Robert Stackhouse: Passages

Passages includes more than 30 sculptures, prints, paintings, and drawings all from theBelger Collection. Stackhouse was born in Bronxville, NY, in 1942, and moved to Floridaas a teenager. He was one of the first students enrolled at the University of SouthFlorida and graduated with a degree in studio art in 1965. He later earned an MFA fromthe University of Maryland. His two-dimensional artwork often documents large-scaleoutdoor sculptures that were created with his students and volunteers. Many of themwere of a scale where visitors could enter and pass through the installations. OftenA-frame wooden structures, the sculptures were literal passageways through art.Frequent imagery in Stackhouse’s output includes boats and ships (reflecting earthlyand spiritual passages) and snakes (symbolic of regeneration and death). He was alsoespecially intrigued with the process of a snake shedding its skin and slithering awayafresh.
Early in his career Stackhouse maintained an active studio in New York City, whilecommuting to Washington, D.C., to teach at the Corcoran School of Art, and working onoutdoor sculpture events throughout the country. In the mid-1990s he moved to Kansas City, teaching at the Kansas City Art Institute, continuing to create outdoor installationslocally. Stackhouse and his wife and collaborator, Carol Mickett, have resided in theTampa area for two decades. They continue to work on national public installationprojects, involving volunteers during the fabrication and installation process. Robert Stackhouse: Passages opens Friday, May 6 at Belger Arts Center (2100 Walnut St. KCMO, 64108.) Exhibition remains on display through Saturday, August 6, 2022.   Belger Arts Center hours: Wednesday – Saturday, 10am – 4pm, and every First Friday from 10am – 8pm. Visit BelgerArts.org for more information.