1.0 CIM Arts & HumanitiesCITY COMMISSION INFORMATION MEMORANDUM
ADMINISTRATIVE BRIEF FROM BRAD ANDERSON
ARTS AND HUMANITIES DEPARTMENT
Upcoming Exhibit "Let's Play"
The museum's central gallery features
new exhibits every six months. "Let's
Play" has been designed by museum
staff who decided early on that an
exhibition featuring kids' play needed to
be more than just showing the toys in the
Museum's collections or a treaty on the
topic of play. It needed whimsy and a
child -like view of play. Early research
focused on the children whose images
and items were in the Museum
collections. These children's stories
inspired the goal for this exhibit – Through
the power of play, kids will always find a
way to explore and have fun.
6
March 14, 2022
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Custom illustrations inspired by artifacts and images from the
Smoky Hill Museum collection.
Play is powerful as an outlet for imagination and wonderment; it stimulates new ideas, enriches
important skills, and sparks joy through understanding; it utilizes the senses as a pathway to see and
connect to the world; it is a bridge from "what is" to "what if;" and play helps us adapt to the ever-
changing world around us.
It was decided to use illustrations—playful images based on
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these real Salina children to convey the power of play. Custom
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paintings could take a static portrait and provide lively
movement. They could convey energy and joy. Illustrations
could spark the imagination. The Friends of the Smoky Hill
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Museum and the Earl Bane Foundation provided funding for
Salina native John Keeling to design and execute the
illustrations featured in the exhibit. Keeling is a gifted illustrator
;
and watercolorist selected from a pool of qualified candidates.
Specifically, the exhibit looks at the power of play through the
lives of local children from the late 1890s to 1950 as they e' p
explore their worlds through various types of play – creative,
physical, competitive, etc. This look at play shows that
imagination does not need computer-based technology to have
fun. Toys may change, but people will always play.
Arts & Humanities (SAH) Updates
• The Smoky Hill River Festival is scheduled for June 9-12, 2022. Entertainment selections are
nearing completion and represent a diverse and engaging group of performers.
• Festival fundraising is underway. More than 300 businesses and individuals provide one-third
of the necessary cash beyond earned revenue which accounts for the remaining two-thirds of
the budget. An additional $150,000 in in-kind contributions helps the City's bottom line when
local businesses contribute staff time, professional services, products, equipment, hotel
rooms, or food for the event.
• Exhibiting artist selection is nearly complete and will be announced with other Festival details
at a press conference on April 12.
"Sun -Kissed" by former Salinan Hannah Gebhardt is
the 2022 Festival print.
Former Salinan Hannah Gebhardt
produced this year's Festival print. The
print is given to donors contributing $100 or
more. Entitled "Sun -Kissed," the four-color
image is made by carving into a linoleum
block, leaving only the areas to be inked.
This is done for each color which provides
a variety of technical challenges to ensure
the color registration is correct. Gebhardt is
also designing the Festival t -shirt and will
be exhibiting in June.
The SAH staff is working on
publishing a collection of essays later this
year asking Saline County residents to
share a transformational story or moment
that made a lasting change in their lives. A
diverse group of 35 contributors is providing
stories for the publication. Additional residents may also be asked to offer shorter reflections
as space and budget allows. This 100 -page book will be available in October as part of
National Arts & Humanities Month.
• Arts Education Coordinator Anna Pauscher-Morawitz was promoted in January and now
serves as the Manager of Operations and Development. A search for her replacement in
performing arts administration and arts education is underway.
• A new website for SAH is being developed and should be released in late spring. The new site
will offer easy access to information about art education, public art, grants programs, and a
directory that helps connect citizens to art professionals and organizations.
Brad Anderson, Executive Director