Artwork copyright Erin Dengerink. Photo courtesy of the artist, 2023.

Small Town Park, 2023

Erin Dengerink

Location: Kessler Center, Puyallup

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Erin Dengerink's Small Town Park series depicts the memory of a park at dusk. Dengerink explains, "The place is mostly vacant except for you and your adolescent friends. Too old for the playground, but too young for the adult world. You needed somewhere to gather and explore a little autonomy. It’s a place to be wild and silly. Now it is a fuzzy story from the past. Then it was an adventure." This artwork is part of a curated collection by Lucile Chich in October 2023 for the Kessler Center, in Puyallup, Western Washington. The collection is based on joy, color, and the inclusion of a marginalized population within the arts community. It was critical to the local Art Selection Committee that the collection celebrate artists who are experiencing disability. This could be physical, neurological, or intellectual. They also wanted the see artists who use the transformative powers of artmaking to transcend, to heal, to rejoice.

This artwork was acquired for the State Art Collection in partnership with .

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Erin Dengerink is an artist and curator who believes in the power of art to transform lives and build communities. Their artwork ranges from very tiny, intimate pieces to large installations. All of their work is meant to be helpful and soothing. Dengerink holds a Master of Art degree in Visual Studies from the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon, and a Bachelor of Fine Art degree from the San Francisco Art Institute. They are the founder of btwMOMA "by the way Museum Of Mini Art."