After 5: City employees with artistic bent showcase their works

It wasn’t until word spread throughout City Hall that Springfield Regional Arts Council was soliciting artwork by city employees that Climer discovered she and Planning and Development Director Ralph Rognstad shared a penchant for photography.

“I know Ralph, but I didn’t know that he did photography as a regular hobby,” says Climer, administrative assistant in the city clerk’s office, who enjoys photography but doesn’t take it too seriously.

Rognstad, however, has been a student of photography since the mid-1970s – when darkrooms were where photographers turned their magic. He still uses a 1980s-era Leica Rangefinder 35mm and prefers darkroom-processed black-and-whites, or “silver prints,” versus modern digital ink jet pictures.

Photographs by Climer and Rognstad are among the 118 pieces of artwork by city staff and their families that SRAC will put on display in June. The exhibit is part of The National Arts Program, which showcases artistic talents of employees of municipalities, counties and commercial organizations around the country. Family members also contribute pieces in the 26-year-old program that exists to give people an uninhibited opportunity to display their artwork.

The exhibit opens during First Friday Art Walk June 6 at The Creamery Arts Center.

Works by Senior Park Planner Jerany Jackson, Park Ranger David Moore, Assistant City Attorney Marianne Banks and more than 25 other city staff members from 16 departments will be exhibited through June.

“We’ve had a huge explosion of interest,” says Leslie Dobyns, who is coordinating the program for SRAC. “It’s an opportunity to show what (city employees have) been doing in their spare time.”

The exhibit is nonjuried, which means all pieces are welcome, but awards will be given in five classifications.

“I’ve never entered a contest before,” says Banks, whose two young daughters are contributing mixed-media pieces. “We all tend to be very creative. It’s just a fun outlet.”

Banks particularly enjoys nature photography and says the Ozarks has a plethora of places to shoot, including Dogwood Canyon, south of Branson.

Department head Rognstad combines his photography hobby with a newfound love of bicycling. He posts many of his photos to his bicycling blog, www.ralphs

bike.blogspot.com. While out and about, Rognstad works hard to capture his images.

“I usually look for something that’s kind of unusual, an unusual angle or juxtaposition of things,” he says. “Something that I don’t think other people might notice.”

One piece he submitted is a blended photo of the same billboard but two advertisements: Marlboro cigarettes and the Breath Easy antismoking campaign. He titled it “Breathe Easy Marlboro Man, Squiggle Man is Here Now.”

Climer’s husband, David, is joining her in The National Arts Program exhibit. They’ve submitted photos taken on their Caribbean honeymoon.

“We like taking pictures,” Climer says. “It’s just something fun rather than something we do every day.”

Cityscapes

The National Arts Program is showcasing artwork by city staff and their families.

Who: 31 city employees and their family members

What: 118 pieces in paper, photography and 3D mediums

Where: The Creamery Arts Center, 411 N. Sherman Parkway

When: June 6 through the end of the month