Kokomo Art Association features industrial blight, nature's fragility in July

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The Kokomo Art Association (KAA) is finding beauty in nature and what comes after man has exploited and abandoned it. The strange juxtaposition of the two can be seen in a pair of exhibits on display through the end of July.

Explore the forgotten corners of Kokomo's industrial past through a Photo and Architectural Design exhibit, on display through July 26 at the Kokomo Art Association's Artworks Gallery, 210 N. Main St.

Photographs and artifacts are on display, providing a visual journey to discover beauty within the decay of Kokomo's industrial past. Featured in the exhibition is "40.47308 N, 86.12829 W Haynes-to-Chrysler Kokomo Casting Plant," with works by Corrin Larson and Alexander Toms.

Larson and Toms are Bachelor of Fine Arts graduates of Indianapolis' Herron School of Art and Design class of 2024. Through each of their shared interests in photography and urban exploration, together they stumbled upon Kokomo's out-of-use Chrysler Casting Plant represented in this exhibition.

Toms is a frame maker at the Circle City Industrial Complex, contributing editor for F2.8 Press, and book arts assistant at the Herron Art Library.

Larson is a medical photographer for Meridian Plastic surgeons. She has been published for urban architectural photography in the Spring 2024 editions of Genesis Magazine and Paris/Atlantic Magazine.

Visitors to Artworks in July also can enjoy the work of the KAA's featured artist for the month, Anne Maddox.

Maddox, a British-born wildlife artist and advocate now living in Marion, draws inspiration from nature to paint her intricate ecosystems paintings. Each work represents a different area and time period of the year and is filled with plants and creatures that visit or live in that particular habitat, demonstrating the interconnections of the natural world and why it needs to be protected.

She occasionally takes part in plein air paint-outs, executing landscapes in oil or acrylics, as well as studio work, and has written and illustrated three books, one on Peace Prayers from the major religions and two children’s books.

The Artworks Gallery is open from 1-4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For additional information, visit www.kaaonline.org.