Art Together, Mark Arts’ outreach program, cultivates creative communities through hands-on visual arts projects. The following events are free and open to the public.
Explore Black Art: Saturday, February 20, 1- 5 p.m. Virtual Event
Explore Asia: Saturday, May 15, 1 – 4 p.m. Virtual Event
Explore Mark Arts: Saturday, October 16, 1 – 4 p.m.
On February 20, 2021 Mark Arts held a virtual walkthrough of featured works by Black artists curated by Art That Touches the Heart. The works will be on display and for sale in a pop-up shop the entire month of February. We also presented a live poetry reading by Rob Simon and Matthew Thompson.
Our community art project for this event was accessible for both youth and adults and still is! Create a self-portrait inspired by Kehinde Wiley, President Barack Obama’s official portrait artist. This project reflects the importance of representation and self-expression in art.
Kehinde Wiley’s art is strongly influenced by his experiences as a young black man growing up in the United States. His unique style of painting blends the tradition of oil painted portraits with a contemporary message, confronting histories of empire, colonialism, and slavery. Wiley noted that portraits found in museums were created to indicate the power of the sitter, and there is a start lack of black portraits in Western Art. In response, Wiley chooses people he meets in the streets to be his models. By appropriating traditional formats, he reclaims the dignity, authority, and power associated with portrait painting for his contemporary sitters.
Limited kits are available for interested youth or adult artists to pick-up and add to our growing community art project. Call 316.932.1798 for more information or do it yourself with the links provided below.
Explore Black Art is presented in conjunction with:
Rob Simon of Wichita has spent most of his life as a learner, teacher, writer and performer. As a result, he has discovered many ways to help draw forth the best from thousands of people with whom he has worked.
