Uptown Jackson to display artist's work

Uptown Jackson will celebrate the artwork of Missouri painter Gary Lucy on Saturday.

The artist will be on hand for the exhibition’s opening, and his works will be on display at the Cape Girardeau County History Center and in the businesses that line South High Street.

Carla Jordan, who runs the history center, said the event will be more than the average exhibit.

“He’s going to hang it himself, and an artist hanging a show is an awesome thing,” she said.

“It’s very much in their perspective then. It tells the story that [the artist] wants the work to tell.”

A print of Gary Lucy's painting "Eating up the Lights" waits to be hung Thursday at the Cape Girardeau County History Center in Jackson.Glenn Landberg

The center has painted a portion of an interior wall in Lucy’s signature shade of cream.

“Good artists know what they want,” Jordan said.

Jackson Mayor Dwain Hahs helped paint, and former mayor Barbara Lohr has helped organize the event.

“I think this is a very unique exhibit. It is going to be a block-long exhibit in addition to the history center,” Lohr said. “We’re thrilled to death, in fact.”

Lucy, who is in his 44th year of painting professionally, said the featured series was created out of a sense of awe at the significance of the nation’s rivers.

“The series is basically telling the story of how the inland waterway system of North America built the United States,” he said.

He also will be bringing a work in progress to the show.

“I don’t usually like to show works in progress,” he said. “But I’ll be bringing a preliminary study and a work in progress.”

The in-progress piece depicts two boys and two dogs in a raft on a river, trying to steer clear of the path of a steamboat.

“It’s a take off of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn,” he explained.

Jordan said what draws most people to Lucy’s work isn’t just the technical skill, but the attention to historical accuracy and rich narratives portrayed.

“As a historian, I really appreciate the teaching aspect of Lucy’s paintings,” she said. “In a way, it’s almost like having a photographer for a time before they had photographers.”

Jordan said organizers are thankful for the forecasted weekend sun.

“It’s really scary to do a show in the deep mid-winter,” she said.

Those attending likely will find it easy to meander up the street to see the other parts of the exhibit.

Lisa Walker, co-owner of High Street Station, said she’s excited to see the exhibit.

“We try to work together as much as possible,” Walker said. “We’ve tried to work in our display around some of the other merchandise in a prominent place.”

The opening will take place from 3 to 8 p.m. Saturday, and the exhibit will be on display until early April.

“It’s a cool, urban thing that doesn’t happen too often around here,” Jordan said.

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627

Pertinent address:

102 S. High St., Jackson, Mo.