The Salina Art Center has commissioned 25 Kansas artists to help celebrate the Art Center’s 40th anniversary with a project inspired by Conrad Snider’s ceramic tile mural on the Art Center’s Santa Fe facade. Twenty-five individual works are being sold through online auction. Bidding will close Sept. 28, 2018 at midnight.

The works of art can be viewed at the Salina Art Center, 242 S. Santa Fe, or online at www.salinaartcenter.org through Sept. 28, 2018. Many of the participating artists plan to attend the First Friday Plein Air reception on Friday, September 7 from 5-7 p.m. at the Art Center and are looking forward to sharing their experiences with the mural project. All First Friday events at the Art Center are free and open to the public.

In 2016 Salina Art Center embarked on a community effort to develop the design for a ceramic tile mural on the Art Center’s Santa Fe facade. Under the direction of Newton, Kansas-based ceramicist Conrad Snider, community participants used large slabs of wet clay to take impressions from natural and human-made forms found within walking distance of the Art Center, for example, architectural elements, decorative ceramic tiles, plant material, iron work, etc. Using silicone, participants made molds from their clay impressions, which Snider used to create the design on the mural’s surface.

The mural is symbolic of the Art Center’s desire and respect for individual creativity, while remaining aware that we are all part of a collective community. To mark our anniversary, artists are celebrating vitality and individuality, while creating their interpretation of a small piece of our community mural.

Each of the 25 artists has interpreted a different small square section of Snider’s mural, and the results have been hung together in the Art Center’s Education Wing to create a stunning temporary mural. “Each canvas is a work of art created for our anniversary. Many of the artists have been teachers, exhibitors, and participants with the Art Center over the past 40 years,” says Misty Serene, Director of Institutional Advancement at Salina Art Center. “Seeing all 25 pieces hung together at the Art Center is stunning. Each artist had their own vision, medium, and interpretation, yet there is a breath of cohesiveness. A sense we are all part of the bigger picture. It is really what the Art Center has been about for these past 40 years.”

The Salina Art Center was founded in 1978 on the campus of Kansas Wesleyan University by collaborative of artists, arts educators, and community members who sought to create an exhibition space in the community.

Money raised through this auction helps the Art Center meet its mission to create exchanges among art, artist, and audiences that reveal life. Each artist will receive a commission from the final sale price. To show your support, please bid on auction items, give a cash donation, or simply share the auction on your social media.