Hays Arts Council brings free performance of Alice in Wonderland from the Wichita Children‘s Theatre

On this episode of the Post Podcast, Hays Arts Council executive director Brenda Meder shares details about Thursday's Wichita Children's Theatre performance of Alice in Wonderland.

 

Transcript

Brenda Meder  

You know what we've got a lot of good stuff I wanted to share this morning. The first one of which is next week Thursday. Students in Hays don't have school on Friday. So we thought it would be a good night, next week, Thursday, at seven o'clock. In the Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center. We have a family theater production of Alice in Wonderland from the Wichita Children's Theater. We've got Wichita Children's Theatre, making their regular one day, one day, you know, Hays visit that we do. And so I believe it's the first graders that we can do a little spacing and Beach/Schmidt instead of two grades, the first graders from around this area, a number of them will be attending a production of Alice during the day, I believe theirs is in the afternoon. And we've also got a production from which Children's Theatre of Schoolhouse Rock live for fourth grade. I love that show. Yeah. And so fourth graders will be attending that in the morning. So we really tried to get we haven't had students in Beach/Schmidt for live theater events, obviously for quite some time. And we're doing some spacing. So we're having less students in there, still trying to really work our, our way through this, you know, as responsibly as we can, but trying to, you know, integrate these things again, and get back a little bit to normal. But what we always do on those days, since so few students are able to attend no matter how we do it. And we know we've got some really little ones that love the family theater, families who love to bring them. So when Thursday, October 28. That's next Thursday. at seven o'clock. These productions are only about 45 minutes, we have a family theater production of Alice in Wonderland, a delightful stage adaptation. You know, the classic story of a little girl with the imagination ends up down the rabbit hole, meeting the White Rabbit, the caterpillar, the Dormouse, and then being invited by the Mad Hatter, to a tea party with the crazy Queen of Hearts. You know, it's all about imagination, and just the worlds that we can create in our mind through imaginations and the power of creativity. And that's what's really the story here with Alice. And we just we love being able to bring that and one of the things that we're really excited about. Ordinarily, even though these companies cost is quite a bit of money, through different underwriting and things and just our desire to reach out. And because we also have the other things paid for during the work, you know, underwritten during the day. Our admission fee for the family productions has always been very minimal, really low ticket prices. Well, I'm really excited and happy to say although we spent 1000s and 1000s of dollars for the company to be here that day, due to an incredible generosity of Memorial gifts given in the name of a wonderful lady named Aletha Denning, whose family some of which live here in Hays, but she loved the arts, she loved creativity, fostering that, especially in children. And we were just so honored that we were the designee for a Aletha's Memorial donations. And we decided that a good way to share this with the larger community instead of just tucking it into a general budget was to have admission be free that night. So I'm really I know and when I mentioned it to her family, they just, they just were thrilled you know because often those things like I said just get tucked into a general budget. So because of the generous Memorial gifts given in honor of Aletha Denning. In fact, her daughter Margie Hammerschmidt was one of our summer gallery exhibition features Marjorie's first big big feature and beautiful paintings by Margie. But it's Marjorie Hammerschmidt's mom, because I had just been there, but there will be no fee, no admission charge for anyone, children or adults to attend that production. And like I said, these these are wonderful professional productions done by a, a touring company out of the Wichita Children's Theater. They've got larger big shows they do down there, but when they traveled there a little bit smaller shows, but no less amazing professional, well done. Great sound systems, but that is on Thursday, October 28 7pm. After the show. The cast always comes out front there's a meet and greet because it is part of the big holiday Halloween weekend with no school the next day, any children that want to wear their Halloween costumes get one more shot to put those beauties on where your Halloween costumes, because we will have some goodie treat bags for all the children when they leave that evening. But again, no fee to attend because of that generosity, and says nothing about the quality of the productions just because of generosity. So seven o'clock next Thursday, October 28. In the Beach/Schmidt Performing Arts Center, Alice in Wonderland for children, and the people who love them.

