Eighty-four entries were showcased at the Pioneer Harvest Fiesta Quilt and Fiber Arts show last weekend, October 3, 4, and 5.
Visitors roamed the aisles, admiring the artistry of the makers and then chose their favorite entry.
Viewers’ Choice awards were given to the three who received the most votes. Leta Miller won 3rd place with her “Wildlife Critter” quilt, Nancy Swanwick won 2nd place with her “Queen Nancy” quilt, and 1st place went to Carolyn Sadler with her “Embroidered Woodland Owls” quilt.
Many visitors commented that they just couldn’t vote because every exhibit was so beautiful!
The raffle basket was won by Fr. Edwin Palka.
Congratulations to these winners and to each and every exhibitor.
A heartfelt “THANK YOU” to all the volunteers who gave of their time and effort to make this year’s show a success!
We look forward to seeing new creations next year at the Pioneer Harvest Fiesta Quilt and Fiber Arts show!
Kansas Arts Commission Opens Nominations for 2026 Governor’s Arts Awards
TOPEKA – The Department of Commerce today announced the Kansas Art Commission (KAC) now is accepting nominations for the 2026 Kansas Governor’s Arts Awards. Nominations for these prestigious honors will be accepted through October 31.
The Governor’s Arts Awards recognize and celebrate individuals, organizations and communities for their outstanding contributions and leadership in advancing the arts in Kansas.
“The arts and related creative businesses are a critical part of driving prosperity in our communities,” Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland said. “These awards are just one way we show our appreciation and gratitude to the many art leaders who continue to enhance the quality of life throughout Kansas and help power our state economy.”
After a 14-year pause, the statewide awards returned in 2025, and 17 artists were awarded for their work. The most prestigious, The Governor’s Award, went to Kansas native and acclaimed musician Melissa Etheridge.
An awards ceremony will be held in Topeka next spring to recognize art excellence in areas such as advocacy, arts education, community engagement and artistic achievement.
Award categories include:
Arts Advocate of the Year
Arts Community of the Year
Arts Leader of the Year
Arts Organization of the Year
Arts Patron of the Year
Emerging Arts Leader of the Year
Emerging Arts Organization of the Year
Excellence in Arts Education
Excellence in the Arts in Business
Excellence in Public Service in the Arts
Kansas Arts Legacy Award
Excellence in Artistic Achievement
“The Governor’s Arts Awards are meant to be more than a moment of recognition,” Kansas Arts Commission Director Curtis Young said. “This event celebrates the vital role arts and culture play in enriching our communities — and we are proud to spotlight the incredible talent that is breathing new life into Kansas.”
For more information or to submit a nomination, visit here.
About the Kansas Department of Commerce:
As the state’s lead economic development agency, the Kansas Department of Commerce strives to empower individuals, businesses and communities to achieve prosperity in Kansas. Commerce accomplishes its mission by developing relationships with corporations, site location consultants and stakeholders in Kansas, the nation and world. Our strong partnerships allow us to help create an environment for existing Kansas businesses to grow and foster an innovative, competitive landscape for new businesses. Through Commerce’s project successes, Kansas was awarded Area Development Magazine’s prestigious Gold Shovel award in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, and was awarded the 2021 and 2022 Governor’s Cup by Site Selection Magazine.
About the Kansas Arts Commission (KAC):
The Kansas Arts Commission stewards the state’s investment in the arts by empowering creativity, fostering innovation, and strengthening the economy to enhance the vitality of every Kansas community. The Kansas Arts Commission is a division of the Kansas Department of Commerce. To learn more about KAC, click here or contact Ben Stanton at [email protected] or (785) 213-5959.
Fort Scott, Kan. Sept. 22, 2025 – The Gordon Parks Museum will host a dedication ceremony for a new mural
honoring Gordon Parks on Friday, October 3, at 4:15 p.m. as part of the Gordon Parks Celebration events.
The mural will be located on the north side of the Wilder House Building at 18 East Wall Street (home of the
Sunshine Boutique) in downtown Fort Scott.
Renowned St. Louis–based visual artist and illustrator Cbabi Bayoc designed and painted the mural. Bayoc is
internationally known for his vibrant and thought-provoking works and is also the artist behind the First Kansas
Colored Infantry Mural, completed in 2023 on the north downtown building at 9 South Main Street near Skubitz
Plaza, facing the Fort Scott National Historic Site.
