The Chanute Art Gallery offered a Sneak Peek Party on Friday evening to celebrate the first exhibit to be displayed after vandalism interrupted the gallery’s operations. An official grand reopening and ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held today, Tuesday, August 5, at noon.
In April, an individual who has yet to be caught or identified broke into the gallery and caused severe damage to glass display cases, the walls, doors, and the floors of the gallery with a hammer and a fire extinguisher.
Since then, the gallery has been undergoing repair efforts, which included replacing the carpet, cleaning residue from the fire extinguisher, wall repair, fixing doors, replacing glass, and replacing broken electronics.
Friday’s festivities featured live music by Timmy Ray and the Dry Counties, refreshments, and local artists. In addition to Jake Villalpando’s drone photography of various spots in Neosho County, Hilary Shepard’s macrophotography was also on display. One of the rooms was filled with creations made through the Chanute Public Library’s “Color Our World” Summer Reading Program, including tiny art, fiber art projects, color studies, parodies of famous paintings, and other so-called “Bad Art.”
Villalpando is originally from Thayer and is a Neosho County Community College alum. There, he studied digital photography. Today, he owns Manuel Jacob Photography and works as a builder at Cobalt Boats.
Shepard is a multi-form artist, being a musician and a photographer. She works teaching flute and general music classes. Her photography has been featured in the Online Annex of Portland’s Black Box Gallery and Minneapolis’s Praxis Gallery. She is also the recipient of both the Juror’s Merit Award and a Nature Category Award in the Five-State Photo Competition, hosted by the Hays Art Council.
Shepard says she’s been a photographer for a decade and enjoys taking photos of insects. Her work also features close-up shots of flowers, birds, and reptiles. This collection is titled “Up Close & Personal.”
“I really like insects,” Shepard said. “With the camera, you can see them better than you can in real life.”
She said that while editing, she often discovers details she did not see when she took the photo.
“That’s my favorite part; the surprise,” Shepard said.
Dozens attended the Gallery’s Sneak Peek Party, and Shepard said she thought the turnout was great. “
“It’s more than you could hope for when your art is exhibited in a space.”
This sentiment was echoed by many Chanute Art Gallery Board members.
“It’s great having all these people here,” Bob Cross said.
When asked about his favorite work, Bob said that “all of them” were his favorite pieces in the gallery.
Other works on display featured a variety of artists, or “Old Friends.” These pieces are from the Chanute Art Gallery’s core collection “We’re so glad to have it open again,” Jean Cross said. “It’s been months of getting here. It took the efforts of many people to accomplish this.”
Ruth Ports said this celebration was a kind of homecoming.
“I have my home back,” Ports said. “It’s my place that I come to and renew myself.”
Both Ports and Chanute Art Gallery Board President Tim Tarkelly said the community support has been overwhelming.
“That’s been healing to those of us who put our heart and soul into this place,” Ports said.
Tarkelley said the process to get back to being open felt very long.
“I am super excited. I am glad so many people came out to be supportive,” Tarkelley said. “We’re just glad to be back in business.”
To learn more about the Chanute Art Gallery, visit https:// www.facebook.com/thechanuteartgallery.
