Now you do! These links should lead you to anything and everything (almost) art-wise in Topeka. Many of these venues participate in Topeka's First Fridays Artwalk (download the map here).

April 4 – May 16, 2008
Cotter Hirschberg Room
Sabatini Gallery 

View the exhibit online:
Art at the Library

This exhibit traces the history of art collecting at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library, shows examples of some of the first purchases and display spaces, and underscores the visionary role the Library has played, since its conception, in valuing art and arts education in a public library context. Curator: Zan Popp

The Alice C. Sabatini Gallery is home to Topeka’s oldest public art collection. The nucleus of this collection was created when Library board member Edward Wilder purchased a large collection of Art Nouveau glass and ceramics for the Library while on a tour of Europe in 1901. The collection has expanded over the years to include regional paintings and prints, American contemporary ceramics, glass paperweights, West African decorative arts, southwest reliquary woodcarvings and 19th-century Chinese decorative arts.

The Sabatini Gallery produces six exhibits annually: two national, juried art competitions (Topeka Competition for 3D work and The Printed Image for 2D original, fine art prints), an annual art exhibit for young people designed to ignite and maintain a love for art through enriching arts experiences, works from the TSCPL permanent collection and a variety of contemporary, regional artists.

Alice C. Sabatini (1931–1997) | Born in Lamar, CO and raised in Lyons, KS, Alice received a B.S. in architectural art from Kansas State University, a B.A. in art education and an M.F.A. in drawing from the University of Kansas. Alice was a life-long supporter of the Library and our fine arts community. Interest from the Alice C. Sabatini Endowment, created through The Library Foundation, helps fund our children's show as well as an outreach program targeting at-risk children and their caregivers in daycare settings.

Larry Peters | (Gallery Director 1968–2003) A prolific ceramist and active member of the Topeka arts community for many years, Peters steadily built our "clay body" of works in the Library's Permanent Collection for decades. Because of this commitment to excellence, the Library's permanent art collection has a broad sampling of work from many mid to late 20th-century artists: Voulkos, Eberle, Bohls, MacKenzie, Pharis, Garzio, Troy. Peters shows regularly in group and solo exhibitions throughout Northeast Kansas and has work on loan to the US Embassy in Athens, Greece. He is the founder and president of the Kansas Artist Craftsmen Association as well as a member of The Collective Gallery in Topeka, KS with his wife, reknowned Kansas artist and former Washburn University art faculty professor, Barbara Waterman-Peters.

700 what? Who knew the Dewey Decimal System had so many art categories? There’s a copy by my computer now—hooray!

sabatini gallery news: We will be closed for installation from September 8–27, reopening the 28th with The Journey of Tea. While we pack and patch walls, you can kill time between shows learning more about tea history. Check out The Eccentric Teapot, The Tea Companion or this tea recipe book. This one is good, too: Tea and Sympathy: The Life of an English Teashop in New York. Friday is your last chance to see Brian Collier’s Master Collection of Very Small Objects and your final opportunity to submit something for our Community Archive project. Congratulations to Brian on his new teaching position at the Kansas City Art Institute and upcoming group exhibit at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Weather Report: Art and Climate Change, curated by Lucy Lippard.

local: High-fives and jazz hands to Topeka’s Collective Art Gallery, which celebrates its 20th anniversary on September 7. If you can’t make this retrospective, check for pictures on TSCPL’s Flickr account soon. It’s also the first Friday of the month which means you can participate in Topeka’s city-wide gallery crawl (Sabatini Gallery included). Check here for details.

“Is there a difference between cheap and expensive oil paint?”

“Does contemporary indicate a timeframe or a style?”

“How can I enter the Topeka Riverfront Design Competition?”

“Is it true Valerie Solanis claimed she was making a performance piece when she shot Andy Warhol?”

In terms of reference, FAQ could also read: frequent art questions because staff in the Sabatini Gallery answers the bulk of the Library’s art-related inquiries. We also maintain and contribute to on-going art dialogue through our exhibits, educational partnerships, programs, daily interactions and our new Special Collections Papercuts column, Art & Antiquarian. Ask us anything. We’re an excellent resource for students, teachers, artists, gallery owners, museum professionals, collectors and art patrons. If we can’t immediately provide you with an answer, we’ll offer professional direction and research leads to other resources in the Library. Here’s a starter list of questions we’ve been asked (and these really only scratch the surface):