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September 20, 2017
Story by Micah Oelze
Courtesy Photo
A wide range of local artists鈥 work will be on display at the Shafer Gallery as part of the SWAG合集 County Arts Council Friends and Acquaintances Art Festival from Sept. 29-Nov. 4. An opening night reception at 6 p.m. Sept. 29. The show is underwritten by the Bill J. McKown Memorial Endowment distributed by the Golden Belt Foundation.
鈥淭he heart of a community is revealed in the artistic expression of its citizens,鈥 Shafer Gallery Director Dave Barnes said. 鈥淭he SWAG合集 County Arts Council Friends and Acquaintances Art Festival gives our community the opportunity to see the wide gamut of artistic enterprise in our county. All styles, experience levels and viewpoints share the spotlight to make this a genuinely inclusive event.鈥
Great Bend sculptor Chet Cale President of the SWAG合集 County Arts Council, described his enthusiasm for the upcoming exhibit.
鈥淭he Shafer Gallery is very good at supporting local artists and this is one of those ways,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e have a huge amount of fine, fine artists in our community countywide.鈥
One of the pieces Cale will have on display at the exhibit is 鈥淐hrist on the Cross鈥. The piece holds significant value to Cale not just from the imagery but the source of the limestone used to create the sculpture.
鈥淭he stone was a salvaged piece of Hoisington High School after the 2001 tornado. I think there is a real parallel,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e have this imagery of just before the resurrection and we have this stone that would have just ended up in somebody鈥檚 creek or buried in the ground someplace was able to be brought back and used for one of the most historically dramatic images.鈥
Featured Artist: Kathleen Kuchar
Kathleen Kuchar grew up on a farm in northeast Nebraska. From a young age, she was fascinated by art and was supported in chasing her passion by both of her parents and her teacher. Kuchar attended Kearney State College in Nebraska (now the University of Nebraska at Kearney) and received her bachelor degree in art.
After graduating, she started an art program at a high school in Minden Nebraska and taught there for two years before attending Fort Hays State University (FHSU) for her masters in art. Kuchar then went to the Brooklyn Museum in New York for one year of studies before FHSU asked her to be an art professor in 1967, where she taught for 34 years before retiring in 2001.
Until 1991 Kuchar鈥檚 artwork was mostly created with acrylic paint. It wasn鈥檛 until she attended the Santa Reparata International School of Art in Florence, Italy for one summer where she discovered her love for watercolor monotype. Monotype is a form of printmaking where only one print is made making each creation unique and one of a kind.
Her work is very youthful and abstract as she, like many artists, reaches into her past to bring out something beautiful.
鈥淢y work itself is based off of a lot of imagination, dreams and memories,鈥 she said. 鈥淪ometimes I like to make a statement so I鈥檒l have some symbolism like an empty chair. I don鈥檛 want it to be too cut and dry so people say 鈥榦h that is what it means period鈥, I want people to interact and come up with their own interpretation; that is what I am really after.鈥
Kathleen Kuchar watercolor monotype workshop Oct. 7
Starting at 10 a.m. on Oct. 7 Kuchar will host a watercolor monotype workshop at SWAG合集. During the workshop, she will demonstrate the basics of watercolor monotype printing, explore symbolism and discuss the development of the art once it comes off the press. Kuchar will also show the attendees how to make watercolor monotypes without a press so those who enjoyed this medium can continue to work on it from home. Kuchar hopes the attendees will walk away from a fun experience with a greater understanding of this art form. Some may walk out with a complete piece of artwork they want to frame and display at home. Kuchar says that is exciting, but not what she is aiming for.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not really important to have a finished product from a workshop,鈥 Kuchar said. 鈥淭he goal is to get familiar with the process, open up some ideas and appreciate the medium. If something really good comes out of it and you want to mount it and frame it then that would be just the frosting on the cake.鈥
The Shafer Gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Admission is always free.