8 Wonders of Kansas Art Finalist

St. Mary's Church has been named a finalist in the "8 Wonders of Kansas Art" series. The project is designed to educate the public about the state and to encourage travel.

Public vote will determine the top eight.  People are encouraged to vote online from the link at www.8wonders.org, or call 620.585.2374 for a ballot, or pick up a ballot at St. Mary's Church. Voting began August 28 and will end October 15 at midnight.  The top eight will be announced October 31.  You may vote up to 3 times online; however, only one paper ballot will be accepted.

The 8 Wonders of Kansas series is a project of the Kansas Sampler Foundation, a non-profit based near Inman. The Foundation has long used the eight elements of rural culture (architecture, art, commerce, cuisine, customs, geography, history, and people) to help see Kansas with new eyes.  The series will continue until all eight elements have been featured.

In alphabetical order, the finalists are:
Thomas Hart Benton’s Ballad of the Jealous Lover of Lone Green Valley
Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence
Blue Sky Sculpture, Newton
Boyer Museum of Animated Carvings, Belleville
Buffalo Bill Bronze Sculpture, Oakley
Martin Bush Outdoor Sculpture Collection, Wichita
John Steuart Curry Murals, State Capitol, Topeka
Davis Memorial, Hiawatha
Dreamers Awake sculpture, Wichita Art Museum
Pete Felten Stone Sculptures, Hays
Garden of Eden/Lucas, Grassroots Art Mecca
Stan Herd Earthworks, Atchison and Lawrence
Justice statue, Kansas Judicial Center, Topeka
Kansas Art Collection, Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, Manahttan
Keeper of the Plains, Wichita
Elizabeth “Grandma” Layton, Wellsville
M.T. Liggett’s Metal Sculptures, Mullinville
Gordon Parks, Fort Scott
Post Office Section Art, statewide
Red Barn Studio, Lindsborg
St. Mary’s Catholic Church, St. Benedict
Birger Sandzen, Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery, Lindsborg
Do-Ho Suh’s Some/One, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park
Tiffany Windows, First Presbyterian Church, Topeka
Wichita High School North exterior paintings

Foundation director Marci Penner said, “The diversity of these finalists is tremendous!  From the exterior of a school to the contemporary art of a military dog tag sculpture, the public is going to see the Kansas art with new eyes!”