Southwest Iowa native Kurt Sloop served as an artist in residence at Waubonsie State Park earlier this year.
Sloop, a versatile artist and dedicated art teacher, has spent over 20 years inspiring young minds in Tarkio, Missouri and Essex, Iowa. Sloop is a coach for three scholastic sports – cross country, wrestling and track.
Growing up in Hamburg, with Waubonsie State Park as his playground, Sloop’s artistic journey has been shaped by his love for nature and his unique creativity. Sloop credits his wife with inspiring his artistic drive.
His art defies categorization, ranging from delicate colored pencil drawings of fall leaves to inventive Cosplay blasters. But his native art language is spoken in oil painting and drawing.
Most of his artwork is displayed in hundreds of elementary students’ homes across Northern Missouri and Southwest Iowa. Sloop’s illustrations also appear in the book ‘Game Day.’
Sloop’s residency at Waubonsie State Park highlighted his passion for exploring new ideas, experimenting with different mediums, and bringing his unique perspective to life through his art.
The Artist in Residence program was created to help reach a broader audience of park-goers, thus increasing the number of visitors and ultimately educating more people about the Loess Hills ecosystem.
Artists engage with the natural resources of the park through an artistic lens. Many quality applications were received from artists representing a wide array of disciplines. The artist uses the time at Waubonsie to immerse themselves in the landscape as a source of inspiration and opportunity to intensely focus on their work.
One of the region’s ecological and recreational treasures, Waubonsie State Park’s 2,000 acres in the Loess Hills of southwest Iowa feature prairies, savannas, and woodlands which are home to diverse flora and fauna, not to mention breathtaking vistas.
Park manager Matt Moles worked with Golden Hills RC&D to develop and launch the project.
While there have been other artist residency programs offered through the National Parks System and parks in other states, this was the first such program in one of Iowa’s state parks.
The program is loosely modeled after similar regional residency programs.
The artists will receive lodging in a studio cabin and a primitive studio space in the park at no cost for the duration of the residency.
In return, artists are encouraged to deliver at least one public program and donate one piece of art to the park at the conclusion of their stay.
Kurt Sloop fulfilled the public engagement component of his artist residency this past summer at Waubonsie State Park with an art show at Wa-Shaw-Tee Lodge at Waubonsie State Park on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, from 2 to 4 p.m. Local artist James Nenneman, a pottery, ceramic, wood, and metal artist and owner of Knox Art Studio, joined him for this show. Refreshments and live music were provided for this event.
Photos Contributed
