BMA : Exhibitions : 2006

KANSAS GOVERNOR RECOGNIZING GROUP THAT SUPPORTS K-STATE'S MARIANNA KISTLER BEACH MUSEUM OF ART

MANHATTAN -- Kansas State University's Friends of the Beach Museum of Art, which supports the work of the university's Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, has been chosen as one of two Kansas arts organizations to receive a 2006 Governor's Arts Award.

The Kansas Arts Commission selected four individuals, one couple and two arts organizations to receive this year's awards. The honors will be presented Thursday, June 15, at the Topeka Performing Arts Center.

"It is a fabulous honor for the Friends of the Beach Museum of Art to be selected for this award," said Martha Miller, president of the group. "It also is a wonderful compliment to be nominated for it by Bill North, the museum's senior curator."

The Governor's Arts Awards recognize outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth and support or availability of the arts in Kansas. The awards focus attention on the importance of the arts to the quality of life in Kansas by honoring those who have made major creative achievements or significant contributions to cultural growth or development. The awards are a program of the Kansas Arts Commission in cooperation with the office of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

The Friends of the Beach Museum of Art was founded in 1934 as the Friends of Art. The group's name was changed to the Friends of the Beach Museum of Art with the opening of the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art on the K-State campus in 1996.

Since the group's inception, its primary mission has been to raise funds for the acquisition and care of works of art for K-State's permanent collection and to promote the visual arts in Kansas. The group has contributed significantly to the visual arts culture of Kansas for more than 70 years through its annual gift print tradition, which has featured the participation of some of Kansas' most noted artists. Since 2001, Friends of the Beach Museum of Art has donated more than 20 gift prints to the art collection at Cedar Crest, the governor's residence.

Recently, the group established a significant fund dedicated to acquiring prints by Kansas artists. More than 70 percent of the works purchased for the Beach Museum's permanent collection since 1996 have been acquired with funds raised by the Friends of the Beach Museum of Art.

"We applaud those being recognized for their contributions to the culture and diversity of our state," Sebelius said of this year's award winners. "Their commitment and creativity are an inspiration."

The Beach Museum of Art, which will be closed to accommodate construction of its expansion project from April 10 to June 2, is on the southeast corner of the K-State campus at 14th Street and Anderson Avenue. More information on the museum is available by calling 785-532-7718 or online at http://www.k-state.edu/bma

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