The Gordon Parks Museum received a $6,874 grant from the Kansas Arts Commission Public Art and Murals
Grant Program to support the project. Funding for Kansas Arts Commission grants is provided by the Kansas
Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Additional support for the project is provided by the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce and Fort Scott
Forward.
For more information, please contact The Gordon Parks Museum at (620) 223-2700, ext. 5850 or [email protected]
The Pioneer Harvest Fiesta (PHF) is an annual Bourbon County event that takes place this year from October 3-5 at the Bourbon County Fairgrounds on South Horton Street in Fort Scott.
The event showcases rural American culture in an earlier time period.
The event kicks off with a parade of antique and classic farm implements and more, through Fort Scott’s historic downtown on Thursday, October 2, at 6 p.m., according to the PHF website.
One can experience educational and historic exhibits, refreshments, and live musical entertainment all weekend.
All three days showcase steam engines, blacksmiths, food and Flea Market vendors, drag saw demonstrations, Tractors and Gas Engines on display, Baker Fan demonstrations, arts and crafts, straw baling, wheat threshing, corn husking and shelling, sorghum making, rock crushing, saw mill operation, Car Show, Tractor Pull (Antique & Classic), Garden Tractor Pull, and many more.
This year’s full weekend admission is only $5 per person and includes a collector button and the Friday Bean Feed at 5 PM. Children under age 12 are free.
Free admission does not include a collector button. Prior year’s collector buttons are available for purchase for $1.
One of the new additions to the event is a fiber arts show in conjunction with the annual quilt show.
New Craft Added
The PHF quilt show has a new name this year and a new direction. The Quilt and Fiber Arts Show will feature beautiful quilts as usual, and will also showcase examples of various fiber arts, according to a press release from Linda Rogers, a local quilter.
Fiber art is work done with thread, yarn, fiber, or fabric, according to Rogers. Examples of fiber art include weaving, rug hooking, spinning, knitting, crocheting, embroidery, needlepoint, cross-stitching, tatting, needle felting, macramé, and more.
Area quilters and fiber artists are invited to enter items for the show to be held October 3-5 at the Myers Building at the Bourbon County Fairground during the annual Pioneer Harvest Fiesta. This event is free to the public.
“Anyone may enter items not previously shown at this show, no limit on the number of items, and the public is invited to view the entries at NO COST! (There is an entry fee for the machinery show.)” said Linda Rogers, this year’s quilt and fiber arts organizer at the annual event.
In addition to the exhibits, fiber artists will be present at various times during the show, working on their current projects. The public is invited to drop in, view the exhibits, talk to the artists, and bring their needlework projects to work on, according to Rogers.
“Generations ago, quilting and needlework were necessary skills,” she said. “These traditional crafts continued to be kept alive by many of our grandmothers and mothers who, although they no longer needed to make things, nevertheless enjoyed filling their spare time with creative pursuits.”
Recently, quilting and traditional crafts have been “rediscovered” by new generations of enthusiastic fans and are sometimes referred to as “granny crafts” or “Grandma Core”, she said.
“In our hyper-connected, technology-driven world, both adults and youth are finding the simple joy and calm that comes from working with colors and textures to create something tangible with their own hands, according to the press release.”
“A quilt and fiber arts show is a wonderful place to come be inspired, encouraged, and tempted,” said Rogers.“You will see some fantastic quilts, some showcasing new techniques and contemporary colors, as well as more traditional quilts. And if you are thinking about taking up a new craft, or if you are in the middle of a needlework project and have hit a roadblock, maybe one of our quilters or artisans can make suggestions to help you.”
The “take-in” time to enter quilts and items for exhibit is Thursday, October 2, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. There is no fee to exhibit items. The only award that will take place is a “People’s Choice Award”. Items can be picked up on Sunday, October 5, from 2:30 to 3:00.
The Quilt and Fiber Arts Show will be open for public viewing from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, October 3, and Saturday, October 4, and on Sunday, October 5, from noon to 2:00. Admittance to the quilt show is free. For more information, contact Rogers at 620-215-4905.
Rogers is entering a quilt that was pieced by an ancestor of hers, and gives the details:
History of Linda Ramsey Roger’s Family Vintage Quilt
Quilts often become heirlooms, taken care of and handed down to generations after their creation. Such is the case with Linda Ramsey Roger’s quilt, which was created in 1864.
