Why coal buckets?

 

The purpose of SEK Art Fest is to create a vibrant arts community, increase tourism, enhance community pride and enrich quality of life in the region. Similar events have been very successful for communities across the United States and in many other countries. Under the umbrella of the Little Balkans Festival Association, the SEK Art Fest will open up new opportunities for growth and expansion of our area’s largest tourism draw.

For 2013, we have chosen to reflect on the unique heritage of the region by integrating the Miner’s Hall Museum’s highly anticipated traveling Smithsonian exhibit “The Way We Worked” into the Art Fest theme of “Mining Memories.” The Art Fest will consist of an exhibition of giant coal buckets on Pittsburg’s Broadway Street throughout the summer, with various special events taking place each month to celebrate the work of artists from throughout the region in designing the buckets.  

The Art Fest is made possible by the generosity of 26 underwriters from Pittsburg and Joplin who contributed the underwriting fee. The artists have been selected by a jury panel based on their previous work and the design they proposed for a coal bucket. The buckets will be arranged in an easy and exciting walking tour in downtown Pittsburg. On September 1, the coal buckets will be sold at public auction. 

In addition to the giant coal buckets, area schools are designing real-life coal buckets that will be displayed in retail store windows throughout downtown. The theme for the designs is anything that makes this area a great place to live and/or reflects on the coal-mining heritage of the region.