THE HAYS DAILY NEWSThurs 26 July 2001 HAYS NATIVE TAKES HIS ART TO PARIS By SAM ANGESON
PARIS, A descendant of the Volga-German settlers of Ellis County Sean McGinnis has found his home and livelihood in the Europe his ancestors left behind.
A childhood dream to be an artist and live in France needed only his first trip there in 1993 to spark the idea of him moving there permanently.
"Living a dream is often the hardest work one can do, but it's the best work there is because I know each morning when I get up that I'm living life to the fullest," he said.
McGinnis, the son of Darrell and Grace McGinnis of Hays, is a 1983 graduate of Hays High School and a 1987 graduate of Fort Hays State University where he majored in art. He was accepted into the "Kansas Artists Postcard Series" when he was 18.
With a father who was a sculptor and a long time professor of art, Sean's exposure to art began at an early age.
After receiving his bachelor's of fine art in ceramics and in art history he went to Tucson, Ariz., to attend graduate school at the University of Arizona, where he received his master's of fine arts.
Mthough not his first trip to Europe, his first visit to Paris was in 1993 and was the turning point of his life.
"The first two days, I hated it. I couldn't understand a word and could say three things very badly out of a guide book," he said.
He ended up living in Paris and at that time discovered that he preferred the way of life there, especially the value that their culture places on creativity and culture.
"I love that the first question people here ask me when they find out I'm an artist, is what do I do and not, 'So do you make money at it?'"
"Paris is filled with art. The buildings are art. The meals are art. One lives and breathes it here," be said.
After two extended stays of several months in 1994 and 1995, he decided to make the leap. He would move to Paris full-time and at the same time devote himself to the other half of his dream: living full-time as an artist. He moved to Paris in 1997 on a tourist visa with the right to stay for three months and with the determination that he would find the way to make it work long term.
Four years later he's still here and has come a long way down the path. He's a certified member of the Maison des Artistes and has been granted the right to live as an artist in France by the French government.
It hasn't been easy and dealing with administrative bureaucracy can be tough. He has worked in restaurants, painted friends' apartments, taught English lessons and even produced an American television show covering fashion.
He also has had a number of exhibits in Paris of botb his painting and photographic work. He said his sales are good, which is remarkable for a city that is sluggish to accept new talent.
He recently was part of a two- person exhibit, and last year, McGinnis' painting, "Struggle 1," was chosen to be exhibited in the Salon d'Automne, Paris, the same salon that artists such as Matisse, Picasso and Braque showed their works at the beginning of their careers almost 100 years ago.
Galerienomade.com, an Internet gallery has shown his work since the beginning of last year.
"Dot-coms have proven themselves to be worthless for big business, but they are great exposure for artists. People all over the world have seen and bought my work. I can't complain," he said.
An added benefit to living in Europe is that one of McGinnis' hobbies is researching his ancestors, and he has had the proximity and the opportunity to trace his mother's maiden name of Staab back to 1600 in Germany as well as his grandmother's maiden name of Schuvie back to 1700 in Auvergne, France.
The results of his genealogical work appear in two books he has written, "The Founding Families of Catharine, Kansas, (1600-1875) and (1875-1910)," which are still in print..
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