A bespectacled adolescent digs into his “bucket of fries,” while the redhead in the bunny-eared headband struggles to manage her inflatable prizes and an aging male clutches a bag of leftover cotton candy tufts. These unlikely stars of Kate Shannon’s image series, Within a Happy Crowd, would have drowned in a sea of faces without Shannon’s work.
“It’s a body of work that maybe I’m the most excited about,” Shannon says. “It’s thinking about a complex crowd and pulling out one single person.”
According to Shannon, it’s not just about the person, but the moment as well. “There’s this grand amount of time that’s passing and we have this fraction of second,” Shannon explains.
Born in Kentucky but raised outside of Nashville, Shannon says she never thought she’d call Ohio “home,” but after completing her master’s in studio art at the Ohio State University main campus, and entering her fifth year as a full-time faculty member at the OSU Mansfield campus, she’s happy to stay.
Upon applying for her currently-held faculty position she had little knowledge of the city. “I don’t think I’d ever really heard of Mansfield,” she says, “but it seemed like a great opportunity.” Since her move to the area, Shannon and her husband, Cameron Sharp, have been active participants and developers of the local art community.
“Downtown, there’s a lot happening right now,” Shannon says, referencing bookstore poetry readings and new art galleries amidst an ever-growing desire in the community to discuss and learn from one another.
“There’s a lot going on, it’s just not as obvious as it is in bigger places like Columbus,” she explains. “One thing that’s been cool about living here is we don’t take things for granted. We’re really excited and enthusiastic, whereas in Columbus, there’s so much going on that we tend to get immune to it in a way.”
According to Shannon, a challenge for any small community is recognizing its perks amidst the draw of places like New York and Chicago. “A lot of times people get excited about art and they want to leave,” she explains. “That makes a lot of sense, but there are opportunities here too.” The internet age allows artists from across the world connect and dialogue and according to Shannon, a small community doesn’t crush opportunity.
Though she’s unable to attend all of the shows, Shannon consistently showcases her work in exhibits across the country. A recent solo exhibit at Marshall University in West Virginia holds a special place in her heart because of the freedom she felt to think conceptually about the space rather than just the artwork. “I’m really interested, in my artwork, thinking about consumption and desire,” she explains. “This particular space was a little bit tacky and gaudy and I was really excited about that. It used to be a retail place so the windows opened up onto the street and people could walk by and look in just like they would look in at a store, but they were looking in at the art.”
As Shannon tells her students, there’s a lot of freedom in art not just to create and appreciate but to think about how to distinguish yourself from other artists and if it’s actually necessary to do so. “We’re constantly creating images and sharing images,” she says. “In a world where images are so prevalent how do you use images as art?” This kind of thinking can challenge students on one of the many paths in the learning process.
“I think a lot of learning can happen through proximity,” she says. “When my students see me printing or framing something or talking about a show I’m participating in, a lot of learning can happen that way too. For an artist, it’s the greatest job in the world for sure.”
There’s this grand amount of time that’s passing and we have this fraction of second,” Kate Shannon explains.
