Interview with Alice Gatewood Waddell for Women's History Month

by Kath Pennavaria

Artist Alice Gatewood Waddell, a WKU graduate and Bowling Green, Kentucky resident

If you like colorful paintings, keep an eye out for "Strawberry Delight" left, a work which now adorns the wall in the Lila Greene Listening Library on the 4th floor of Cravens. In fact, the picture faces you as you enter the library. "Strawberry Delight" features three African American women, holding baskets of strawberries and standing in a strawberry patch. They are also wearing aprons with images of… strawberries. The overall effect is definitely delightful, not the least because of the startling, invisible presence of a strong wind, indicated by the billowing sheets behind them and their flowing hat streamers.

The artist? Bowling Green native and Western Kentucky University graduate Alice Gatewood Waddell.

Gatewood Waddell received a BFA from Western in 1974, and has since gone on to be a successful commercial artist. Her paintings are all, like “Strawberry Delight,” worth taking a second look at. For example, there is her “Sons of Cush,” left, a haunting image of a tribal group standing, like the women with strawberries, in a strong wind.

But Gatewood Waddell does not restrict herself to representational art. Her abstractions include the mixed media “Serenity,” left.

Alice Gatewood Waddell led an art workshop engaging school students to design a Black History Month Calendar at the Kentucky Museum.

How does one go from a newly minted BFA to successful artist? Gatewood Waddell says that an important part of an artist’s progress is what happens in the early years. “Most artists start out very young with a passion for art.” Middle school is an especially important time for nurturing artistic talent, so that is why she regularly holds workshops for children. At these workshops, one of which took place in February at the Kentucky Museum, left, she works mostly with crafts and mixed materials rather than trying to teach the children painting. Whatever the media, the workshops allow the children to use their creative talent. Unfortunately, she points out, a lot of schools just can’t afford to give kids sufficient opportunities for art, even though the children almost always like the subject.

Gatewood Waddell suggests that potential artists build their portfolios and get a college degree in art with a concentration in a special form such as painting or sculpture. A college education is key to becoming a successful commercial artist, she says, because in addition to art techniques, the student learns art history and is exposed to multiple art forms. “School really helps a lot because as you develop as an artist, you’re put into a position where you need to know art history and terminology.”

After her own 1974 graduation from Western, she began teaching art classes and giving private art lessons as she created her own paintings. In her own art, Gatewood Waddell usually incorporates images of family and community, and many of the settings featured are outdoors.

In the early 1990s, according to the biography posted by the galleries that sell her work, Gatewood Waddell published her first limited-edition prints. Since then, demand for her unique pieces has steadily increased. Her reputation has led to many commissions by local, regional, and national corporations and organizations, and her images have appeared on the sets of numerous television shows and movies, including most recently the HBO original movie Disappearing Acts.

Alice Gatewood Waddell at WKU Libraries' "Kentucky Live!" lecture series in Barnes & Noble March 11, 2004

This accomplished local artist spoke at the Bowling Green Barnes & Noble on March 11 as part of the WKU Libraries' lecture series, Kentucky Live!—Southern Culture at Its Best. The subject of her talk was influences on African American artists. She also plans to continue art activities with children, both at the Kentucky Museum and at the George Washington Carver Center in downtown Bowling Green.

To find galleries selling originals and prints by Alice Gatewood Waddell, just do a web search under her name. And if you’re in the main library, stop by to take a closer look at “Strawberry Delight.”