The "Manhattan Optimist Club Bulletin" Vol. 2026 #25 3-25-26

VOLUME 2026   MARCH 25   NUMBER 25 

President Kelly Karl welcomed the membership and guests, and Mike Fincham presented a reflection. The flag salute followed. 

Mike Fincham introduced Ariana Swann, originally from Caracas, Venezuela.  Ariana is a graduate student at Kansas State University and teaches animation and digital art classes.  She received her Bachelor of Science degree in statistics from the University of Michigan.  After graduation she began working as an organ transplant specialist in Ann Arbor, Michigan, but left this very stressful job to hike the Appalachian Trail and contemplate the direction of her life.  While on the trail, she made the life changing decision to pursue a career in art.  Ariana is an interdisciplinary artist who pulls from her varied experiences of culture, location, and vocation to create innovative works of art.  Those Optimist who have been involved in the Early Expressions Art program will recognize Ariana as one of our judges for the past couple of years.  Ariana's presentation is titled “Does Art Die? Installation Art.” 

Ariana thanked the Optimist for inviting her.  Her talk was about how long art lasts and why that matters.  Her final art show at K-State is up and on display at Willard Hall on the KSU campus. (Note: it ended on Friday, March 27th).   

She said some of her art could last centuries if it is lucky.  One of her paintings, an acrylic painting on canvas, called Internal Family Dinner, is 54” by 58” and is expected to last a long time.  Acrylic paint, invented in the 1970's, has been extensively tested.  It has high pigment stability and is expected to last as long or longer than oil paintings.  Only time will tell.  Canvas, the substrate, is also one of the most stable painting surfaces available. 

Along with choosing high quality paint and substrates, for an artwork to outlive its maker by decades or more, it must have been created in an archival manner.  Canvases must be prepped with a binder.  The most popular and stable is gesso.  Thin layers go under thick layers of paint to avoid cracking.  Oil paint can't go under water-based paint, or directly onto natural fibers.  Varnishing is a protective coat on the surface of the painting that can yellow over time.  Varnishes must be maintained by a conservationist.  

Controlling the amount of light exposure, temperature, and humidity are all important in the longevity of a painting.  An old painting must also be lucky enough to be spared from fire and damage.  Canvas is flammable, but it is also light and flexible so sometimes paintings can be grabbed and saved from fire when other art may not, thus paintings may survive when other art works are lost in a fire. 

She does do traditional art, but some of her art doesn't last very long. She feels in making art this way the art is impermanent as we all are.  Installation art is a three-dimensional, site-specific art form designed to immerse viewers in an interactive sensory experience. For example, Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Rooms and the Mez Gallery in the local Museum of Art and Light. This is an example of an infinity room made with mirrors and light emitting objects.  You stand in one place and get this really interesting view.   

This installation, titled The Revisitation Room, was made to process her divorce and to explore the transient nature of relationships.  All these pages are from books left behind in their shared home and after a month and a half she tore it all down.  She wanted this artwork to be destroyed and wanted to get rid of it.   

This is the inspiration for her current show.  This is an apartment that is made entirely of paper.  It is not going to last very long because it is really flammable material.  It is another example of art she made with the full knowledge that the finished installation is only up for one week.   

Art made with the intention that it would be destroyed is called auto destructive art, and it is made with materials that decompose quickly and are too difficult to conserve.  It is designed to help us understand what it is when something ends. 

Graffiti art is also intended to be temporary, and usually only lasts a couple of months.  Banksy “Girl with Balloon” is an example.  It was painted with spray paint outside.  It is also normal for a graffiti artist to paint over another artist's work.  Sometimes someone will try to cut out the wall to save the art, but that is part of the human instinct to try and fight the inevitable. 

Her first installation was a canvas with drawings on it displayed in the shape of a tent.  She did it after hiking on the Appalachian Trail for two years.  She was really drawn to this shape.  

Installation art is site specific and spatial.  Because of these two features, installation art is often immersive and ephemeral; it is designed to make you feel something.  The Museum of Art and Light is an example of one kind of immersive art.   

 

 

 

 

Happenings are an event form of art and began as early as the 1910's with Italian Futurist performances, and Dadaist change-based art assemblages, which introduced the element of time into visual art. 

The term Happening was coined by the American artis Allan Kaprow in the 1950s. Jackson Pollock's “action paintings” were, for him, about the gesture of casting the paint on the canvas, and the resulting painting was just a side effect; for him it was an event. 

