IN THE NEWS
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New art installation at Lewis and Clark Library
HELENA — Lewis and Clark Library is home to a new art installation. And all you have to do to see it is look up.
“And I just think that it’s a great conversation piece. And I think it’s beautiful and fun at the same time,” says Director of Lewis and Clark Library, John Finn.
John Waltner was in Helena around a year ago visiting his family when they entered the public library. Upon looking up into the newly created library, John knew that his art could fill in the empty space above the books quite nicely…
See the full article and watch the video on KHTV.
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John Waltner's Mobile
"Spring"
– Raylene Hinz-Penner
BCMS Kaleidoscope
(May – June 2022)
The longer I stood beneath the elegant floating arms of John Waltner’s very large mobile in the high foyer entry at Mark Arts, 1307 North Rock Road, in Wichita, the lighter I felt, elevated, calmer, peaceful. There is something about observing the balance of a large mobile above you, its gentle slow movement as it gives itself to whatever air movement catches, that makes you long for balance, gentleness, peace. The colors hung suspended high above me in a way that color does not often linger in pure tones without shifting. John would tell me later that this mobile, at least a five-month project, was for him a daring movement into color; he had been working with minimal color, mostly black interrupted with a one-color focal point. He began to imagine an explosion of colors and “Spring” was the result.
John loves mobiles and loves making things with his hands. He loves the problem solving that comes with imagining something and working toward its realization, admits he falls asleep at night imagining how he can make his vision a reality. He loves the way the mobile he begins takes him on a journey, evolves, as he stakes the horizontal lines of the mobile vertically balancing one atop the next, rising, rising to the top, though the balancing act is not as difficult as it appears, he claims: the mobile balances itself. He shows us on his index finger.
John also has a current exhibit of some 20+ of his smaller mobiles at City Arts in Wichita until July 22. This exhibit he calls “A Murder of Mobiles.” Check the website where you can see an online exhibit of the mobiles to either view (or buy!) them: But go in person to Mark Arts and sit under “Spring” to experience the effects of a mobile on your psyche. The pictures can’t possibly do it justice.
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Hesston artist’s mobile art to be featured in Wichita galleries
–Arts / March 23, 2022
Harvey County Now
HESSTON—John Waltner has returned to an old interest in his retirement years.
The former teacher said he took a lot of history courses in college, including some on art history. He ran across Alexander Calder, an American artist known for his innovative mobiles…
See the full article on Harvey County Now.
Contact
Explore space and movement in a whole new way
John Waltner
email: johndwaltner@gmail.com
phone: (316) 727-9954