Charlotte Street Foundation Fellows 2011

Ricky Allman · Andy Brayman · Peggy Noland

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Kansas City based artists Ricky Allman, Andy Brayman, and Peggy Noland were selected by a curatorial panel of awards advisors (composed of regional and national members) following studio visits with ten semi-finalists. All three artists received unrestricted cash grants of $10,000 each. 

Artist Ricky Allman was born and raised in Utah, and his paintings reflect the geographical environment, mountainous landscapes and Mormon architecture of his upbringing. His most recent paintings incorporate Modernist architectural structures, as well as areas of gestural painting and exuberant color.

“For the Charlotte Street Foundation exhibition I am continuing my exploration of the natural and built environment. Looking through the lens of my personal religious disaffection, I am making work about the hope I have for the future of humanity via the new explosion of knowledge, science and technology we are now entering. We live in a rapidly changing and increasingly complex society which I once believed was destined for an apocalyptic demise. Coming to understand the enormous amount of innovation now occurring in human thought and progress, I am much more optimistic,” said Allman.

Kansas City native Andy Brayman’s work merges conceptual art and functional ceramics, with projects ranging from sculptural slipcast plates, cups and vases, to a project utilizing glazes created with dust from brick and cinder block fragments from the town of Greensburg, KS. (destroyed by a tornado in 2007).

Brayman returned to Kansas City in 2005 from Bennington, Vermont to establish the Matter Factory in Kansas City, KS, which serves as a studio, laboratory, and launch pad for a range of projects, including collaborations with other artists.

“The objects in this exhibition come from my research involving 3D computer aided fabrication coupled with sensor data from the natural world. Light values, temperatures, river depths, and wind speeds all become active factors that drive the form and decoration during fabrication.”

Peggy Noland, raised in Independence, MO, is an artist and fashion designer. Her shop, Peggy Noland Kansas City, located in the Crossroads Arts District, serves as home base for her international career, as well as a site for regularly changing installations.

Noland is known for her use of bright colors and patterns, full body leotards, a line of baby clothes made for adults, and other apparel that questions ideas of normality and encourages risk taking. Her designs have appeared in fashion and music magazines including Elle, Vogue, Spin and Rolling Stone.

Regarding her Charlotte Street Foundation exhibition project, Noland said, “I will be debuting a short film, an Antonioni homage. The film encourages building only to destroy and is the most masculine work that I’ve ever done, including some Terminator 2 style explosions.”

A non-profit organization, Charlotte Street Foundation supports and recognizes outstanding artists in Kansas City; presents, promotes, and encourages the visual and performing arts; and fosters economic development in the urban core of Kansas City, MO. Charlotte Street Foundation has now recognized 74 Kansas City based visual artists with Charlotte Street Visual Artist Awards distributed annually since 1997, totaling $482,500.

A gallery guide with essay by Elisabeth Kirsch, Kansas City based art historian/independent writer will accompany the exhibition.