Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art

Future Exhibitions

 

Artwork entitled "WPA Cutting Down a Tree" by Ethel Spears

To the Stars Through Art: A History of Art Collecting in Kansas Public Schools, 1900-1950

August 22, 2023 – May 11, 2024
In 1911 the school superintendent in McPherson, Kansas, organized an exhibition to acquire artwork for a new high school. This became an annual ticketed event, allowing the McPherson schools to establish a rich collection of works by regionally and nationally recognized artists, among them James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Birger Sandzén and Fern Coppedge.

Before the mid-century, schools in dozens of Kansas communities, including boarding schools for Indigenous students and segregated schools, joined McPherson in acquiring original art. To the Stars Through Art will feature 70 paintings and prints by Blackbear Bosin, Norma Bassett Hall, Walter Ufer and other artists, from more than a dozen schools and history museums across the state.

A goal of the exhibition is to guide Kansas schools in caring for their collections and using art for educational enrichment. The exhibition is being organized by Curator Elizabeth Seaton in collaboration with regional scholars and museum curators. Image: Ethel Spears, WPA Cutting Down a Tree, ca. 1938, Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project, Illinois, allocated to Topeka High School, opaque watercolor and graphite on paper, Kansas State University, Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, 2016.30

 

Artwork entitled "Autumn Blueberry Barren" by Neil G. Welliver.

Neil Welliver: Maine Seasons

September 19, 2023 – August 17, 2024
Enjoy an imaginary trek into Maine’s natural wonders in this exhibition of three large paintings by Neil Welliver (1929-2005). About his dramatic depictions of the state’s landscape, the artist said he hoped the viewer might “really actively enter … in a psychological sense.” The works are on loan from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art through the Art Bridges Foundation. Image: Neil G. Welliver, Autumn Blueberry Barren, 1982, oil on canvas, 96 x 96 in., Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, Gift of Ruth and Stanley Westreich, 2021.14

 

"wood+paper+box" exhibition publicity image

wood+paper+box in your hands

2023 Friends of the Beach Museum of Art Gift Print
October 3, 2023 - April 6, 2024
Katie Baldwin, Mariko Jesse, and Yoonmi Nam make up the artist collective wood+paper+box. They met in Japan in 2004 at an artist residency, where together they lived and studied mokuhanga, the traditional Japanese woodblock printmaking technique. Artworks by wood+paper+box carry the spark born of shared experience and are created through collaboration, interaction, and friendship. They offer the idea of appreciating art not just by looking but also by touching and participating. Image: AL>CA>KS, 2015-2016, clamshell box, mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock), lithography, etching, screenprint, letterpress and relief printing, photo by Brian Hawkins, courtesy of the artists

 

Artwork entitled "Magician 3rd State" by Caroline Thorington

Where the Magic Happens: Artists in the Studio

February 13 – October 19, 2024
Explore the creative process through views of artists working in their studios, many of them self-portraits. The exhibition will also feature tools owned by Charles Marshall, Herschel Logan and Bernard Steffen. Image: Caroline Thorington, Magician 3rd State, 2013, lithograph, gift of Caroline Thorington, 2017.285

 

Artwork entitled "Then a Galaxy of Fireworks Exploded in His Head, and All the World Turned Black" by John Steuart Curry

Upon a Time: Create Your Own Adventure

May 28 – December 21, 2024
Find inspiration for creating your own adventure stories in works from the collection. Organized in conjunction with the American Library Association’s 2024 summer reading theme, “Adventure Begins at Your Library,” this exhibition will set the theme for the museum’s summer art programs and tours. Image: John Steuart Curry, Then a Galaxy of Fireworks Exploded in His Head, and All the World Turned Black, illustration for “The Tiger’s Claw” by Albert Payson Terhune, Country Gentleman, February 3, 1923, oil on canvas board, 36 x 30 in., 2022.22