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42nd Annual Art Awards
The Arts Council is proud to invite you to attend our 42nd Annual Art Awards banquet. This year's celebration will be held on Thursday, Nov. 10 at the new Drury Plaza at the Broadview Hotel. Gather at 5:30 for drinks and social time, join us for dinner, then enjoy musical entertainment and see this year's honorees recognized.
Arts Council board member and Art Awards Committee Chair Jack Silvers is pleased to announce the award recipients for 2011:
Arts Organization Award........................Wichita Community Theatre
Special Project Award...........................Botanica Children's Garden
Arts Educator Award.............................Joyce Cavarozzi and Dick Welsbacher
Arts Advocate/ Individual Award..............Ron Holt
Arts Advocate/ Group Award..................Tallgrass Film Festival
Individual Artist Award...........................Steve Murillo
Youth Recognition Award.......................Rosie Beyer
Business Award...................................Watermark Books
Burton Pell Award.................................Denny Dusek
Special Recognition Award.....................Mitch Berman
Design Council Award...........................Nomar International Market
Tickets for this event ($40. each OR a table of 10 for $350.) are available at WichitaTIX.com. or from any Arts Council board member.
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4th Sculpture WalkAbout Contest Call for Entries:
We Need You, Sculptors!
The Arts Council and the Sculpture WalkAbout Committee are issuing the annual Call for Entries this month. Sculptures produced within the last three years that are Kansas-weather worthy and can be loaned for display in downtown Wichita for a year can be entered in our contest until March 1. This year's juror is Rachael Blackburn Cozad, Director of the Kemper Museum in Kansas City.
As many as 13 winners receive $500. each, the display of their juror-selected pieces, recognition at the Unveiling and public reception, and acknowledgement in the Sculpture WalkAbout brochure. The winner of the People's Choice Award will receive a $1000. check at the Arts Council's fall Art Awards banquet. Complete details and contest entry form are available on our website, www.wichitaarts.com. Remember, you are welcome to enter several sculptures. |
3rd Sculpture WalkAbout
The Arts Council's 3rd Sculpture WalkAbout presented 13 sculptures by ten regional artists to the public with a dedication ceremony on Final Friday, May 27 on Mosley in Old Town. Mayor Carl Brewer, Board of County  Commissioners Chair Dave Unruh, and Jan Schall PhD spoke. Dr. Schall, who is the Sanders Sosland Curator for Modern and Contemporary Art at the Nelson-Atkins Gallery in Kansas City, Missouri, served as this show's juror. ACTeen volunteers assisted by distributing brochures and guiding people toward the dedication site.
Our honored sculptors this year include Fred Braht, Nelson Escalante, Greg Johnson, Rollin Karg, Ted Krone, Ed Langston, Andrew Patton, Conrad Snider, Beth Vannatta, and Ann Zerger. Those with two pieces in the show are Rollin Karg, Beth Vannatta, and Ann Zerger.
Following the public ceremony, two receptions were held at City Arts. A large public reception in the main gallery featured Debra Cole's video of the exhibit, and a private reception upstairs allowed time for the sculptors to visit with Dr. Schall, and for public officials to visit with Arts Council board members.
The Arts Council now invites the public to tour all 13 sculptures and vote for a favorite in our People's Choice Award. Ballots (located on the brochure's last page) may be submitted to the City Arts desk until October 31. Our People's Choice winner will receive a $1000. check at the Art Awards banquet on Nov. 10. Past winners of this award are Greg Johnson and Beth Vannatta. Be sure to vote for your favorite!
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Revitalizing Final Friday
After seeking in-put from several business and gallery-owners, the Arts Council's Marketing and Communication Committee, chaired by Denise Irwin, initiated an effort to revitalize Final Friday in Wichita. They solicited the donation of a graphic logo from the Greteman Group to be displayed in the windows of all participating galleries. They also initiated an Art Bucks program in which each gallery asks attendees to enter their names in a drawing for $100. Art Bucks won can be spent in any registered Final Friday Gallery. Other future efforts of this committee may include expansion of the trolley route and signage for individual artists.
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Artist Grant for Jodi Lightner
Local artist Jodi Lightner has received a $1000. Artist Grant from the Arts Council so that she can complete her multi-media project in Vermont.
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Arts Orientation for New City Council Members
In June our Advocacy Committee chaired by Judy Conners Invited newly-elected City Council members Pete Meitzner, James Clendenin and Michael O'Donnell to accompany them on a tour of the city's primary investment in cultural arts. The group visited Botanica, Old Cowtown, the Mid-America All-Indian Center, the Wichita Art Museum and the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum; in each, they walked through the facility and heard short presentations by the director on programs, members, visitors, budgets and events of the organization. Arts Council Chair Bob Lamkey, committee member Sharon Fearey, Arts and Culture Administrative Asst. Bernadette Bradshaw, and Art Advocate Joan Cole joined the three City Council members.
Also, the committee provided information on the work of the Arts Council and the Cultural Funding Committee and offered to assist the new Council members in understanding the value of the arts to a community. They offered to meet with them to review the structure, history, application and process of our Cultural Funding Committee. As Joan Cole said, " We are so fortunate that our City Council has recognized the value, on several levels, of cultural arts to our community. We have worked with Council members over the past six years and offer ourselves as a resource to them in the future."
The Arts Council greatly appreciates the time these councilors gave to us for this event, and we look forward to working closely with them in the future.
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| Reception Honors Joan Cole and CFC
On May 11, 2011 the Arts Council hosted a reception to recognize Joan Cole for her years of meaningful service to the arts in our city and state. Specifically, Joan was thanked for her leadership of the Arts Council, her  development of a dynamic advocacy committee within the Arts Council, her efforts establishing the city's mil levy for the arts, her creation and professional oversight of our Cultural Funding Committee (CFC), and her work as a board member on the Kansas Arts Commission. Following Joan Cole's initiative, the CFC has become a highly respected committee fulfilling an important function for the City Council, and the Arts Council has become a vehicle for effective arts advocacy.
Arts Council Chair Robert Lamkey teased Joan in a friendly way, then praised her four personal qualities of Professionalism, Political savvy, Persistence, and delightful Pragmatism. Current CFC Chair Donna Perline joked that Joan should also be crowned "Princess," then continued to explain the CFC's mission and introduce her hard-working committee. Following these speeches and a presentation of a gift, all enjoyed refreshments.
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| Music Theatre of Wichita - Good Business for Our Community!
According to Music Theatre of Wichita's 40th Anniversary flier, their contribution to our community goes far beyond outstanding summer musical theatre. Not only do they produce five Broadway-quality shows each summer, but at the same time, they make a significant contribution to Wichita and Sedgwick County's economy. Look at these statistics:
· MTW provides 250 jobs every summer, decade after decade.
· 70% of MTW's $3,000,000. budget is returned to the Wichita economy.
· MTW pays for 900 hotel rooms in Wichita each summer.
Congratulations to Music Theatre on 40 years of excellent theatre! And thank you for boosting our economy each year!
Art is Good Business in Wichita!
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