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Andee Rudloff: A Splash of Color

Andee Rudloff is a Bowling Green artist working primarily in murals. Photos and story by Hannah Vanover

Meeting artist Andee Rudloff, it would be hard to determine which was more colorful; her personality or her artwork.

While some artists choose to color inside the lines, artist Andee Rudloff chooses to paint outside of them. Andee brings a splash of color with her everywhere she goes. From her signature paint splattered overalls, hat and sunglasses, to her rather ‘old’ paintbrushes and sticker covered scooter, it doesn’t take long to read her personality; one that is filled with color, fun and flare.

Rudloff of Bowling Green, Kentucky originally attended college with the intentions to study medicine, but said that art was always a passion of hers.

“I never actually saw myself becoming an artist,” Rudloff said.

Rudloff said she was always surrounded by creative people, whether it was her mom or the multiple artists that she grew up around. Rudloff always had access to supplies and opportunities.

“It became more and more of what I did every day,” she said.

She ultimately decided to follow her passion and has now become a full-time artist working primarily on murals. Being sure to cover her entire canvas, she said her background in theatre and set design in college gave her an understanding of how to take ideas and turn them into something bigger. Rather than taking her own lead in her projects, she leaves much of the decision making up to her clients and the community.

“I like for the people to be a part of the process…It’s important to me that they’re involved,” she said.

Rudloff said she will many times reach out to the community for advice and recommendations. She also lets people submit their own drawings and work to which she will incorporate into her murals. Members of the community are many times invited to help paint the murals as well. Rudloff is a fan of the imperfect as she discussed how she prefers her work to look “natural” and “as if a human or child had painted it.”

Rudloff created a mural in downtown Morgantown, back in 2013 when she said she was asked by the city to “revive” the area and create something that welcomed people to the town. Her goal was to bring the community together and fill a space that was once considered rather unpleasing to the eye.

The project was, as Rudloff described it, “creative placemaking,” a term that she said is many times used by designers in reference to the use of art to promote transformation and growth, such as that happening in Morgantown at the time.

The mural is painted on the side of the old Bratcher’s Auto Parts building located across from the Morgantown Bank and can be seen driving through downtown Morgantown. The mural is covered in bright colors and all things Butler County related. Rudloff said she wanted the piece to represent things that make the county what it is today. Rudloff reached out to the schools for drawings and asked students and people in the community: “What makes Butler County home to you?” They’re responses were incorporated into the mural. Items such as the medal of honor, music symbolization, archery and Green River, as well as scenes of the Catfish Festival are included in the mural.

“I wanted it to represent the community and the things that Butler County is known for,” Rudloff said.

The community was also invited to take part in the painting. Many local artists were among those at the mural to help.

“I didn’t even realize that there was a whole community of artists here,” said Rudloff.

Rudloff discusses how the Butler County Art Guild was in their beginning stages back in 2013 before there even was a “guild.” She said this was the project that kickstarted many things in the community.

“All you hear about today is murals but before, there was no talk of anything like that around here,” Rudloff said.

In the following years, many murals have since been created throughout the town and other areas.

At the time of the creation of the mural, Parts City - Bratcher’s Auto Parts was still in business and had a sign on the side of the building where the mural was being painted. This caused Rudloff to have to paint around it. Bratcher’s shut down years later and Rudloff came back to finish her work. Rather than filling in her mural completely where the sign had taken up space, she decided to fill in a “red rectangle” to mimic where the sign was. Rudloff then reached out to the community once more, this time for opinions on what to fill in the red area with. Rudloff contacted the city as well as posted on social media for comments on what last items would fill the space in representation of Morgantown.

Rudloff came back to Morgantown last month in late June to fill in the space and touch up on other areas of the mural. Rudloff also painted a mural several years ago at the Butler County Middle School.

The mural has been officially completed just in time for Morgantown’s first ‘Music at the Mural’ of the year this Friday, July 19. The event was originally scheduled in June, however it was canceled due to rain.

Soon after the mural was complete, the downtown area began coming together and using the area in front of the mural as a “gathering” spot. ‘Music at the Mural’ events began to take place weekly along with other events.

Rudloff recalled attending the Music at the Mural happenings back when they first began and during the times that could have been described as “thriving.” She said artists and musicians of all type would come together, “…atleast 50 or so people would all be there playing their instruments and listening to music,” Rudloff said. She remembered coming to them to be a part of the events, whether that meant playing a small percussion instrument or being an audience member. Rudloff said she would like to see this kind of community fellowship happen here again.

“It brought people together and that’s what art is supposed to do,” Rudloff said.

Rudloff feels that every piece is different and should represent the area in some way.

“Every experience is unique and special in its own way,” said Rudloff.

She said that trying to choose her favorite work of art would be like trying to choose a favorite child.

“How and why they come together is different,” Rudloff said. “But when it goes up and it stays up like the one in Morgantown - that’s a success.”

Along with murals, Rudloff has been creating multiple works of art throughout Kentucky and surrounding states as well as traveling to other countries for work. Rudloff is also a part of Kentucky Arts Council and works with the Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center (SKyPAC) and assisted in the original launch of the center. She is also currently working as a contractor for their upcoming galleries.

For more information on Andee’s mural in Morgantown, Ky or her other artwork, visit http://www.chicnhair.com/

A plaque is located at the bottom right corner of the mural with information about the mural and a QR Code that can be scanned. The code provides a direct link to the video and time lapse created of the process or it can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=n0JaMzcpsTM

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