Inspired and Inspiring
By Pat Kerns
Many people in the Hannibal area know our September guest artist, Sally Kintz, as the founder and President of Poole Communications. Sally is not only a business owner, but is also an accomplished artist. Originally from the Seattle, Washington area, she came to Hannibal in 1984 and started her business free lancing out of her home. In 1993 she took on more clients and she opened her offices.
Although Sally did artwork her entire life, in high school she took a two year vocational education commercial art class. While in that class she received a national graphic design award. After coming to Hannibal and starting her business she continued her education often one class at a time at Moberly Area Community College. She then continued her education at Columbia University in Columbia MO earning a dual major in management and international business. She later worked on her Master’s Degree through Liberty University in Virginia.
After marrying Steve Kintz she moved from Palmyra to their farm just south of Clarksville. There she is surrounded by beauty including the many breathtaking landscapes she encounters on her drive to work in Hannibal. These views are the inspiration for many of her paintings, some realistic and some abstract, in mixed media, watercolor and oils. She has also been exploring works of art by other artists who create digital works based on typography. She is fascinated by letter forms and her love of words and type.
Sally is recently retired from teaching graphic design classes and heading the art department at Culver Stockton College and has more time to do the things that inspire her limitless creativity: painting, reading, cooking and gardening.
Gallery artist Brenda Benson, Spotlight Artist for September, has loved art her entire life. Born and raised in Hannibal she decided to be an art teacher in 6 t.h grade, something her artist father, Roy Brosi, strongly encouraged. Brenda often attended meetings, exhibits and workshops with him. She remembers attending one workshop given by Fritzi Morrison, a well known Quincy artist, during which she became fascinated with watercolor.
Brenda attended Northeast Missouri University, now Truman State University, as an art education major. She taught art at Monroe City High School for 27 years then volunteered teaching art at Holy Rosary Elementary for 10 years. She has continued helping there as a teacher’s aid in art.
Brenda’s journey to her unique style of three dimensional collages found its roots in the high school watercolor class she taught before retiring. She challenged her students to create a collage piece using watercolors and paper and made pieces of her own as examples. Her work was further inspired by works of blown glass by Dale Chihuly at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. After seeing the exhibit she painted a watercolor and then presented the same shapes as collage. Her works have continued to evolve into more and more complex creations with ideas coming from conversations with others and recent events. A comment by a gallery patron led to her using the shapes and colors of vegetables in her in her work. Those “tasty” pieces led to fruit inspired collages. A news story about police being called to get a coyote out of the produce shelves of a grocery led to her hiding creatures in some of her work.
Come see these beautiful inspired and inspiring works of art during the month of September at Alliance Art Gallery at 121 N Main in Downtown Hannibal. An opening reception will be held on Saturday September 13, 2025 from 4:00 until 7:00. You will have the opportunity to meet these artists and then hear them talk about their work at 6:00. A piece of Brenda’s artwork will be given away that evening. You do not have to be present to win. Just stop by the gallery anytime that day and fill out a ticket for the free drawing. This opening coincides with the September Downtown Hannibal Art Walk.
