New York artist Allan McCollum presented this special Kansas map to Anderson County Historical Society president Dorothy Lickteig (right) and Shirley Roekers, vice president, when he was in Garnett County last week.

Museum is recipient of special Kansas Map

Anderson County Historical County Museum officials are considering a number of ideas on how to complete their latest donation, noting it will be a while until that decision is made.

On Monday morning, September 22, New York artist Allan McCollum presented museum president Dorothy Lickteig with a topographical model of the state of Kansas. McCollum left the model blank, to be painted in any way the Historical Society wishes, to depict Kansas in a way that is indicative of Anderson County.

McCollum received financing from the Grand Arts gallery in Kansas City to help produce an art exhibition. He decided to do a project that explored the shapes and topography of the states of Kansas and Missouri, believing "Everyone has a profound emotional involvement with the shapes and topography of their own home territory, and I think these feelings can be an interesting subject for artistic exploration."

Instead of making just one single project to be seen by a limited number of Kansas City art viewers, the artist decided to expand his project into two parts.

The first part was to make pieces of art for the gallery to be put on exhibit and to be offered for sale. For that purpose, McCollum created a series of three-dimensional, topographical models of the two states, each cast in ceramic from a mold and finished with brightly colored glazes.

The second part of the project used the same molds but created a different kind of object for an entirely different kind of project. The additional topographical models were produced using a mixture of plaster and cement and donated to small, regional historical society museums throughout Kansas and Missouri. He said he chose Anderson County Museum as one of his recipients because it features artifacts and other items of local interest.

All models were produced from molds taken from two original topographical models that were created using a computer-controlled routing machine. That machine was programmed with geographic information systems data supplied by the US Government.

An exhibition of McCollum's ceramic models will be on view from November 7 through December 20 at Grand Arts, 1819 Grand Boulevard, Kansas City, Mo. Those wishing more information are encouraged to call the gallery at 816-421-6887.

Lickteig indivated that several members of the Historical Society would most likely attend the showing to see how McCollum's maps are finished and get ideas how to complete its latest acquisition. More details will be made known at a later date. The map weighs more than 30 pounds, so finding the proper place to display it once it is finished will take some thinking, she said.

Those interested in learning more about McCollum's project as a whole can log into the project's website: topomodels.html.