To celebrate 25 years of documenting, collecting and exhibiting Kansas grassroots art, the Grassroots Art Center is sponsoring a Sept. 14 field trip to meet artists Curly Leiker, Pete Felten and Bruce Burkholder and explore their studios and workshops in Hays.
The trip begins at 10 a.m. with exclusive access to the sites and conversations with the artists led by Grassroots Art Center director Rosslyn Schultz. Admission for each trip is $20 per person; you may carpool or drive your own vehicle, and choose from a list of local lunch options on your own.
Leiker began making yard art from scrap iron parts in the 1960s, and today his mailboxes are found all over the U.S. “My goal is to make it look as natural as possible. It’s important to me that you see something in it,” Leiker said. His sculptures include dinosaurs, spiders, and a giant bee. Leiker will welcome visitors to his workshop in Hays.
More than 20 of Pete Felten’s limestone sculptures are on public display in Hays. His work also graces the Kansas Capitol building and other public sites in Kansas and beyond. Felten is a nationally known self-taught artist who also makes pottery, paints, takes photographs, and works in other media. Felten will meet participants in his limestone courtyard and offer a tour of his Stone Gallery that includes his sculptures, as well as the photo-realist paintings of Bruce Burkholder, who will be on hand to discuss his portraits and landscape paintings.
To reserve one of the limited spots in each tour, call the Art Center at 785-525-6118, email [email protected], or click the Shop button at grassrootsart.net.
