Society of Decorative Painters is selling about 850 pieces of its museum collection

The Society of Decorative Painters, an international membership organization that has been based in Wichita for decades, is auctioning off more than 800 items of its museum collection and moving its headquarters to Haysville.

The online auction, being handled by McCurdy Auction, is going on now through noon Thursday, Aug. 6, and the move from its current office space at 1220 E. First St. in Wichita to 7450 S. Seneca in Haysville is set to happen Aug. 18.

The downsizing and closing of its museum is part of the society’s efforts to focus on its original mission of being a membership organization that promotes the art of decorative painting, said Dana Steffee, who became the group’s executive director this month.

Steffee, a painter herself, has a background in business, fundraising and nonprofit leadership, having worked with her mother in a decorating business, as the development director for the Kansas Humane Society and as the executive director of the Kansas Aviation Museum.

The society was founded in 1972 by Priscilla Hauser when tole painting — a folk art form of decorative painting on different mediums — was making a resurgence. Tole painting started in the 18th century and was popular in New England, particularly among Pennsylvania Germans, according to various accounts, and originally involved painting on tin. Now various mediums, from furniture, plates, canvas and even walls, are used.

Hauser, an Oklahoma artist, is referred to as the first lady of the art form and has been promoting, teaching and publishing how-to books for decades.

It’s been based in Wichita for more than two decades. For 20 years, the society’s offices and museum were housed in a building the society owned at Seneca and McLean. In 2016, the society moved to 1220 E. First St., citing it wanted to be closer to Old Town to be part of the art community’s monthly art crawls and events.

Next month, the society will move from its current 5,500-square-foot space to Haysville, where its four-member staff will be housed in about 1,000 square feet of office space at 7450 S. Seneca, in the same building housing Armstrong Chamberlin Strategic Marketing, Steffee said.

Over the years, the Society of Decorative Painters Foundation had started collecting items, such as winning pieces from its competitions and items that have been featured on the quarterly magazine published by the society. It also received a sizeable collection from the National Museum of Decorative Painting in Atlanta, which has closed.

But the museum wasn’t attracting many visitors and its collection had grown rather large.

“We’ve been trying to figure out what to do with the museum for a long time,” said Wendy Watson, a Texas artist and current head of the society’s foundation.

“We’ve been paying for a large space … and locally people weren’t dropping in to check out the artwork,” Steffee said.

Now it’s selling about 850 items from its collection that had grown to include about 1,500 items. The collection had grown to include replications of items, rather than highlighting examples of different types of decorative painting such as rosemaling or stipple-painting.

The auction has multiple listings, for example, of painted metal document boxes and serial items, like multiple painted angels and St. Nicholas figures. It also has some unique items, including a confessional and a child-sized table with chairs created to depict different animals like a monkey.

Local artist and appraiser Trish VanOsdel said she was intrigued when McCurdy called her to help document the artwork for the auction. For years she had driven by the society’s Seneca and McLean location and didn’t realize the “treasures” that were included in the museum, she said.

“The work represents decorative art from men and women from all over the country and internationally as well from pieces from Russia and Japan,” Van Osdel said. “I have seen everything from painted clothing from the ‘80s to amazingly detailed floral bouquets on metal painted trays from Russia to intricate stipple painted furniture from Japan and everything in between including nationally known decorative artists.”

The auction also includes office furniture and display cases along with art supplies.

For now, the remaining 600 or so items that were curated from the collection will be stored in a climate-controlled facility. Eventually, the society would like to create an online catalog of its pieces, and it is also looking at creating traveling exhibitions or loaning collections to other organizations or groups, said Steffee and Sue Bowers, who recently ended her five-month tenure as interim director.

Once Steffee and her staff settle into the society’s new offices, they’ll concentrate on the services it provides to the 6,000 or so national and international members of the society and they will look at ways to draw new members.

Members range from top decorative painters to novices who can also choose to be members of one of the more than 170 chapters within the society.

The society offers several learning opportunities, including Zoom classes, online classes and painting retreats, and publishes a quarter magazine. Painters can also earn certifications and accreditation through the society.

Society of Decorative Painters museum collection auction

When: now through noon Thursday, Aug. 6

Where: online at mccurdyauction.com

Bidders can preview the auction items in person 2-4 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4, at the society’s offices at 1220 E. First St.