August 13, 2025 • 13 mins
Kent Michael Smith, director of the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, introduces the inaugural Kansas Triennial, a new exhibition showcasing contemporary artists living and working in Kansas that will occur every three years.
• Beach Museum is the only major museum with a focus specifically on Kansas art and the region
• The Triennial emerged from Smith's desire to highlight this focus and connect with artists across Kansas
• Unlike typical exhibitions, the Triennial uses an artist-centered approach rather than starting with a predetermined theme
• Four diverse artists featured: Mona Cliff (indigenous beadwork), Mark Cowardin (sculpture/ceramics), Poppy Delta Dawn (fiber arts), and Ann Resnick (intricate paper works)
• Exhibition will run through May 31, 2026
• Kansas has a vibrant arts scene outside the pressures of major art hubs like New York and LA
• The exhibition demonstrates that Kansas art "can hold its own anywhere"
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater
Manhattan Community Foundation.
In this episode we feature arecently broadcast segment of
the GMCF Community Hour, asheard on NewsRadio KMAN, and we
are back with the GMCF CommunityHour here on this Monday.
It's the 11th day of August andwe're delighted to have joining
(00:20):
us, via Zoom, kent MichaelSmith, who is the director of
the Mariana Kessler Beach Museumof Art on the K-State campus.
Kent, welcome back to the showIs this are you past your
one-year stage now?
Are you two years into this gig?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah, believe it or not, I am about two and a half
years now.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Really now.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Yeah, how about that?
Time flies.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
That's got to be just a fun gig to be a part of,
isn't it?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Oh, it's a fantastic place and you know I'm from
Emporia originally, so this wasa coming home for me.
I was in Wisconsin and thisopportunity arose and you know I
couldn't apply fast enough andget myself here, so it's been
fantastic.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
I bet you and that Schlagich gal talk a lot about
Emporia, don't you?
Speaker 2 (01:07):
We have a lot of ties to Emporia here yeah.
And all throughout thecommunity.
You know, I mean that's.
It's strange to hear peopletalk about wanting to go to you
know.
Oh, we go to Emporia for dinnerand you know, when it's your
hometown you're like, really yougo to.
You know.
So Emporia is great, but it'salways that weird place for me
because it's where you grew upand you think of it differently
(01:27):
than others might.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Yeah, well, at the beach, you have an effort coming
underway that I've got to learnmore about, because I don't
know that I have ever seen orheard the term or the word
triennial.
What does triennial?
Speaker 2 (01:44):
mean?
Well, it implies so we have abiannual, that's every two years
, a triennial is every threeyears.
So from the Office of theDepartment of Redundancy, this
will be exhibited every threeyears.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Every three years and this is the Kansas triennial
and tell us about what this isall about and how this thing got
started.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
So yeah, as we just said, it's an exhibition that
we'll show every three yearshere at the Beach Museum of Art,
obviously changing it up,bringing in different artists
every three years.
It's a show that I ampersonally curating.
I'm giving a little break to mytwo curators here on staff but
with my background, as somebodythat was trained as an artist,
(02:30):
had a practice here in Kansas,it's a passion project for me.
But it goes and looks atartists.
You know contemporary artistsliving and working producing art
in Kansas today.
So you know it's a directextension of our mission, which
is to exhibit, preserve andinterpret art of Kansas in the
(02:51):
region.
I think you know I've beeninspired by the K-State 105,
where President Linton traveledto all 105 counties around the
state.
You know I mean it's very mucha direct connection to K-State's
role as a land grant universityserving the entire state.
So you know it rose really outof.
(03:12):
You know, like we said, I'vebeen here two and a half years.
When I arrived here I learnedpretty quickly that most many,
if not most, people don'trealize that we are the only
major museum with a focus onKansas art and the region.
Other museums have that segmentof their collection but we
(03:34):
really are the only ones thatfocus on that.
So, which I think makes again alot of sense with K-State's
position, I wanted to create anexhibition that would highlight
that focus with a contemporaryapproach.
Every three years again wouldbring attention back to the
artists working in our statetoday and just embrace the
(03:55):
collective Kansas artistcommunity in a meaningful way.
I also was really interested inhaving been away, having been
in Texas, wisconsin.
I wanted something that wouldkeep my ear to the ground and my
feet moving across the state tosee what artists are engaging.
It's far too easy to stay inyour office or in the museum and
it risks me kind of losingtouch with what the art or what
(04:17):
the artists are producing andkind of grappling with.
And I have an opportunity tosupport and amplify it.
So that was important.
I think I do recall a veryspecific moment when this sort
of happened.
