March 3-24
BUTLER COUNTY STUDENT ART EXHIBIT
(High Schools and Butler Community College)
Reception: Saturday, March 6, Noon - 2pm

The Coutts Museum of Art, 110 N. Main, El Dorado, will be the host of another Butler County Student Art Exhibit.  High School – College art will open on March 3 with a public reception held on Saturday, March 6 from noon – 2 p.m.  This exhibit will be on display at the museum through March 24, 2010

The high schools are limited to twenty works of art which are selected by their art instructors. Each exhibiting artist will also receive a certificate and medal which has been made possible in part through a grant received  from El Dorado Charities Auxiliary.

Valerie Haring of Butler Community College will act as judge for the high school works. The works will be judged according to media categories.

Valerie is a life-long resident of El Dorado, KS. She graduated from Circle High School and then received her Associates Degree from Butler Community College. From there she attended Bethany College for one year, finishing her Bachelors Degree at Emporia State University and her Masters Degree from Wichita State University. Valerie is currently in her 20th year of teaching at Butler Community College where she is the Lead Art Instructor of the Art Department, Director of the Erman B. White Gallery and Acquisitions Director for the Art Without Walls Project. She has two boys, Jordan and Jaxon, who attend El Dorado schools. The three of them love living in El Dorado and feel a great connection to the people and places that surround them. Valerie also continues to make and exhibit her own artwork in local and regional shows.

The following Butler County High Schools and instructors will be participating in the March 3 - 24 exhibit:
            Andover Central High School – Rita Frakes and Pat Chambers, instructors
            Andover High School – Pat Chambers and Lana Kaylor, instructors
            Augusta High School – Audra Shelite, instructor
            Bluestem High School – Branigun Gomez, instructor
            Circle High School – Wendy Tien, instructor
            El Dorado High School – Alisa Becker & Dennis Cantu, instructors
            Rose Hill High School – Ward Hilgers, instructor
           
Students from Butler Community College will also have their work on display in the exhibit.  Warren Hall Coutts, Jr., the museum’s founder, left a Coutts Art Scholarship endowed fund at Butler Community College.  Income from the fund helps provide art scholarships each year to worthy art students.

The Coutts Museum proudly displays the work of our area schools and supports the art instructors and the students who acknowledge the value of art education.  The museum staff invites the public to attend this exhibit and show support for the artistic talent of our Butler County students.  If you are unable to attend the reception on March 6, we invite you to come in and view the exhibit through March 24 during regular museum hours. FMI: 316-321-1212. This exhibit and reception are free and open to the public.