Newman University's Steckline Gallery is a professional art gallery with monthly shows rotate through the gallery changing each First Friday during the show season.
Current Steckline Exhibition
Flight Safety and How Not to Drown by Yulla Vega
Art for Lunch: Thursday, April 3rd, 2025 12:00-1:00 pm
Opening Reception: Friday, April 4th, 2025 5:00-7:00 pm
Exhibition dates: April 3rd - 25th , 2025
Instagram: @edward_faun
Artist Statement
Flight Safety and How Not to Drown has as much to do with navigating a collapsing economy as it does sustaining a solid place to live. It relates to the struggles of existing paycheck to paycheck, house to house, or couch to couch for those living on the edge of collapse.
Flight Safety is in reference to fleeing one situation to the next, in hopes the new circumstance is better. Many of the artworks use personally developed symbol from the artist's own previous situations and struggles. Flight became synonymous with fleeing a deteriorating home space to another, to another, to another… and so on. The scissor tail flycatcher, the Oklahoma state bird, has transformed into a symbol of hope for the future, an escape and refuge in another place outside of Kansas.
How Not to Drown is the idea and dream of being okay, despite the looming fear of full homelessness or becoming forgotten. It's the thought of “maybe another place is better.” Sometimes, seemingly, the unknown or the ‘ocean.’ The ocean being full of the unknown, and yet we remain hopeful this space is better than the last, that it's the oasis that’s been advertised.
Transitional homelessness is the central idea of these works. It doesn’t mean fully homeless, but it does mean lacking a place to settle and call home. Upon conversing with many people in this situation, the question arises- is this a problem creatives face in particular?
In order to help each other navigate these situations it is more important than ever to develop small communities and networks in which people mutually support and check in on each other while we all learn to ask for help- sometimes over and over.
About the Artist-
Jessica Vega was born in Wellington, Kansas and had always wanted to become an artist. She navigated a lonely childhood, due to selective mutism. This, in turn, made her develop a high sense of creativity. As an adult she accidentally married into a cult- this ended in divorce as she escaped with a baby to Wichita in the pursuit of working as an artist and exploring life more fully. She worked for years as a portrait artist, then in organ donation, then as an aerialist. After studying at the Kansas City Art Institute and Cowley College she went on to go through the Artist Inc program and is a certified project manager. She now works as an artist, a teacher at Mark Arts, and a project manager for a local community garden group. Recently she has changed her name to Yulla Faun Vega.
Previous Steckline Exhibitions
To Dust by Anthony Corraro
Kansas: In Living Color by Ashley Streid
Artist Statement
"My work is a reflection of my journey through self-discovery that serves as a visual narrative to bridge the universal themes of resilience, growth and finding beauty within the seemingly ordinary. Where others see monotony and boring landscapes, I see vibrant stories waiting to be told—an ode to the beauty found within the overlooked and the shift in perspectives gained from adjusting to life with a degenerative neurological condition.
Facing a different reality than I imagined, my creative practice has become a source of strength, a reminder of my growth and an outlet that allows me to reimagine the world. Each piece is a contract between my soul and my heart that promises to always acknowledge the harmony and complexity that exists in places once overlooked. Every photo seeks to shift the narrative of Kansas as a quaint flyover state to a sprawling canvas transformed by mother nature’s masterful brush that reveals the quiet grandeur hidden in the folds of the ordinary.
This exhibition marks a pivotal moment for me. It’s the celebration of a quietly renewed sense of purpose and achievement, the reclamation of myself as an artist, and encouraging others to see the familiar through a lens of renewed perspectives. It’s the culmination of years of self-discovery through hardships, learning to pivot and find other ways when life says no, and the determination to accomplish a lifelong goal."
Exhibition Dates: Decemeber 5th, 2024 - January 31st 2025
Art for Lunch artist talk: Thursday, December 5th, 2024 12:00-1:00 pm
Exhibition Opening Reception: Friday, December, 6th, 2024 5:00-7:00 pm
Qualities and Quantities by Shannon Johnston
Artist Statement
My work navigates the intersection of relationships and self-reflection, monotony and beauty, blending fine art practices with elements of the domestic realm.
