There’s more than one way to make it to the White House, as local artist Janet Seitz Carlson recently proved.
Carlson, the marketing and communications director at the Hoogland Center for
the Arts and a member of the Prairie Art Alliance, was one of 369 artists from
across the country chosen to hand-decorate ornaments that now adorn the
official White House Christmas tree.
“This was an exciting thing,” Carlson says. “How often do you get the opportunity to do something that lands in a national
landmark?”
Nominated by U.S. Rep. John Shimkus, R-Collinsville, Ill., Carlson represents Illinois’ 19th district. She applied nearly 400 pieces of glass to the ornament, creating
stovepipe hats to symbolize Abraham Lincoln and other such Prairie State imagery as the monarch, violet, oak leaf, cardinal,
corn and soybeans. All of the showcased ornaments incorporate a red, white and
blue theme and can be viewed during special White House tours.
To see more of Carlson’s work in Springfield, visit the HDSmith Gallery at the Hoogland, 420 S. Sixth
St., the Blue Door, 627 E. Adams St., or the Illinois State Museum Store, 502
S. Spring St.
This article appears in Dec 4-10, 2008.
