((PKG))  THRIVING ARTIST COMMUNITY OF KANSAS 
((TRT:  08:11)) 
((Topic Banner:  Kansas Art Community))  
((Reporter/Camera:  Deepak Dobhal)) 
((Map:  Matfield Green, Kansas)) 
((Main characters:  1 male))  
((Sub Characters:  2 male;  2 female)) 
((MUSIC/NATS)) 
((Bill McBride, Sculptor))  
Flint Hills are very magical, almost mystical.  
People come and they, all of a sudden, feel connected to the 
Earth.  There are not a lot of trees and there 
are not a lot of structures.   
You really see out and feel like you're on the globe. 
I moved here for the prairie.  That was my love. 
I wanted to be an artist in the prairie. 
And so, my wife and I ended up in Matfield Green, Kansas. 
This is the center of the largest remnant of prairie left over in the 
world, probably. 
I was an architect in Chicago.  I moved here 15 years ago. 
When I first got here, my art was basically walking around  
the prairie and the streams, and finding natural objects and  
then assemble them into some object that speaks of the prairie. 
((MUSIC/NATS)) 
((Bill McBride, Sculptor))  
I did that for a few years, and then I also, our property, we  
have about 40 acres [16 hectares] 
of historic property because of the  
railroad.  And so, we developed the idea of a Prairy 
Art Path, because we're 
on the scenic byway and on the scenic byway, there are not that 
many places to really stop and get out and walk. 
So, my work became more and more part of the landscape. 
Rather than collecting things, I would put things in the  
landscape on the Prairy Art Path. 
((MUSIC/NATS)) 
((Bill McBride, Sculptor))  
We're in the old cattle pens that the railroad built in 1924.   
Just around the year 2000, there was a big 
prairie fire and it burned the pens. 
But it's a very interesting, sort of historic and visual place.   
So, about five years ago, with a friend, artist, Jeroen van 
Westen from the Netherlands was visiting, and we made  
these  
balanced sticks.  They're just held on by gravity.  They're  
just a steel post and a metal plate.  Show us what direction  
the wind 
is blowing.  It's fun.  Sometimes a bird will light on one end  
and put the stick out of balance.   
((MUSIC/NATS)) 
((Bill McBride, Sculptor)) 
I may be one of the early artists that came and really sort of 
said, “Okay, this is where I’m going to, my home base for art is 
here.”  
And then, there was a great happening that there was  
a couple  
((Photo Courtesy:  Ton Haak)) 
from the Netherlands, and so they had come through  
Matfield Green and been enchanted by the landscape and  
decided to stay.  They were great promoters and knew other artist
s from Europe and established relationships with local museums i
n Wichita and Kansas City and Manhattan and  
started a movement.  
And so, to me it was like right out of the sky.   
Here I'm trying to, you know, be an artist and all of a sudden are t
hese great art people that are my neighbors, that are  
real promoters.  And so, it was an exciting time.  But they 
went, moved back to Portugal after about 10 years.  And so, they 
attracted people.  Slowly, we've collected artists. 
((NATS:  Bill McBride and Matt Regier)) 
This is Matt Regier. 
Hi. 
Printmaker and neighbor.  
((Matt Regier, Printmaker)) 
And so, these are a couple results, a couple of older prints that I 
just have handy.  This is a, just kind of a, sort of, 
bare prairie landscape. 
((NATS:  Bill McBride and Elaine Jones)) 
What are you doing? 
We're introducing neighbors.  This is Elaine Jones.  
Please come in. 
((Bill McBride, Sculptor;  Elaine Jones, Photographer)) 
She's well known for all that she's done around here,  
founding the 
Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in the early 70s, and she's a  
photographer. 
((NATS:  Bill McBride)) 
I hope our, these neighbors are home.  She is a great painter. 
((NATS:  Bill McBride with Kelly and his wife)) 
How you doing? 
Hello, hello.  Yes.   
Good to see you. 
Kelly, good to see you.  Sure.   
Hey, here's the painter and musician.     
There's a bonfire tomorrow night. 
Okay. 
((MUSIC/NATS)) 
((Bill McBride, Sculptor)) 
Since we have arrived, the art scene has slowly taken hold.  And 
with the Tallgrass Artist Residency, we have 10 artists asummer, 
who usually fall in love with the place.   
((Photo Credit:  Derek Hamm))   
((Bill McBride, Sculptor)) 
Then they all come back for a show at The Bank.  That  
connects so many artists to this place. 
((NATS)) 
((Bill McBride, Sculptor)) 
This is The Bank, the last remaining storefront in town.   
There used to be a whole row of storefronts.  It was built in the 
20s.  So, for five or six years, it's been the gallery in town.  
((Photo Credit:  Derek Hamm))   
((Bill McBride, Sculptor)) 
It had some great shows.  But the roof leaked and there  
were a few problems with the building.  
So, we decided not to continue until we renovated, and we're 
in the fundraising mode. 
So, it's very funny to be from this tiny town and be in Kansas City 
and somebody says, “Oh, you're from Matfield Green.   
That's an 
art community.”  And you think well, you know, may I guess  
it is.  You know, like we're, the numbers aren't big because we're 
so small, but it's real.  It's actually happening. 
((NATS)) 
((Bill McBride, Sculptor)) 
We're enjoying a bonfire tonight.  This 
is celebrating the, sort of, the  
end of the season of the Tallgrass Artist Residency.  And so, 
some of the artists will be back.  Usually we have a big  
show, but in this time of COVID, and our Bank, our gallery  
space is under renovation, 
and so, the show is not going to happen until the spring or  
sometime next summer.  So, we're just having a  
get together. 
((MUSIC/NATS)) 
((Bill McBride, Sculptor)) 
I moved here for the prairie.  The whole social aspect of  
being in a small place in a ranching  
community was not what attracted me.  It, sort of, surprised me.  
I thought I'm a nice guy and people will accept me and  
I'm just going to do it.  But there's a lot of mistrust or  
misunderstanding of outsiders.  And so, they say that you're a ne
wcomer.  Even if you were here  
for 50 years, you’d probably still be seen as a newcomer.  So, that
's an aspect of being here.  But basically, it's a growing  
arts community and it creeps very 
slowly.  A person here, a person there, and then it has  
blossomed. 
We're proud of it. It's a precious thing. 
((MUSIC/NATS))