In the fall of 2021, I became a mother to a beautiful boy, an experience that brought me both profound joy and significant struggle. As I adjusted to this new reality, I found myself overwhelmed by the data surrounding his needs: How much did he eat? How long did he sleep? What were his wake windows? To manage the overwhelm of postpartum anxiety (PPA) that accompanied these questions, I began meticulously documenting everything. Two years later, our family welcomed a perfect little girl. Surprisingly, my experience of PPA with her was less intense. While I remained committed to documenting her first months, I approached this process with a sense of observation and contrast rather than obsession.
This body of work is a visual documentation of the data collected during the first six months of both my children’s lives, highlighting the patterns that emerged. It specifically reflects moments spent feeding them, reclaiming that time by observing the beauty of the relationships formed, rather than the monotony of counting minutes and ounces. This observation of lengths of time and search for preciousness within that time that I hope viewers can relate to.
Artist Bio
In addition to being an artist, I am a daughter, sister, mother, friend, spouse, introvert, teacher, student, feminist, collector, maker, consumer, and nail-biter. I'm afraid of whales but not spiders. I like to knit, do yoga, and cook, but not clean. I am an avid caffeine consumer, believer in play, observer of patterns and seeker of beauty in the mundane. All of this informs my creative practice.
It is engagement within and reflection upon community, both large and small, that ground my creative practice. Repetition, generosity, and regeneration drive my making. Collection that borders compulsion builds my palette and ritual forms my process.
Currently, I engage in the communities of Wichita, KS, where I teach, create, and learn at Newman University. I cherish moments of play, reflection, and observation with my partner, our two children, and beloved rescue cat.
Exhibition dates: October 31st-November 29th, 2024
Art for Lunch artist talk: Thursday, October 31st, 2024 12:00-1:00 pm
Exhibition opening reception: Friday, November 1st, 2024 5:00-7:00 pm
Reclaimed: Exploring Empathy Through Gesture by Scott Jones
Scott Jones's work uses abstraction to explore emotional intelligence (EI), highlighting its role in developing genuine human connections, authentic self-expression, and resilience. In an era where technology mediates our interactions and shapes our perceptions of reality, EI enables us to interpret tone, intention, and emotions in these simplified forms of communication. Through the nuanced interaction with clay, he translates emotional experiences into tangible forms, capturing the essence of sensitivity and intimacy. This hands-on process allows him to engage with and develop emotional intelligence directly. Jones invites viewers to engage with and reflect on the material as a medium for understanding and expressing complex human emotions.
Exhibition dates: October 3rd-25th 2024
Art for Lunch artist talk: Thursday, October 3rd 2024 12:00-1:00 pm
Exhibition opening reception: Friday, October 4th, 2024 5:00-7:00 pm
Exhibit at Steckline Gallery
Submit your work HERE.
Submissions can also be emailed to [email protected].
Questions? Email [email protected].
All great things first begin with an idea. From this idea stems the possibility to explore, create and achieve. Steckline Gallery is the perfect landing point for an idea to become reality. Located on the campus of Newman University, this gallery is one of the premier galleries in Kansas and the Midwest. It offers exhibits on a monthly basis through the academic year featuring the talents of local, regional, national and international artists. With crisp white walls, Steckline Gallery is a clean canvas for artists to create a masterpiece through their work.
Opening receptions for new exhibits are typically part of the "First Friday" gallery art crawl, drawing in art lovers from around Wichita. Complete with hors d'oeuvre and refreshments, Steckline Gallery is the ideal place to begin your evening of art exploration. The gallery also holds an "Art for Lunch" presentation for most exhibits. Many of which feature the artist and include a limited free lunch. This lunch allows you to get a more in-depth perspective of the artist's process, source of inspiration and have your questions and answered in a more intimate setting.
Steckline Gallery Mission
Newman University’s Steckline Gallery encourages appreciation and understanding of art and its role in society through direct engagement with original works of art and the artists who create them. The Gallery promotes active learning about art, cultural diversity, and the creative process through teaching and dialogue among communities of Newman students, faculty, artists, scholars, alumni and the general public. The gallery organizes exhibitions and educational programs to inspire inquiry and academic excellence with the underlying goal to promote lifelong learning and personal development.
Address
Newman University
3100 McCormick
Wichita, KS 67213
Hours
Monday-Friday
9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
or by appointment (to book an appointment, please email [email protected])
Contact
Emily Ritter, Gallery Director