"Imagination is a powerful thing. With imagination, an ordinary stick becomes a magic wand, an old piece of parchment becomes a treasure map, and a favorite toy becomes a companion on an amazing adventure! With imagination, anything is possible!" 
-Just

Just at his place | Photo by Luke Burrage 2012

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Read What Others Are Saying

"Just is Just, and he wants you to be YOU!"

"Where is the one place in Kansas City that you would take a visitor?" Without hesitation I rely, "Just's apartment!" It's a no-brainer really; Just's wonderland doesn't exist in any other city. You have to come to Kansas City for the experience - a benefit to the city. Just enriches his environment. People who know him become better people. He inspires them, makes them laugh, and helps them through life. It doesn't make sense to simply label Just as a brilliant artist. He didn't wake up one day and say, "I'm going to be an artist!" Just possesses the insight and wisdom to simply accept who he is and be true to his own nature. He doesn't label himself as anything other than himself. Just catalyzes beauty to be expressed in whichever environment he finds himself within. More importantly, for those fortunate enough to meet him, he models a lifestyle we all deeply desire. He shows us how to be ourselves. Just is Just, and he wants you to be YOU! As a result, I am more ME! Oh, yeah, his toys are awesome. Thank you, Just.

Professor Greg Owsley - Kansas City Juggling Club

"Just is the curator of small things."

Just playing on the trafficway | Photo by Dan Dishman

The most intriguing aspect of Just's creative process is his use of found objects. What looks like trash to us, is to Just an important element of a new creation. I've witnessed him picking up items from the ground, or the side of the road. He makes risky moves into oncoming traffic to rescue a piece of "treasure". He's always on the look out for his art supplies, gathering them up, and keeping them safe until they can be made into something wonderful. I think his art touches on a profoundly human experience. Who among us hasn't felt cast aside, left behind, or overlooked as "junk"? Maybe we are waiting for someone to see our potential, and give us the opportunity to transform in to something that bring joy. This is his true talent. You see, Just doesn't find a piece with some agenda for what it will be. He "listens" to it, turns it around, and matches it with other pieces, until the object reveals what it wishes to be, in that moment.  Just is the curator of small things. He believes there is a new life of awkward beauty available to all of us, and that our value can not be quantified with a price tag. In a culture that judges worth by how much a thing can be bought and sold for, it is refreshing to see what can become of things if they are treated to a little curiosity and love.  

Kayla Williams, dancer, dreamer

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"Just is the ultimate recycler!"

I met Just at the Kansas City Juggling Club a few years back. I immediately became enamored with his home made skill toys. The ingenuity he has in taking what is essentially garbage and turning it into amazing toys or works of art is astounding. Just is the ultimate recycler! I was surprised beyond words when Just invited me to see his home gallery. The enormity of it is beyond words. Every little nook and cranny is filled to the brim with treasures. Seeing his work has become the #1 sight seeing adventure for any out-of-towners that come to visit my family.
Exactly like his creations, Just is a hidden treasure in Kansas City. Everyone should have the opportunity to meet the man and see his work.

Yo Yo Wizard, Blake Freeman - Kansas City Yo Yo Club