Springfield artists and married couple Randy Bacon and Heidi Herrman are opening a new collaborative exhibition titled "Two Voices, One Road" at their C-Art Gallery on Historic Commercial Street, running from April 29 to July 4. The show was inspired by a restorative road trip along Route 66 they took in 2021 after Herrman's mother died and as the world emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic. Bacon contributes landscape photographs taken as far back as 1992, while Herrman presents new mixed-media works combining her own photographs with vintage handkerchiefs inherited from her mother, printed on mulberry paper and fused with encaustic materials.
The exhibition matters because it represents a deeply personal collaboration between two artists who process grief and healing through their respective mediums, using the historic Route 66 as both a literal and metaphorical backdrop. The show highlights how art can emerge from personal loss and collective recovery, while also showcasing a unique fusion of photography, textiles, and encaustic techniques that blend the couple's distinct artistic voices into a unified narrative.