News flash: One of Wichita's most interesting art exhibitions is at a senior living community

I’m going to come right out and say it: One of my favorite recent exhibitions is a fiber art showcase now hanging at Larksfield Place, a senior living community in East Wichita. The show collects the work of more than 25 artists, a little more than half of whom are residents of the community. It’s a reminder of the unique nature of fiber art, rooted in tradition but flexible enough to be reworked in surprising tender ways.  

The Gallery at Larksfield Place, 7373 E. 29th St. N., isn’t a white-cube-style art space, but rather one very long hallway and a shorter, intersecting one on the first floor of the building. But during my hour-long weekend sojourn there, I had to wonder if it’s one of the busiest galleries in town. I took in the exhibition alongside residents, staff members, and guests, overhearing multiple comments — all positive — about the pieces on display. A couple of people spoke to me directly about what we were both looking at, which almost never happens in an art exhibition space. 

One staff member, who caught me trying to take a decent photo of a trio of pieces made by residents, told me the one on the left caught her eye. “Isn’t this all amazing?” asked a woman whom I pegged as the daughter of a resident.

It is all amazing. The works on view at Larksfield Place represent a multitude of fiber traditions, including  basketry, beading, quilting, and weaving. Many are maximalist, both in design and technique. Diane Moreno’s “Stitch By Stitch” feels like it sits at the emotional and aesthetic center of the exhibition. 

The piece combines multiple fiber techniques into a pink and white, feminine package. But if you look closer, it’s clear that Moreno is going her own way. While she employs different stitches — a nod to the tradition of embroidery samplers — this is not the sedate resume of Victorian girlhood, but a wild romp across a quilt-y canvas studded with scraps. In its form and design, “Stitch By Stitch” resembles a stained glass window honoring needlework. In the center, a pair of embroidered hands deftly completes an embroidered heart, punctuated by a real needle — a reminder of what a small, sharp thing can do. 

Many of the works I most enjoyed in this exhibition share a certain ethos with “Stitch By Stitch,” getting wilder and wilder as they spiral out from this centerpiece. Quite a few share its “I used all the scraps” aesthetic. They include Anita Martz’ “My Sweet Heart Art” and Judy Thompson’s “Friendship Crazy Quilt.” 

Still wilder are mixed media works by Carol Hill and another by Moreno. In “Iris Garden,” Hill throws everything she’s got at her small canvas: needle weaving, embroidery, and illustration with a batik border. In “Bee Happy,” Moreno assembles a puzzling fabric cabinet. On the outside, sumptuous fabrics in rich colors, beading, embroidery, and even gold tassel pulls and fabric hinges evoke a superb bazaar. But the inside is simply a black field populated by a couple of shelves and a mason jar, each formed with a simple white embroidered line. The contrast is both jarring and appealing. 

Kaye Abbott’s mixed media works center on surprising combinations. She pairs felted wool backdrops with found objects, creating juxtapositions that appear at once deliberate and improvisational. In “Imagination Station,” the wool background picks up some of the rust in the found metal objects Abbott chose as pairings. They’re unrecognizable as their past selves — something entirely new in the world Abbott creates. 

The award for thrilling contrast may belong to Ann Enix, whose “Seasons of Larksfield Place” is an installation of four baskets made from pine needles collected on the grounds, according to the title card. 

For the base of each finely woven basket Enix uses a photo of a different season at the community, embellishing the image with text and clip art using a desktop publishing program. (Often, the base of a pine needle basket is ceramic or stone.) I was delighted by this laborious process in combination with an old-school version of a newfangled publishing method. I heard more than one resident narrate the story of their creation to a family member who was, I imagine, enjoying the shadows they cast on the wall just as much as I. 

The choice to exhibit works by senior-living residents alongside community members both validates the skill and artistry of the resident artists and also puts their work in dialogue with the wider community — a deserved place, as both groups of artists contribute delightful, standout works. Fiber is one art form that connects us with tradition and with our elders. The pieces on display represent a 46-year age range — or about two and a half generations — between the youngest and oldest makers (ages 48 and 94, respectively). 

As much as I value museums and storefront galleries, the fiber art show at Larksfield Place reminded me of the dynamism you can find in less traditional art spaces. If you want to experience this one, it’s easy enough to do. There’s a roomy guest parking lot just steps from the gallery area, and you don’t need to check in anywhere. Plus the hours are capacious — drop by any day from 8 a.m.to 7 p.m. I have a hunch that you'll be delighted you did.

The Details

Fiber Art Exhibit
December 14-January 30, The Gallery at Larksfield Place, 7373 E. 29th St. N. in Wichita

This group exhibition includes work by Kaye Abbott,* Stephanie Bayliff, Rosie Bennett,* Randy Brown,* Carol Hill, Denise DeBusk, Judy Dove,* Lotti Eichhorn,* Ann Enix,* Karen Funcheon, Sheryl Harper,* Linda Harris, Denise Jackson-Simon, Lucia Jenny,* Ernie Kind, Curt LaGree,* Anita Martz, Lillian Mayer,* Diane Moreno, Necia Rillema,* Carol Stibal, Gene Stucky,* Judy Thompson,* Charlene Van Walleghen,* Marjorie Walton,* Carlene Williams, and Denise Ziegler.

*Residents of Larksfield Place

The fiber art exhibition is on view from 8 a.m.to 7 p.m. every day through January 30. Many works are available for purchase.

Corrections: This review was updated on January 4 to correct the spelling of the gallery director's first name (Carlene Williams, rather than Charlene) and an instance where the writer referred to Kaye Abbott with a different artist's name. We regret the errors.

Emily Christensen is a freelance journalist and news entrepreneur based in Wichita, Kansas. She is a past recipient of an Arts Writing Grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation and a past fellow of the National Critics Institute. She is one of the co-founders of the SHOUT. 

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