Thanks to the arts advocacy of a large group of Bethel College students and some faculty colleagues, our campus woke up to a constellation of black shrouds. An exhibition in the Fine Arts Center Gallery, the distinctive fountain on the green, and many other pieces of publicly visible art around campus have been covered in black, a gesture that protests Governor Brownback’s executive order to abolish the Kansas Arts Commission. Statements accompanying the veiled artworks invite viewers to imagine Kansas (or at least Bethel College) without art and provide information about the many tangible benefits of arts funding. Through this action, arts supporters at Bethel and in Newton and North Newton are standing in solidarity with arts advocates around the state, whose work is documented on such sites as imaginekansaswithoutart and Kansas Citizens for the Arts.
*click here to read the Newton Kansan article about the Bethel College Day Without Art
