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Artist Calls Upon Van Gogh's vision of Sunflowers
Written by: John Milburn - The Associated Press - International
11/24/2000
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A larger, brighter sunflower is preparing to sprout on the Kansas plains. Unlike those planted in rows by farmers, this 80-foot version in Goodland isn't likely to wither.
The sunflower is the work of Canadian artist Cameron Cross, who has spent the past three months creating what is believed to be the largest replica of a Vincent Van Gogh work.
Cross,from Winnipeg, Manitoba, is the creative talent behind the Van Gogh Project, an effort to paint and erect seven giant easels with Van Gogh sunflowers. "It's very ambitious," said Cross,who is 37 -- the same age as Van
Gogh at his death. He put the final touches on the 32-foot-by-24-foot canvas in Goodland on Wednesday.
The Goodland project costs $150,000 and is made possible with the help of the Sunflowers USA Association, which raised funds for the artwork.
Cross chose Goodland because of its status as a sunflower processing center and the community's "reputation for enthusiasm," he said. The easel will be viewed by approximately 7 million cars traveling on Interstate 70 each year.
"Sunflowers USA Association will decide when the easel will be
erected," Cross said. "We are hoping that the easel will be up before the end of the year."
The project is a global effort based on Van Gogh's Sunflower Paintings,which were created by the artist during his stay in Arles, France, between 1888 and 1889.
Sites were chosen worldwide to reproduce the seven works based on
their connection to sunflower agriculture or to Van Gogh.
Cross began the project in 1997, and the final easel is scheduled to be completed in 2002. The first easel was finished in Altona -- the sunflower capital of Canada -- in October 1998 and the second in November 1999 in Emerald, Australia.
He admits he never attempted anything with the scope of the sunflower project. Cross said the easel in Canada helped him work out the bugs, and that continuing the project in several regions "really lets the communities share something."
The Goodland easel has taken a bit longer, he said, because it is Van
Gogh's first sunflower painting, which uses more bright colors.After completing the Goodland site, Cross will make presentations in Japan, South Africa and the Netherlands for the remaining easels. Six of the seven original Van Gogh sunflowers remain, the seventh being destroyed during World War II in Japan by U.S. bombs.
Cross said organizers with the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam were
planning to exhibit the six sunflowers in 2001-02. He hopes to finish the easel in the Netherlands as a way to promote the show, which also will come to Chicago.
"It is our goal to connect all seven sites with I-TV and Internet access so school children around the world will be able to communicate with each other," Cross said. "Children from participating cities will learn more about the work of Vincent Van Gogh and more about the unique cultures of the other sites around the globe."
The seven cities are a mix of rural and urban, ranging in population from a few thousand, like Goodland, to several million, Cross said. "Being here, I have realized that the sunflower has a strong connection not just to the people here but the surrounding people," Cross said.
Ron Harding, Sunflowers USA treasurer, said the easel should be in place by late December or early January.
"It will really add with our mix, because this is the highest production site of sunflower in Kansas," Harding said. He estimated 89,000 people would visit the site annually. Future phases call for building an exhibit hall to tell the story of sunflowers in the United States and a gallery to showcase Van Gogh's work.
Fifth- and sixth-grade students are documenting the easel's creation,Harding said, culminating with a presentation next year at a science fair in St. Louis. Projects include establishing sister city arrangements with the other six easel sites.
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