November's Beyond the Clock is on Tuesday, November 12th from 4-5pm CST with special guest Erika Nelson, an independent artist and educator, exploring rural contemporary art forms in the public and civic realm.
Erika will share insights from her journey to Lucas, KS and how she utilizes her creative practice to activate civic engagement in her projects, such as "Step Right Up," inviting conversation around the practices of neighboring and how we show up for each other regardless of political differences.
About Erika: Erika Nelson is an independent artist and educator, exploring contemporary art forms in the public realm. She investigates the nooks and crannies of the United States seeking out the odd and unusual, gathering stories of people who build immersive elaborate art environments, as well as roadside vernacular architecture known as World’s Largest Things. Her art practice focus includes a multi-decade project producing the World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Largest Things. She currently serves as the Cultural Resource Director for a NRHP site S.P. Dinsmoor’s Garden of Eden, works on preservation crews traveling to sites across the country, writes for art, travel, and industry publications, and consults for regional and national arts organizations as a specialist in self-built worlds and rural art advocacy. Her work has been published in Public Art Review, Society for Commercial Archeology Journal, and Raw Vision, while her art practice has been reviewed in Frieze, Art Forum, and the Wall Street Journal. She regularly appears in pop and alternative culture interviews discussing the intersections of roadside culture, rural, and formal art worlds, most recently in a Smithsonian Magazine feature. She has been a guest of the 99% Invisible podcast focused on Balls of Twine, Atlas Obscura’s Show and Tell series, and has been the subject of a Zippy the Pinhead strip.
Register today to grab a seat with Erika at our virtual table on Tuesday, November 12th from 4-5pm CST for what is sure to be an inspiring presentation and discussion!
Portrait of Erika was created by Nhatt Nichols, this year's Beyond the Clock illustrator and storyteller-in-residence.
Beyond the Clock is a monthly digital learning exchange and happy hour for rural connectors and cultural workers hosted by the Department of Public Transformation and Voices for Rural Resilience, in partnership with the Rural Assembly.