A modest return

A little more than a year ago, I encountered a group of Cape Girardeau artists that really gave me hope for the future of the local art scene -- the Modest Living Artists.

It was November 2005, and I had recently run into what I thought was the area's only contemporary visual arts group, Integrated Counterbalance. IC would fizzle out, and before the Modest Living Artists came along, I wondered who would stand up and make sure contemporary artists would still have their own, strong presence on the local arts scene. The Modest Livers, as I like to call them, popped up as the answer to that question.

I visited Modest Liver Jake Wells at his parents' home just outside Cape Girardeau, where he was living at the time. I viewed his work, we talked about his locally famous artist grandfather, also named Jake, and we talked about being an artist and the local art scene. Wells was great -- honest and unpretentious.

My favorite Wells quote culled from our long conversation: "We're not the kind of artists who wear berets and bitch about art."

If that's not honest, what is?

As the months wore on, I would meet other Modest Livers who gave me the same feeling: Hana Hart, Utahna Hancock, James Thurman and others. I didn't always understand these people, but I did understand they were simply artists with skill who loved to create something original. Art was their calling, and as the group's name implies, they wanted to make an "honest living" at their craft.

Time went by. Anytime I went to the Fountain Street Gallery (the Modest Livers home base) on First Fridays, I would see some of them there. But the days and months flew by, and still there was no word on a show featuring only the Modest Livers.

I thought they had gone the way of Integrated Counterbalance: young, idealistic artists who wanted to change the face of the local arts community, but changes in life circumstances triumphed and doomed the artistic alliance to oblivion.

That was until an e-mail from Thurman came to my inbox with these words: "I'm in the process of moving and getting the MLA back together. We're having a show Jan. 5, with the regular First Friday. And hoping to have one every month."

Imagine my delight.

I don't want to open old wounds, but the local art scene is just like about every other facet of our society -- the young are underrepresented, whether through their own actions or those of the establishment. Not that all of the Modest Livers are young. Among their ranks is Utahna Hancock, a middle-age woman who sits on the arts council's board of directors. Her sculptures are beautiful and, at times, shocking. She fits right in.

In my view, the Modest Livers' ethic embodies that of youth. They strive to create art that is fresh and original, to show they're different from the establishment, to provide diversity in style for the local art scene.

Of course, they will probably blush when reading these words. They don't really see themselves as some groundbreaking world-changers. After all, they're "modest."

Thurman hopes for a Modest Living show every month. That kind of frequency may not be possible, "but we're going to show more than every five months," Thurman tells me.

I hope so.

One of my biggest hopes for the art scene as we enter the new year is that expansion continues. We'll see the opening of the River Campus this year, which should add a rich depth to the artistic offerings and cultural climate of Cape Girardeau.

Groups like the Modest Livers can help add that depth, as well. Not only are they back, but they've expanded their group to include new members Jennifer Catron, Rochelle Steffen and Rob Lorenz. From experience, I can say Catron and Steffen are gifted young artists. I can't speak for Lorenz, but if he's become a Modest Liver, you can bet he has something to offer.

I look forward to a year in which this group can establish itself as a regular presence in the local art scene. But they will require the support of the broader local art community.

All too often, in the arts and in other areas, our talented young people leave Cape Girardeau for greener pastures, leaving little in the way of new blood to perpetuate culture, to keep things fresh. The Modest Livers are trying to break that trend. They want to produce art and make a modest living here in Southeast Missouri instead of having to go somewhere else.

Let's wish them success. The best way to do that -- visit their exhibition tonight at the Riverview Room at Buckner Brewing Co. The show is from 6 to 11 p.m. and features more than 30 pieces from 10 artists, including guest artist and Southeast Missouri State University art professor Benjie Heu, a talented sculptor.

I hope I'll see you there.

Matt Sanders is the Arts & Leisure editor for the Southeast Missourian and the editor of OFF Magazine.