Amy Schmierbach
"Caim"
Jan. 27–Mar. 20, 2020
Exhibition Statement
Caim
(kyem) n.
Sanctuary; a magic circle of protection; stain, blot; circular prayer drawn by hand around one’s body to invoke love and protection in dark times.
—Scots Gaelic
I am fascinated by religion, even though I do not believe or subscribe to any one dharma. I grew up in a Catholic family going to parochial school for 8 years. Even though I do not believe in organized religion now, I am interested in the use of religious symbols and mythology. When I was twenty I read Joseph Campbell’s Power of Myth. Campbell discussed one culture where a person would draw a circle in the sand and sit inside to find peace. Since reading this passage, I have been drawing circles in hopes to find quiet and tranquility.
All of the processes in this work bring me peace: weaving, spinning, embroidery and drawing. This work is not narrative but instead documents time and reflects the inside of my circle.
The Collaborative Art Project
The Collaborative Art Project is a collaboration between Amy Schmierbach, professor of art at Fort Hays State University, students of FHSU and Developmental Services of Northwest Kansas. Schmierbach and students are providing workshops to the DSNWK individuals to provide structured art experiences centered around weaving, drawing, and photography. The goal of this project is to expand the arts in the Hays community to help reach more individuals, specifically creating more opportunities in the arts.
The Collaborative Art Project is funded by Kansas Creative Industries Commission Arts Integration Program-Innovative Partnerships, The National Endowment for the Arts, DSNWK, and FHSU Undergraduate Research Grant.
Artist Bio
Amy Schmierbach is an artist, instructor and activist. Her main goal in art and teaching is to empower others through art making and to help foster individuals to visually communicate their ideas in the studio, in the classroom and in the community. Since 2000, Amy has taught drawing, foundations and a multitude of other studio and general education courses at Fort Hays State University. Amy received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville and a Master of Fine Arts in printmaking from Illinois State University. In 2011, Amy received the prestigious President’s Distinguished Scholar Award for her dedication to research at FHSU. In 2019, Amy received a Master Educator Award from Foundations in Art Theory and Education (FATE) for her dedication to innovative teaching in the art studio classroom. Amy has exhibited her work across North America and has received many grants to help support her practice. Community outreach and service learning are both highly personal objectives for Amy. In today’s society, it is the artist’s responsibility to bring art to the community and to educate the public about art. In the rural Midwest, this is even more important. This activism is an important objective she brings to her students. Amy believes that we cannot just teach art as a stand-alone skill. Skill is important, but art also has to be valued in our society. Amy and her students regularly work with local community organizations, school districts, senior living centers and children and adults with intellectual and developmental needs.
Amy’s creative activity reaches into both personal and social practice. Each of these practices inform each other and need each other to thrive. Society’s continual search for inner balance and work/life balance are main themes in her work. She uses formalized and repetitive processes such as printmaking, drawing, weaving and embroidery that convey meditative rituals. These are also the techniques she brings into her social practice work with the hope to stimulate more mindfulness and peace in the community.