You know we all have heard avery common phrase.
Somebody said preaching to thechoir.
Of course we've heard that ahundred times, but in the right
(04:39):
moments those phrases you hearall the time take on a little
different meaning and it sort ofmade me question like, okay,
who is our choir?
And for me it has to be theartists in this state, given
that we collect, you know wefocus on the art of Kansas.
So if they don't know thatwe're here for them, if artists
(05:01):
don't realize this, then it'sit's hard for me to imagine, you
know, the wider publicrealizing it.
So the Triennial is just oneway to make that connection
clear, to say to the artists wesee you, we value your work and
this is your museum too.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
So how does you know the exhibitions that you will
have on display during theTriennial and you might just
touch base on some of thehighlights of it, but how is
that compared to some of theother exhibits that you've had
in the Well, that's yeah, it isinteresting, I would say.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
you know, most exhibitions often start with a
single theme or a curatorialidea.
The Kansas Triennial kind ofworks in the opposite direction.
It's artist-centered Ratherthan asking artists to fit into
a predetermined concept.
I've built the exhibitionlargely from the work they're
making right now.
I've built the exhibitionlargely from the work they're
making right now.
(05:53):
That means the exhibition growsout of what's truly happening
in studios across Kansas at thismoment.
This changes really everythingabout the curatorial process.
Instead of beginning with awritten concept and then going
out to find art that fits, Istart by visiting artists,
seeing their work in progress,having conversations about their
ideas and motivations, andthese conversations are what
(06:16):
shape the exhibition's direction.
It also means that every threeyears, the triennial is kind of
a snapshot of what the state'screative pulse, or you might see
works that are deeply personalnext to works that are large
scale social or environmentalissues.
They don't have to be unifiedin style or message.
(06:36):
In fact, I think the range andcontrast are part of what makes
the show so compelling.
It's also worth noting and youhinted at this at the start.
You know that you hadn't heardabout this or a triennial.
It's unique and it's the onlymajor reoccurring exhibition of
its kind in this state.
It's devoted directly toartists you know living here and
(06:59):
working here, and thatcommitment matters to me.
It tells artists that theirworks don't need to leave the
state to be seen in a majormuseum context and it tells our
audiences that vital, relevantart is being created right here,
often in our own communities.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Let's talk a bit about some of the artists in
particular that you're going tobe showcasing here during your
triennial exhibit, and I'm surethat there's all kinds of
different.
You know your museum of art.
There's all types of differentarts that you'll have on display
at the beach.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Yeah, of course, this being the inaugural, the first
triennial, it's featuring fourartists, a lot of triennials.
I tend to use the phrase morepotpourri.
You may get 30, 40 artists insuch shows.
I wanted this to be a littlemore curated, a little more
breadth of work from these fourartists.
(07:55):
They get to tell a little bitmore about their practice.
Like when there's 30 artists,you get one piece per artist
often.
So these artists are Mona Cliff,mark Cowardin, poppy Delta,
dawn and Ann Resnick.
They come from very differentgenerations, different
backgrounds, different parts ofKansas, different disciplines.
(08:18):
So it means the visitors reallyencounter an extraordinary
range of media, approaches,ideas.
Mona Cliff, for example, hasindigenous traditions and
materials but really speaks totoday.
She does these beadwork, veryintricate beadwork pieces, some
of which are I mean, actuallyboth of them are pretty new one
(08:39):
of which we picked up as she wasplacing the last bead on the
canvas and she had never donethese on canvas before, she had
done them on paper and otherthings.
So we've got some really greatexamples of really fresh work
coming out of the studio.
Mark Cowardin is more known as asculptor, but he's been really
(09:04):
exploring ceramics lately, whichis adjacent to sculpture, but
his work has a sort of a balanceof nature and industrial
materials.
His large-scale sculptures aremade of common conduit,
two-by-fours fluorescent lights,all exposed materials, and I
(09:27):
think you know he reallyquestions the sort of fragility
of ecological vulnerability andthings like that.
Poppy Delta Dawn, the thirdartist, works with the labor and
lineage of fiber arts.
She uses the weave and thefabric manipulation to explore
(09:49):
themes of transformation,resilience and personal
narratives to explore themes oftransformation, resilience and
personal narratives.
Ann Resnick, the last artist,involves these really intricate
paper works that are cut,layered, burned.
She's actually using the veryedge of the cutouts are burned
(10:11):
and in trying to figure out howshe did that, she shared with me
that she uses a wood burningtool to actually burn the shapes
into the paper.
