The Role of the Artist?

The role of the artist, says Robert Adams, is to "bring varied aspects of life into a new harmony within one frame . . . to make something whole and clear . . . ." For those that know Mr. Adams, this idea of making something unified out of incongruous parts has been a focus of his work. Adams likes especially to think about the juxtaposition of untamed nature and the detritus of modern industrial life, "the call of the dove . . . against some sterility like the flapping of a plastic bag caught on barbed wire." In a talk that he gave at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the late '80s, Adams said, "[A]rt is a discovery of harmony, a vision of disparities reconciled, of shape beneath confusion. Art does not deny that evil is real, but it places evil in a context that implies an affirmation; the structure of the picture, which is a metaphor for the structure of the Creation, suggests that evil is not final."

Now, Mr. Adams would undoubtedly feel that the smelter stack at Anaconda, Montana is "evil," or that the people and processes that put it there . . . and turned it into a superfund site . . . were evil. This is not a feeling shared by Rural Ways. At least, not the way that Robert Adams means it. For Mr. Adams there seems to be an underlying current of us versus them, the greedy versus the good. At Rural Ways, all are greedy; which is to say that we all want what we want when we want it; we are, every one of us, evil in that sense. And this is the thing that both makes our lives more comfortable and damages the natural world with copper smelters. It is an ambiguous position: Loving one's copper, while hating rain made of arsenic. In any case, Rural Ways has a picture that shows, I think, a cottonwood tree and a smelter stack, a vision of disparities reconciled, and a suggestion that evil is not final.

Consumer Beware

Though the Great Recession is officially over, many people are still feeling the strain of tightened credit and high unemployment. In addition, the rising cost of commodities is making food and fuel more expensive. Some large consumer goods firms are caught in the pinch: The cost of raw materials is going up, but they don't want to be seen raising consumer prices at a time when many Americans are feeling a bit discouraged. So, what to do? Try making it look like you are selling the same thing at the same price, but put just a little bit less in the package. Yep. It's a fact.

Rural Ways buys its tortilla chips from Frito Lay. They are called "Santitas" and they come in a fat yellow package. The packaging always looks the same, and the price never changes, but the quantity of material in the bag moves steadily downward. Recently we noticed that each bag now contains 12 ounces, down from 13 or 14 last year. The price is the same, the packaging is the same, but the cost of our food has now gone up. The trend is probably not confined to corn chips, so . . . consumer beware. (See? Rural Ways is the place to go for good, honest value: Big ideas; small prices.)

Parowan Seedling List

The City of Parowan has an urban forest with 4000 (potential) trees. Unfortunately, some of them do not survive from year to year. This green ash was cut down by (none other than) Parowan's Prophet. For replacements, the City has a little nursery with the space for about 200 seedlings. Rural Ways has worked for many hours at the nursery, planting and watering trees. As the winter of 2010/2011 comes to an end, we need to select this year's crop of seedlings. This is how the list is shaping up. First, we're going to replace the Prophet's green ash, so we are ordering 10 of them (Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh.). Then, we need hardy, easy-growing street trees that do well in Parowan, so we'll order 40 or 50 hackberrys, honeylocusts, sycamores, mulberries, and walnuts (Celtis occidentalis, Gleditsia triacanthos, Platanus occidentalis, Morus rubra, Juglans nigra). Finally, we need some species diversity, so we will try a few black gums, catalpas, crabapples, and Simon poplars (Nyssa sylvatica, Catalpa speciosa, Malus x. prairiefire, Populus simonii). Are we missing any favorites?

Tax Tip

Last year Rural Ways forgot to take advantage of the "Making Work Pay" tax credit. Fortunately, the IRS didn't forget, and they sent us a check in June. Since that time, we've been awaiting the chance to . . . once again . . . make our work pay. And you can, too: Don't forget to make your claim using line 63, schedule "m" of the 2010 1040. Of course, the credit is for the working poor, so you must have both a job and a not-overly-large pay packet. (It also helps to ignore the effect of the credit on your children's ability to manage future federal deficits.)

Dixie Invitational

The 24th Annual Robert N. and Peggy Sears Dixie Invitational Art Show and Sale kicked off last night with a gala dinner and collector's pre-sale. The show opens to the public today at 10a. Each artist is allowed to submit two pieces, and the canvas shown here is one of the ones that Valerie chose to include. The second painting—a little oil called "Cottonwood Color"—has already been sold. If you want this one, you'd better hurry to St. George before it is gone. Of course, while you are there, you'll want to visit the St. George Art Museum's Legacy Gallery. From now until March 19, the gallery will be showing a collection of recent acquisitions, including a work by Valerie from Dinosaur National Monument entitled "Lodore II."