Englewood Arts has been working on a first inaugural re:ART Festival set for September 20-21, 2024. This festival is organized by Englewood Arts, benefiting the Truman Heritage Habitat for Humanity for a neighborhood clean-up program called “Rock-the-Block” coming in 2025. Re:ART will feature live performances from area musicians, local artist vendors, and culinary cuisine for the entire family. Along with all these fun performers and vendors is a public sculpture project designed and facilitated by September’s Artist of the Month, Amie Jacobsen. Amie’s public sculptures are on display nationally in Prairie Village, KS; Castle Rock, CO; Fremont, CA; Bartlesville, OK; and so many more.

**Wild Contemplation** - *Amie Jacobsen*, 2023

Amie is a lifelong artist at heart. She began her love and appreciation for art at an early age. While I sat down with Amie she stated, “Ever since I was in middle school, I knew I would be an artist.” Amie grew up in Colorado Springs to an outdoorsy western family. This influence was her original inspiration as a young painter and followed her through undergraduate and graduate school all the way to today as a public art sculptor. Amie’s work draws inspiration from whimsical elements of nature and beauty. Often creating works of art that are larger than life allowing the public to be enveloped by her nature inspired works.

Two of Amie’s most recent works have been installed in Castle Rock, CO, “Still Wild” and Manitou Springs, CO, “Wild Contemplation”. Both of these works create large scale representations of Colorado’s state flower and native plants. These larger than life installations, create beautifully whimsical pieces for the public. Coming to the Englewood Arts District is one of these larger than life flower sculptures. Designed with community in mind, Amie Jacobsen is working hard in her fabrication shop to create interactive elements to a public sculpture here in Englewood. If you want a hand in helping create this community art piece, join us on September 20th and 21st during the re:ART Festival. The piece will be made from repurposed materials usually found around the home. “I want to create work that connects to the local community,” said Amie when describing her inspiration for her public work.

Amie has lived in Englewood and Independence for about 6 years now. Amie and her husband are working artists and business owners affiliated with the local Kansas City arts scene. Their fabrication studio is well equipped with a full metal fabrication shop and wood working shop. Even with all of this space and working studio, Amie claims, “60% of my time is on a computer.” She prides herself as a working sculptor, designer, and concept artist. Before her work is installed on location, Amie spends months working with different original designs and engineers. Typically one sculpture takes 3-12 months from concept to installation, and Amie claims some have taken two years of planning before installation.

Prior to becoming a public artist and sculptor, Amie was solely dedicated to 2D forms of art. Painting and drawing were her preferred mediums. Her undergraduate degree from Western State Colorado was in Studio Painting. Years later after building a family, Amie went back to college for her Masters degree at the Savanah College of Art and Design (SCAD). There she studied illustration and eventually began teaching illustration at SCAD. While being a professor, Amie continued freelancing with graphic design gigs and illustrating children's books. Finally ready for a transition, she moved to Kansas City with hopes to continue teaching online and continue her freelancing graphic design and illustration work, but soon the burnout would set in. This is when Amie began to paint with found objects around her home. She was renovating her home in Kansas City and used painting as an outlet for pushing through burnout and a creative block. This created the piece “Abundance” which is proudly displayed in her studio office. Amie describes this painting as, “…if the inside of my brain was on a canvas, this is what it would look like.” With hopes of diving into new mediums and working with metal, Amie found herself interning and eventually working at Machine Head KC, a local metal fabrication shop in the Crossroads District. She worked for 2 years as their in-house designer, fabricator, and installation team member. After learning a completely new skill and a new area of the art world, Amie applied for various public art applications and in her own words, “Got Lucky.” With the new business model and revenue from various projects, she was able to rent out a garage and build some of her first public sculptures. Eventually creating her own studio and fabrication shop here in Independence, MO.

Learn more about Amie Jacobsen on her website at www.amiejacobsen.com. Englewood Arts is excited for the community sculpture activity during this years re:ART Festival. To learn more information about the Festival, check out the event page at www.englewoodarts.art/reart.

September’s Artists of the Month: Amie Jacobsen

Red, Black, and Green: In Honor of the Afro American Flag