Through the paper she deals alot with elements of grief and
and memory loss, renewal, and inthat process of using that tool
she's burning, literallycreating you.
(10:32):
The phrase ashes to ashes comesto mind.
So there are some fascinatingworks in the exhibition.
I think there's a dialoguebetween the works, even if it
seems very different.
I think it's in thosedifferences where there's
actually more to be saidsometimes than our commonalities
(10:53):
.
So I think people will be, youknow, they'll see a very
powerful, multifaceted, probablysurprising view of art in
Kansas right now.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
I think one of the things you know, it's just, you
know, you think about some ofthe things that have happened
here in the last several years.
You know, and especially withthe beach.
The beach has been up what 25,30 years now.
We're coming up on 30 years andabout a year and a half, yeah,
and and what things havematerialized, or how things have
(11:27):
materialized now with, you know, Flint Hills Discovery Center,
which really isn't necessarilyartistically based, but there's
a lot there, but the Museum ofArt and Light and all of these
things, I think, say a lot aboutthe enhancement and the
promotion of arts, not justwithin our community but across
the state of Kansas, and thereseems to be, you know this.
(11:50):
I think one of the mostsensational things I love seeing
is, you know, the muralmovement across the state.
It seems to me that there hasjust been a significant
transition to enhance arts incommunities across the state.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Oh for sure, and I think this triennial just
affirms that.
You know that the Kansas has avibrant, ambitious and deeply
engaged community of artists.
And then the institutionscontinue to arise, like the
Museum of Art and Light.
I think it's a great moment tobe an artist in Kansas.
(12:30):
You know we're outside of thepressures.
I think that I was going to saythe geography of Kansas comes
into play because we are soremoved from major art hubs LA,
new York, chicago.
You know, I think there's anopportunity for more exploration
with artists here that theydon't have that gallery hovering
(12:52):
right over them that is pushingthem to do this or that or meet
a quota.
And I also think the work youknow here can hold its own
anywhere.
And I believe that if you comesee the Triennial, I think
you'll walk away wondering ifyou're in Manhattan, kansas or
the Big Apple.
You know it is remarkable.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Kent.
How long is the exhibit up?
Speaker 2 (13:15):
So it is up through.
It's going to be through thefull school year, so it'll be up
through May 31st of 2026.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
All right.
Well, if you have not been tothe Beach Museum recently,
here's another reason to go.
Stop by and visit the beach.
On the K-State campus, kentMichael Smith is the director of
the Beach Museum of Art.
Thanks for joining us, sir, andgood luck.
I'll have to.
I don't know when, but I'll bestopping by.
I know a lot of our friendshere in the community will be
too.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Please do, thank you.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Girls on the run of the Flint Hills.
Candice and Melissa are goingto be stepping.
Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater
Manhattan Community Foundation.
In this episode we feature arecently broadcast segment of
the GMCF Community Hour, asheard on NewsRadio KMAN, and we
are back with the GMCF CommunityHour here on this Monday.
It's the 11th day of August andwe're delighted to have joining
(00:20):
us, via Zoom, kent MichaelSmith, who is the director of
the Mariana Kessler Beach Museumof Art on the K-State campus.
Kent, welcome back to the showIs this are you past your
one-year stage now?
Are you two years into this gig?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah, believe it or not, I am about two and a half
years now.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Really now.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Yeah, how about that?
Time flies.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
That's got to be just a fun gig to be a part of,
isn't it?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Oh, it's a fantastic place and you know I'm from
Emporia originally, so this wasa coming home for me.
I was in Wisconsin and thisopportunity arose and you know I
couldn't apply fast enough andget myself here, so it's been
fantastic.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
I bet you and that Schlagich gal talk a lot about
Emporia, don't you?
Speaker 2 (01:07):
We have a lot of ties to Emporia here yeah.
And all throughout thecommunity.
You know, I mean that's.
It's strange to hear peopletalk about wanting to go to you
know.
Oh, we go to Emporia for dinnerand you know, when it's your
hometown you're like, really yougo to.
You know.
So Emporia is great, but it'salways that weird place for me
because it's where you grew upand you think of it differently
(01:27):
than others might.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Yeah, well, at the beach, you have an effort coming
underway that I've got to learnmore about, because I don't
know that I have ever seen orheard the term or the word
triennial.
What does triennial?
Speaker 2 (01:44):
mean?
Well, it implies so we have abiannual, that's every two years
, a triennial is every threeyears.
