By Carrie Seidman
Tribune Reporter
It was back in 1999, on Halloween, that Steve White first saw a Pez candy dispenser of a smiling, happy ghost.
Only White didn't see a ghost. He saw . . . Elvis Pez-ley.
"I just thought, that would make a great Elvis," says the Albuquerque folk artist, holding up a ghost Pez transformed by sunglasses, a black pompadour and a white high-collared jumpsuit. "That was how it started."
Since then, White's artistically modified Pez collection has grown to 80 types, among them: the Statue of Liberty and Jesus, both made from a Wonder Woman dispenser; Che Guevera, made from "The Peanuts" gang's Lucy; and a heavily eye-browed Frida Kahlo from "Star Wars" heroine Princess Leia.
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DID YOU KNOW?
Pez dispensers were originally created to serve as a deterrent to smoking. The dispenser action was meant to simulate the flicking of a cigarette lighter and the candy, originally offered in mint flavors, was meant to be an oral alternative to the cigarette.
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White even made a Jennifer Lo-Pez, but she seems to have disappeared in the clutter of his one-room rental home, which is hardly navigable for all the folk art, books, paint tubes, cat food dishes and half-finished projects that line the walls, floor and unmade bed.
"I only made one of her, and I won't do another because she just doesn't do much for me," says White, 40, who is more likely to add civil right figures like Malcolm X or maybe Rosa Parks, one of his "she-heroes."
White's Pez collection - 160 in all, about half still awaiting modification - will be featured in a show opening tonight at OFFCenter Gallery in Downtown Albuquerque. The exhibit also includes the Pez art of East Mountains resident Clay Shefs (picture Osama bin Laden, complete with added arms, legs and turban) and the folk art of R.A. Miller of Rabbittown, Ga. (primitive cutout metal figures, bearing crudely lettered messages).
The opening serves as a kickoff for the first International Folk Festival, an outdoor celebration of folk art and art-making, which will be take place in Robinson Park in Downtown on Aug. 14. The free event will provide attendees with the opportunity to craft their own "outsider art," as the work of self-trained artists has come to be known.
"This show is in Steve's honor," says Janis Timm-Bottos, co-founder and executive director of OFFCenter, a nonprofit organization devoted to community participation in the arts and sponsor of the event.
"We wanted to feature Steve because he was really the impetus for this festival. He's all about making art more available to more people."
White's waist-length ponytail and warm smile are already familiar to many city residents from his annual "Yardfest" - a free-for-all of folk art, music and food that takes place in front of his residence in southeast Albuquerque. On any given day there you'll find a collection of whirligigs, a large cutout LOVE sign, wood scraps, metal flags with pithy sayings ("It's always the poor that fight the wars") and a stray cat or two.
On this day, there are also 50 tiny clay Zozobras waiting to be painted. They will go to each of the first 50 people to purchase a $20 raffle ticket in conjunction with the Pez show; the ultimate winner will receive a collection of 10 pieces from White's folk art collection. That includes both his own work and some from the vernacular artists he has come to know since giving up a career as a cook and moving to Albuquerque 12 years ago.
"I had a lot of stuff going on in my life and no way to express it," says White, recalling that time when the emotional pain of a relationship breakup was matched by the physical pain of a medical condition he didn't have the funds to treat. "That's how most folk artists start - through something traumatic that happens in life."
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ART WITH PEZ-AZZ
Opening reception 5-8 tonight. Runs through Aug. 20. OFFCenter Gallery, 117 Seventh St. N.W. Free. 247-1172. Regular gallery hours: 1-5 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday; 3-8 p.m. Wednesday; 12-5 p.m. Friday; and by appointment. Raffle tickets ($20) are available by calling Steve White at 232-2311.
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White, who has had only one art class in his life (pottery-making in high school), taught himself to paint. In the process, he found his salvation and a career that still doesn't quite sustain his frugal habits. He recently sold a piece to the Albuquerque Museum for $5,000 - but it took him eight months to make it.
"I love folk art; it healed me - at least as much as I can be healed," White says. "It's my drug of choice. It completely changed my life."
"That gives me the chills," he adds, holding out his arm to show his reaction.
Another thing that gives him the chills is the work of the other folk artists he has come to know. Most of them come from what White identifies as "the Hollywood of outsider art" - Georgia, a state he plans to move to by the end of this summer.
One of those artists is the 92-year-old Miller, whose devils, dinosaurs, angels, animals and flags are also a part of the OFFCenter show. White introduced himself to the partially blind former preacher via a letter and eventually went to meet him. He now owns a large collection of the artist's work which, like that of most folk artists, is imminently affordable.
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COMING UP
International Folk Art Festival. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 14. Robinson Park, Eighth Street and Central Avenue Northwest. Free. Sponsorships welcome. Call 247-1172.
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"A lot of folk artists won't sell their work, no matter how much money you offer, but if they like you, they'll give it to you," says White, who makes sure a visitor leaves his home not only with an altered Pez dispenser, but the candy to go with it.
"When I first met R.A., I bought some stuff of his for about $10 a piece. But once he got to know me, he came down to $5."
Suddenly, a gleam comes into White's eyes.
"I know! R.A. Miller!" he says enthusiastically. "I'll immortalize him in a Pez!"
Then, holding out a goosebumped arm, he adds: "That gives me the chills."
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