Gallery exhibit a tribute to the Mother Road

Visual artists Randy Bacon and Heidi Herrman are paying tribute to Route 66 with an exhibit at C-Art Gallery at 208 and 212 E. Commercial St.

Titled “Two Voices, One Road: A Route 66 Centennial Exhibition,” the show by the husband-and-wife team combines 37 black-and-white photographs with 18 mixed-media works that explore historic properties along the Mother Road.

The show is slated to run April 29 to July 4.

Bacon is known primarily for his black-and-white portraiture, as seen in previous exhibits like “The Road I Call Home,” showing the faces of people experiencing homelessness, or “Standing Together,” with life-sized portraits of people impacted by domestic violence.

The photos in the new exhibit bright a portrait artist’s eye to iconic Route 66 scenes with the same attention to resilience versus devastation.

Many of the photographs depict Springfield-area Mother Road sites. In “Marshfield Junction – Signs,” an older-model Dodge Ram pickup is captured entering the intersection of Spur Drive and Missouri Route 38 just off the Interstate 44 interchange. Behind it, a billboard announces that “Jesus Is Lord,” while a frenzy of signs and arrows point to a $19.95-per-night motel (the motel itself is long gone), an antique mall, commuter parking, tent camping, the town of Elkland and a Missouri Department of Transportation maintenance building. The directional mix of the old and new serve as both a reflection of and elegy to the route’s heyday.

Alongside Bacon’s photography are Herrman’s mixed-media homages to Route 66, one of which includes a photo of Gary’s Gay Parita, an Ash Grove stop that is famous among Mother Road travelers.

Gay Parita is a replica of a 1926 station that burned down in 1955, according to the Visit Missouri website, and was recreated by Gary and Lena Turner.

Herrman’s work, “Root Beer, Route 66,” photographically places a lacelike floral applique over a view of the dinosaur of a Sinclair gas sign, an advertisement for Opaline Motor Oil and a Route 66 shield declaring, “Get Your Kicks with Route 66 Beer.”

Citywide art project
Outside of the exhibit, Herrman is leading up another Mother Road art project: the citywide Springfield 66 Centennial Sculpture Series, which has placed 16 sculptures shaped like the Route 66 shield throughout the city.

Herrman said the project is a public art initiative that celebrates Springfield’s role as the birthplace of the road.

“Each sculpture is sponsored by a local business or organization and created by regional artists, resulting in a diverse and engaging collection that reflects the spirit, history and culture of Route 66,” Herrman said in an email.

The installations are intended to remain in place after the centennial celebration has passed, Herrman said.

“The series is designed to be both a cultural attraction and an ongoing community asset, with plans to expand beyond the centennial into a long-term public art route,” she said.

Sculptures are being installed at locations like the Springfield Cardinals ballpark, the Springfield-Branson National Airport and alongside the new “Queen’s Gate 66” monument near the intersection of St. Louis Street and Glenstone Avenue.

Funds are through sponsorships, with founding sponsors listed on the website as the Springfield Regional Arts Council Inc.; Visit Springfield, Missouri; the Hatch Foundation; and the C-Art Gallery. Each sculpture costs $12,000 for a total investment of $192,000.

Hermann said the goal is to erect 66 of the 5-foot sculptures throughout the Ozarks.