Artist exhibits community work at The Venue

Collaborative artist Joe LaMantia described his art as a partner dance that naturally flows well.

“Have you ever danced with somebody and not known who was leading?” he said at The Venue Fine Art & Gifts. “Those are great moments. That’s how my projects are.”

LaMantia has lived in Bloomington for the past 28 years and has brought the community numerous opportunities to become involved in art projects.

LaMantia calls himself a collaborative artist due to his unique way of creating art.
He travels and becomes inspired by children, the communities he visits and the heritage of the communities.

He then creates a work of art that is forever special to the community the work of art is given to.

“I really like his artwork. When I was growing up, though, I always took his art for granted,” Venue Curator Gabriel Colman said. “I thought every community had arts projects that they could get involved in. I didn’t realize it was so localized.

“That is the reason I invited him down here. His work is a direct reflection of the community’s willingness to accept the arts. I really appreciate all the work he’s done for us.”

Outside an elementary school in Vincennes, Ind., stands a 20-foot-tall eagle feather painted white.

It had been a poor-quality school, but after teachers and students took the initiative, the school became one of the best in the area, LaMantia said.

The feather was given to the school in recognition of the transformation and has a red tip painted on the end to symbolize honor.

LaMantia discovered another inspiration in the community of Glenns Valley, Ind.
The community wanted to create something in honor of its original founders. LaMantia, after having just returned from Italy, suggested a bell tower. Everybody liked the idea, so the project took hold. Soon, the project was termed “the villagers’ bell tower.”

It honored the history of the school and community by having 80 bells strung from the metal rafters of the tower, representing the 80 original founders.

The bells were made by a local trade school, and all the art on the tower was created by students.

In front of the Boys and Girls Club in Bloomington rises an arch made completely out of painted, recycled metal in the shape of bicycles. The project was a collaboration between LaMantia, the IU Folklore faculty and the Bloomington Housing Authority.

He called the work of children “pure and genuine” when he used their drawings of the bicycles as a blueprint for the arch. The children also helped by painting the completed metal arch.

From ladders to whales, each work of art symbolizes something different and relevant to the area where it was created.

“You have to let go of the notion that you have to do a lot to matter in a project. It’s not true because every hand is important, no matter how much or how little you do,” LaMantia said. “Everything I do is about having relationships and communication.”

After years of working on art projects and creating covers for the Indiana Review, LaMantia expressed his true love for people and art by sitting in the Venue with everybody who came, sharing tales of adventurous art projects and his inspirations for each and every one.

“The feather in Vincennes taught me a great lesson,” LaMantia said.

“I don’t know everything. The children in that school taught me so much by being their pure, artistic selves. That is why I choose to create art in view of the public where anyone can stop and help.”