Happenings began to be associated most strongly with live events; artists would stage a happening that could involve painting, music, dance, and more.  The audience was often involved in the work.  One early happening involved the release of 1,001 blue ballons; the event was called the “Air Aesthetic Culture.”  It was done to celebrate the freedom of culture and that culture doesn't have to be any one thing. 

In  “Duets on Ice”, Laurie Anderson, New York City, 1974, she is standing, in her ice skates, on a block of ice and plays until the ice melts. 

 Site specific art is art, such as “Spiral Jetty” created by Robert Smithson in the north arm of the Great Salt Lake.  Stones have been arranged in a specific pattern, but it is temporary, and water, wind, and humans move them eventually. 

When an installation is deinstalled, the materials are recycled into another installation, given away, or discarded.  Only photos remain, but the photos are not the art; they are documentation of the art.  The art is gone. 

Like us, art has material form that is subject to decay.  While there are ceramic vessels and cave paintings that are almost as old as humanity itself, one day even those artifacts will vanish.  Ariana makes ephemeral art as a meditation on her own impermanence.  Pain, happiness, grief, joy, all these states are always in flux.  The body and mind fade.  Her art helps her process her mortality, accept that my achievements are fleeting, and maybe find beauty in our fragility. 

Her installation was called 3602 Corona Drive and is open today (3-25-26) to March 27th.  The closing reception is on March 27th 5:00-7:00 pm.  

 

 

 

 

 

GUESTS: Brett Scott, Clyde Scott's son 

President Kelly Karl thanked Gary Lloyd for arranging the meeting at RCPD.  Gary announced that if a smaller group wanted to take a more in dept tour, RCPD would be happy to accommodate them. 

President Karl also noted Optimist member Bill Wisdom, former Union assistant director of retail services, was recognized as one of two 2025 Vision Award winners. “The vision award identifies and extends our sincere appreciation to the individuals in the history of the K-State Student Union whose efforts, commitment, influence and dreams energized the growth and service of our student union.”  

Jim Franke announced staffing for the Spaghetti Dinner Saturday, March 28th is complete.   

Kelly and Heather Peterson have been working with a new vender in Wamego to supply Optimist merchandise and is nearly ready to purchase Optimist apparel.  A new QR code will be out next week. 

Special Olympics was last week; it was a great event and a number of Optimist helped make it a success. 

April 22nd is Grow Green Match Day.  The Optimist Board will designate a project for the donated funds. 

April 25th is the 3rd quarter Optimist zone meeting.  If anyone is interested, it will be a one-day event in Olathe, and more information will be available soon.  

On May 13th the IPS Class joint Interpersonal Skills Class Essay Contest winners will read their essays to the group.   

Bill Snyder Half Marathon is Saturday, May 23rd.  Volunteers are needed to help guide the runners to stay on the course.  The race organization donates to the organizations supplying volunteers, so it is an easy way for the Optimist to generate some funding.  The half marathon starts at 7:00 am on K-177 near I70 and the 5k starts at 7:00 am at Bill Snyder Family Stadium and both races finish at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.  Report time is usually 6:30 am and the location will be available later, though recently it has been near the stadium.   

Clyde Scott announced the Optimits received a thank you note from the fire department for the Optimist donation to them towards the education of children on fire safety. 

Gary Lloyd announced at 2:00 pm on Sunday the Manhattan Symphony will present a concert at McCain Auditorium. 

Meeting adjourned with the Optimist Creed. 

SAVE THE DATE: October 24th is our 24th annual Chili Crawl. 

NEXT WEEKS’S MEETING: 

APRIL 1 - MORNING MEETING: Program: Youth of the Month Presentations: “Amanda Arnold & Flint Hills Christian Elementary” 

APRIL MEETINGS 

APRIL 8 – NOON MEETING: Program: Topic: Student of the Month Presentation and “THRIVE!” 

APRIL 15 – MORNING MEETING: Program: Manhattan High School Robotics Team: Topic: “MHS Robotics” 

APRIL 22 – NOON MEETING: Program: Joe Schartz, Manhattan High School Football Players/Coaches: Topic: “MHS Football – 2025 State Champions” 

APRIL 29 – MORNING MEETING: Program: President Kelly Karl: Topic: “Membership Meeting”