Linda Rogers’ quilt has been handed down through her family for over 150 years. Submitted photo.
“Information below is taken from a handwritten note, written by my great-grandmother, Alice Ann (Hinton) Konantz, concerning the quilt, other death dates of my family, and an email sent to me from my 1st cousin, who gifted the quilt to me.
*1864 – Charlotte (Hinton) Hinton (great-great-grandmother), age 23, pieced and appliqued the quilt while living in Iowa. Her daughter, Alice Ann, recalls in a note remembering her mother working on it when she was 7 years old. Charlotte died later that year, and shortly after, she and her dad moved to Bourbon County, Kansas.
*1923 – Alice Ann (Hinton) Konantz (great-grandmother), age 66, had it hand quilted by the Methodist Episcopal Ladies Aid, which Rogers reckons is the United Methodist Church of Uniontown.
1933 – Alice Konantz wrote the *note telling the above information.
1940 – Alice Konantz died at 83 years old. “Most likely the quilt passed to my grandmother, Grace Miriam (Konantz) Griffith.”
1982 – Grace Miriam Griffith died at age 84. “Most likely the quilt passed to her oldest living daughter, my aunt, Betty Jane (Griffith) Perry, while living in Montana.”
1999 -Her Aunt Betty gifted the quilt to her oldest daughter, Kathleen (Perry) Martinell, Roger’s first cousin, who still resides in Montana.
2024 – Kathleen gifted the quilt to Rogers, who lives in Bourbon County, Kansas.
This quilt that Rogers made is from a pattern by Krista Moser, made of 60* triangles. The fabric was purchased from various shops and quilted on her Bernina Q20 sewing machine. This is a sit-down machine where the quilt is moved under the stationary needle to create the designs. It received the grand champion award this past summer at the Bourbon County Fair Open Class and a red ribbon at the Little Balkans Quilt Show over Labor Day weekend. Submitted photo.
Fort Scott, Kan. Aug. 20, 2025 – The Gordon Parks Museum has been awarded a $6,874 grant from the
Kansas Arts Commission Public Art and Murals Grant Program.
For the 2025–2026 grant cycle, the Kansas Arts Commission distributed $1 million in funding to 108 recipients
across 35 Kansas counties.
These funds support a wide range of creative initiatives, including museums, arts
education, music, dance, visual arts, professional and community theater, creative writing, murals, and other
cultural projects.
“We are very thankful for this kind gift from the Kansas Arts Commission grant,” said Kirk Sharp, executive
director of The Gordon Parks Museum.
The awarded funds will support the creation of a Gordon Parks Mural on the Wilder House building, located at
Wall and Main Streets in downtown Fort Scott. The mural will be designed and painted by Cbabi Bayoc, an
internationally recognized visual artist and illustrator based in St. Louis, Missouri. Bayoc is also the artist
behind the First Kansas Colored Infantry Mural, completed in 2023 on the north downtown building at 9 South
Main Street, near Skubitz Plaza, facing the Fort Scott National Historic Site.
Funding for Kansas Arts Commission grants is provided by the Kansas Legislature and the National
Endowment for the Arts.
For more information, please contact The Gordon Parks Museum at (620) 223-2700, ext. 5850 or by email at [email protected].
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Presenting the
2025 Certificate of Excellence Winners!
A total of 23 young artists were awarded a Certificate of Excellence in the 2025 ARTEFFECT competition. These awardees found inspiration in Unsung Heroes from many different eras and professions.
This newsletter spotlights 7 of these Certificate of Excellence awardees who created remarkable artworks inspired by people who saved lives through their work in healthcare-related fields.
Mia McDowell (Grade 7) from West Middle School in Byron Center, Michigan, paid homage to Ens. Jane Kendeigh in a mixed media artwork on paper titled A Woman that Changed History. Kendeigh was the first U.S. Navy flight nurse to appear on an active battlefield in the Pacific.
Brandon Hanaoka (Grade 10) from Lakeside School in Seattle, Washington, told Martin Couney’s story through his acrylic painting, Infant Eyes. Hanaoka was also a finalist in the 2024 ARTEFFECT Competition. Couney saved thousands of premature babies by caring for them in incubators displayed in sideshow exhibits.