So from the Office of theDepartment of Redundancy, this
will be exhibited every threeyears.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Every three years and this is the Kansas triennial
and tell us about what this isall about and how this thing got
started.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
So yeah, as we just said, it's an exhibition that
we'll show every three yearshere at the Beach Museum of Art,
obviously changing it up,bringing in different artists
every three years.
It's a show that I ampersonally curating.
I'm giving a little break to mytwo curators here on staff but
with my background, as somebodythat was trained as an artist,
(02:30):
had a practice here in Kansas,it's a passion project for me.
But it goes and looks atartists.
You know contemporary artistsliving and working producing art
in Kansas today.
So you know it's a directextension of our mission, which
is to exhibit, preserve andinterpret art of Kansas in the
(02:51):
region.
I think you know I've beeninspired by the K-State 105,
where President Linton traveledto all 105 counties around the
state.
You know I mean it's very mucha direct connection to K-State's
role as a land grant universityserving the entire state.
So you know it rose really outof.
(03:12):
You know, like we said, I'vebeen here two and a half years.
When I arrived here I learnedpretty quickly that most many,
if not most, people don'trealize that we are the only
major museum with a focus onKansas art and the region.
Other museums have that segmentof their collection but we
(03:34):
really are the only ones thatfocus on that.
So, which I think makes again alot of sense with K-State's
position, I wanted to create anexhibition that would highlight
that focus with a contemporaryapproach.
Every three years again wouldbring attention back to the
artists working in our statetoday and just embrace the
(03:55):
collective Kansas artistcommunity in a meaningful way.
I also was really interested inhaving been away, having been
in Texas, wisconsin.
I wanted something that wouldkeep my ear to the ground and my
feet moving across the state tosee what artists are engaging.
It's far too easy to stay inyour office or in the museum and
it risks me kind of losingtouch with what the art or what
(04:17):
the artists are producing andkind of grappling with.
And I have an opportunity tosupport and amplify it.
So that was important.
I think I do recall a veryspecific moment when this sort
of happened.
You know we all have heard avery common phrase.
Somebody said preaching to thechoir.
Of course we've heard that ahundred times, but in the right
(04:39):
moments those phrases you hearall the time take on a little
different meaning and it sort ofmade me question like, okay,
who is our choir?
And for me it has to be theartists in this state, given
that we collect, you know wefocus on the art of Kansas.
So if they don't know thatwe're here for them, if artists
(05:01):
don't realize this, then it'sit's hard for me to imagine, you
know, the wider publicrealizing it.
So the Triennial is just oneway to make that connection
clear, to say to the artists wesee you, we value your work and
this is your museum too.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
So how does you know the exhibitions that you will
have on display during theTriennial and you might just
touch base on some of thehighlights of it, but how is
that compared to some of theother exhibits that you've had
in the Well, that's yeah, it isinteresting, I would say.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
you know, most exhibitions often start with a
single theme or a curatorialidea.
The Kansas Triennial kind ofworks in the opposite direction.
It's artist-centered Ratherthan asking artists to fit into
a predetermined concept.
I've built the exhibitionlargely from the work they're
making right now.
I've built the exhibitionlargely from the work they're
making right now.
(05:53):
That means the exhibition growsout of what's truly happening
in studios across Kansas at thismoment.
This changes really everythingabout the curatorial process.
Instead of beginning with awritten concept and then going
out to find art that fits, Istart by visiting artists,
seeing their work in progress,having conversations about their
ideas and motivations, andthese conversations are what
(06:16):
shape the exhibition's direction.
It also means that every threeyears, the triennial is kind of
a snapshot of what the state'screative pulse, or you might see
works that are deeply personalnext to works that are large
scale social or environmentalissues.
They don't have to be unifiedin style or message.
(06:36):
In fact, I think the range andcontrast are part of what makes
the show so compelling.
It's also worth noting and youhinted at this at the start.
You know that you hadn't heardabout this or a triennial.
It's unique and it's the onlymajor reoccurring exhibition of
its kind in this state.
It's devoted directly toartists you know living here and
(06:59):
working here, and thatcommitment matters to me.
It tells artists that theirworks don't need to leave the
state to be seen in a majormuseum context and it tells our
audiences that vital, relevantart is being created right here,
often in our own communities.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Let's talk a bit about some of the artists in
particular that you're going tobe showcasing here during your
triennial exhibit, and I'm surethat there's all kinds of
different.
You know your museum of art.
There's all types of differentarts that you'll have on display
at the beach.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Yeah, of course, this being the inaugural, the first
triennial, it's featuring fourartists, a lot of triennials.
I tend to use the phrase morepotpourri.
You may get 30, 40 artists insuch shows.
