Artist Rachel Kice, a Wichita native, looks for the joy
Rachel Kice knows the richness of art in Wichita. The nationally renowned painter, writer and performer started out here. Since then, the California artist has gone on to perform alongside headliners including Kid Rock, Jewel and Jon Bon Jovi. She’s been featured on CNN, ABC and CMT. She even made a dent in the country music world as the only visual artist in the Nashville-based artist collaborative MuzikMafia.
When she returns to direct the Footprint Project for Ballet Wichita’s 5K Art Run, she’ll bring into focus her latest artistic pursuit: joy.
“I’m a humanitarian first and an artist second,” she said. “In that, I’ve started to notice that we all have a similar grief, and we choose it. We’re all up against the same things. There’s a choice between joy and grief. This project ties to that. Part of my mission with this is to let people know that their feelings matter. I want to give them a chance to see painting with joy.”
Kice was born and raised in Wichita. Growing up, she was involved with the Wichita Children’s Theatre. Though her studio practice is based in Los Angeles, she travels back to Kansas often to see family.
“I love Wichita,” Kice said. “There is a certain kind of person that only Kansas can offer to the world. I think Wichita has a higher percentage of great art than any city I’ve ever been to.”
Several of her pieces are on display locally at Artworks, 7724 E. Central.
Reuben Saunders, who owns Artworks, said that Kice is well-prepared to do a project like the Footprint Project.
“She does it on stage with music blasting and thousands of people watching her,” he said of some of the other performance pieces she’s created.
He will host a public reception Friday to display some of Kice’s paintings and give the public an opportunity to meet her.
“I think her work is wonderful, and I put it on my wall whenever I have something new,” Saunders said.
Kice said she jumped at the chance to be involved with the Ballet Wichita 5K Art Run because of its uniqueness. She’s done several real-time paintings for cultural events, but never anything like this. She’ll be directing people to walk and paint according a set pattern.
“It’s the first time I’ve gotten to work on a project that is collaborative on such a large scale conceptually,” she said. “In this case, we’re involving an entire community. The concept, as well as the execution of the concept, is being looked at from a community perspective rather than sitting in a studio alone and thinking about what I want to share.”
Contributing: Lori O’Toole Buselt
This story was originally published June 12, 2012 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Artist Rachel Kice, a Wichita native, looks for the joy."