The Waterproof Eyebrows
Barn Owl Dugout Canoe ~ at Dixon Gallery & Gardens in Memphis
Lower Mississippi River Dispatch No. 942
"Voice of the Lower Mississippi River" 
a circle was completed…. in a similar kind of way that rivers connect us all
Barn Owl Dugout Canoe
John Ruskey, Heather Crosse, Liam Shiu, 2023-2024
On exhibition at Dixon Gallery & Gardens 
In June, 2023, Heather and I drove to north up Blues Highway 61 to begin our portion of the Wilson Fellowship. We were committed to create a body of artwork related to our experience, as envisioned by Kevin & Julie at the Dixon.
Front line winds preceding severe thunderstorms knocked down some of the stately cypress trees surrounding the Delta School in Wilson. This became an inspiration — to create something from the carnage. Much of my artwork honors life by giving new meaning to the dead.
We worked with a group of intermediate level students at the Delta School to find suitable trees, and then to divine the spirit within the log. This is one of the goals of the dugout canoe project. The canoe carver learns to sharpen traditional carving tools razor sharp, and then elaborate the spirit within. Another goal is to locate the heart of the canoe.
Everything is done democratically when paddling a canoe, and in canoe carving also. It’s all about balance. I am not sure exactly why, but the Delta School students decided to call themselves “The Waterproof Eyebrows.” They chose a log and developed a shared vision: to honor a beloved adopted dog named Goose who had recently passed away. And so the Goose Dugout Canoe sprung into life.
The Waterproof Eyebrows were led by teacher Grace Bevis, and included intermediate students Emma Allen, Samantha Beaudette, Taylor Bishop, Julian Glover, Emily "Emmy" Johns, Mary Layla Moseley, Chloe Stoeckel, Liam Shiu, Spencer Sullivan, Ella Wagner and Jake Wright.
We chose another section of another cypress tree for my personal carving project as part of the Wilson residency. The Waterproof Eyebrows helped me. One of the students, Liam Shiu, saw a barn owl in this log, which seemed to resonate with everyone. And so this log became the Barn Owl Dugout Canoe.
Every day since that day became a shared journey in bringing the Goose Dugout Canoe, and my own personal carving project the Barn Owl, to life. Over a time span of six months we sharpened adzes, axes, scorps, hand planes, and carving chisels, and kept carving away until the shape of the canoe more or less matched the image we entertained in our imaginations.
Humans have been carving canoes for at least 8,000 years. If rivers run in our blood, as the poet Langston Hughes wrote, then surely canoes do too.
After-School Carvers led by Cara Sullivan were Samantha Beaudette, Kaylee Emry, Makayla Emry, Arya Emry, Ruby Ford, Julian Glover, Weston Griffin, David Jacobs, Adeline Smith, Eleanor Smith, Chloe Stoeckel, Caroline Portis, Caroline Tacker, Will Dean Blake , Gwen Wright, Abby McLean, Luke Massey and Beau Flanging.
Coincidentally those powerful storms hit my first day in Wilson. We were driving up and along the Mississippi River and had to detour to get around some tornado damage along highway 61 to reach town.
And so from the first day of my residency to the last, a circle was completed, in a similar kind of way that rivers connect us all.
The Waterproof Eyebrows
The Waterproof Eyebrows Delta School Canoe Carvers Goose Dugout Canoe 2023-2024 Barn Owl Dugout Canoe 2023-2024 Carving workshop leaders: John Ruskey & Heather Crosse Delta School Intermediate Level “The Waterproof Eyebrows" Teacher: Grace Bevis Students: Emma Allen Samantha Beaudette Taylor Bishop Julian Glover Emmy or Emily Johns Mary Layla Moseley Chloe Stoeckel Liam Shiu Spencer Sullivan Ella Wagner Jake Wright After-School Carvers: Teacher: Cara Sullivan Students: Samantha Beaudette Kaylee Emry Makayla Emry Arya Emry Ruby Ford Julian Glover Weston Griffin David Jacobs Adeline Smith Eleanor Smith Chloe Stoeckel Caroline Portis Caroline Tacker Will Dean Blake Gwen Wright Abby McLean Luke Massey Beau Flanging
2023 Wilson Fellowship Exhibition: Dixon’s Mallory/Wurtzburger Gallery July 14 - September 29 Meet the Artists Wed July 17th 12noon for "Munch & Learn"
Meet the Artists at the Dixon on Wed July 17th 12noon for "Munch & Learn"
2023 Wilson Fellowship: Danny Broadway, Claire Hardy, Thad Lee, and John Ruskey
In 2023, the Dixon launched a partnership with the town of Wilson, Arkansas, to help bring cultural activity to the Arkansas Delta through an artist residency program.
