Back in April, I flew from Indiana to Georgia to visit family. While there, I did something not too out of the ordinary for me– I planned an odd photoshoot, and asked my little sister to model. As a fellow at the Harrison Center, I was aware of the upcoming Color Show in the winter, and this gave me the idea to create a specific image: a bookworm forest nymph, with hair suspended as if underwater, eyes enlarged through glasses, and a stack of books in hand.

Caleb John Smith
*Well Read*
photographic print
20" x 24"

The Harrison Center’s Annual Color Show is the first show I ever made a piece of art for back in 2017, when the theme was Emerald City. The Color Show is known for being a strange, exciting exhibit. It’s something of a local phenomenon – a plethora of artists with totally different backgrounds and preferred mediums, coming together to create a chaotic and exciting exhibition around a single color. This year’s color in question – ginger: a warm, muted orange, bordering brown.

Laura Schroeder
*Awarm Autumn*
unique archival print, digital collage from scanned turmeric anthotypes
8 x 10

Israel Solomon
*Navigation: Self Redemption*
acrylic on canvas
48" x 60"

Over 150 artists have their work included in this year’s color show Ginger & Spice & Everything Nice. New submissions were high, but the color show is not a new concept for the Harrison Center, with the first taking place two decades ago in 2002. Some artists in the show have been submitting work to the annual show for years. Andrew Perry Davis is one such artist, whose piece Twins is a bizarre duo of sloth-like figurines who can’t contain their laughter.

Andrew Perry Davis
*Twins*
earthenware with glaze, underglaze and stain
7" x 10" x 8"

Kyle Ragsdale curated the exhibit in his typical salon-style fashion, stacking and hanging pieces closely in cozy, unique configurations. With this approach, each wall seems to develop its own theme: portraiture, flora, pop-art, travel– when put in conversation with one another, the pieces suddenly feel as if they share much more in common than just color.

There’s a term that many artists will recognize called Kitsch – it refers to a genre of artwork that may be a bit “on the nose.” Kitsch is not meant to be sophisticated, it’s meant to be sentimental. Some of the most accomplished artists of our day have embraced kitsch as a way of expressing their sense of humor or referencing culture, tradition, and even childhood memories. The artists in Ginger & Spice & Everything Nice have done the same. Kitsch may not be “high-brow” but it is certainly fun, and the color show, if anything, is a chance for artists to create freely with a sense of joy.

Jamie Willis
*Icons 1*
acrylic on canvas, gold leaf
40" x 30"

Lish Wilkinson
*Miss Gingerspice Cremekin*
polymer clay, mixed media
6" x 10.5"

Some of the work does manage to touch on something tender, though. Maybe this a result of the theme. Ginger brings to mind hair color, food, spices, baked goods, fire–things that feel distinctly human. The show is full of these warm moments of humanity, welcoming the viewer into intimate moments in people’s homes and out into the cities that surround them.

Kevin James Wilson
*I Adore You*
prismacolor pencils
20" x 24"

Marshelle Dawkins Broadwell
*NYT Chocolate Chip Cookie*
water color, pencil, and colored pencil
13 x 10

Hannah Krodel
*City Skyline*
watercolor, gouache, and colored pencils
9 x 12

Ginger & Spice & Everything Nice is a testament to the simple, funny, and yet somehow still profound reason that people make art – because we can. The artistic process can sometimes feel comical, like when I’m asking my sister to hair-flip in a field while carrying a stack of books. Spending hours painting a popsicle is just as comical– so is plastering Carol Burnett’s face into a collage of butterflies. Sometimes, we artists do not even know all the reasons why we make the things that we make, but we know delight, and that something magical happens when we trust our imagination; and that is reason enough.

Aren K Straiger
*Orange Dream*
gel plate print
11" x 24"

Ginger & Spice & Everything Nice is on display in the Harrison Gallery through the month of December.