SIOUX CITY -- Terri Parish McGaffin stood on the sidewalk outside of the Sioux City Art Center Wednesday morning and exclaimed, "It's so beautiful," as she gazed upward at a section of "Razzle Dazzle," a vibrant large-scale fabric installation draping a brick veneer wall on the south side of the building. McGaffin wiped tears from her eyes alongside Amanda Browder, a Brooklyn-based artist who has spent the last year sewing strips of fabric for the installation with members of the community, including McGaffin, who is an artist herself. Browder estimated that somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 to 500 Siouxlanders helped her create the installation, which consists of at least 25,000 square feet of fabric.
They gathered at public sewing days that were held at places such as the Aalfs Downtown and Morningside Branch libraries, Briar Cliff University, the Siouxland Center for Active Generations and Jefferson Beer Supply. Since the draping began Monday ahead of ArtSplash's 30th anniversary, Browder said she has been feeling a mix of stress and excitement. The sewing process began way back on Labor Day weekend 2023, during the 29th ArtSplash on the Art Center's campus.
ArtSplash is the Art Center's annual fundraising event. This year's two-day art festival kicks off on Aug. 31.
Amanda Browder, right, hugs Sioux City artist Terri Parish McGaffin in front of a portion of Browder's art work "Razzle Dazzle" that is being installed on the exterior of the Sioux City Art Center Wednesday, August. 21, 2024. Browder, based in Brooklyn, New York, has been working on the piece with local volunteers - including Parish McGaffin - for the past year.
The work is expected to be in installed by Friday. Tim Hynds, Sioux City Journal "It's very emotional. It's a really heavy experience.
I think that contemporary art does not always push forward, and this is something where it's so big you can't ignore it," Browder, dressed in bib overalls and an orange shirt she made, said as her eyes welled up with tears. "The volunteers are the ones that helped build it. It wasn't just me.
It wasn't a hidden experience. Everybody was able to come and get involved. And so I am overwhelmed because I got to meet so many wonderful people in Sioux City.
" Some fabrics included in "Razzle Dazzle" are cultural in nature or pay homage to people who have died. Others were just no longer wanted by their owners. Each piece tells a story.
Browder looks upward toward the top corner of the wall, eyeing a blue swatch of fabric. She said it came from a Raggedy Ann Halloween costume a woman's grandmother made her. The woman donated the fabric for the installation at a local business and later went to one of Browder's sewing days at the Gilchrist Learning Center on the Art Center's campus.
"Her fabric was right there. We didn't expect that to happen," Browder said. "Then she showed me a picture of her and her dad when she was like five, and she's wearing the whole costume.
" Amanda Browder, right, and Sioux City Art Center curator Christopher Atkins place a panel of fabric onto a cart in preparation for hoisting it to the roof of the art center's Gilchrist Learning Center while working to install Browder's art work "Razzle Dazzle" on the exterior of the Sioux City Art Center Wednesday, August. 21, 2024. Browder, based in Brooklyn, New York, has been working on the piece with local volunteers for the past year.
The work is expected to be in installed by Friday. Tim Hynds, Sioux City Journal There's Minion-themed fabric, polka dot patterns and floral prints. A light-pink section of the installation features flour sacks that date back to the Great Depression.
"People didn't have any material, so women were actually using these to make dresses. Well, they realized they were making dresses, so they started printing on them," Browder said manufacturers. G oing up Browder and Curator Christopher Atkins tied up a section of "Razzle Dazzle," which laid on the floor of the Art Center rotunda, with strips of fabric.
Then, Atkins piled it onto a pushcart and wheeled it out of the Art Center's glass front doors. Amanda Browder watches as workers hoist a cart of fabric onto the roof of the Sioux City Art Center's Gilchrist Learning Center while installing her art work "Razzle Dazzle" Wednesday, August. 21, 2024.
Browder, based in Brooklyn, New York, has been working on the piece with local volunteers for the past year. The work is expected to be in installed by Friday. Tim Hynds, Sioux City Journal Outside, a blue construction lift raised the cart high into the air, transporting it to the top of the Gilchrist Learning Center's roof, near the entrance.
A crew from W.A. Klinger assisted with the installation, which began Monday.
"Razzle Dazzle" will remain on display through Oct. 31. "It's a lot of weights and clamps and drilling into just the foundation, not in the roof," Browder said.
"It gets really held down by a lot of weight." Sections of the installation also grace the corner of the Gilchrist Learning Center at Third and Pierce streets and transform the back of the Art Center's rotunda into a giant colorful kaleidoscope. "Razzle Dazzle" is being funded by grants, including one from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Amanda Browder pulls down fabric from the roof of the Sioux City Art Center's Gilchrist Learning Center while working to install her art work "Razzle Dazzle" Wednesday, August. 21, 2024. Browder, based in Brooklyn, New York, has been working on the piece with local volunteers for the past year.
The work is expected to be in installed by Friday. Tim Hynds, Sioux City Journal "We started planning this installation way in advance. We met with our collaborator over at Klinger during Amanda's last trip here, which was in March," Atkins said.
"You can never plan too early for projects like this. Amanda's done this plenty of times, but every building, every situation is a little bit different." "Razzle Dazzle" at the Art Center is one of Browder's bigger installations, but she said it's not the largest.
She has "wrapped" roughly 25 buildings all over the world. "There's two views from it -- the far distance, as well as the up close. We want it to be something that people can actually get up and touch and see how much work went into it.
Amanda's very intentional about where each of those colors went," Atkins said. Amanda Browder holds fabric to keep it from blowing in the wind on the side of the Sioux City Art Center's Gilchrist Learning Center while installing her artwork "Razzle Dazzle" Wednesday, August. 21, 2024.
Browder, based in Brooklyn, New York, has been working on the piece with local volunteers for the past year. The work is expected to be in installed by Friday. Tim Hynds, Sioux City Journal Browder joked that she hopes a vehicle from Google Earth shows up and takes a photo of the Art Center draped in "Razzle Dazzle.
" The installation is visible from I-29. "I think a lot of times when we think about art intuitions, they're scary. We don't feel welcome when we walk in there," she said.
"So I love that we can put this on the outside. Anybody driving by can see it. The building begins to be more obvious to people.
It's not buried within the community. It's really loud. I've already heard that people can see it from the highway.
" Amanda Browder, right, points out a piece of fabric to Sioux City artist Terri Parish McGaffin on a portion of Browder's art work "Razzle Dazzle" that is being installed on the exterior of the Sioux City Art Center Wednesday, August. 21, 2024. Browder, based in Brooklyn, New York, has been working on the piece with local volunteers - including Parish McGaffin - for the past year.
The work is expected to be in installed by Friday. Tim Hynds, Sioux City Journal The Journal’s Jared McNett shows how to download and browse the Sioux City Journal's app. Jesse Brothers.
