bigger
artist, printmaker
Kirksville
Ralph Hepola
musician
Springfield
Jen Everett
interdisciplinary artist
St. Louis
James Douglas Cox
metal artist
Republic
Natalie Wiseman
visual artist
Joplin
Kevin Umaña
painter, ceramics sculptor
Kansas City
Nartana Premachandra
dancer, writer, storyteller
St. Louis
Wanda K. Tyner
glass artist
Lee’s Summit
F.C. Shultz
author, poet, reader
Webb City
Lindsey Dunnagan
visual artist
Kirksville
Brian Owens
soul musician/vocalist
St. Louis
Anand Prahlad
literary author, musician/songwriter, filmmaker, teaching artist
Columbia
Brenda Beck Fisher
painter, watercolorist, interpreter of the beauty in the world
Hannibal
Anne Garney
landscape painter, fauve, expressionist
Kansas City
Jeffrey Noonan
musician: performer, teacher, scholar
St. Louis
Whitney Manney
fashion and textile designer
Kansas City
Justin Hamm
poet, photographer, citizen of the American Middle West
Mexico
Robin Van Hoozer
artist, painter, maker of unusual things
St. Joseph
Bobby Norfolk
storyteller, author, teaching artist
St. Louis
What is the program’s goal?
The Featured Artists program promotes and supports individual artists and demonstrates the variety of creative Missouri talent.
How does the program work?
We feature four artists each month. We highlight and promote each month’s artists via the homepage of the Missouri Arts Council website, the Featured Artists page on the website, monthly email, social media, and links to the artists’ websites. Artists receive a $300 stipend/license fee to feature their work online. We appreciate the administrative support of Mid-America Arts Alliance.
Who is eligible?
Individual Missouri-resident artists of any medium with online work that they have ownership to license. (Groups are not eligible.) Mediums may include (but are not limited to) visual art, literature, music, video, dance, theater, storytelling, and traditional arts.
May artists participate if they don’t have a website?
No; an effective website is an essential part of this program. Without it, there is nothing to promote, neither your work NOR a place to send people to benefit you. An artist’s website is an important tool to promote your creative work. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc. can supplement with social engagement, but do not effectively allow an artist’s work to be as easily accessed as does a website.
How do artists apply?
Propose your work for consideration via this online form. Support your application with links to your website and other online platforms where your work is located. No work may be sent as an attachment. Work that cannot be accessed online may not be considered. Artists retain full ownership and rights to their work. Artists will allow with their consideration a limited use right to feature their work on the Missouri Art Council website and other platforms. There is no fee to apply.
Artists should apply for the program ONLY ONCE. Applications are kept on file for future consideration.
How are Featured Artists selected?
The Missouri Arts Council staff selects artists with diverse demographics and locations throughout the state who are producing quality original work in a variety of art mediums and genres.
How will artists know if they are selected?
Artists will be contacted directly if they have been selected. If you are not contacted, do not despair! All applicants will continue to be considered as the program continues monthly.
How often should artists apply?
Artists need apply for this program ONLY ONCE. Applications are kept on file for future consideration.
How long will this program last?
We will continue this program through June 30, 2022. If funding allows, this program may continue.
