Words by Taylor Siedlik | Photography by Iggy Sumnik, Linda Stephen, Ben Schuh, Elsa Munoz, and Bill Frederick | April 1, 2015<\/p>\n

Small towns don\u2019t look quite so quaint when they\u2019re transformed into Linda Stephen’s vibrant origami displays. And big cities aren\u2019t so overwhelming when reduced to intimate street scenes in Elsa Munoz\u2019s oil paintings. While each artist\u2019s approach to representing the Midwest is different, there\u2019s one they both, and many other artists, have in common: reimagining.<\/p>\n

For painter Bill Frederick, this means painting from photographs but manipulating several elements to create a new mood. For sculptor Iggy Sumnik, it means setting aside the all-too-familiar Midwestern stereotypes that too often drive its image. And for painter Ben Schuh, it means juxtaposing country life with city life. For these five Midwestern artists, what they happen to see and portray isn\u2019t always what can be described as the \u201ctraditional Midwest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iggy Sumnik, Omaha \u2014 Sculptor<\/i><\/h3>\n

It all comes down to touch. Iggy Sumnik<\/a> was drawn to the tangibility of ceramics. He liked the feel of it. And he liked how ceramics allowed him to step outside his comfort zone, forcing him to keep striving. But translating the vision in his head to the clay didn\u2019t necessarily match up. Eventually Sumnik found a way to translate his visual flair to his sculptures while living in Omaha. Here, Sumnik set himself apart from other artists through his one-of-a-kind reimagining of experiences like in his bright, cartoonish version of big Nebraska skies.<\/p>\n

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Iggy Sumnik\u2019s \u201cPelican on the Prairie\u201d sculpture gives Nebraska a more whimsical imagery.<\/p><\/div>