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Author: jmhatre

Prairie Studies Initiative

Posted on by jmhatre

During the 2021-2022 season, the Prairie Studies Initiative at the Beach Museum of Art continues to inspire the museum’s work. In the Mary Holton Seaton West Gallery, artworks from the collection represent the prairie in varied ways, from Jim Richardson’s remarkable photographs of the roots of native grasses and wildflowers to Joe DiGiorgio’s pointillist evocation of a wheat field. Visit the museum to enjoy these artworks.

Photographs of prairie grassroots by artist Jim Richardson, in the Beach Museum of Art's collection.

Left: James (Jim) C. Richardson, Prairie Cordgrass (spartina pectinada), 2014, printed 2016, from the series Prairie Roots, inkjet print, U12.2016
Middle: James (Jim) C. Richardson, Missouri Goldenrod (solidago missouriensis), 2014, printed 2016, from the series Prairie Roots, inkjet print, U9.2016
Right: James (Jim) C. Richardson, Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardi), 2014, printed 2016, from the series Prairie Roots, inkjet print, U8.2016

"Kansas Wheatfield" oil painting by Joe DiGiorgio in the Beach Museum of Art's collection.

Joe DiGiorgio, Kansas Wheatfield, 1971, oil on canvas, 72 1/2 x 293 3/4 in., Kansas State University, Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, gift of Helen DiLello and John DiLello, Jr., 2003.229

The Meadow, a native plant mini-park north of the museum, still serves as an outdoor learning lab for university and K-12 students.

Enjoy the small prairie landscape right on K-State campus!

View through The Meadow toward the Beach Museum of Art. Image courtesy of K-State Communications and Marketing.

University Honors Program Seminar

Posted on by jmhatre

This fall Associate Curator of Education Kathrine Schlageck and Curator Liz
Seaton reprised their University Honors Program seminar, “Wading
Through a Complex Visual World.” The introductory course for freshman honors students uses the museum’s collections and its fall exhibitions to discuss art as a form of communication, a way to make connections between different subject areas, and a means of developing critical thinking and evidence-based reasoning skills. Students investigate diverse topics, including the science of art conservation and art as a form of social justice.

Sylvia Fritz, a student in last year’s course reflected: “Visual literacy helps to
train your mind to look at everything in a new light and in more detail, so
that you can appreciate your daily life from a new angle every day.” Student
Kelsey Wilson noted: “Since I am studying secondary education in biology, I will encounter many drawings depicting organ systems, ecosystems, etc. … Being visually literate [will help] me to take the time to examine the components of the images and comprehend [them] as a whole.

Associate Curator of Education Kathrine Schlageck engages with students in the museum.