I wanted this to be a littlemore curated, a little more
breadth of work from these fourartists.
(07:55):
They get to tell a little bitmore about their practice.
Like when there's 30 artists,you get one piece per artist
often.
So these artists are Mona Cliff,mark Cowardin, poppy Delta,
dawn and Ann Resnick.
They come from very differentgenerations, different
backgrounds, different parts ofKansas, different disciplines.
(08:18):
So it means the visitors reallyencounter an extraordinary
range of media, approaches,ideas.
Mona Cliff, for example, hasindigenous traditions and
materials but really speaks totoday.
She does these beadwork, veryintricate beadwork pieces, some
of which are I mean, actuallyboth of them are pretty new one
(08:39):
of which we picked up as she wasplacing the last bead on the
canvas and she had never donethese on canvas before, she had
done them on paper and otherthings.
So we've got some really greatexamples of really fresh work
coming out of the studio.
Mark Cowardin is more known as asculptor, but he's been really
(09:04):
exploring ceramics lately, whichis adjacent to sculpture, but
his work has a sort of a balanceof nature and industrial
materials.
His large-scale sculptures aremade of common conduit,
two-by-fours fluorescent lights,all exposed materials, and I
(09:27):
think you know he reallyquestions the sort of fragility
of ecological vulnerability andthings like that.
Poppy Delta Dawn, the thirdartist, works with the labor and
lineage of fiber arts.
She uses the weave and thefabric manipulation to explore
(09:49):
themes of transformation,resilience and personal
narratives to explore themes oftransformation, resilience and
personal narratives.
Ann Resnick, the last artist,involves these really intricate
paper works that are cut,layered, burned.
She's actually using the veryedge of the cutouts are burned
(10:11):
and in trying to figure out howshe did that, she shared with me
that she uses a wood burningtool to actually burn the shapes
into the paper.
Through the paper she deals alot with elements of grief and
and memory loss, renewal, and inthat process of using that tool
she's burning, literallycreating you.
(10:32):
The phrase ashes to ashes comesto mind.
So there are some fascinatingworks in the exhibition.
I think there's a dialoguebetween the works, even if it
seems very different.
I think it's in thosedifferences where there's
actually more to be saidsometimes than our commonalities
(10:53):
.
So I think people will be, youknow, they'll see a very
powerful, multifaceted, probablysurprising view of art in
Kansas right now.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
I think one of the things you know, it's just, you
know, you think about some ofthe things that have happened
here in the last several years.
You know, and especially withthe beach.
The beach has been up what 25,30 years now.
We're coming up on 30 years andabout a year and a half, yeah,
and and what things havematerialized, or how things have
(11:27):
materialized now with, you know, Flint Hills Discovery Center,
which really isn't necessarilyartistically based, but there's
a lot there, but the Museum ofArt and Light and all of these
things, I think, say a lot aboutthe enhancement and the
promotion of arts, not justwithin our community but across
the state of Kansas, and thereseems to be, you know this.
(11:50):
I think one of the mostsensational things I love seeing
is, you know, the muralmovement across the state.
It seems to me that there hasjust been a significant
transition to enhance arts incommunities across the state.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Oh for sure, and I think this triennial just
affirms that.
You know that the Kansas has avibrant, ambitious and deeply
engaged community of artists.
And then the institutionscontinue to arise, like the
Museum of Art and Light.
I think it's a great moment tobe an artist in Kansas.
(12:30):
You know we're outside of thepressures.
I think that I was going to saythe geography of Kansas comes
into play because we are soremoved from major art hubs LA,
new York, chicago.
You know, I think there's anopportunity for more exploration
with artists here that theydon't have that gallery hovering
(12:52):
right over them that is pushingthem to do this or that or meet
a quota.
And I also think the work youknow here can hold its own
anywhere.
And I believe that if you comesee the Triennial, I think
you'll walk away wondering ifyou're in Manhattan, kansas or
the Big Apple.
You know it is remarkable.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Kent.
How long is the exhibit up?
Speaker 2 (13:15):
So it is up through.
It's going to be through thefull school year, so it'll be up
through May 31st of 2026.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
All right.
Well, if you have not been tothe Beach Museum recently,
here's another reason to go.
Stop by and visit the beach.
On the K-State campus, kentMichael Smith is the director of
the Beach Museum of Art.
Thanks for joining us, sir, andgood luck.
I'll have to.
I don't know when, but I'll bestopping by.
I know a lot of our friendshere in the community will be
too.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Please do, thank you.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Girls on the run of the Flint Hills.
Candice and Melissa are goingto be stepping.
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