The Artist Exchange program is a mentoring process that enables local and regional artists to teach and learn together while engaged in challenging, innovative work over the course of eight to ten months. The 2006–2007 participating artists:
Harley Elliott (Salina) mentoring Kate Augustine (Salina)
Mary Kay (Lindsborg) mentoring Carolyn Wedel (Salina)
Ruth Moritz (Great Bend) mentoring Erika Nelson (Lucas)

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Harley Elliott 
Any given visual work of mine is usually a mixture of media: drawing, painting, printmaking, collage. Each of these processes implies many tools, since a drawing can be done with a lighted candle as well as a pencil. The grid, overt or implied, appeals to me as a structure and I am drawn to multiples of anything, so one of the duos I like to balance is uniformity and variation.Some of my work begins with concept, an idea the process is then coaxed or coerced into expressing. When I work like this, what I think is important. Some begin purely as process, an interaction of materials that eventually suggests a concept. In this mode, what I don’t think is important. I like to contrast stasis and motion, gesture and structure, intellect and intuition, positive and negative. History, language, science, identity, is a theme of continuing interest and my theory of art is strictly open—possibility trumps conviction.

The abiding value of the Artist Exchange program, for me, lies in the possibilities arising from conversations between makers. Differences in concepts, philosophies, and approaches to materials and process give me ways to reexamine my own tendencies and help me avoid stasis in my own ways of thinking and feeling. Seeing another person’s work can have the same effect, but direct conversation with other artists is the most direct way to stir and shape attitudes that might otherwise become dogmatic.

Harley Elliott is a visual and performing artist, writer, and teacher whose work has been exhibited/presented in the United States, Canada, and Japan. He taught at Marymount College for eighteen years and served as Director of Education and Interpretation at the Art Center for fourteen years.

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Kate Augustine
Formerly most of my work has been rigid and realistic. During the Artist Exchange I decided to go abstract and work even without a subject. This was very freeing, but I often found myself struggling with it because it was so different compared to all of my previous work. Many times I would stare at my blank paper not knowing where to begin because the possibilities were overwhelming and there were no rules. After I mustered up enough courage and put my first stroke on the page things came easier from there. I became more comfortable with the abstract process through a lot of experimenting and practice, and these two pieces are my favorite results of these efforts.

Prior to my participation in the Artist Exchange program I worked solely in the academic setting, developing basic skills and techniques. Artist Exchange gave me the opportunity to express and mature my artistic abilities. I had the chance to meet and work with local artists who showed me that there was more to art than just being a student. I was very privileged to work with Harley Elliot over the course of this exchange. I learned so much from him, and having him as a mentor was very enlightening and fun. Harley taught me many things; the most important were to not be afraid of the blank page or of going too far with a piece, how to combine the many aspects of a piece into one working composition not easily taken apart by a viewer, and the values of rubber cement which was probably the most fun. The Artist Exchange program provided a great learning experience for me and has matured me into the artist I am today, and for that I am extremely grateful. I will use all that I have learned during this program throughout the rest of life and especially my artistic career.

Kate Augustine is a junior at Sacred Heart High School in Salina. She began the Artist Exchange with the hope of gaining a different view on the world of art, moving forward from the “same old” of the everyday classroom.  Harley and Kate discussed art philosophy and history throughout Kate’s extensive experimentation with new materials and methods.

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Mary Kay 
This group of drawings is part of a larger body of work experimenting with a broad range of materials in black and white. I am using dry, water and oil based material of any substance that fit into a broad category of black and white. Often the results are unexpected. Frequently I build up surfaces in layers, which result in a variety of physical states: transparency, gritty density, thick goopy opacity, sgraffito, and fragile instability. These processes of drawing have opened up many possibilities of expressive language. In the studio I am responding to the innate material differences of organic objects found on daily walks. I translate and relocate them into physical grounds on the paper, trying to find a sensate place and language through which to speak of their character.

One stimulating aspect of being with this group of artists has been the opening up of connections through unexpected conversations.These connections have occurred within the context of a studio visit or through traveling together, sharing a meal, or via email. As with most relationships, a few months are not long to develop connection. Although we all make artwork, our lives are very disparate. I feel that I have only just started to understand how to use the idea of exchange with this particular group of people. My hope is that we will continue to find imaginative ways to further these connections beyond this program.

Mary Kay is a painter, printmaker, and teacher whose work is shown in museums and galleries across the country.  She came to Bethany College, Lindsborg, as Associate Professor of Art after receiving her M.F.A. in Painting from Yale School of Art in 1989.  She balances her teaching with work in her studio.
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Carolyn Wedel
My creative process comes from the experiences gained while working in the art department of my father’s printing business. This was before the age of computer technology, where cutting and pasting typography and graphics was the means in producing camera-ready copy. In early 1997 I began to incorporate this same method of cutting and arranging shapes of painted watercolor paper to create my art. My approach generally starts with an idea or message. I begin with painted sheets of 300lb watercolor paper and sometimes a sketch. My inspiration is most often derived from life experiences – encompassing the spiritual, emotional and physical world. I begin innately – but while I am engrossed in the piece, it evolves into a deliberate manifestation of shapes, space, texture, shadow and color until I feel as if it is complete.

