August 12, 2014
Story and photos by Joe Vinduska
Courtesy photos submitted
Each year, the Barton Community College faculty and staff get to strut their artistic talents in the Shafer Art Gallery’s “Faculty-Staff-Friends-Acquaintances-and-Some-Folks-We-Hardly-Know” exhibit like professional artists, complete with a full-blown reception from 6-8 p.m. Friday, August 22. The show will also include exhibits from Esther Maher, which will feature a variety of prints, paintings and ceramics, and Valery Shilaev, which will include paintings focusing on nautical-themed pieces.
Faculty and Staff Exhibit
Barton Faculty and Staff will enter their work for this non-juried show, which will feature “music, munchies and more.”
“This exhibit is a great opportunity to visually taste the variety of flavors, styles and outlooks to be found in our local art community,” said Gallery Director Dave Barnes of the exhibit. “We are also pleased to have featured artists of the professional caliber by Esther Maher and Valery Shilaev. This is rare treat for our community. If you think you don’t ‘get’ art, check out this show. Prepare to be impressed. I promise you will ‘get’ it!”
Esther Maher
Great Bend resident Esther Maher started working on art at Barton Community College in 1975. She is a ceramicist, printmaker, painter, wood carver and jewelry maker. She has won awards in many regional art shows.
Maher said art has been a big part of her life ever since she began her journey at Barton.
“I have spent hundreds of hours wearing a big dirty, long apron, playing with clay, a substance very dear to me,” she said. “I enjoy traditional watercolor, but I like to experiment and create new ways of doing art. I’ve done embossing, collographs, ink-rubs and subtractive watercolors. I thank Barton for getting me started doing art.”
Maher’s exhibit will feature prints, paintings and a few ceramic pieces.
Valery Shilaev
Valery Shilaev is a Russian drawer, marine artist, portraitist and author of paintings on naval history. He works in a style close to the latest academic romanticism characteristic to the Russian paintings of the 19th century and keeping to the traditions of marine and battle painting, founded by I.K. Aivasovsky. He creates Russian and European marine paintings. For more information you can visit his website at shilaev.info/about.
The Shafer Gallery is open 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 1-4 p.m. on Sundays. Admission is always free.