The St. Louis Artists' Guild presents, RECLAIM, a Midwest regional all-media juried exhibition that contains work with a concern for the environment and mass consumption. In particular, there are many works of art made from repurposed and recycled materials. Through this exhibition, STLAG is interested in promoting artwork rooted in the tradition of found object and assemblage projects, as well as self-reliant individuals who see multiple uses for items and materials. We believe that by using materials in a new and fresh way, artists are a mirror for society's use of short-lived and disposable products.  

JUROR: Galen Gondolfi

Galen is founder and president of Fort Gondo, Inc., a non-profit arts organization that operated the now defunct Cherokee Street galleries Fort Gondo Compound for the Arts and Beverly. Galen now manages Fort Gondo Inc’s new project G-CADD, the Granite City Art and Design District in Granite City, Illinois which features a city block campus that includes indoor and outdoor exhibition spaces. As a microfinance practitioner, Galen is Chief Communications Officer with the St. Louis based non-profit Justine PETERSEN, which seeks to advance asset development among the underbanked.

in the curated gallery

Blake and Hannah Sanders - "Running on Fumes." Blake and Hannah Sanders present "Running on Fumes," a body of work that acknowledges their complicity in ecological waste and destruction. It provides a garish reminder of how their growing family, and the creature comforts that go with it, have a tremendous negative impact on the environment. Their work employs printmaking and traditional craft media to discuss how conventional notions of family, domesticity, and success affect our behavior as consumers and planetary stewards. Their work centers on environmental issues, so nearly all the material employed in this work has been recycled or repurposed. While the work may seem thematically negative, it is both an indictment and celebration of domestic bliss. The vibrant colors and bold shapes evoke energy, both the thankfully exhaustible energy of a child, and the reserve of energy discovered by the parents during naps and cuddle time. The future is uncertain, and anxiety is the norm, but this work evokes a feeling of comfort in their  discomfort and hope in their hopelessness.

Adam Long - "Forest Figure Fashion." Adam Longs' Forest Figures explore humankind's intimate connection to the natural world.  Now, in addition to that underlying theme, he has begun to explore the expressiveness of female Forest Figures clothed in dresses of branches, petioles, and snakeskin.  The dynamism of the figures has increased, and he has discovered the potential of fashion as a vehicle for exploring ideas of how we idealize women in our culture, the grace of the female form, movement, levitation, and connection/disconnection with our natural surroundings, all while using carefully collected natural materials.  

award winners