Blue Collar

The Cincinnati Arts Association’s Alice F. and Harris K. Weston Art Gallery in the Aronoff Center for the Arts debuts its 2006-07 exhibition season with Images of America: African American Voices / Selections from the Collection of Mr. & Mrs. Darrell Walker, an extraordinary collection of historical and contemporary African American artists; and Blue Collar: Sculpture by Kyle & Kelly Phelps, a poignant look at the daily struggles of factory workers.

Presented concurrently with the Walker Collection, Blue Collar, a series of fifteen expressive figurative sculptures by the collaborative artists and identical twin brothers, Kyle and Kelly Phelps, will be featured in the Weston Art Gallery’s street-level space. Inspired by their personal experiences as third-generation factory workers in New Castle, IN, Kelly Phelps (assistant professor of art at Xavier University) and Kyle Phelps (assistant professor of art at the University of Dayton), collaborate on sculptures that reflect upon social issues impacting the daily struggles of the working class. Depicting everyday workers within industrial settings, they employ innovative ceramic-based techniques to effectively create dramatic and poignant vignettes through a contemporary re-interpretation of social realism. 

Both Kyle and Kelly Phelps are graduates of the University of Kentucky where they earned masters of fine arts in sculpture in 2000. Their sculpture has been shown extensively in local and regional exhibitions and is represented in numerous private collections. They have been awarded many private and public commissions. Both Phelps live and maintain a studio in Centerville, OH. 

Gallery Talk Series: Thurs., Sept. 28, 7 p.m.

Families Create! Education Workshop: Sat., Sept. 9, 2006