Wichita Women Artists group kicks off 75th anniversary with Mark Arts exhibit

Originally founded as the Painting of the Month Club, the Wichita Women Artists group is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2025, starting with a nearly monthlong exhibition during January at Mark Arts.

The exhibition, which runs through Jan. 25, features 84 works by 30 of the group’s 40 members. While most of the works are paintings — the art form that was the group’s focus until 1967 — the exhibition also includes sculptures and other types of art.

‘It’s our biggest exhibition that I’ve been connected with since I joined five years ago,” said Patt Sharpe, WWA’s exhibition chair.

Admission to the exhibition is free; Mark Arts’ hours are 10 a.m. through 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.

Two of WWA’s four honorary members — meaning they’ve been part of the group for at least 25 years — have works in the show: Shirley Carrick, a member since 1989, and Carol Davis, a member since 1999, according to Sharpe.

WWA holds about a handful of shows annually. Besides the current exhibition at Mark Arts, the group will have an April show at The Clayworks in Hutchinson, a June show at Art House 310 in downtown Wichita, an October show at Presbyterian Manor in Wichita and a November show at the Derby Public Library.

Members also often participate in solo or joint shows at galleries in Wichita and elsewhere; some have had their works selected for juried shows where artists from all over the U.S. have vied for spots.

While the group’s original name was changed in 1967 when it expanded its membership to artists working in other mediums besides painting, its purpose has remained the same, according to historian Deb Thomas: to encourage creative growth among its members and acquaint people in the area with the work of local artists.

Membership is limited to 40 artists who are selected through what’s called a juried process of being sponsored by three active members and submitting five pieces and a resume of their creative history. And while Wichita is part of the group’s name, some artists are from surrounding communities.

Several have taught or continue to teach art, like Mary Binford Miller, who teaches at Mark Arts; retired Wichita public schools art teacher Cheryl Lindstrom, who now teaches for Wichita Park and Recreation; and honorary member and sculpturist Babs Mellor, once described by Mark Arts’ executive director Katy Dorrah as “an institution” because of her prolific career.

“We come from all walks of life,” Thomas said in a text message following a phone interview. “In addition to retired art teachers, we have graphic designers, professional musicians and college students (and) retirees from the aircraft industry.”

Some, like Sharpe and Stephanie Bayliff, resumed their artmaking later in life. Both have pieces in the January show. Sharpe creates her paintings with pastels, a dry drawing material that looks like colored chalk made with powdered pigments. Bayliff entered the largest oil painting she’s ever made: a 36-by-48-inch work depicting parking lot birds who have scavenged french fries.

WWA’s monthly meetings from September to May at Mark Arts are part education, part peer support.

Members have to bring three pieces a year to the group for critiques.

“That has proven to be very helpful,” Sharpe said. If it’s a piece still in progress, “after we’ve done the critique, they take it and work on it and then sometimes bring it back to show how they finished it. It’s fun to see how it ended up.”

Visiting artists and WWA members often do presentations at the meetings “to explain their process and demonstrate,” Thomas said.

The public will have a chance to see demos by two members during the free Friday, Jan. 10, opening reception for both the WWA 75th anniversary exhibition and Mark Arts’ “A La Mode: The Language of Fashion in Art.” The reception is from 7 to 9 p.m.; advance registration is requested.

Pam Hayes will hold a 30-minute demonstration starting around 5:15 p.m. on creating a landscape using alcohol ink. She teaches a monthly class on the same subject in her studio.

Abby Ausherman, a graduate student at Wichita State, will hold a print-making demo starting around 6 p.m. She’ll create a special, limited edition print that will be available for free to reception-goers.

Wichita Women Artists 75th Anniversary Exhibition at Mark Arts

What: an exhibition of more than 80 works by 30 of the 40 members of the Wichita Women Artists

Where: Mark Arts, 1307 N. Rock Road

When: through Saturday, Jan. 25; gallery hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. The opening reception for this exhibition and “A La Mode: The Language of Fashion in Art” is 5-7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 10; advance registrations are requested and can be made online through the Mark Arts website.

Admission: free

More info: 316-634-2787 or markartsks.com