March 3, 2020
Story by Joe Vinduska
Photos submitted
The Shafer Gallery will host the reception for its annual “BaRTaRT” exhibit at 6:30 p.m. on March 13. The show features work from every segment of the campus including students, faculty and staff. Refreshments will be provided and guest juror Brian Hutchinson, an Instructor of Art Education and Studio Foundations at Fort Hays State University, will announce awards.
Gallery Director Dave Barnes said the exhibit is a chance for the gallery to celebrate the artistic expressions of all the people who make the college a great place to work and learn.
“The BaRTaRT exhibition is a wonderful opportunity for our students, faculty and staff to show off their artistic talents in the professional environment of the Shafer Gallery,” he said. “It’s exciting to see what is going on in the art classrooms and studios of our students and coworkers. We are really lucky to have Brian Hutchinson from FHSU judging the exhibit this year. He is a good friend of the Shafer Gallery and will have his own show here in July of 2020. We have a very exciting awards ceremony for Barton student artists and Brian will be giving out awards and critiquing work. We invite everyone to attend and give our Barton artists some well-deserved support.”
Hutchinson has been teaching art since 2003 at every level from K-12 to college students.
“The Barton County community holds a special place in my heart as I taught in the Great Bend public school system for five years at both the Great Bend Middle School and Great Bend High School,” he said. “Many of my former students have attended Barton Community College and I have the pleasure of working with some of them now as they are students at Fort Hays State University.”
Hutchinson said serving as a juror is enjoyable but challenging.
“I enjoy appraising the widely varying forms of expression happening in the contemporary art scene and that I can give back to the exhibition process as a working exhibiting artist as well,” he said. “The most challenging aspect of judging an exhibition is to remain objective in terms of the formal, conceptual, and expressive qualities of each work … I push my aesthetic completely away from the process, so my judgment is pure. I have always touted that an artist’s work can be eclectic but really should not completely emulate another’s work.”
Above all, Hutchinson said he is happy he can lead a life immersed in art.
“I love living a creative life, allowing my curiosity to lead me on research adventures, practice media expertise, and inspiring others toward the rich life of responding to this world and the act of creation,” he said.
For more information, contact Shafer Gallery Director Dave Barnes at (620) 792-9342 or barnesd@bartonccc.edu.