Nationally recognized cut-paper artist Angie Pickman of Lawrence has been selected to design the 2018 Smoky Hill River Festival Print and the 2018 Festival T-shirt .

A native of Atchison, Pickman combines the art of traditional paper cutting with collage to create intricately detailed works of art and animation that depict Midwestern subjects with warmth and whimsy. A third-generation graduate of Benedictine College, Pickman was first introduced to cut paper as an art form while studying for her master’s degree at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, where she discovered the silhouette work of early-1900s animation artist Lotte Reiniger.

Pickman’s love of nature and the tranquility of the rural Midwest, as well as Reiniger’s style and technique, guided her career choice. The 2018 Festival Print is entitled “Smoky Hill Sun Song.” The visual landscape of the Smoky Hill River valley was Pickman’s primary inspiration for the print.

“I enjoy incorporating birds in my work, because through them, I often portray symbolic action. In this case, the sun symbolizes the Festival celebration. The sunflowers are what the artists,
musicians, food vendors, and audience- all symbolized by birds- bring to it.”

Pickman’s print is based on a cut-paper collage in which she uses her signature black silhouette paper, color-glazed Kansas maps and tissue paper on a basswood base. “If you look closely at the map used for the sun, you’ll see that Salina is prominent,” says Pickman. “Many shows I do are celebrations of art, but can be more or less an “art market” for buyers and sellers. The River Festival is so much more than that, with the integration of food, music and other activities, all in one special place.”

Pickman’s other Festival work, the 2018 T-shirt, features a “Kansasy” design on a heather orange T-shirt and tanks for adults and on heather purple for youth. Pickman says the use of icons such as a guitar, artist palette, horn, sunflowers and wheat stems convey a sense of summer celebration in a fluid design, symbolizing the flow of the Smoky Hill River alongside fields and grasses that sway in the rolling Kansas breeze .

Angie Pickman exhibits at galleries and art fairs across the U.S., does illustration, animation and design work and teaches various art classes and workshops. Her work has been featured in publications including Midwest Living and Martha Stewart Living. Her animation work was featured in “Daughters of the Forest,” a 2016 PBS documentary.

A participating Festival artist on and off since 2010, Pickman also created the popular, mandalastyle Festival T-shirt design in 2017. She will exhibit in the Fine Art Show this year.

The Festival Print is currently available for a donation of $100 or more to the Smoky Hill River Festival. Festival T-shirts can be purchased in advance at the SA&H offices, 211 W. Iron Ave, online beginning Tuesday, May 1st or onsite during the Festival at the Festival Information Booths north of Eric Stein Stage and near Kenwood Bridge. For more information, call 785-309-
5770 or visit riverfestival.com.