Tag Archives: public art

Jane Ingram Allen’s Work Now in Public Art Collection of City of W. Des Moines, Iowa

14 Sunday Dec 2025

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3 Flags in Space

Created by Jane Ingram Allen; 1992

Long-time West Des Moines residents Jaey and Brenda Sedlacek generously donated this piece from their private collection to enhance the City’s permanent public art collection. Brenda served as a Commissioner on the West Des Moines Public Arts Advisory Board from 2011 to 2023. The Sedlacek family previously contributed the artwork titled “Confluence,” which is displayed in front of City Hall, in 2022.

3 Flags in Space was created by artist Jane Ingram Allen in 1992 and is eight feet wide by three feet deep by 6 feet high. Allen uses all natural and biodegradable materials such as handmade paper she makes from local plant waste materials and seeds to produce continually evolving artworks that transform with nature as a partner.

The Public Arts Advisory Commission endorsed the acceptance of the 3 Flags in Space donation into the City’s permanent public art collection on October 24, 2024, with City Council accepting the donation on November 18, 2024. 

The artwork is displayed on the wall of the central staircase at West Des Moines City Hall., W. Des Moines, Iowa.

“Jane Ingram Allen -Papermaking Around the World” Exhibition now on view in Mountain View, CA

15 Tuesday Aug 2023

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View of “Jane Ingram Allen – Papermaking Around the World” exhibition at Mountain View Performing Arts Center

Solo Exhibition in Mountain View, CA:  “Jane Ingram Allen – Papermaking Around the World” at Mountain View Performing Arts Center Lobby Gallery, August 15 – Oct. 2, 2023.  For more information:  https://www.mvcpa.com/events/lobby-art.

This exhibition features a selection of handmade paper “site map” works Jane has created as an artist-in-residence in countries around the world including Taiwan, Japan, Costa Rica, Brazil, Tanzania, Indonesia (Bali) and the USA.  Jane was one of 10 artists selected by the City of Mountain View Visual Art Committee for an exhibition in 2023. The mixed-media works are all made with handmade paper, thread and other materials Jane collected in each place and reflect her experience of the time and place. Exhibit hours are Monday, Wednesday & Friday, 12 p.m. – 1 pm, and one hour prior to every public performance.  See the Calendar of Events for performance dates and times: https://www.mvcpa.com/events/calendar The lobby is also open during Box Office hours for the Mountain View Performing Arts Center, and most of the work can also be viewed through the many large windows in this interesting building at 500 Castro Street in downtown Mountain View, CA, next to City Hall. The show is up through Oct. 2, 2023.

Here are more views of the exhibition. All photos are by Timothy S. Allen (https://allentimphotos2.wordpress.com).

Venturing Out – My Art Activities in September 2020 and Beyond

05 Saturday Sep 2020

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Here are some of the art projects I am currently participating in and some that are coming up soon, as we venture forth from the pandemic and quarantine.

Hello World is an international online art exhibition and art project by TransCultural Exchange in Boston, MA. This international art project was conceived and curated by artist/curator Mary Sherman. This pandemic art project was conceived as a way to bring together artists from various countries around the world to share what they are doing and continue international cultural exchange travel during this time of the pandemic. This art project will be online indefinitely, and here is a link to my contribution for this project (click on the far-right photo in the second line):
https://transculturalexchange.org/activities/hw/projects.htm




California Petals is a public art installation I created in August 2020 for a downtown storefront window in Santa Rosa, CA, and it can be viewed at any time from now to October 15, 2020. My installation is part of the Santa Rosa Downtown Chamber’s “Open and Out” program of cultural activities in the downtown area to encourage people to stroll around in the “pedestrians only” blocks of Fourth Street where many restaurants and stores are now open for outdoor dining and limited in-person shopping. My art installation is in a vacant storefront window at 620 Fourth Street, and it consists of many giant handmade paper flower petals with seeds for California wildflowers in the pulp. After the installation comes down on October 15, I plan to “plant” these petals in Santa Rosa so that they will change over time, sprout and bloom in colorful wildflowers. Here is a link to my Blog that has more information about “California Petals”: https://www.openandoutsr.com/art/art1-cbcmw

public art installation California Petals in downtown Santa Rosa, CA

Falling Open: On & Off the Page, Themes of Our Time is a group exhibition at Gallery Route One, Point Reyes Station, CA, that will be online as well as open for appointment viewing from September 18 to October 15, 2020. This is an invitational exhibition of artworks selected by curator Renee Owen that includes handmade artist books, installations and other works that relate to current environmental, social and pandemic issues. For this exhibition I will be showing a new work titled “Daily Scrolls” created during my first months of pandemic quarantine. This artwork has 91 handmade paper scrolls each with unique text and images that reflect my daily thoughts and experiences during this time. For more information about this exhibition: https://galleryrouteone.org/upcoming-events/