James Bell  
Do people that want to go do they need tickets or anything or since it's free, they just,

Brenda Meder  
They just show up. And what's great is it works out perfect. We never have a huge crowd for the evening production. It's great if we do but we usually don't, because so many kids do get to come during the day. But it's wonderful when they're not being assigned seating in any way. When people come, we're there greeting them, but just allow them to go in, we only open the floor because that's always most sufficient for the audiences we have. And it's great because in the times that we're still living in, and some people still being a little cautious. You can just sit wherever you want in there. So if there's a space and it's like, let's just sit over here, we're a little more to ourselves or no, we want to take the kids down front more, or whatever it might be. Families get to make that call because there's nothing assigned when you come to the theater. And again get to go for free because of this gift. But yeah, so it's it's easy. Nobody's got to fumble with money. Nobody's got a fumble with tickets. Just come and enjoy this wonderful production. That is a gift on behalf of the Hays Arts Council, and the memorial of Aletha Denny for just the community to enjoy again, no school the next day, everything will be over plenty early, even with the meet and greet after. But still, it makes it nice when there's no school and another excuse to wear those cute Halloween costumes.

James Bell  
Absolutely love it. Oh, well, that's very nice. But I'm wondering to like what's going on down at the gallery because you always have something together

Brenda Meder  
There is. there's so much more. And while we're in the strain, first of all, this the thought process of children. As I know, I think you guys have been promoting it. It's certainly the you know, the D.H.D.C has, there is the Trick or Treat downtown again, for children. And that is next Friday, October 29 from three to 5pm. And I just wanted to remind everyone that the Hays Arts Council will be participating. But we're we're so glad that event takes place through through the bricks in the DHDC organization. And it's from three to five. But instead of coming to the Hays Art Center main building, which is always what we've been out of, we're going to have our Trick or Treat event be on our annex facility. So right on Main 1010 Main. And many, many years ago, one of the Hays High prom believe it or not, was his high prom, use the theme Candyland. And because they needed to repository for all these incredible things they'd made. They've been at the Arts Council, they've actually been loaned out and shared with people, but they were just, they were just, you know, entrusted to us. And so I thought well, let's have a little fun. So I'm going to set up this wonderful giant Candyland theme right inside the front door. So a great photo op as well. So it'll be pretty and fun. And so come in and see our giant Candyland display and instead of candy, we will have a little my little take home. A little complete little packet of a little craft project instead of candy. So stop by take home your little craft project that you can have fun doing later while you're eating your candy. But again, that's from three to five on the bricks in downtown Hays. Friday the 29th so another thing we're participating in and Halloween, but you'll come to our annex 1010 Main Street Hays Art Center annex. Enjoy our giant Candyland display inside and get a take home craft project. And then for our main gallery. We've currently got an exhibition by Frank Nichols. Frank was a longtime instructor at Fort Hays State University's Department of Art and Design. He retired in 99. Frank actually passed away in 2013. But we often get requests and inquiries about his work. He was a brilliant printmaker, and painter, an award winning artist. And I love Frank and we had a great relationship with him at the gallery. And so we still there were still a large body of his work, that his son, it's still been housing. And it hadn't been back in Hays for a long time. So I just thought that would be a really cool thing to do. The colors are rich and warm. It just was a very appropriate thing that felt right on so many levels for this time of the year. Not to mention, it's just amazing art. So that will be up through November, the I think it's the 24th whatever the Wednesday is before Thanksgiving. We'll have it up literally right before the day before Thanksgiving up to that date. And so it's up now. It's our daily feature on Saturdays. And not only are there a lot of wonderful large frameworks, that and the prices are amazing. They're they're less expensive than they were when Frank was alive, and they're gorgeous. A lot of them are framed. And, but we're also have a lot of things that are unframed. In fact, anything that's in a frame, if you said Oh, but I'd want to reframe it anyway, we will take it out of the frame, and you can get it, you know you so you can buy it framed or unframed. And there's a whole big stash of things that aren't framed both the the exquisite hand colored etchings, as well as the ink and acrylic paintings that he was doing later that we're still in that same style, when laborious after he just didn't want to deal with printmaking anymore. But Frank Nichols work at the Arts Council, through the day before Thanksgiving, come in and see that really wonderful, wonderful work. And then want to remind everybody, three weeks from yesterday is the deadline for the big Five State Photography. And we're starting to get some things and they roll in slowly at this point, the flurry comes in that last week. And of course, with everything you know, that's how I am, too. But the call for entries is ongoing three weeks from yesterday is the deadline and go to our website for any information and the details on this project. It's open to any photographer of any age, background experience, preference of subject and process in Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Colorado, through the support of our sponsors, were able to give out $1500 in cash awards across the three categories of nature, people and open and last year we instituted it through the through the pandemic process. But we're doing it again this year because it worked so well in the exhibition looked amazing. You just submit 8 x 10 photographs on paper, and your entry fee and and you know and form and all that kind of stuff. So it's not actual big works matted and framed, where you spend all this money and don't even know if it's going to get accepted or not. It's just eight by 10s, on paper not digitally submitted your photograph on paper. That way you know exactly what the judge is going to look like. Look at those are placed in clear plastic sleeves with rigid cardstock. We put them in large binders, and then I hand deliver those to the judge. The gentleman this year is Mike Sinclair. He is an instructor at KU and a professional photographer. And in fact, he did a workshop this summer here in Hays. Great gentlemen, I think he's going to judge us a great show. And then when those come back to us, we mount them and frame them. And I have had a couple of people ask about specifics, we're very, very aware of what could be cut off or or hidden, their standard commercial cut eight by 10 mats, which means that the opening itself is actually seven and a half inches by nine and a half inches. So if people want to be very much aware of what might get trimmed off, you certainly want to have that overlap. But that standard and for an eight by 10, you know, it's a quarter inch allowance all the way around. And that is the actual window opening of them. And then we put them in these really nice black wood frames, these slightly off white mats, and we put up all the pieces in our gallery. So everything you need to know other details, reiterating what I've said even some other things, they're online, but the deadline is November, the ninth, that'll be the entry submission deadline. So we have time to get them processed in a couple of days, fire them off, and still get them back in time. So we can get those notification cards mailed out. So check that out. If you are a photographer, if you know someone who is. And again, it's all about the image, no reputation, no bio for who the artists are the judges just seeing the images. And however you do it and process it. And what you choose to shoot is up to you. And so we want to make everybody aware of that. And then one of the other things I wanted to mention just to give people a heads up, we've talked we talked about it actually last month already, the Winter Art Walk will be Saturday, December 4, we're moving it to a Saturday like we did with the Spring Artwalk. It worked out beautifully. It gave people more time to really enjoy and engage. Also an opportunity to you know, stroll in and out of some of our downtown businesses through the course of this wonderful day. Eat at one of our fabulous eating and drinking establishments. And it doesn't have to just be downtown locations. But that's always the core area. But again, that will be 10am to 4pm on Saturday, December the fourth and the five state photography show I just talked about, which is always a huge hit with photographers and just our attending audience. That's the day it opens. The photography show always serves as the anchor of that Winter Art walk. And again, that will be Saturday December the fifth from 10 to four. And the reason I'm mentioning it now is not so much for the guests who come but for artists or locations who want to participate. There's no fee as a site as an artist. Nobody's got to send Commission's back to us. It is just a wonderful opportunity for our community to be engaging in the arts. And with it being in December we get to do it during the daylight hours when maybe it won't be quite as frigid as we've had a lot of that those evening you know first Friday in December exhibitions, it'll be light, hopefully a little warmer with a whole lot more time to just enjoy engage and make your way through our community. 

