A BMW bursts onto the Topeka art scene for the Mulvane Art Fair. Here's how to get tickets.
Jenny Meyer-McCall created an impromptu work of art out of a vinyl-wrapped 2022 BMW i4 Wednesday and Thursday in Topeka to help jumpstart this weekend's Mulvane Art Fair.
Her work will be displayed during the museum's event from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday on the grounds near the museum, 1700 S.W. Jewell on the Washburn University campus.
Jenny Meyer-McCall among fair artists
Though the fair will feature 80 artists working in various media from across the country, several Kansas artists will exhibit at this year's fair as well.
Meyer-McCall, who grew up in Lee Summit and graduated from Kansas State, is one of those artists. Her whimsical designs have been seen before on a car displayed at the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Mo.
"I love flowers. I love color. I love texture, so it all mixed together," she said. "It just makes me happy to put it all on such a luxurious canvass."
An amateur gardener who favors native plants like bee balm, she will also feature Kansas' state flower, perhaps in honor of someone special.
"I had my third child, whose name is Orchid, whose favorite flower is the sunflower," Meyer-McCall said.
The artist, who enjoys creating art on commission that depicts important items in her patrons' lives, will have a few items for sale. She also has items for sale on her website.
"It's my insanity that brought us here today," said Robert Hellweg, said marketing director for Soave Automotive Group, which provided the BMW and helps sponsor the art fair.
Such famous artists as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein have painted BMWs, which are now collector's items. This paint job, however, wasn't meant to be permanent.
"If the wrap fails, the wrap fails, Hellweg said. "All we can do is hope."
Topeka, out-of-town artists will feature at Mulvane Art Fair
Works by photographers Jeremy Wangler, of Topeka, and Ric Cummings, of Overland Park, as well as graphic artist Nick Perry, of Topeka, and painter Cathy Wilkins, of Hutchinson, also will be available for viewing.
Other artists will be Sue Mersman, of Wetmore; Kale VanLeeuwen, of Kansas City, Kan.; Carl Brooks, of Olathe; and jeweler Stacy Kleymann, of Andover.
This year’s featured artist is Anthony Grant, of Lafayette, Colo. A self-taught painter, his work uses slightly muted harmonious colors depicting subjects in simplified geometric forms. T-shirts with prints of one of his landscapes will be for sale for $20.
The event should bring about 80 artists to Topeka, said Richard Ross, who is on the art fair committee and created the event in 1993.
"They like our fair because our volunteers are so attentive to them," Ross said. "We make the rounds, provide water. We have a little snack for breakfast in the morning. And when they need to take a break, we're just there, available, if they need some time.
"We also help them when they set up in the morning. We help take all the wagonloads of work to their tents. When it closes, we help them tear down, and we carry things to their vehicles so they can leave on time."
Children can take part in ArtLab
Families with children can get in on the action by creating some art of their own.
The Mulvane Art Fair will have ArtLab Outdoors, a free art-making tent, an environment where participants can use media like watercolor paint, origami, stamps, rubbings and collage to explore the elements of art.
Food and music also offered
Art Fair attendees can also enjoy fare from such local food vendors as Pineapple Dream, The Southern Star and Flavor Wagon. A beer garden will be open as well.
Live musical performances will be provided by Sean McDonnell & Howard Mahan, the Josh Vowell Band, the Reye Brothers Trio and Billy Ebeling & the Late Dinner Band.
Ticket information
The Mulvane Art Fair is an annual event organized by the Friends of the Mulvane Art Museum to engage the community and feature art, music and family fun.
Admission is $6 for a day or $10 for the weekend. Admission is free to guests younger than 12 and Mulvane Art Museum members.
The event is the museum's primary fundraiser. To purchase tickets, go the Mulvane Art Museum's website.
Catheryn Hrenchir is a feature writer for The Topeka-Capital Journal. She can be reached at chrenchir.gannett.com or (785) 817-638.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: BMW and Kansas artists highlight exhibitions at Mulvane Art Fair
