Event: Opening Receptions for February Shows
Details: Friday, Feb. 6, 6-8 p.m.
Featured Artists: Derek Goon, Emily E. Ritter, Mason Talbott, Shauna Canfield, Wichita South High AP Students, Gordon Parks Academy Students, Ann Resnick, Pam Bjork, Kenda Cremin, Debra Smith, Sarah Faust Waddell, Madison Mullen
Join us on February 6th for an opening reception celebrating new exhibitions, shared merriment, and all-around good vibes.
GALLERY SHOWS
Women’s Work presented by Trish Higgins Fine Art: Works by Ann Resnick, Pam Bjork, Kendra Cremin, Debra Smith, Sarah Faust Waddell and Madison Mullen
Being Present by Derek Goon: Derek attempts to stay present and observe mundane beauty, trying to create strong compositions out of everyday, universally relatable midwestern scenes, situations, and locations. He enjoys capturing aspects of Wichita that feel familiar while trying to avoid stereotypical local and regional imagery. Social media: instagram.com/drkbgoon
Polyflora Revisited by Emily E. Ritter: Polyflora imagines a metaphorical future where plastics have fused with organic matter, creating hybrid species that replace the life we know today. This imagined environment is the planet’s rebirth after ecological collapse. Millions of years are required for organisms and systems to reintegrate materials into the life cycle, yet plastics—barely a century old—remain foreign to Earth’s processes. In this future, however, systems have adapted; evolution has shaped life capable of assimilating plastic as part of its being.
My work embodies this vision by transforming discarded plastics into objects of value. Using materials deemed worthless, I cut, wrap, glue, and fuse them into hybrid plant forms, exploring their movement, shape, malleability, and substance. The word “plastic” itself, signifying moldability and transformation, mirrors this process. The resilience of plant life—its ability to persist in the harshest conditions—inspires the work. Flowers, in particular, symbolize rebirth, fertility, and survival, qualities I see echoed in plastics that endure destruction and decay. In combining the two, I create forms that are both fragile and persistent, natural yet artificial.
The detailed, highly crafted plants invite viewers in with their beauty, only to reveal a hidden truth: every petal and stem is made from discarded plastic. This realization provokes reflection on consumption, waste, and the pervasive toxicity of human excess. The paradox lies in the transformation: trash becomes delicate flora, destruction becomes creation, permanence becomes fertility.
Ultimately, Polyflora offers a vision of “apocalyptic positivity.” While the presence of plastic represents human negligence, the work suggests that life will continue to adapt and reinvent itself, even in a synthetic world. The hybrids become both a warning and a celebration—a testament to resilience, survival, and the enduring will of life to flourish in unexpected forms.
It's Good to See You Again by Mason Talbott: This exhibition explores the reassurance found in enduring relationships, forged through repeatedly showing up for one another time and time again. By juxtaposing new partnership with older works and iterative echoes, the experience traces the deepening of relationship through creative collaboration and continued togetherness. As always, the room becomes an evolving interplay of light and shadow, fundamentally transformed by your Presence in it and with it. Only together, we witness the quiet beauty of staying, returning, and growing alongside one another. As always, it is so good to see you again.
Where the Path Shines by Shauna Canfield: My theme is Happiness. The intention is to bring joy and relaxation to viewers. My vision is to paint frequently to provide a wider range of images and subject matter to draw a bigger audience. Painting is my absolute passion! My dream is to create beautiful works for others to enjoy and truly appreciate. It’s my way of sharing my thoughts and visions without explanation.
Shape and Form: a collection of works by Wichita South High AP students: Shape And Form celebrate the work of students exploring ideas through both two- and three-dimensional media. Using drawing, painting, and ceramics, students translates personal concepts into visual form while building technical skill and creative confidence. Each piece represents a step in an ongoing process of experimentation, problem-solving, and artistic growth.
Meadow of Trees: A Community Response to Strength, Care, and Light by Tatiana Larsen and her students at Gordon Parks Academy: Meadow of Trees is a collaborative art installation created by students at Gordon Parks Academy and facilitated by art teacher Tatiana Larsen. The project began with a single, deeply personal artwork: a tree created by Marco Rosales Jr., a student responding to his experience with serious illness and brain cancer.
Marco’s tree is placed at the center of the installation and serves as the emotional starting point for the work. Inspired by Marco’s message : “The most important thing in life is to stay smiling no matter the situation,” Students were invited to create their own symbolic trees as visual responses to ideas of strength, hope, care, and resilience.
Each tree is unique. Students chose their own materials, symbols, and meanings, reflecting individual voices and lived experiences. Some trees speak to growth and healing, others to fear, courage, joy, or quiet support. Displayed together, the trees form a meadow, a shared landscape that emphasizes connection rather than sameness.
Teachers and staff were also invited to contribute simple tree drawings, words, or symbolic images as a gesture of community support. While participation varied, these contributions reflect the project's intention: that even small acts of care and presence matter.
As the instructor, Larsen’s role was to guide the process, create a safe environment, and protect students' voices and authorship. Meadow of Trees demonstrates how art in an educational setting can hold difficult experiences with empathy, offer space for reflection, and build a sense of collective care.
