A note from the organizers of the 2010 River City Biennale

In the Spring of 2010, the latest version of the River City Biennale will take place in several venues in Wichita. We’re excited to make this exhibit happen and we’d like the entire city of Wichita to be as excited as we are! We thought we might reach out to all of you with a little note that explains who we are, what our mission is and lay to rest any fears you might have of unfairness or political favoritism.

First of all, we, Elizabeth Stevenson and Ann Resnick, are the organizers. We will not be participating at any other level although our spaces, Fisch Haus and Project will certainly be two of  several hosts for the exhibit. Most of you know who we are through our long association with the art community of Wichita. For those of you who don’t, suffice it to say, we are the same as you–artists who want to live in a vibrant community with all kinds of art represented in our city. We happen to feel that there are very few venues in our region devoted to contemporary art.  RCB is an effort to redress that shortcoming.

RCB  is an artist-run initiative and so, necessarily, run on a shoestring with not much more than optimism as its fuel. We hope that these efforts will be looked upon favorably, with an understanding that our intentions are to do something that benefits all artists in Wichita. We may disagree on strategies because we are a diverse group of people with wide-ranging points of view. We have in common, however, an abiding passion for art and a major interest in seeing our community thrive.

In the past, a Salon des Refuse was organized in response to the RCB exhibit–we welcome this kind of dialogue. We understand that RCB is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but like most singular events, cooperation and collaboration are key elements to success. We sincerely hope that you will join our effort in some way, if not as participating artists, than as enthusiastic viewers, and even volunteers.

We will post updates about RCB and links to other projects in other places that will hopefully, fuel your own optimism about what can happen when artistic communities come together to make things happen.

Check the RCB blog often!  http://www.biennale2008.wordpress.com

Please pass this note and other RCB info on to artists whom you think will be interested and are not covered in our list. Thanks!