By Adam Stewart
From the Newsroom
I’ve been marveling this week at how plentiful art is in Hutchinson. It started as we discussed stories for the week, noticing how many stories about art exhibits and events were going on. Two of the stories were happening at the same time Thursday night.
I covered Janice Richardson’s exhibition at Midtown Gallery at the Clayworks—one of at least five art galleries that I am aware of in town, and none of them with an admission fee. Anyone can go to these galleries and view collections of artwork, including when getting a coffee at Scuttlebutts or checking out a book from the Hutchinson Public Library. The library even has a selection of artwork that patrons can check out and display at home temporarily.
While I was at the Clayworks, Richardson and I talked a bit about public art projects. The City of Hutchinson has a policy that allocates 1% of the budget for public facilities projects to artwork, and Richardson is part of the Public Art Design Council that is responsible for that funding.
It sounds like the artwork for Farmington Park should be ready relatively soon.
And beyond Public Art with capital letters, Hutchinson has a tremendous amount of lowercase public art. Our first front page featured a story by Charissa Graves about a new mural at the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce, but another downtown mural was completed in June. I had heard about the mural on the back of 2 N. Main St., designed by Jose Ray for the Hutchinson Street Cat Society, but I was surprised by the scale of it when I saw it in person for the first time last week. Those new murals are in addition to a colorful lion overlooking the intersection of Sherman and Main streets, a skyline of many of Hutchinson’s iconic attractions, and many more. (One of my favorite gifts from my wife, Michelle, is a paper sculpture she made several years ago, inspired by the skyline mural.)
And art doesn’t stop at paintings and sculptures. Architecture is art, too, and while I was covering Richardson’s exhibit, Brendan Ulmer was at the library covering a presentation on the Art Deco movement of the 1920s and 30s. Art Deco wasn’t limited to architecture, but a century later that is where its impact is easiest to see. And two of Hutchinson’s biggest pieces of art are Art Deco buildings: the Reno County Courthouse and Historic Fox Theatre. If you haven’t really looked recently, I would encourage you to take in the design of those buildings the next time you visit either.
I’m writing about this because I think it’s easy to overlook and kind of forget about art that you see routinely. It definitely happens to me. Michelle and I have picked out art that we love to display in our house, but I can go weeks without really noticing it. But when I make the conscious decision to slow down and actually look at it, I’m always impressed at what artists have been able to do.
If you don’t already, I hope you will take some time to appreciate all the art that our community has to offer.