Tag: art event

Sat. September 9th, 2023, 1-2 p.m.
McBride Studio, 640 KS-177, Matfield Green, KS 66862

Bringing together scholars, artists, and community members connected to Santa Fe Railroad bunkhouses and Mexican settlements of Kansas, this session explores how Mexican Americans shaped this land through their laboring as railroad track hands. Recognizing that all members of the family played a part in life in the bunkhouse, we will reflect on the power of repairing historical erasures by firmly situating the history of Mexican peoples as vital to the reality of the region. Through highlighting the history of Matfield Station and drawing attention to public history projects throughout the state as well as artistic interventions we honor family members’ and community members’ efforts to make Kansas home in the past and present.

Sat. August 19th, 2023, 1-2:30 p.m.
McBride Studio, 640 KS-177, Matfield Green, KS 66862

In this workshop, attendees will explore the prairie in Matfield Green collecting nature items to use to learn to make your own sun prints using traditional cyanotype analog processing using the sun or UV light as our source. The cyanotype is a photographic printing process that produces blue prints using coated paper and light. The process was discovered by the scientist and astronomer Sir John Herschel in 1842. Herschel used the cyanotype process so that he could reproduce mathematical tables along with other notes and diagrams. 

We’ll provide all necessary supplies, but participants are welcome to bring anything they’d like to make prints of or print onto. Fabric, cardboard and paper can all be printed onto. Flowers, bugs, photo negatives, sticks, bones, or anything you can think of can be used to make your prints. You will take home original prints on paper and fabric.

About the Presenter:

Rachel Rector is a fine art film photographer whose work utilizes experimental film, cameraless photography, and historical printmaking techniques to evoke the ethereal, daydream quality of a nostalgic moment in nature. She often adds poetry, collage, and textile elements to her hand-printed photographs to convey the sentiment of the natural space. Her images have been published in Polaroid, Huffington Post, The Hand, Lenscratch and displayed in galleries throughout the U.S. Rachel has developed educational workshops believing that teaching 18th-century processes like cyanotypes and anthotypes captivates students’ senses and encourages them to become more engaged with their environment. She is currently enjoying living in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

July 1st, 2023, 1-2:30 p.m.
McBride Studio, 640 KS-177, Matfield Green, KS 66862

Steve Snell wants adventure, or at least the image of one. He recently paddled and painted all 2,341 miles of the Missouri River in a canoe in search of art and once floated part of the Connecticut River in a couch boat in search of adventure. Snell’s work engages American history, mythology, and the image of the Western landscape. He has been an Artist-in-Residence at the Tallgrass National Preserve in Kansas, the Teton ArtLab in Wyoming, and along the Chilkoot Trail in Alaska and British Columbia, which was sponsored by the National Parks Service and Parks Canada. Steve will be talking about his plein air painting journey and how it’s been shaped by local history and place.

About the Presenter:

Steve Snell’s work is represented by Weinberger Fine Art in Kansas City, MO and Courtney Collins Fine Art in Big Sky, MT and has been shown in galleries and film festivals throughout the country. Snell holds an M.F.A. in Studio Art from the University of Massachusetts Amherst as well as a B.F.A. in Painting and B.S. in Art Education from Miami University. He is currently an Associate Professor of Art in the Foundation Department at the Kansas City Art Institute.

Adventure Art on the Mighty Mo’ is a video series about art, adventure, and life along the Missouri River told through the act of painting, storytelling, and paddling all 2,341 miles of it. Each episode takes place at a different site, in which a watercolor painting is created. Painting is the vessel through which larger questions are asked, observations made, and river stories told. The intention of this work is to create an updated portrait of the river, challenge some of the stereotypes associated with it, and inspire broader public engagement and appreciation.