09 autumn reporter 1-20 - Franklin College

PHOTO BY AMY (KEAN) VERSTEEG ’96
By Amy (Kean) VerSteeg ’96
Editor
Kelli DeMott Park ’81 has been entering
her work into the Johnson County 4-H
Fair for years, but her 2008 painting of an
Indiana cornfield stirred up more than a
ribbon. It invoked nostalgia.
“I have an emotional connection to
cornfields” said DeMott Park. “I grew up
on a farm, and I love the way a cornfield
looks and smells. I like the way it sounds
when the breeze rustles the stalks, and it’s
my favorite food.”
What surprised DeMott Park about that
particular painting was the response it
brought from a former Franklin College
faculty member.
“After the fair I ran into Lynne Schuetz,
who had been my college speech teacher.
She told me how much she’d enjoyed the
painting and how emotional it’d made her.
Kelli DeMott Park ’81 stands with two
paintings featured in her “Plant Life of the
Heartland” exhibit.
Cornfields seed idea for painting series
That made me think about other crops and
plants and the ways they are integrated into
our lives, from childhood pastimes to the
change of seasons,” said DeMott Park.
That interest culminated in a series
of paintings called “Plant Life of the
Heartland.” DeMott Park, currently in her
26th year as a teacher at Franklin
Community High School, where she is art
department director, earned an $8,000
Lilly Endowment Teacher Creativity
Fellowship to fund the project, including
the purchase of supplies. She spent
approximately seven weeks over the
summer photographing various plants that
she referenced for a series of 10 paintings.
DeMott Park said, “I never had to leave
Johnson County. Many of the plants were
along the road where I live or within
walking distance. Others were nearby.
The peony painting is based on a flower
from my dad’s yard, and the tulip poplar
was in my in-laws’ neighborhood.”
DeMott Park didn’t set out only to paint
the flora; she also, as part of the fellowship
agreement, went about collecting personal
stories to include in the exhibit.
“I sent an e-mail to probably 700 people,
including friends, co-workers and church
members,” said DeMott Park. “Interestingly,
almost all who responded were women.
I think perhaps more women grew up
playing with plants and flowers than did
men, and so they have more associated
memories,” said DeMott Park.
Many people shared memories of tying
stems of Queen Anne’s Lace together to
make crowns and using maple seeds as
helicopters, said DeMott Park. But, not
all the responses were poignant; some
were humorous. A few people even shared
their dislike for particular types of flora,
noting reasons like allergies.
“Even my father teased me about
getting paid to paint weeds,” she said.
DeMott Park’s collection of 13 paintings,
including three completed prior to the
fellowship, and selections of the public
commentary were exhibited in back-toback
shows in August at the Johnson
County Museum of History and the
Johnson County Public Library. Her
final exhibit was at Franklin College in
November.
“It’s been great fun to share my work
in this community and to see so many
familiar faces in attendance,” said
DeMott Park. “With the Lilly grant to
fund receptions, it’s really helped make
each exhibit a social event.”
In the past, DeMott Park has shown
her work at a gallery in Seymour, Ind.
She also participated in the Franklin
College alumni art show over
Homecoming weekend in 2007.
“I think it’s important to show my
paintings because I want my students to
know that art is my passion. Art isn’t just
something I ask them to do; it’s something
I constantly work at, too.” .
DeMott Park patterns her teaching style
after former Center Grove High School
art teacher Karen (Sturdy) Yarnall ’74.
“She was my inspiration. I’d been
drawing since age 4, but after I had class
with Karen I knew I wanted to become an
art teacher.”
For DeMott Park, Franklin College was
the place to fulfill the first step in meeting
that goal and preparing for graduate
school at Indiana University, where she
obtained her master’s degree.
“My liberal arts background helps
make my job easier,” said DeMott Park.
“As a teacher, students tend to have the
expectation that you should know the
answer to everything. Obviously, that’s
impossible, but it certainly helps to know
about a variety of subjects.
“And, too, there’s so much emphasis
in today’s curriculum on integrating
subjects; it’s important to understand the
connections between art and other course
topics. You can’t be a good teacher unless
you’ve completed classes in things beyond
what you teach.”
Perhaps DeMott Park would agree that
along the way you also need to stop and
smell — or paint — the roses.
62 FRANKLIN REPORTER WWW.FRANKLINCOLLEGE.EDU