The day’s events actually began the evening of Friday, July 11. Neal and I returned from Wichita, where I attended a writer’s workshop at Perfect Peace West, a local Christian bookstore, to discover one of the gallery’s exhibits was being canceled.

The exhibit of historic American flags, which is an outdoor exhibit, was being canceled because the forecast was for rain.

Sure enough, at 7:10 a.m., there was the sound of gentle thunder rumbling through the heavens and, a minute or two later, the sound of rain. A very nice and soaking rain. When we reached the gallery at just before 11 a.m., the park was very lovely, with that wonderful light that comes with rain.

It was also very wet, as you can see above.

But the day’s events were indoors, so we pressed on.

Newton artist Connie Rhodes was the first scheduled event, with a come-and-go watercolor painting class. She had one very avid student for the entire two hours and many others who stopped by to watch and ask questions.

I do know one thing. The class was fun. Connie is a fun and joyous person. Although she confided in me later that the painting she did during class was only her fifth or sixth watercolor painting, (she usually works in acrylics), she is not afraid of trying new things and experimenting. She and her student had a great time.

Concurrent with the watercolor class upstairs was a book signing downstairs.

Steven M. Johnson was at the gallery from 2 to 4 p.m., signing copies of his new book, American Snapshots. I apologize to Steven, but I didn’t get photographs of that event.

Cally Krallman and Diane Gillenwater presented a very interesting and entertaining talk on their work in the production of Prairie Glimpses: A Kansas Song Project. Although Cally readily admits to not being a vocalist — a vocal instructor once told her to keep her day job as a painter! — they did an excellent job for a small, but very appreciative audience.

After that, Cally joined the audience and Diane treated us to a selection of pieces on her fiddle, which she said was over 100 years old when she purchased it.

Diane is an award winning fiddleplayer for the Kansas bluegrass band, Pastense, and she spoke about her work with the group and her history as a musician and artist. She later chatted with me about her love of horses and some local equine related organizations.

The opening for the current exhibit at the gallery was the conclusion of the indoor events. Cally Krallman and Don Lind were both on hand for the one-hour meet and greet. Carolyn Wedel, who is the third of three featured artists for the Summer 2008 Exhibit: The Land We Love, was not able to attend, but her work was very well received, as was the entire exhibit.

The finale for the day was an open air concert by the Senseney Music Wichita Community Band. With intermittent rain all day, I received quite a few calls asking whether or not the concert was still being planned. Whether the skies were wet and weepy or showing signs of clearing, I told the callers the concert had not been canceled and prayed for the LORD’s will.

At 5:30, one of the band members came up to Newton and we looked at the radar, looked at the skies, considered the condition of the park, decided to move the concert to the large parking area behind the gallery and called the band director. The concert was a go!

The sun had been making some bashful appearances by then and the parking lot was dry except for the low areas, which we were able to work around. Chairs were set up for the band and the audience and the band arrived, as did audience members.

Josh Diaz, a driver for Schwan’s Fine Frozen Foods also arrived and parked the truck nearby. Schwan’s very graciously provided ice cream treats for gallery visitors, concert goers, band members and, yes, even me (though I spent so much time running around and doing things that Josh was gone before I was ready for ice cream. Alas! So it goes!).

The concert itself was a great success, as it always has been. A good and appreciative audience was treated to an hour’s worth of music that began with The Star Spangled Banner and ended with Stars & Stripes Forever. In between were such varied pieces as a medley from Hairspray, Rhythm Dance, Handel on the Strand and Yakety Sax.

Many thanks to director Bill Johnson, whose attitude is “the show must go on”. My thought for the day was “don’t cancel until the absolute last minute” and, in the end, the concert and the day as a whole was a great success.

The day ended with the drawing for door prizes and fifteen lucky winners took home prizes as varied as two dozen glazed donuts from an excellent, local donut shop to a $45 gift basket from Prairie Harvest and a beautiful scarf/earring/pendant set from Katherine’s, both in Newton.

As I closed the door after the last visitor at about 8:45 p.m., the skies were glowing a beautiful, soft pink and there was barely a cloud in the sky. In spite of the uncertainty of rain from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., it was a great day with a beautiful conclusion.

My heartfelt thanks to all the artists and presenters who gave time, effort and talent to our little event this second Saturday of July. It was a great way to spend a mostly rainy day in Kansas!

Thank you!

And to all those who braved the elements during the day to attend our events and who enjoyed the open air concert at the end of the day, a big thank you. Whether you came a few blocks or many miles, thank you for visiting and come again soon!

©Copyright 2008 by Carrie Lewis. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit Carrie Lewis’s website.