Daily Scrolls paper sculpture

Upcoming Art Projects and Activities

2020 Lucid Art Foundation Alumni Exhibition is an online exhibition of selected works by past artists in residence at the Lucid Art Foundation in Inverness, CA. I was an artist in residence at the Lucid Art Foundation in 2013, and for this exhibition one handmade paper sculpture I made during my 2013 residency and another handmade paper sculpture created this year will be included. The first piece made in 2013 is titled “Feather Duster” and makes use of branches from a local olive tree and handmade paper “feathers” I created from local plants. My other paper sculpture in this exhibition created in 2020 is titled “Paper Poppy” and depicts a giant California golden poppy like those blooming in my yard during the pandemic this Spring. Here is a link to this online exhibition: http://www.lucidart.org/exhibitions#current-exhibitions

Paper Poppy

Living Quilt for Sojourner Truth, Artist in Residency Project, Sacramento, CA is a public art project that will be completed in November 2020 at the Sojourner Truth Community Garden, Sacramento, CA. I was selected for the City of Sacramento’s Artist in Residency Program to create a site-specific art installation at a community garden in the Pocket-Greenhaven area of Sacramento. For this project I had planned public participation activities and workshops, but this has not been possible because of the pandemic. I will create the handmade paper “quilt” in a traditional “North Star” pattern with seeds in the pulp and bring it to Sacramento in November to create a “bed” for the “quilt” and install it at the Sojourner Truth Community Garden where it will transform over time. I will be making Zoom programs for online public participation. For information about the City of Sacramento Artist in Residency program: https://arts.cityofsacramento.org/Programs/Sacramento-AIR See my Blog for updates about this project and the upcoming Zoom programs: https://janeingramallen.wordpress.com

quilt block in “North Star” pattern for Living Quilt for Sojourner Truth in Sacramento, CA

Labor Natur, Haus zur Glocke, Steckborn, Switzerland is an exhibition curated by Judit Villager of works by three international artists who explore connections between art and science and use nature as a laboratory. This exhibition is open to the public in Switzerland from November 21, to December 12, 2020. For this exhibition I will be shipping some of my handmade paper “site maps” made in residencies around the world to Switzerland and also creating a new “site map” of the Lake Constance area encompassing Switzerland, Germany and Austria in my Santa Rosa, California, studio. I am doing online research gathering photos and information about plants that are common to northern California and the Steckborn area. Also, Judit Villager is sending me some materials by mail from Switzerland that I can put into the mixed media handmade paper site map. I hope to be able to travel to Switzerland in Spring 2021 for an artist in residency public art project at Haus zur Glocke. For more information about this exhibition in German only: https://www.hauszurglocke.ch/agenda/ausstellung//labor-natur1/
Or see this link in English at my Blog: https://janeingramallen.wordpress.com

Lake Constance Site Map in progress

Papermaking Art Workshops and art consulting sessions in my new Santa Rosa studio will be starting again in 2021. Contact me at info@janeingramallen.com to get the latest information about upcoming classes and individual consulting appointment.

papermaking in my Santa Rosa studio – creating “California Petals”

Living Quilt for Santa Rosa blooming again!

14 Tuesday Apr 2020

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Today my husband Tim and I went by the site of my Living Quilt for Santa Rosa installation at Rincon Ridge Park in the Fountaingrove area of Santa Rosa, CA. This public artwork was supported by a grant from the City of Santa Rosa as part of a call to artists to respond to the devastating wildfires of October 2017. It was great to see this evidence of the regenerative powers of nature and rejoice in the bright golden poppies, white linen poppies and small blue forget-me-nots and white allysium blooms.

These photos taken by my husband Timothy S. Allen show the art installation on April 13, 2020.  It is great to see this artwork surviving and thriving in these difficult times.

