Future Exhibitions

Prairie Festival: 50 years of perennial possibilities

South Gallery Exhibition | SEPTEMBER 16, 2026 - October 18, 2026

Curated by Cori Sherman North and Kelly Yarbrough, in collaboration with the Salina Art Center, the Prairie Festival 2026 group exhibition will feature the work of twenty artists, representing creative engagement with the Land Institute that spans the organization’s 50 year history. Works by Terry Evans, Wes Jackson, Bill McBride (creator of the beloved Hedge Fire Circle), Priti Cox, Jim Richardson and many more will be included in the exhibition which will be at the Salina Art Center September 16 - October 18, 2026. A special presentation by Cori Sherman North and Terry Evans, reflecting on the role of artist engagement with the Land Institute, will be offered as part of Prairie Festival programming at the Salina Art Center on Saturday, September 26 at 1pm. Registration is required.

Departures: The Art of Leaving this Place

South Gallery Exhibition | October 21, 2026 - November 22, 2026

Departures: The Art of Leaving this Place is an exploration of how we confront, commemorate, and create meaning around life’s inevitable transitions. From aging and loss to spiritual renewal and ecological legacy, Departures invites artists to reflect on end of life, death, dying, grief, transformation, healing, philosophical and spiritual aspects of our relationship to death. An important component of each piece is the story behind it. In this exhibit, the artist’s narrative will accompany each piece of work on display. The exhibition honors the beauty, mystery, and humanity in life’s impermanence through drawing, painting, sculpture, collage, textiles, photography, performance, film, digital-based media, and more. Presented in partnership with Heart Land Prairie Cemetery, a prairie restoration burial site, and the Central Kansas Death Care Collective (CKDCC), this exhibition seeks to deepen community understanding of death, grief, and remembrance across cultures and belief systems.

Daniel Picking | Mnemonic Resonances

South Gallery Exhibition | November 25, 2026 - December 27, 2026

Mnemonic Resonances is a series of hand-cut canvas installations that explores memory as a reconstructive process, continually adapting to our present experience and shaping our understanding of the environments we inhabit. Through vibrant color and light, the installation extends beyond the canvas forms into the surrounding space as projected shadows, reflected color, and lingering afterimages, echoing the dynamic ways memory is continually reconstructed as we make sense of our environment. By making visible how memory shapes our perception of place, Mnemonic Resonances creates an environment in which the processes of remembering and perceiving become tangible, inviting viewers to consider how we come to know the spaces we inhabit.