Monday, January 18, 2016
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THE GAZETTE, EMPORIA, KANSAS
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EAC
From PAGE 1
vited us and it sounded
like something fun to do,”
said Terry Golling. “We are
fairly new to the Emporia
area so we have not (seen
the bands).”
Golling was pleased
with the event.
“Oh, it’s great. The
music was just really fun,
we enjoyed it very much.
The appetizers were great
and everyone here is very
friendly.”
“I have heard a lot about
The Skirts, I heard they
were amazing and several
people told me you have to
hear them if you ever get a
chance,” said Tiffany Villa.
“So that’s the main reason I came out and also to
support the Emporia Arts
Council.”
Others are big fans of
The Skirts and The Dewayn Brothers. John Sanderson of Emporia has been
following The Skirts for
about five years. “They are
very talented and play the
kind of music I enjoy,” said
Sanderson.
After their performance,
members of The Skirts
stopped to discuss their return to Emporia.
“(We) love playing in
Emporia. Emporia is our
hometown crowd so we
love it,” said guitar player
Elexa Dawson. “We wanted
to support the arts council,
of course, and knew that it
would be a great event with
Radius and Mulready’s and
the arts council putting
this together ... We really
enjoyed it.”
The Skirts mandolin
player Emily White worked
at the arts center while she
was in college.
At intermission, people
stopped by the giving tree,
although there was not a
physical tree. In the lobby
of the arts center, a table
was set up with different
tags where attendees could
donate a cash amount or
donate a specific item like
an iPad or art supplies for
the classrooms.
Pam Mock came to
the birthday bash to support her daughter, Kaila
Mock. Mock chose a cash
tag from the giving tree
and wrote the arts center
a check.
“I think the arts council
is a very wonderful organization,” said Mock. “... and
Sam Brownback cut all
their funding.”
Bo Swanson, president
elect of the arts council
board, also chose to give
the arts center an unrestricted gift. Swanson enjoyed the view from a VIP
table in the front row.
“I like the more intimate setting with the VIP
tables,” said Swanson.
“I would love to bring
more fundraiser events in
here and more local artists here and utilize our
beautiful theatre that we
have and have more shows
in the future,” said Young.
“Everything has gone really smoothly. I’ve got a
great staff here. They were
JOHN ROBINSON/GAZETTE
Mia Grover (left) and Keira Tucker show off their
handiwork. Students planted wildflowers at the Melvern
Wildlife area Friday.
STUDENTS
KENDRA JOHNSON/GAZETTE
The Dewayn Brothers perform a song at the Emporia Arts Center’s 40th birthday
bash on Saturday.
very organized and our
fundraising committee did
a great job as well, so many
thanks to them for their
help.”
The beginning
EAC began its operations
in May 1976. In 2014, former Emporian Rosamond
Hirschorn, along with other
movers and shakers in Emporia founded the Emporia
Arts Council. She said for
a long time in Emporia,
there weren’t big events
coming in — and several
people involved in the arts
in Emporia and surrounding areas sought to change
that. The American Association of University Women
talked about bringing in
the Oakland, Calif., ballet
into Emporia. A phone call
came in 1975 from the ballet company who sought an
organization to sponsor a
performance in the central
Kansas area. Emporia was
selected because it was in
a spot where they would be
coming through Emporia
on the way to someplace
else. That got the ball rolling.
Several people got together in the basement of
the First United Methodist
Church and asked leaders
of the various campus organizations to see if there
was interest in forming an
arts council in Emporia.
About 75 people attended
that first meeting. Tilghman Romanalyn, the executive secretary for the Kansas Council of Arts, spoke
to that group, according to
a 1976 article in The Gazette. At a later meeting,
bylaws were drawn up and
officers were elected. According to an article that
appeared in a September
1976 issue of The Emporia Gazette, Hirschorn was
the president of the newly
formed Emporia Arts
Council. Their first meeting was in February of that
year.
Another 1976 article
in The Gazette stated the
original goal was to get
1,000 people to spend $16
for a season ticket. They
also sold $5 memberships.
The Emporia Arts Coun-
FREE
Screenings Monthly
KENDRA JOHNSON/GAZETTE
People talk in-between bands during the Emporia Arts
Center’s 40th anniversary birthday bash on Saturday.
cil was officially born at
that point. The next year,
they kept adding things
to the council, including
art and painting, and they
started having artists to
give classes to students.
In 2011, a grand opening was held for the new
Arts Center, next to the
Granada Theater. Former
director Melissa Windsor
spearheaded the major
project, which moved the
center from the 600 block
of Mechanic Street to its
current location on Commercial Street, showcasing it front-and-center in
downtown Emporia.
Today the Arts Council offers many events
throughout the year from
gallery exhibits to arts
education and performing
arts. Upcoming events can
be found at emporiaksarts.
org/event.
—News editor Brandy
Nance contributed to this
report.
From PAGE 1
seeds themselves,” Shutt
said. “The three-acre patch
of land was ready to go all
the students had to do was
throw.”
The result was messy, a
fresh rain turning the land
muddy, but the exercise
left its handprints on both
the ecosystem and the students.
“My favorite p 'Bv0