After 5: MOAK in the Ozarks

Perhaps the biggest reason is the biennial juried multimedia competition for artists in the four-state region. MOAK 2006, which stands for Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kansas, features 44 works from 33 artists.

Katie Geha, the curator of modern and contemporary art at the Ulrich Museum in Wichita, Kan., and chosen juror for this year’s competition, reviewed 312 entries by 163 artists. Twelve works were selected to receive cash awards for which $2,700 was distributed.

“All the works in the exhibition offer intelligence, beauty and punch,” says Geha, who received a master’s degree at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has held positions at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. “This exhibition displays the talents of our artists in this diverse and great region.”

There are 11 artists from Springfield, and three others from the Ozarks. A jewelry piece, 12 sculptures and 31 two-dimensional pieces made the exhibit, including “Here’s the Steeple,” a sculpture by Missouri State University art and design professor Dwaine Crigger.

“I always enter MOAK, both because the quality of the show keeps increasing, and I want to support the show,” Crigger says. “This year’s show is really interesting, it’s not only the diversity and kinds of media submitted, but also there are many interesting conceptual directions from all the artists.”

Permanent pieces

In addition to those works selected for display in the exhibition and for cash awards, four MOAK 2006 works were purchased for inclusion in the Springfield Art Museum’s permanent collection.

Springfield Art Museum Director Jerry Berger says that the money to purchase pieces comes from the museum’s support groups and from museum funds allocated for additions to the permanent collection.

The Southwest Missouri Museum Associates purchased an untitled sculpture by Jacob Burmood, of Springfield, and the whimsical “Fall,” by Nancy Morrow, of Manhattan, Kan. The Friends of the Springfield Art Museum purchased Susanna Breed’s “Untitled 2006 #2.” The Springfield Art Museum purchased “Parentized Love Child” by Harry Krug, of Pittsburg, Kan.

Berger says longtime regional arts patron Sam King and longtime Springfield Art Museum board member Marcia Justice were largely responsible for the cash awards distributed for MOAK. King gave a $350 cash award, which went to Springfieldian Bruce West for his “Reverend H.D. Dennis on Front Porch” photograph, and Justice gave a $250 cash award, which went to Ava’s Jenna Weston for her “Lighthold” handmade paper piece.

Past honoree perspective

Alicia Brundege, a local artist and elementary school art teacher at McBride, had an entry selected for the MOAK show in 2001.

“This show is such a hidden gem, even for people from our area,” says Brundege, who has an undergraduate degree from MSU and completed her master’s degree in art, elementary education at University of Missouri. “I believe people tend to think that artists just come from the East and West coasts. We have such high-caliber, legitimate artists right here in the four-state area.”

Event Details

What: 2006 MOAK 4-state regional exhibition

When: Through Jan. 7

Where: The Springfield Art Museum, 1111 E. Brookside Drive

Hours: 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and

Saturday; 9 a.m.–8 p.m. Thursday; and 1–5 p.m. Sunday

Cost: None; donations accepted

Who: 14 Ozarks artists[[In-content Ad]]