visual arts
2024:
The Year
of Jell-O
DIANE MCWHORTER, THE JELL-O QUEEN, AND INDI
STERN-HAYWORTH, HER LADY-IN-WAITING, POSE
WITH MCWHORTER’S DRIED JELL-O CREATIONS.
PREGAME THE ANNUAL JELL-O
ART SHOW WITH JELL-O SHOTS
INSPIRED BY EUGENE’S FINEST
JELL-O ARTISTS
By Emerson Brady
E
very December my dear friend Isaac and
I make a list of trend predictions for the
upcoming year. We argue over whether
bobs are making a comeback and if truffl e
fries are fi nally #out. One thing we know for
sure is that Jell-O is sweeping the nation
yet again.
Consider this your warning: It’s a Jell-O world now and
we’re just living in it.
For some Jell-O isn’t simply a trend; it’s an art form, and
Eugene’s annual Jell-O Art Show is the Louvre of Jell-O
art. Established in 1988 by feminist performance group
The Radar Angels, the annual Jell-O Art Show provides
a space for Jell-O artists of every skill level to showcase
their ooey-gooey art.
This year’s show takes place at Maude Kerns Art Center
and begins at 5 pm Saturday, March 23. Anyone can submit
a piece so long as they can contribute $3 for their display.
And if it wasn’t already obvious, any art submitted must
be made of Jell-O.
“The thing I love about Jell-O art is that there’s no
critical structure,” says Diane McWhorter, aka The Jell-O
Queen. One of the fi rst Jell-O Art Show artists, she adds,
“There’s no bad Jell-O art. You know, there’s no winner;
just self expression.”
McWhorter got into Jell-O art after her Radar Angel
friend and future Jell-O Lady in Waiting Indira Stern-
Hayworth convinced her to submit a piece for the fi rst show.
She recalls her fi rst piece was a dried Jell-O Barbie
with a slug on its leg. “I was listening to people talk about
it, and they were like, ‘I can’t even believe a woman would
make that,’” she says of the Jell-O art. She says. “It made
me realize that, wait, art is super fun — and Jell-O allows
me to be an artist.”
Stern-Hayworth and the rest of the Radar Angels
crowned McWhorter Jell-O queen in 2012 after a broken heel
earlier that year almost kept her from submitting a piece.
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ISAAC DISPLAYS THE BLUE CURAÇO
‘UNDER THE SEA’ JELL-O SHOT.
Photos by John Ofstedal
“It was a no-brainer,” Stern-Hayworth says. “There is
just nobody else who could be Jell-O queen.”
A few years later in 2016, David Pibbs was knighted by
McWhorter after participating in the show for 20 years.
“I just love entering an art show alongside 8-year-olds
and 80-year-olds,” Pibbs says.
Both McWhorter and Pibbs’ houses resemble dried
Jell-O art museums. Vases full of Jell-O fl owers line her
kitchen table, and brightly colored Jell-O crowns sit on the
piano. Jell-O stars and mustaches live on Pibbs’ tables.
McWhorter points across the hall and says, “That’s my
actual Jell-O art room but it’s too crowded in there.”
The kitchen is what one might refer to as a Jell-O
studio. Counters are littered with Pyrex bowls of thick,
brightly colored Jell-O that hardens at room temperature.
McWhorter lets it sit on her counter, tending to it periodi-
cally until it’s the right texture to mold it into whatever
shape she pleases.
This year she says her piece is going to resemble a koi
fi sh bowl with various plants and fi sh “somehow suspended”
in the bowl. Pibbs is also inspired by fi sh this year and is
making a goldfi sh aquarium made up entirely out of wet
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Jell-O, which is what Jell-O artists call the consistency it
is after being refrigerated.
“It may or may not work,” McWhorter says. “You’re
always working up to the last minute.”
Feeling inspired after meeting Jell-O royalty McWhorter
and Pibbs; I decided to enlist Jell-O trendspotter Isaac
to help me create a Jell-O concoction of my own. Except
instead of an elaborate art piece, we decided to create
the perfect Jell-O shot to pregame the Jell-O Art Show.
Both the Jell-O queen and knight were infl uenced by
fi sh (adding marine life to my ‘ins list’ as we speak), which
means an oceanic-themed Jell-O shot was in order. Two
envelopes of gelatin, a half cup of Blue curaço and three-
quarters cup of tequila are the driving forces in our ‘Under
the Sea’ Jell-O shot.
First you’re going to pour two-thirds cup of sweetened
lime juice, a third cup of water and gelatin in a saucepan
and let it soak for a few minutes. Then turn the heat to low
until the gelatin is dissolved (should be about fi ve minutes).
While the gelatin is dissolving, take out your plastic shot
glasses and put a Swedish Fish in every cup. Remove the
saucepan from heat and stir in the liquor. It may melt the
fi sh but it looks cool. Finally, pour the Jell-O into the shot
glasses and let it refrigerate for several hours.
After the Jell-O is solidifi ed feel free to decorate with
graham cracker ‘sand’ and a little beach umbrella or swim
goggles.
“If you don’t like the taste you can always swallow it
whole,” Isaac says. “That’s half the fun.”
The Jell-O Art Show is 5 pm Saturday, March 23 at Maude Kerns
Art Center 1910 E. 15. The show will feature a performance from the
“Inimitable Radar Angels” at 7 pm. There is a suggested donation of $3.
If you wish to have your art featured in the show you can drop your piece
off at Maude Kerns between 3-4:30 pm. To learn more about the Jell-O
Art Show and how to submit a piece go to Mkartcenter.org/jello.html
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