Selected from a pool of applicants from all over the nation, Melanie Jeffs was delighted to serve as Artist-in-Residence with the Hiawatha National Forest of Michigan. Living at the historic Farrell Cottage on Grand Island during the summer of 2004, Ms. Jeffs experienced the island environment on a first hand basis.

From bike riding to the Northeast point to spending afternoons at Trout Bay beach, Ms. Jeffs had the opportunity to explore Grand Island. Sighting black bears, Sandhill crane, and nesting turtles by Duck Lake provided the background for extensive artistic research.

Approximately eight miles long and three miles wide, Grand Island is rich in both natural and culturally historic resources. Acquired by the National Forest Service in the early 1990's, Grand Island is a designated National Recreation Area. Special features of the island include lighthouses, dramatic cliffs, and a unique geological formation called a tombolo. The tombolo connects the main island body to a second smaller island body and creates harbor for Trout Bay and protects the opposite Murray Bay. Historically the tombolo served as the main residing spot of the Chippewa Native Americans who populated the island prior to the arrival of European explorers, French Voyageurs and fur traders.

Grand Island has been the base for a variety of human activities including Native American settlement, trading post headquarters, mining and logging exploits, game preserve development, and vacation resort development. Currently, Grand Island is a conservation area with the Forest Service maintaining historical buildings and protecting the wildlife and environment of the island. Grand Island is also a summer home to a group of families who have historical ties with the island from generations of activity there. Archaeological experts are studying the island and hold academic summer workshops there. Artifacts dating as far back as 2,000 BC have been found on the island.

Supported in part by the Hiawatha Interpretive Association, the Artist-in-Residence program provides an opportunity for artists to visit Grand Island and develop an interpretive artwork about the environment there. Educational outreach is part of the program too. Melanie Jeffs held a workshop for children focused on tile making, as well as giving an evening presentation at the Alger County Heritage Center. Ms. Jeffs is currently working on a handmade tile mural reflective of the Grand Island environment.

Melanie Jeffs of Workshop Wonders is honored to have been selected as a participating artist with the Bigfork Art & Cultural Center's Fiber, Earth, and Fire III art show. Located by the shores of Flathead Lake Bigfork, Montana is well known as a cultural hot spot of Montana. The Fiber, Earth, and Fire III art show featured Montana artists practicing the mediums of ceramics, fabric art, glass art, and wood working specialists. Sculptural furniture and fabric wall hangings as well as glass works and ceramic pieces were highlights of the show.

Ms. Jeffs was chosen as the exclusive ceramic artist of the show. Her pieces included individual handmade ceramic tiles, a handcrafted ceramic tile mural, and an installation piece titled Variations on a Green Man. Shown below, the piece consists of a series of high-fired soda fired gargoyle figures.

Workshop Wonders is pleased to announce the selection of Melanie Jeffs as Artist-in-Residence with the Badlands National Park for the autumn of 2003. Melanie was selected from a pool of applicants submitted from all over the nation. After living at the Badlands National Park for a month, Ms. Jeffs has created a ceramic tile mural reflective of the unique geography of the Badlands.

What is an Artist-in-Residence?

The Badlands National Park supports a program called Artist-in-Residence. Sponsored in part by the Badlands Natural History Association, twice a year the Badlands National Park hosts an artist to reside in the park for a period of 4 to 6 weeks. During that time period the artist experiences the Park environment first hand, reflects on the experience, and creates an artwork based on the Park environment. A variety of artists, including specialists in photography, painting, ceramics, and music, have all enjoyed their time as Artists-in-Residents at the Park. A display of Artist-in-Residence artworks can be viewed in the Badlands Ben Reifel Visitor Center.

Who benefits:
The benefits of the Artist-in-Residence program are multifold. Park visitors benefit by enjoying the artistic interpretations of the Badlands National Park. Artists present a variety of views that enrich the Park visitors' experiences. As an educational aspect, local students of Interior, SD benefit with educational outreach programs. From photography field trips to mural painting to ceramic creation, each Artist-in-Residence provides an informative program for the students. In addition, the Park itself benefits by acquiring artworks representative of the beauty of the Badlands National Park. Each artist who participates in the program benefits by the unique experience of living in the Badlands National Park. Providing magnificent natural subject matter, moments of reflective solitude, and an abundance of historical resources, the Badlands lend themselves to artistic inspiration.