Here is a link to a youtube slide show about the artwork: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rfH104j92o
The video shows this artwork in all its phases as the handmade paper quilt with seeds for wildflowers in the pulp changes over time into a living bloom wildflower bed.

The headboard and footboard for the “bed” that was woven with trimmed tree branches, has blown over and been repaired and set back in place two different times after it blew down in storms with 70 mph+winds. Go out when you can to see the flowers in your neighborhood. 

New Public Art Project “Guns into Flowers” in Sacramento, CA

14 Monday Jan 2019

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During a 3-week artist-in-residency (February 25 – March 16, 2019) in Sacramento, CA at Natomas Charter School (http://www.natomascharter.org,) artist Jane Ingram Allen will create an outdoor public art installation titled “Guns into Flowers”.  The art project aims to raise awareness about gun violence and initiate public dialogue about possibilities for change. The art project will result in the creation of an outdoor sculpture installation consisting of a “flower bed” and a handmade paper quilt with a pattern of gun shapes and having seeds for wildflowers in the paper pulp to transform over time into living blooming wildflowers in the same colors and pattern.

Jane and Natomas Charter School Visual Arts teachers Jim Vetter and Chelsea Greninger

Jane standing at site for “Guns into Flowers” installation at South Natomas Community Center, Sacramento, CA.

Jim Vetter, Chelsea Greninger and Jane Ingram Allen at South Natomas Community Center, Sacramento, choosing site for “Guns into Flowers” installation.

Jane meeting with Natomas Charter School teachers, principal and Sacramento officials to plan the “Guns Into Flowers” art project

Jane and Chelsea Greninger, Natomas Charter School Visual Arts teacher hold a prototype for a quilt square for the Guns into Flowers art project. Natomas Charter School Principal Dr. Ting Sun and visual arts teacher Jim Vetter and Donald Gensler with Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission look on.

Jane meets at Natomas Charter School in the visual arts studio room to plan the “Guns into Flowers” art project in Sacramento.

The handmade paper quilt will be created by student participants working with the artist in “open studio” papermaking workshops at the Natomas Charter School, Performing and Fine Arts Academy (grades 6-12).  The quilt blocks will be created with stencils in the handmade paper sheet-forming process and individualized by each participant. The “Guns into Flowers” handmade paper quilt will be installed on a raised “flower bed” about 8 feet x 10 feet x 8 inches high with a headboard and footboard woven by the artist and participants using local trimmed tree branches. The handmade paper quilt will gradually dissolve into mulch over several weeks or months as the wildflower seeds in the pulp begin to sprout and grow, transforming the ”guns” into flowers.

The public art installation will be created in a public park at South Natomas Community Center and coordinated with city and park representatives. The public opening and installation ceremony for the “Guns into Flowers” project will be at 2PM, Saturday, March 16, 2019 at the site, South Natomas Community Center, 2921 Truxel Road. Sacramento, CA. “Guns into Flowers” will transform over time following the natural cycle of life and emphasize working together for social and environmental change.

Check this Blog often for continuing updates on this public art project.  All photos on this Blog are by Timothy S. Allen (alltentimphotos2.wordoress.com)

Seeds Are Sprouting at Living Quilt for Santa Rosa

21 Friday Dec 2018

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The public art installation “Living Quilt for Santa Rosa” is starting to sprout, and the tiny wildflower plants will continue to grow over the next few months. It all depends on nature, and we have had lots of rain lately. It also has not been too cold, so I hope that all holds out. These photos were taken on Dec. 20 at the site of the installation at Rincon Ridge Park, Santa Rosa, CA.
Hope everyone has a Happy Holiday time and that you get a chance to go see the installation as it continues to change over time. Thank you again to all the volunteers who helped with this public art project sponsored by the City of Santa Rosa as a response to the devastating wildfires of last October. Keep watching here for more photos of the installation.

