Joe Casey

www.joecasey.org

(1900-1987) Unknown as an artist to the South Bend community for most of his life, Joseph Sylvester Casey’s images of childhood memories and scenic landscapes now reside in many private collections in South Bend and Chicago.

Joe moved to South Bend in 1921 from Blackwell, MO, and worked at Studebaker and Bendix plants until retirement. Entirely self-taught, Joe loved to paint idyllic, rural Missouri farm scenes and wooded fishing spots, as well as portraits of his family.

Jake Webster

www.jakewebster.org

Jake Webster is a sculptor, mixed media artist and spoken word performer. His work speaks about his community and the environment in which he lives. He uses the tradition of direct carving, and applies a contemporary attitude by creating art with whatever is at hand to tell his story.

In Jake’s words: “I use simple tools to cut simple shapes to make a simple statement about a simple world we have made more complex.”

Jake’s work can be found in many private and public collections. His studio is located in Elkhart, Indiana and is usually open to the public on weekends and by appointment.

Kay Westhues

www.kaywesthues.com

Kay is a photographer who is interested in documenting the ways in which rural tradition and history are interpreted and transformed in the present day. She just completed a five-year project photographing rural culture in the Midwest, which was exhibited at the Snite Museum of Art, Notre Dame, as well as the Lodz Photofestiwal in Lodz, Poland.

She is a recipient of a 2010 Indiana Individual Artist grant, and is beginning a new series about people’s relationship to water.