art + exploration by Jennifer Drinkwater

THOUGHTS

Thoughts about art and community.

Posts in creativity
G.G.G (Greenwood Girls' Garage): Evolution of a Painting

In 2019, I spent a day with Yolande Van Herdeen, an expat South African whose path serendipitously led her to Greenwood, Mississippi. When I met her, Yolande was serving as the artist-in-residence at ArtPlace Mississippi, a community art center in downtown Greenwood offering classes and programs for all ages. What stayed with me from that visit wasn’t just the art itself, but the way Yolande explained the unique role ArtPlace plays in Greenwood.

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My Quilt Feels Like Poetry: Evolution of a Painting

In 2019, I spent a day with Yolande Van Herdeen, an expat South African whose path serendipitously led her to Greenwood, Mississippi. When I met her, Yolande was serving as the artist-in-residence at ArtPlace Mississippi, a community art center in downtown Greenwood offering classes and programs for all ages. What stayed with me from that visit wasn’t just the art itself, but the way Yolande explained the unique role ArtPlace plays in Greenwood.

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When Hippies Conspire: Artist + Conservationist Collaborations

A while back, I had the opportunity to publicly talk shop about intersections of art and conservation in Iowa with two ISU Extension and Outreach colleagues: Catherine DeLong, program manager, Water Quality, and Adam Janke, assistant professor and extension wildlife specialist. As a once avid hiker, I’m embarrassed to say that I’d never really considered the parallels between natural resource conservation and art until meeting Adam and Catherine.

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Great River: Evolution of a Painting (plus a love letter to Greenville, Mississippi)

This past summer, I had a show at the E.E. Bass Cultural Arts Center, home of the Greenville Arts Council. As I was prepping for the exhibition, it occurred to me that I didn’t have any pieces of the Mississippi River itself.

Which is embarrassing and shameful, for the following reasons: 1) I’ve lived within 150 miles of this behemoth for 40 of my 45 years on the planet, and 2) the Mississippi River makes Greenville, Greenville.

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Bookmark This List: 100+ (Weird, One-of-a-Kind) Community Events in 99 Iowa Counties in 2025

Last week, I shared a Fairly Comprehensive List of 2025 Community Events in the Mississippi Delta-ish. Since I'm now a pseudo-midwesterner, I upped the ante and embarked on creating one for Iowa, my current home, that included every nook and cranny of the state. I give you: Bookmark This List: 100+ (Weird, One-of-a-Kind) Community Events in 99 Iowa Counties in 2025.

To do this well, I hit up the big guns: my top-notch colleagues in the Community and Economic Development unit at Iowa State Extension and Outreach and Husband Aaron.

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A Fairly Comprehensive List of 2025 Community Events in the Mississippi Delta(ish)

As January is for plan-making, and I’m feeling a touch homesick for the Sipp, I thought I’d make a list for, well, pretty much everybody: including all you fellow Mississippians, you Mississippi-appreciators, you adventurous folk always gunnin’ for a road trip, and especially for you folks who’ve never been to Mississippi, but have a lot of preconceived notions about it. :)

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