Old Garrison Avenue Building Inspires Amy Scoggins Exhibition at FSRAM

BECCA MARTIN-BROWN

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“I’ve always been drawn to stories about old objects, from vintage clothing to historic buildings,” says artist Amy Scoggins. “As a painter, my preference is to work on site, immersed in the place I am painting. From the street I could see this building, a former antique store in my hometown – empty, mostly gutted, with light streaming through the upstairs windows to a staircase leading down to the cavern dark first floor below. It felt like a sacred moment.

The location was the Gotlib Building at 1110 Garrison Ave. in Fort Smith. And the project, which Scoggins presented to the building’s owners as a two-week project, “inspired nearly two years of work.” The result is “Reclaimed: A Solo Exhibition,” on display through July 21 at the Fort Smith Regional Art Museum.

The Gotlib building, Scoggins explains, was once an antique store owned by Eva and Jerry Gotlib.

“He was a Jewish labor camp escapee and she was an Auschwitz survivor,” she explains. “Eva never covered the tattoo they gave her, wanting to never forget those who did not survive this hellish period.

“The store closed in 2014 and was sold to Propak Logistics. When the global chaos of Covid interrupted renovations, Propak welcomed my wandering mind to explore the building, neither of us anticipating that it would hold my intrigue for two years,” Scoggins continues.

“Clues to its former beauty remain: a Victorian chair in the shadows, 10-foot-high pocket doors, a wall of delicate floral wallpaper hanging where a long-gone mezzanine once existed, an entire painted second floor in vibrant pink,” Scoggins imagines the location. with words. “Thick with the smell of hot oil, the hydraulic elevator clack clack clack the curious onlookers up to the third floor: a morgue housing the remains of a forgotten flock of intruding birds, elaborate mathematical equations on a bathroom wall bath and a sprawling view through it. cracked windows.

“I was initially attracted to this interesting topic,” she says. “What happened on top of that was more of a personal artistic cocoon stage. I emerged from the quiet contemplation of that place, ready to launch my studio practice in an entirely different direction.

Scoggins is the mother of two children, ages 14 and 16, who she homeschooled for most of their lives. She is also looking for a diagnosis, an answer to an “intense medical mystery”.

“It was two years ago, in the middle of my meditative cocoon in the Gotlib building, that we finally found a diagnosis not only for my daughter but for our entire family,” she explains. “It turns out that this mysterious monster is a genetic syndrome – Ehlers Danlos-hypermobility syndrome – and therefore also resolved decades of questions in his brother, father, aunts and cousins. I hadn’t been crazy. Something was definitely wrong and we learned the name.

“This confirmation opened a lifetime of chains for my children and myself and materialized in me as a force of creative inspiration to use my art to try to save other families from floundering years from now misdiagnoses like we did,” Scoggins said. “I had to tell our story and educate others as loud and clear as possible. »

The paintings in the FSRAM solo exhibition are, “at their simplest, paintings of an old building,” she explains. “These perhaps seem completely disconnected from the giant electrified 3D mixed media collage I have since created. However, I view them as closely related – this set of paintings was a crucial path that prepared me to embark on a studio practice of medical advocacy, and it remains a studio practice that I return to when medical thoughts become too heavy.

“Reclaimed” includes 35 works of art by Scoggins, mostly oil paintings, ranging in size from 5 inches by 7 inches to “Final Farewell,” which measures 3.5 feet by 5 feet.

“To help tell the story of the experience, I constructed a bit of the environment with a pile of dust-laden chairs salvaged from my main painting site, early charcoal studies and my sketchbook, which is full of supply calculations and curious details. inspiration,” she adds.

“The Lord has allowed this dilapidated structure to be a place of rest and renewal for my weary self. Although the pains of our lives are not comparable, I have often wondered if this place was a similar refuge for Eva (Gotlib) in her days of greatness. The building and I were recovered.

FAQs

“Recovered: A Solo Exhibition”

WHEN — Until July 21; hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday

WHERE – Fort Smith Regional Art Museum

No cost

INFO — https://fsram.org/amy-scoggins-reclaimed/