The Barton Arts Movement hosted their first ever Art Alley Pop-Up Gallery and Competition on June 24 in conjunction with the Final Fridays on Forest activities.
Co-led by BAM Committee members Lindsey Bogner and Sergio Ramirez, and hosted by Andrea Bauer and other volunteers, the event was a huge success featuring 19 artists from across Barton County and even one from Johnson County. More than 300 spectators came through the pop-up gallery to take in the art and vote on their favorite canvas.
After all the votes were tallied, Hoisington artist Shawntay Dorae received the first ever BAMMY People's Choice Award for her acrylic painting called "The Answer."
“Shining a spotlight on local artists aligns perfectly with BAM’s mission, to ‘create community pride through public art’,” says Andrea Bauer. “As artists shared their work with the community, you could see the pride radiating from their smiles. It was a really special evening.”
Dorae received her award in front of a crowd, and celebrated with her husband and two sons. Although Shawntay has not painted a mural before, she’s excited to explore the possibility of being commissioned for a mini mural in the future, one of the other possible rewards for winning the art competition.
“I’m very excited to do this again,” says Shawntay.
“We loved partnering with BAM for our Final Friday event”, says Sara Hayden, Great Bend Economic Development. “We can’t wait to see more of the beautiful artwork from our community residents when we do this again in the future.”
Great Bend Alive hosts events downtown on the last Friday of each month throughout the summer, featuring local food and drink vendors, live music, family-friendly games and more.
BAM is continuing to expand their vision in Barton County, with multiple projects in the works before year-end. They are currently working to complete a series of photo mosaic installations, featuring crowd sourced photos from around Barton County that will be printed and installed in various locations around the County. The artwork for those mosaics was developed by local designer, Yuchen Boswell.
BAM is working on plans for a series of mini murals, with plans to add more color to several Barton County communities later this year. They are also assisting with volunteer coordination for a street mural in the consumption district on Forest Avenue in downtown Great Bend. To learn more about BAM or to see the latest announcements from the volunteer movement, be sure to follow them on Facebook.