Tornado Plate #89

The News-Tribune reported Wednesday that 611 structures in Cole County were damaged, minor to destroyed, by the May 22 tornado, 477 within Jefferson City. The Red Cross had reported over 1,100, but many of those structures were only marginally touched – a shingle or two. The big structures – the old school and the big, historic houses; the commercial buildings – are the first to get attention. But most of the damaged structures are small, moderate homes, built for single, small families, middle to lower-middle incomes, constructed, if not cheaply, then as cheaply as possible to be affordable, thirty, forty, fifty, eighty years ago. Only a little damage to those homes represent a significantly larger portion of their value than the same damage might to a larger structure; a moderate amount of damage and the cost of repair can supersede replacement.

This work frames the corners of two homes just off Jackson Street, each likely damaged beyond recovery, their pennies dropped into the collection plate representing all they had.

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NOTE: Fifteen of these works depicting Jefferson City, Missouri’s May 22 tornado damage have been compiled into an artbook, which may be viewed and purchased at Capital Arts in Jefferson City, or purchased on this website in either 10-inch paperback or signed 12-inch hardcover.