Hrithika K. Sunil (Grade 11) from Sharjah Indian School in Sarjah, United Arab Emirates, looked to Kadambini Ganguly as the inspiration for her award-winning mixed-media work Kadambini Ganguly: In Her Hands. Ganguly was the first Indian-educated woman to become a doctor, and was also a social activist and one of India’s first female college graduates.
Lily Manoochehri Farr (Grade 7) from Bernardo Heights Middle School in San Diego, California, honored Mary Ann Bickerdyke in her mixed-media artwork The Life of Mary Bickerdyke. Bickerdyke was a Civil War nurse who revolutionized wartime medical care and built almost 300 field hospitals with the help of U.S. Sanitary Commission agents.
Yuhan Zhou (Grade 11) from Newport High School in Bellevue, Washington, used acrylic paint to render the story of Eugene Wilson Caldwell in The Price of Vision. Caldwell was an electrical engineer, physician and inventor credited with major developments in the science of diagnostic radiology.
Hari Jeon (Grade 10) from South Forsyth High School in Cumming, Georgia, painted These Are My Children in honor of Roslï Näf.
Tina Zhao (Grade 10) from Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bellevue, Washington, illustrated Cordelia Harvey’s story in her acrylic painting, Nurse Harvey’s War Time. Harvey was a compassionate First Lady of Wisconsin during the American Civil War, who dedicated herself to improving healthcare for wounded soldiers and establishing hospitals and relief organizations.
Ambassadors in Action!
Meet our 2024-2025 Ambassador Mary Morrow, Visual Arts Teacher at St. Clair County High School in Odenville, AL.
ARTEFFECT Ambassadors culminate their visual arts online fellowships with capstone projects that brings the inspiring stories of the LMC Unsung Heroes into their classrooms and communities. Here are some highlights from Mary’s project:
“This experience working with LMC and ARTEFFECT has reminded me of how important and crucial it is for teachers to be life-long learners. Not only did I enjoy learning about the life stories and heroic deeds of the LMC Unsung Heroes, but I also enjoyed having a front row seat watching my students have lightbulb glowing A-HA moments.”
Mary’s project was featured in an article from the St. Clair Times. Thank you to Mary and the students at St. Clair County High School for your creativity and inspiring ARTEFFECT projects!
ARTEFFECT Celebrates Unsung Heroes
of the American Revolution
To celebrate Independence Day, ARTEFFECT honors the Unsung Heroes of the American Revolutionary War through visual artworks. These award winning artworks celebrate the legacies of Unsung Heroes who fought for freedom. Sarah Bradlee Fulton, a fearless patriot known as the “Mother of the Boston Tea Party,” is depicted in Grace Li’s painting A Leader Beyond the Battlefield carrying a lantern to represent her leadership in guiding the vision for the Boston Tea Party. Anna Smith Strong was a courageous member of George Washington’s Culper Spy Ring and her legacy is illuminated by Makena Bryan’s quilt The First.
Happy Fourth of July!
Grace Li (Grade 9), A Leader Beyond the Battlefield, 2025, Acrylic on canvas, 18 x 24 in, Unsung Hero: Sarah Bradlee Fulton
Makena Bryan (Grade 8), The First, 2020, Quilt, 33 x 57 in, Unsung Hero: Anna Smith Strong
ARTEFFECT Celebrates Unsung Heroes
of the American Revolution
To celebrate Independence Day, ARTEFFECT honors the Unsung Heroes of the American Revolutionary War through visual artworks. These award winning artworks celebrate the legacies of Unsung Heroes who fought for freedom. Sarah Bradlee Fulton, a fearless patriot known as the “Mother of the Boston Tea Party,” is depicted in Grace Li’s painting A Leader Beyond the Battlefield carrying a lantern to represent her leadership in guiding the vision for the Boston Tea Party. Anna Smith Strong was a courageous member of George Washington’s Culper Spy Ring and her legacy is illuminated by Makena Bryan’s quilt The First.
Happy Fourth of July!
Grace Li (Grade 9), A Leader Beyond the Battlefield, 2025, Acrylic on canvas, 18 x 24 in, Unsung Hero: Sarah Bradlee Fulton
Makena Bryan (Grade 8), The First, 2020, Quilt, 33 x 57 in, Unsung Hero: Anna Smith Strong
