Matt Miller, the artist selected to paint a mural at the Vesper Community Center this summer, will have some of his art on display, and for sale inside the community center during the farmers and makers market this Thursday Aug 3rd from 4p-6p.
Vesper recently had it’s largest and most successful farmers market to date with more vendors and a very large group of shoppers who continued arriving until the market ended at 6pm. There were multiple produce stands offering a nice selection of tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, onions and potatoes. There was a very nice selection of tomatoes from a couple vendors and both vendors sold out by the end of the market. The hoop grown tomatoes from Seehafer Farms were available for cash or voucher purchase through the Kansas Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program. There were also a couple egg vendors, there were USDA certified locally produced chickens, and several vendors selling baked breads, cookies, muffins and pies. There were also infused honey and other herbal products, textile and wood crafts, and ready to eat crock pot lasagna and garlic bread. With local garden production moving into high gear, an even larger selection of produce and baked goods is expected for August 3rd.
Matt Miller has been toughing out the extreme heat and finishing up the exterior cleaning and will begin priming the exterior soon in preparation for the painting of the mural later this month. The mural work is expected to continue for another 6 to 8 weeks. When completed, the mural will stretch around the west and south sides of the building.
It will be viewable at all hours and provide both up close viewing and viewing from the street. Solar powered lighting is being added for night time visibility. The Vesper Community Center has been awarded funding from the Dane G Hansen Foundation, Kansas Department of Commerce Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission and Office of Rural Prosperity, National Endowment of the Arts and Strategic Economic Expansion and Development (SEED) program coordinated by the LCEDF.
The mural is entitled “In the Wind” and will feature a landscape of modern turbines along with historical representations of windmills that made life possible as the county was founded and settled. From community gathered input, the mural will include sunflowers, wheat, the Kansas flag, Vesper memorabilia and other objects.
Mr. Miller, who has a B.F.A from Fort Hays State University and a B.A History of Art from the University of Kansas, has participated and won numerous awards at local art exhibitions throughout Kansas and has painted murals in other communities including the “Brush the Bricks” indigenous tribes and the “Dragon and Tiger” murals in Hays, KS and the welcome mural in Stockton KS, Any student artists or any artistically minded community members who are interested in helping the artist in August or September should contact the community center. Mr. Miller will also be having an art exhibition at the Lincoln Art Center in 2024.
Another way to meet the artist this summer is to donate a meal or dessert.
The Kansas Department of Commerce mural grants require matching funds or in kind service donations. Donated meals help reduce the cost of accommodations for the project and at the same time provide a match for some of the grant money that is making this very large public art work possible. You can sign up to provide a meal or dessert on a calendar at mealtrain- by clicking on a link at www.vespercc.org