My personal experience:

As an Artist-in-Residence during the autumn of 2003, I have enjoyed a multitude of artistic inspirations. From hearing coyotes howling amongst the formidable rock formations under a full moon to watching Big Horn Sheep graze across from the Ben Reifel Visitor Center, the Badlands National Park provides an endless display of natural beauty. Hiking the Castle Trail contained moments of visual splendor. Reading about the Ghost Dance and Wounded Knee put the astounding landscape into a new perspective. Interacting with the 3rd and 4th grade students of Interior brought a refreshing outlook on the Badlands as a constantly renewed experience passing through the generations.

The final art piece I have chosen to create, reflective of the Badlands National Park, is a hand sculpted bas-relief ceramic tile mural titled Hoodoo Sky. Based on the landscape within the Park, this mural depicts awesome rock formations layered in glowing hues of red, gold, and brown. The sky is shown as a crisp blue filled with towering white billowed clouds. One of my favorite rock phenomena of the Park, a hoodoo, or cap rock, perches in the left corner of the Hoodoo Sky mural. Included also are a cactus and yucca plants. Aiming to capture my many moments of awe struck splendor, to culminate in a final artwork, has been challenging and rewarding. Truly, being an Artist-in-Residence with the Badlands National Park has been a wonderful once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Check out the article in TILE MAGAZINE that highlights this project. Visit the Newsmakers in the Crafts Community article in NICHE ART MAGAZINE that also spotlights the Badlands National Park Artist-in-Residence project.

Save the Roxy: An artist’s story

By Melanie Jeffs

Today the historic Roxy theatre is home to the International Wildlife Film Festival and Media Center. That was not always the case. In my college days in the 1980’s the Roxy theatre harkened on weekends to local students as a single screen movie house with its one-dollar seat specials. It was an experience to venture into the somewhat dank auditorium with its sticky floors, unreliable seats, and scratchy screen looming above the expectant audience. Not necessarily the most refined experience, but in its own way a warm invitation for some entertainment on a Friday night.

With dismay I stood one chilly evening in 1994 and witnessed this special old building be consumed by fire. It seemed all of Missoula had spontaneously gathered on the crowded sidewalk along Higgins Ave. to urge firemen to save this treasured landmark. Huddled with my husband and infant son in my arms I watched as glowing orange flames flitted through the huge metal ROXY sign letters blackening and distorting them. I wondered, what will happen to this unique gathering place?

Imagine my delight a few years later when the International Wildlife Film Festival organization announced it was growing into a year round Media Center and was considering the Roxy as its new home. The Roxy has undergone a facelift since the fire gutted it. It now holds three separate theatres. Everything is newly painted and up-to-date. All it lacked was a vital spark to bring the historic place back to life for Missoula. I knew the International Wildlife Film Festival could provide that spark.

As a ceramic artist in Montana, my artwork is inspired by the wildlife and nature of the Rocky Mountains. Brainstorming with IWFF’s executive director, Janet Rose, we began to visualize a wildlife tile mural to commemorate donations to the Save the Roxy fundraising campaign. Each tile could display a donator’s name with an animal native to Montana, we speculated. Supported by an artist’s grant from the Montana Arts Council and inspired by the generosity of the Missoula community that is indeed exactly what has happened.

Over three hundred tiles later, the Wildlife Wild Wall is now installed in the lobby of the historic Roxy theatre. After hand painting each animal design, what a thrill it is to walk into the lobby and read the names on each tile. From school grade classrooms that collected their coins to sponsor a tile, to fire department groups, to local businesses, to individuals, everyone is equally represented and appreciated. I am proud to have collaborated my artistic skills with the International Wildlife Film Festival and Media Center to create a community artwork for all of Missoula to enjoy.

Melanie Jeffs is a professional ceramic artist and founder of Workshop Wonders, a ceramic arts business based in Missoula, MT. Visit www.WorkshopWonders.com to view the complete line of Ms. Jeffs’ decorative ceramic tile artwork. Contact the artist at (406) 543-1516 or ‘Contact’.

Check out the article in NICHE ART MAGAZINE that highlights this project.

Melanie Jeffs was awarded an artistic grant from the Montana Arts Council, an agency of the State Government, to support the creation of The Wildlife Wild Wall in the Roxy Theatre.

Read the article in High Country News all about the Wildlife Wild Wall by Melanie Jeffs at the Roxy Theatre at High Country News.org.

Melanie Jeffs of Workshop Wonders has been selected as one of ten Montana artists to participate in the Artist * Forest * Community program. Designed as a partership between the Holter Museum of Art and the Helena National Forest, the Artist * Forest * Community program recognizes outstanding professional artists of Montana.

As Artist in Residence, Melanie lived during the summer of 2002 in a Forest Service cabin and created a public artwork to reflective on the experience. The ideals of the program are to bring an interactive perspective of nature to the public through artwork. Melanie embraces the challenge of this project with heartfelt ethusiasm.