The Dixon selected four artists for the inaugural cohort of Wilson Fellows, Danny Broadway, Claire Hardy, Thad Lee, and John Ruskey, to pilot the program and mine the region’s unique landscape for creative inspiration. Throughout the late spring, summer, autumn, and early winter, the 2023 Fellows planted roots in the community, visually documenting Wilson’s landscape and its people as both the seasons and the town itself evolved.
The 2023 inaugural class of Wilson Fellows are a diverse group, all of whom found Wilson and its surrounding environment to be inspiring. Memphis-based painter and educator Danny Broadway’s contemplative graphite drawings and oil painting distill the people and landscapes of Wilson into iconic images of the Arkansas Delta. Claire Hardy, a painter originally from California now living in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, invokes historic artists including George Inness and Claude Monet in her glowing landscapes of cotton country. Thad Lee, a photographer and filmmaker from Oxford, Mississippi, seamlessly blends images of decay and renewal as he chronicles the life of the town through images of agriculture, the old cotton gin, and blazing sunsets. A resident of Clarksdale, Mississippi, river guide and painter John Ruskey focuses on the vital importance of the Mississippi River and its wildlife to the Wilson region in his fantastical watercolors and full-sized canoe, carved with the help of students at Wilson’s progressive Delta School. The beauty and variety of the art on display in this Mallory/Wurtzburger exhibition is truly a fitting celebration of the first year of the Wilson Fellowship.
WKNO 91.1FM program "Checking on the Arts” ~Upcoming Dixon Gallery & Gardens Exhibitions~ Julie Pierotti with host Darel Snodgrass July 10, 2024 Cut & Paste: https://www.wknofm.org/show/checking-on-the-arts/2024-07-10/upcoming-dixon-gallery-gardens-exhibitions
End Note: Some Sad News
"Another good thing done gone wrong" (John Hartford) "You don't know what you had until it's gone" (Joni Mitchell). We are sad to report that the Delta School is closing. From news reports: After 10 years, The Delta School in Wilson is closing its doors at the end of the spring 2024 semester. “As of this week, our campus and facilities will be gifted to the Arkansas Northeastern College Foundation,” school officials said in a statement shared on social media. “This will be our last school year before they take possession this summer.” The Wilson Works Foundation said it had agreed in principle to donate the school’s property, valued at $27.5 million, to the ANC Foundation, noting that it is one of the “nation’s largest-ever gifts to a community college.” Businessman Gaylon Lawrence, Jr., who launched the school in 2014, said the donation will “create a new academic environment that will prepare the region’s students for success in college, career, and life,” according to the news release. “Our job as community leaders is to aggregate, acquire, and align the resources to help students in rural communities like Wilson and those throughout Northeast Arkansas develop the capacity to succeed along their academic and vocational journey,” Lawrence said. “This is an exciting example of those collective efforts and presents a sustainable path forward that combines excellent academics with career exploration and training in a way that does not currently exist for our students.” According to ANC President Dr. Christopher Heigle, the college will explore using the property to offer college and career training. “We’re grateful for this tremendous gift and appreciative of the philanthropic and academic seeds that Mr. Lawrence and the leaders at the Wilson Works Foundation have planted over the last decade,” Heigle said. “We see this as an opportunity to consider a postsecondary-focused mission that could open the doors to a greater number of college and career-focused students.” More information about the transition of the school for current students and enrollment opportunities and requirements for prospective students is expected to be released in the coming weeks. According to its website, The Delta School was founded in 2014 by businessman Gaylon Lawrence, Jr. and several others, including the Lawrence Group, the Wilson Education Foundation, and local cotton farmers. In 2015, the campus moved onto its 23-acre campus. Two years later, the board of trustees voted unanimously to add a high school, which opened in 2018. “The Delta School is grateful for the unending encouragement,” school officials said. “We will always be more than a campus. We are a communal identity that will continue to share our enthusiasm for transforming education by centering student agency and voice.” (From KAIT News)
Lower Mississippi River Dispatch No. 942
"Voice of the Lower Mississippi River"
Vicksburg, MS ~ Memphis, TN ~ Clarksdale, MS ~ Wilson, AR
Quapaw Canoe Company ~ Celebrating 26 Years of Service ~
~Winner of the SBA 2024 Small Business of the Year Award~
Thank you for the report! Looks like a life changing effort with success!
Always magic go hear about a new canoe. Welcome Barn Owl.