I will never forget getting dressed up and going to my first art opening in a gallery. I had been to museums and the College gallery but not to a “real” gallery event. I was in my sophomore year at St. Francis College (now University of St. Francis) and my professor, Maury, had a one-man show at Artlink Artspace on Broadway. I learned so much that night; how to act at an opening, how to yearn to afford a piece of art (a lasting craving) and what a true artist is and does.

Decades later, as Maury and I discussed his art, I learned something new that should have been evident. His work is influenced by outer space and the night sky he gazed on as he left his office after teaching late art classes. What’s in that sky? All the television and radio towers! For four years I, too, gazed at those ever-blinking towers. His work will always remind me of the once-in-a-lifetime, life-altering collection of experiences that college provided me.

I am a fortunate person for having Maury in my life. He taught me to watercolor, to airbrush and, most importantly, by his example, to do. (Oh, and he’s no slouch when it comes to craftsmanship.) Artlink Gallery is having a retrospective of this amazing man’s fascinating artwork. He continues to teach me and I can’t wait to see the show and find the lessons it holds.

I was invited among a number of his former students to show a piece at his show. Here it is, humbly and thankfully:

His Example; Her Wings, Encaustic, 24” x 24”

Please see the show:
Maurice Papier, A Retrospective
Artlink Gallery
Fort Wayne, IN
September 11 – October 14
Opening September 11, 6 – 9 pm

Much of my work’s subject matter is an idea, or concept, rather than a landscape or still life. A few years ago I endeavored to portray the government’s confiscation of hard-working people’s hard-earned money. I learned that this topic had been addressed decades ago by American economist, Milton Friedman:   

I made letters of wax caught in the process of melting away. UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher summed it up, “The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people’s money.”

In getting ready for the show I struggled to price the piece. Then, it hit me. Make the work free! That gesture ensured that I got my idea across. After all, isn’t other people’s money always free?

If I have multiple pieces in a show, I make a new version of “Other People’s Money” and it’s always free. And the first to “sell.” At one show people ran to the gallery director to be first to claim it. My advertising background assures me a real kick when a concept works. I don’t run laughing to the bank but I do laugh!

Three final thoughts: 1) this is the only piece I have ever “sold” before a show opened. 2) All art is political. 
3) A friend and businessman in town calls “other people’s money” OPM. Yep, a clever guy.