Kansas City, MO, July 12, 2023: This summer, Charlotte Street is pleased to premiere Artboards by artist Jonné Pratt and a collaboration by Michelle Chan and Jeff Tamblyn. The newly installed Artboards are currentlyon view at 125 Southwest Boulevard. The Artboards program captures the creative spirit of the Crossroads neighborhood, serving as an alternative outdoor platform where artists’ work can be viewed during all hours of the day. This current installation of the Artboards will remain on view through the end of September 2023.
Jonné Pratt’s west-facing Artboards explore the relationship between individuals through abstract gradients. Jonné says, “Both parties have a strong desire to come together — to be one, yet they are met with resistance. […] Together, these pieces represent desire, passion, and the small obstacles we face in pursuing love.”
The east-facing Artboards feature a collaboration between Michelle Chan and Jeff Tamblyn exploring identity, culture, and heritage through dual portraits. “The hat worn is a hybrid of a Western cowboy hat and Chinese emperor crown, the mianguan. It encompasses the experience of not exclusively belonging to one culture or the other, often hanging on the boundary between,” says Michelle. She continues, “The images engage viewers to contemplate what they hold essential and the dangers of losing sight of one’s origins.” Jeff goes on to say, “The images bring a tone of irony and a slightly humorous, seductive quality to this perplexing physical manifestation of the culture clash.”
ABOUTJONNÉ PRATT
Jonné Pratt was raised on the Eastside of Kansas City, Missouri. By day, she is a designer in the advertising industry creating work that brings ideas to life. In curiosity and through passion, she uses design to dissect concepts of identity, emotion, and human relationships. She took her very first graphic design Course in high school as a student at Lincoln College Preparatory Academy. From there she went to study graphic design in college where she was able to explore how design impacts and influences different industries.
ABOUT MICHELLE CHAN
Michelle Chan is an interdisciplinary fiber artist based in Kansas City, Missouri. Born and raised in the Midwest, her work addresses being an American-born Chinese through the lens of pop culture and consumerism. Her pieces reference snacks, consumer objects and costumes in the realm of kitsch and play. Currently she is focusing on creating works that showcase the hybridity of her Chinese and American cultural upbringing.
ABOUT JEFF TAMBLYN
Abstract photographic artist Jeff Tamblyn has also worked in experimental live theater, improvisational
stand-up comedy, filmmaking, and art-house film distribution. His current work relies heavily on intuition and thoughtfully planned randomness to challenge conventional forms and cultural insularity.
Tamblyn exhibits on a nearly continuous basis, having shown at over 20 local and regional venues.
ABOUT ARTBOARDS
The Crossroads Artboards were launched in fall 2008 as a partnership between Charlotte Street Foundation and Missouri Bank (now BOK Financial). The Artboards program is currently supported in part by the Crossroads Community Association. Over 100 Kansas City area artists have been featured on the ARTBOARDS to date. For a complete listing and more information, visit https://charlottestreet.org/awards/crossroads-artboards/
ABOUT CHARLOTTE STREET
Charlotte Street centers Kansas City’s most forward-thinking visual artists, writers, and performers—acting as the primary incubator, provocateur, and connector for the region’s contemporary arts community, and its leading advocate on the national stage. Since 1997, Charlotte Street has distributed over $2 million in awards and grants to artists and their innovative projects, and connected individual artists to each other and to the greater Kansas City community. For more information about Charlotte Street, its awards, programs, and initiatives, visit Charlottestreet.org
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