 

Living Quilt for Santa Rosa Is Installed

26 Monday Nov 2018

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Jane Ingram Allen’s latest public art installation is now on view at Rincon Ridge Park in Santa Rosa, CA. You can come to the Park at any time over the next 6 months to see the progress and how nature transforms the artwork. The public art project “Living Quilt for Santa Rosa” was installed yesterday, Nov. 25, on a beautiful Fall day of bright sunshine and clean fresh air at a city park in the Fountaingrove area that was severely affected by the October 2017 wildfires in Santa Rosa. Many people helped with the installation and participated in decorating the headboard and footboard with colorful flowers and leaves brought by volunteers. Tara Thompson, art coordinator for the City of Santa Rosa, made an introductory presentation about the City’s public art “fire response” program and introduced the artist for this project. Then, Jane lead volunteers and community people in laying out the handmade paper quilt with seeds for wildflowers in the pulp and having the same colors and patterns. Jane used the “flying geese” traditional quilt pattern for this handmade paper quilt that was formed in strips to cover the 8 foot x 10 foot raised bed filled with soil.  A group of sketchers were also there at the installation to record this public art project.  Here is the website about the fire response sketching group in northern California: (https://sketchingclimatestories.com/index.php/sketching-fire-stories/

After the “Living Quilt for Santa Rosa” was all installed and staked down with wooden skewers that had a cork attached at the top, Jane and volunteers watered the quilt with a pump sprayer since there is still no water available at the site after hose connections and water lines were damaged by the wildfires in the area last October. The City is working hard to restore water in the Park, and several houses in the area are being rebuilt after the fires. It is hoped that this artwork will bring healing and new life with colorful wildflowers to this devastated area.

Here are some photos of the installation ceremony on November 25. The photos were taken by Timothy S. Allen, and you can see more of his photos at https://allentimphotos2.wordpress.com
Please continue to watch this Blog for more photos of the public art installation as rains come, and the seeds in the handmade paper quilt start to sprout and grow over the coming months. We are all thankful that rain is predicted for later this week in Santa Rosa. Thank you again to all those who volunteered to help with this art project by making handmade paper for the quilt and building the headboard and footboard for the “flower bed.”

 

Grant Received for “Living Quilt for Santa Rosa” public art project

25 Thursday Oct 2018

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Jane Ingram Allen has been awarded a grant by the City of Santa Rosa for a public art project to commemorate the October 2017 wildfires in Santa Rosa, California, that destroyed so many homes, businesses and forests. Jane’s artwork “Living Quilt for Santa Rosa” consists of a handmade paper quilt with seeds for wildflowers added to the pulp in the same colors as the quilt pattern. The quilt uses the traditional “Wild Geese” quilt pattern. The blue color in the quilt is paper pulp made from recycled blue jeans. The yellow-orange pulp is abaca (a type of banana leaf fiber) dyed with a non-toxic fiber reactive dye, and the white pulp is the natural color of the abaca. The wildflower seeds in the yellow-orange strips are for California poppies. The seeds in the blue pulp are for California bluebells and mixed blue wildflowers, and the seeds in the white pulp are for Baby’s Breath and white poppies. Community people will join the artist in helping to make the handmade paper quilt and weave a headboard and footboard of local trimmed branches for the “flower bed”. All of the materials in this eco-quilt are natural and bio-degradable and will change over time to become a living, blooming bed of wildflowers. “Living Quilt for Santa Rosa” will be installed in a public ceremony at Rincon Ridge Park, off Fountaingrove Parkway, in Santa Rosa, CA, at 2PM on Saturday, Dec. 1.

Everyone is invited to visit Jane’s studio in Santa Rosa on Saturday and Sunday, November 4 and 5, from 11AM to 5PM to help make paper for the project. During these two days, Jane will be holding community participation workshops to make handmade paper for the “Living Quilt for Santa Rosa”.  The workshops will be held during the Open Studio weekend at Studio Santa Rosa, 3840 Finley Avenue, Building 32, Studio 107.  For more information email info@janeingramallen.com

 

Living Quilt for Newnan featured in online publication this week

07 Saturday Oct 2017

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My recent installation “Living Quilt for Newnan” created during my August 2017 artist in residency in Newnan, Georgia, is featured on the SUNDAY PAPER Blog of papermaking artist and author Helen Hiebert. Here is the link:

Viewing a Life through Paper

Keep checking my Blog to see photos of the changes in the Newnan installation. Newnan Art Rez board member and artist Bette Hickman continues to take photos and send them to me. The wildflowers are growing! Hope to see some blooms soon before frost. This installation was created during a residency at Newnan Art Rez http://www.newnanartist.org
Photos on the Blog at helenhiebertstudio.com are by my husband Timothy S. Allen http://allentimphotos2.wordpress.com  The photos below taken on Sept. 29 are by Bette Hickman.