This year I was nominated for a second time for the Sioux Falls Mayor’s Awards for the Arts for the individual visual artist category. This is my application:

 ARTIST STATEMENT:  ‘Art is a Revolution’

During the last several years, Scott Ehrisman has developed into one of the most high-profile artists currently working in the Sioux Falls area. He is an acknowledged leader among the more cutting-edge artists within the local art community and is a cofounder of the Midwest Artist Collective, an artist’s group that offers one alternative to the more established and traditional local art organizations. Ehrisman is also known as a cultural media critic who has written numerous insightful articles on art and popular culture.

Ehrisman approaches his art from a professional background working in the field of commercial art and graphic design. His artwork reflects a sharply satirical sense of humor and a keenly insightful appreciation for contemporary popular culture. In some ways his artwork resembles the “Funk Art” created by artists in San Francisco and in Chicago during the late1960s and early 1970s. That superficial resemblance is not a matter of direct influence, but rather is due to Ehrisman and the artists of that era having similar sources of inspiration. Some of their mutual sources of inspiration are underground comics, the highly commercialized culture surrounding popular music, performance art, and a Dada-inspired appreciation for nonsense that informs both the Pop Art movement and much of contemporary art. Perhaps most significantly, Ehrisman and the “Funk Artists” share a common belief that satirical humor can be used as a means for exploding the cultural myths and commonly held social preconceptions of our society. Ehrisman believes that it is his duty as an artist and as a socially responsible human being to serve as a cultural iconoclast. He attacks and breaks our society’s false idols, and in so doing seeks to pull back the curtains of prejudice and hypocrisy that hide the cultural truths that we often choose not to face. Though his imagery can be shocking and his ideas can be challenging, they are presented with an ironic wit and a satirical sense of humor that makes the bitter truths that they express a bit more palatable. Though his art might superficially suggest otherwise, Ehrisman is in fact an idealist. He has dedicated his art in pursuit of noble causes. Ehrisman can never remain content with the way we are when he knows in his heart that we all could be better.

Howard Spencer, Washington Pavilion VAC curator

ABOUT ME
• SD resident most of my life
• Resident of Sioux Falls since 1991
• Graphic designer since 1993
 • Web design
 • Sign design
 • Presentation & POP design
 • Screenprinting
 • Pre-press
 • Digital photography
 • Direct mail
•  Freelance designer since 1999
•  Also worked as a:
 • Salesperson
 • Farmer
 • Plumber
 • Pressman
 • Carpenter
 • Radio personality
 • Journalist
 • Waiter/bartender/cook
 • Event manager
 • Band promoter

ART RELATED
• Publicly exhibiting art for 7 years
• Founded Midwest Artist Collective
• Past board member of Civic Dance Association
• Member of ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union)
• Member of NCAC (National Coalition Against Censorship)
•  Contributing member of Showdown Podcast
•  Arts Night committee member 2004

ACCOMPLISHMENTS
•  Volunteer design/marketing and original art
for local band’s, musicians, artists and non-profits like Sioux Falls Jazz & Blues Society
• Several awards in local and regional exhibits, including
People’s choice awards
• Adviser and confidant for many Sioux Falls underground-outsider artists and musicians
• 2005 Puffin Foundation Grant recipient
(Created paintings in cooperation with Straight Forward – a teen directed sex education program)
• A progressive critic of local arts and politics

I BELIEVE IN:
• Grassroots movements
• Self-promotion and growth
• 1st Amendament Rights
• Censorship squelches creativity
• Art as a revolutionary experiment that
should be used to change society for the better
• Conservatism and professional sports are destroying American culture
• All public arts funding should go directly into education

 Go here for more information about the Mayor’s Awards: www.siouxempireartscouncil.com/Mayor.htm