ROBERT PIERCE

   • Leader & Times

Artists looking for a quiet space for inspiration for their work now have just that opportunity available in Southwest Kansas.

Liberal’s Baker Arts Center recently opened its new artist in residence house just south of the center, and Director Misty Martin said the  residency is a home converted into two separate multi-purpose apartments.

“The main purpose of it is to house artists who come here and spend resident time,” she said. “If an artist comes here for a period of time to work on their art, their craft, artists of different mediums, whether it’s painting, writing, music, cooking, whatever their art is, if they come here to work on that art, they usually also will spend time teaching classes in whatever area of art they do.”

Martin said the artist residence provides a comfortable unique stay, and with two apartments, the building can likewise house two different artists if needed.

“They come, and they can have housing,” she said. “They would be stipend, and they would have an opportunity to come and have public engagement, be involved in the community and give them time here while they’re working on their art, not only being a benefit to their time here at Baker Arts Center, but also being able to be a part of the Liberal community, to the area.”

Martin said a stay at the residence is also unique to Southwest Kansas.

“It has all the amenities,” she said. “It’s fully furnished. It has beds, showers, towels. Kitchens are fully stocked and ready to go as far as supplies someone would need.”

However, Martin said artist residencies are quite common at art centers such as Baker, and plans to bring a residency to the local center have been in discussion for some time.

“It’s something they’ve been wanting to bring to the community because we do have artists who come from different places,” she said.

Martin called the residence an amazing opportunity for the center.

“It gives us an opportunity to welcome artists from all over,” she said. “It gives us an opportunity to expand the ability to teach, to give opportunities for learning for our students who are children and adults. It gives the community opportunities to be able to experience things through Baker Arts, whether it’s different forms of hand-on painting, whether it’s music, whether it’s cooking, whatever it is. It’s a huge benefit to Baker Arts and to the community.”

Naturally, Martin said the residency will be great for the center.

“One of the things about it is when you walk into the residency, you don’t feel like you’re in Kansas anymore,” she said “It’s a getaway. You really feel like you’ve stepped into a unique experience.”

Martin said she even recommends the residency for use by non-artists.

“It is available to be rented,” she said. “If someone has a guest coming in from out of town and they’re looking for a unique stay, it’s a great experience. I don’t recommend it for small children, but it’s a beautifully and uniquely decorated. If you’re looking to give someone a unique night away, it’s a great unique experience.”

Martin said the residency is a great space for any kind of art ranging from visual arts, food, music and other forms.

“If there’s artists who are interested in it, they can go online to bakerarts.org,” she said. “There’s an application process. They can apply, and we can definitely have a conversation about them coming and staying in residency and being a part of what’s happening here at Baker Arts and in the community in Liberal.”

As expected, Martin said much work went into making the residency possible.

“There were a lot of grants, a lot of hands-on work that has gone into it,” she said. “We’re still finishing up some of the work over there. A lot of work has gone into that.”

Martin said the space the residency provides is both relaxing and inspiring at the same time.

“A lot of times when artists step away from their own space and step into a different space, that’s exactly what they’re looking for,” she said. “They’re looking for a place to relax, but they’re also looking for a space to be inspired. That is exactly what the residency offers.”

Martin said those using the residency can do so for various amounts of time.

“It depends on the artist and their need and their focus,” she said. “When they apply, there are a lot of different factors that go into that.”

In the past decade, Baker Arts has seen much in the way of expansion, with the kitchen next door to the residency being a great example of that expansion. Martin said growth could continue in the future for the center.

“We have lots of dreams and conversations about things we’d love to see at Baker,” she said. “Hopefully, down the road, we have a lot more growth.”

Throughout the summer, Baker Arts has routine classes happening nearly every day, and in June, the center kicked off its kids camps.

“Those are Monday through Thursday,” Martin said. “We’re super excited. We have pottery starting back in the beginning of June. We have a lot of people who are really excited about that happening. We have some unique classes coming up. We have Jennifer Baffoe, who’s doing some oil painting classes. We have Sip and Paint with Claire. We have cooking classes and a lot of great things happening here.”

An exhibit of art from Kansas artist Rachel Hirt will be on display in Baker’s main gallery in July.

“She will be bringing pieces that are going to be on display in the month of July,” Martin said.

In May, the center hosted the Butterfly Encounter, an event Martin called a great success.

“We had so much feedback,” she said. “The most heard quote from the kids was literally ‘This is the best day ever.’ I heard that quote from so many kids from different schools. It was great.”

Martin, though, said the artist residency is both a rarity in Southwest Kansas and an amazing opportunity for the area.

“It is unique,” she said. “It’s a definite plus. It’s definitely something not to be overlooked. Our hope is people utilize that and recognize the benefit of it for building their own art and also for being able to share their experience and their talent with our community.”

Overall, Martin said having an artist residency available in Southwest Kansas is great.

“The more we can bring people in to help share their love for art and build on that with Baker and the community, the more we can share that with the kids and the adults who come through here and be able to share that with the community,” she said.

With many artists in the area, Martin said the residency can only help increase the wealth of works those artists create.

“The talent, you can see it grow,” she said. “You can visibly see the growth in the skill set that’s happening from week to week. It’s really cool.”