The Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art is a great place to experience art and get involved, Jui Mhatre, the communications and marketing specialist for the museum, said.
“This is a place where the community, the campus can come in to get relaxation, see some art and also get into some constructive and some thought-provoking discussions by encountering art,” Mhatre said.
Students who attend the museum have the unique opportunity to speak with artists and thought leaders whose works are on display.
“I appreciate that there are artists coming from different parts of the United States and the world who we can get access to here at the museum,” Mhatre said.
Mhatre believes art is a great way to learn about other people and develop a better understanding of different cultures.
“I just think that especially students, through the museum, have a really good way to access a world that is different from their normal academic world,” Mhatre said. “Art gives us an opportunity to understand people in a different way.”
Theresa Ketterer, the registrar and collections specialist for the Beach Museum, put together one of the museum’s current exhibitions, called “Voices: Women Artists in the Era of Second Wave Feminism.”
“This iteration of the Voices exhibit focuses on women artists in the era of second-wave feminism,” Ketterer said. “It’s comprised of all work that belongs to the museum.”
Ketterer has added a special touch to the exhibit — two Kansas State alumnae’s works are on display in this gallery. These pieces, along with the rest of the collection, are meant to be a thought-provoking examination of the feminist movement.
“My hope is to have people realize that feminism is a lot more than just the idea of equal rights,” Ketterer said. “There’s different ways to express it. These artists are expressing themselves as women through the materials they use, the images they produce.”
The general public and art experts are welcome to come to explore the museum. It’s easy to learn more about the art, made possible by the museum’s app.
“Every object in the exhibition has a page on Smartly, which is the app that we use,” Ketterer said. “If you go through and you download this app you can scan each work in the exhibition and find out more about both the work and the artist.”
Voices isn’t the only collection available. ‘Prairie Views’ and ‘Salt Air’ are also open. The newest exhibit, called ‘Do You See What I See?’ opened last Tuesday, according to Mhatre. The museum also hosts community events on some Thursdays.
To learn more about the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art or its collections, visit https://beach.k-state.edu/.
