| Help for the survivors of the May 22, 2011 Joplin tornado |
| On May 22, 2011 an EF5 tornado smashed into Joplin,Missouri destroying lives, homes and businesses. It was the deadliest tornado on record since 1950. Currently 161 people have died with more than 950 injured. More information about the tornado. |
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Angels for Joplin are created from tornado debris to benefit the survivors of the May 22, 2011 tornado in Joplin Missouri. Angels will be posted on the Angels for Joplin facebook |
| Many stories have been told about how Angels may have protected friends and loved ones of Joplin. These stories inspired the creation of Angels for Joplin. In the weeks and months ahead Tricia Courtney, a Joplin artist will be creating angels and crosses out of the tornado debris. The artwork will be available at Cherry's Gallery and Custom Framing in Joplin - 10th & Main (at the Gryphon Building) and at Cherry's Gallery and Custom Framing in Carthage, 310 Howard Street, 417.358-2707. They will be posted for sale on the Angels for Joplin Facebook page. Tricia will contribute a portion of the proceeds from the sales of “Angels for Joplin” to various charities and organizations. |
| Angels have also been donated to special causes such as the Joplin High School Class of 1966 fundraiser for Joplin High School, Spiva Center for the Arts Tornado Relief Fund and a special Christmas Angel for St. Mary's Elementary School - 100% of the winning auction bid amount will be donated to St. Mary's Elementary School to help in the rebuilding of the school. |
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 Angel for Spiva Center for the Arts Spiva Center for the Arts 100% of the sell of the angle went to Spiva's Tornado Relief Fund ($522.11) |
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MORE BACKGROUND: |
Some of this information has been taken from an article written by Old rusty metal, bits of twisted wire, broken pottery, smashed forks and spoons and |
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With a degree in Fine Arts, Tricia is an oil painter and the creator of her own line of children's characters "The Buzzlewics." |
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She first became inspired to create recycled mixed media assemblage art in 2005 while walking with Jo Mueller, Spiva Center for the Arts director. Crossing through an alleyway, they found a few handfuls of rusty metal. Her first angels were created for the “Artful Ornament Auction” 2005 at Spiva Center for the Arts. Original, one-of-a-kind artist-made ornaments that were donated by the artist for a silent auction to benefit Spiva. |
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Around that time, our father had passed away. While walking next to a railroad track one day with her husband Richard, Tricia noticed several pieces of metal in the shape of E’s and smiled thinking about her dad (Elliott Morse)... she felt he was spiritually inspiring her to create more angels to help benefit others. Our dad was well respected throughout the community and known for his giving of time and talent to others. |
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Angels to the right were donated to Spiva Center |
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After that day she built an angel for herself...sort of a healing process to help with the loss of her dad. It was an angel inspired by her dad’s strength of faith and was a symbol of his incredible gift to his family as a father. In this piece he was the angel and he was holding his little girl Tricia. Notice the "E" & "T". |
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(detail)
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Tricia soon began creating angel after angel (over 90) in his memory, to soothe her broken heart. She donated them to Spiva Center More samples of angels created for Spiva Center for the Arts. |
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Tricia has always been the tomboy, who hung out with her twin brother and his friends, never fearing to get dirty and messy. So, looking for scraps that are headed to a landfill, in parking lots, down alley ways, or on abandoned railroad tracks, is an exciting adventure for her. In fact, she's become quite fanatical about it! Many times Mary has been on the phone with Tricia while she is taking a walk, only to have her exclaim "Mary, you’ll never guess what "and she will proceed to tell her what it is and how she envisions using it. In June of 2007, Tricia and Mary collaborated to create Lemon Oak Studio and opened their Etsy shop to sell their artwork online. They are 1300 miles away from each other, Tricia lives in Missouri and Mary lives in Arizona. The company name was derived from the lemon tree in Mary's yard and the oak trees in Tricia's. Lemon Oak Studio creates not only angels, but flower pots, flowers and crosses out of found objects. Mary is the business manager and also creates some of the artwork for Lemon Oak Studio. We approximate that there have been over 500 pieces of found object assemblage pieces built since 2005. Visit us on Lemon Oak's facebook! |
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Tricia was featured at the Strecker-Nelson Gallery in Manhattan Kansas in March 2010. For this particular exhibit she created large abstract pieces, a few of them that were left after the show are currently being shown at the Rose Gallery of Fine Art in Joplin, Missouri. |
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Late 2010 Tricia decided she would begin devoting more of her artistic time to her oil paintings. She is represented by 4 galleries and keeps busy painting for them and attending art shows. In the Spring of 2011 Tricia was beginning to prepare for the Midwest Gathering of the Artists an annual September show held in Carthage Missouri. She had also just been inducted into the Women Artists of the Midwest by Hawthorn Gallery in Springfield and was preparing for an October show with them. |
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And then tragedy struck on May 22th, one of the worst tornadoes in history hit Joplin, Missouri. Some of her friends suggested that she make angels out of the tornado debris. At first she didn't feel she should, Tricia didn't feel it would be appropriate. But after she started hearing all of the miracles concerning angels during the tornado, she was inspired and began to feel how important it was to build them. |
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Tricia started "Angels for Joplin," and since late June has created over 140 angels. Angels for Joplin are sold at the Rose Gallery of Fine Art and proceeds goes to a Tornado Relief Fun. Angels have also been donated to special causes for special fundraisers. Tricia and her husband Richard and her sister Roanna began picking up debris at several locations where they helped. Family visiting this summer from Arizona volunteered to help too. Debris has been collected throughout the path of the storm. In particular St. Mary’s Church, Parish Center and Elementary School (the Courtney’s two daughters attended) Tricia has created several angels using pieces from this area. |
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Some of the pieces on the angels were inside the storage unit that burned down on 4th Street in Joplin about a week after the tornado. They were given to Tricia by Jo Mueller, the director of Spiva Center for the Arts and her husband who had their home damaged by the tornado and had put all of their most precious & important items there, thinking the brick building was a safe place....:(
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 Angel for Mary #63 |
 Angel for Patti #70 |
Healing process Check out our Angels for Joplin Facebook for more.... |
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 Angels: not only a theme among many survivors’ accounts, but a defining feature for Courtney’s artwork. Her artwork inspires people to think differently about Joplin–as a memorial and as a hopeful, united community.
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Websites:: Facebooks: |