Through the Artist Exchange program I learned how to look at my work with a critical eye, asking questions about the why and prevalence to my approach in creating art. Sometimes there is an answer, and sometimes there is no answer. But still the questions exist. My objective for the program was to incorporate letterpress printed images into my current work. Without the feedback and questions asked by my mentor, this objective would still just be an idea. Discussing and critiquing art is something that most artists talk about—but rarely take action on. Only in the classroom do you get the kind of instruction and guidance that I have received in this short period of time. With the support I received through Artist Exchange, I purchased Hydrous Fine Art Watercolor paints that I have known about for years but never tried. I ended up loving them and will continue to use them. I find myself thinking about the words and experiences gained through this program, and hope that these relationships will continue to foster my creative process.

Carolyn Wedel is a Salina artist, co-owner of the Three Barbaras and a Jane Gallery. She began the Artist Exchange with the hope of taking her work to a new, unexplored level that would generate discovery of a challenging avenue for blending past experiences with the proven creative processes that work best for her.

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Ruth Moritz
My initial exposure to art and to the value of mentorship came in 1969 when, as an undergraduate art major, I had the good fortune to take a mid-semester special project class with an instructor who, in essence, became a mentor—someone who opened up a whole new way of seeing for me. Even though I did not finish a Fine Art degree at that time, I began a 35-year career as a sign painter and graphic artist, and cultivated artistic relationships which nurtured a symbiotic merger of art and creative writing. As a result, the physical face of my ‘art’ merges graphic, industrial, installation, and narrative elements. Even though I now teach college level writing classes, I have once again begun to wrest some time to create works of art. While my teaching schedule this semester has unfortunately not allowed completion of the four-part painting intended for this exhibition, the Artist Exchange program itself has served as a watershed. My work-in-progress, Lavabo, stems directly from conversations with Erika Nelson…

…which brings me to this wonderful project itself. Having the opportunity to initiate an ‘exchange’ with another artist on a regular basis has provided me the opportunity to come to the surface of what Erika aptly described as being the predominantly “interior dialogue” which informs my art. Being witness to both the internal and external transitions Erika underwent in order to produce her four panels, impelled me to take a similar journey. Even if our experiential road maps deal with different terrain, I firmly believe that all true artistic expression erupts from a common need to interpret and define the world and human experience. This Artist Exchange program created what seemed to be a defined haven where two individuals (who might not have created the time otherwise) could meet and exchange, and in the dialogue itself, the kernel of an idea or an image or an understanding could come to light which might never have found reflection otherwise. I mentioned to Connie Burket that this project was sort of like ‘church’ for me, and it has been. I do not want it to end.

Ruth Moritz is a visual artist, poet, and teacher whose work has appeared in a broad range of regional and national exhibitions and publications. She is Director of the Salina Arts & Humanities Spring Poetry Series and at the time of her involvement in the Exchange taught English and creative writing at Barton County Community College.

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Erika Nelson
In 2001, I moved into a bus, exploring outsider art environments and roadside attractions. I left a teaching position at the University of Kansas, turning down the option of a tenure-track position at a university in Pennsylvania. I lived on the road for two years. While living in the desert of Arizona during winter 2002, I developed the bus into a traveling roadside attraction and museum housing the World’s Largest Collection of the World’s Smallest Versions of the World’s Largest Things. The inaugural tour of California sites started an enterprise which has changed my life. I returned to the Midwest, establishing a home base in Lucas Kansas. Since developing the mobile museum, I travel 6 months out of the year in the Museum or the smaller Art Car, Scout. I talk to thousands of people a year, either through these public works or as a lecturer. As private life transitions into public persona, personal identity has evolved to preserve some sort of privacy. Through this four panel work, I tell the personal side of this period, focusing on the transition years between 2001 and 2003. From University instructor to independent artist and educator, nomadic wanderings to entrepreneurial explorations, homeless to re-established roots, the stories behind the museum development are depicted in a non-linear narrative format.

The Artist Exchange program was a great help in producing this piece. Reviving rusty critique skills, exploring the hidden dimensions inherent in multiple interpretations of the same visual field, and direct conversations evaluating results versus intention were integral to the process, and evidenced in the result. The exchange of ideas cannot be confined by a specific time period, and as a result of this program, a continuing dialogue between participants has been introduced, benefiting all parties. In working with Ruth Moritz, I found a common vision, albeit from a different perspective. An interior dialogue informs her installation and assemblage pieces, while my public work is fairly bold and straightforward. Her experience in the fine art of lettering and visual communication overlap with my own graphic design background, providing a common ground in which to discuss techniques and methods best suited to carrying out this project. Having open, frank discussions about content helped shape (and sometimes disguise) the subject matter in this somewhat open ended approach to narrative form.

Erika Nelson is a visionary artist, educator, speaker, and curator whose work is found in exhibitions and collections worldwide. She is also the founder of a unique and innovative traveling roadside museum.  Erika began the Artist Exchange with the hope of reconnecting to the critical process of critique, creation, concept development, and interpretation.