James Bell  
Very cool. Is that the same day as the frost Fest Parade?I know that's like no, no, 

Brenda Meder  
No, the Frost Fest Parade. I believe is the next weekend. The tree lighting for downtown is the Friday night before and that's often been a part of our of the Winter Art Walk is the tree lighting, but we've moved it to Saturday but what is cool one of the events will be the downtown farmers art market, you know the art market the art and craft market that they do every year. I think it's indoors I'm not sure where but I know that that event will be on the Saturday so it will be part it will be one of the features of the Art Walk the winter Art Walk on Saturday, as well as a lot of other really cool things that are shaping up. So it's going to be a wonderful day tree lighting the night before and the frost Fest Parade I believe the following weekend. So yeah, amazing things in our downtown and across our community really at the holidays. I will even give a plug I know Terry Crull was in a great thing coming up this next Friday night with the concert down town the symphony on Sunday, I'll even give them a shout out. They've got their children's symphony concert on Sunday afternoon, check their Facebook page and website. It's just so wonderful, all the great arts, things that go on in our community, for children, for adults, for the community as a whole. And a lot of times I promote those on our Facebook page, whether they're our events or not, because anything that makes our community better and richer. We're all in this together. And so you can definitely follow our Facebook page because I try to share all the good news from all these arts and cultural things. And go to our website for more information that's just haysartscouncli.org but between our Facebook page and our website, we will get the word out as best we can if not come by or give us a call.