Sunday Painter
Kansas City Plein Air Coterie
On March 3, 2012, as a sidebar retreat from their studio practices, Robert Josiah Bingaman, Lee Piechocki, and Nicole Mauser assembled at Rattlesnake Alley, Burr Oak Woods Nature Center to paint en plein air. This was the beginning of the Kansas City Plein Air Coterie (a.k.a. ‘KC PAC’ or ‘the PAC’). Along with fellow founder Kelly John Clark, the gathering gained momentum and relevance, happening every Sunday at different rallypoints, flagsites, brunchsites and/or sipsites. Over a thousand paintings and drawings have been created, with each outing shaping the PAC’s identity and enigma. Under the guidance of its Council Members, KC PAC creates rules, rituals, and documents that guide each person’s experience and foster the group’s sustainability. During this exhibition the PAC, with over one hundred members, celebrate two years of observational mark making in the open air and administering social cooperation.
Sunday Painter: Kansas City Plein Air Coterie provides a holistic view and interpretation of KC PAC. It exhibits multiple salon-style selections from the large body of artwork created during PAC sessions and presents
related ephemera. Both reveal the Kansas City Plein Air Coterie as a rigorous art and social endeavor. But between the lines, in the spaces that surround the works, lie the humor, pageantry, parody, spontaneity,
shenanigans, fun, friendships, and the rye. These traits evade the spectacle of exhibition, but feed the work, the coterie, and lives of anyone honored to be invited, and unafraid of the secret handshake.
The exhibition features works by Elvis Achelpohl, Corey Antis, Jane Ashcraft, Christopher Bell, Wes Benson, Molly Bingaman, Robert Josiah Bingaman, Matt Bollinger, Hillary Carlson, Kelly John Clark, Jonah Criswell, Molly Kaderka, Krystal Kuhn, Melissa Lenos, Tom Matt, Nicole Mauser, Lee Piechocki, Rachel Rolon, Scarlett Schonhoff, Tristan Telander, Jennifer Wetzel, Lucas Wetzel, and Ruby Wetzel.
A special thanks to every current and future member of KC PAC, Rockhurst University, Anne Austin Pearce, Holcombe Miller, Jessica McGan, The H&R Block Artspace at the Kansas City Art Institute, Amy Zoe, and Scarlett & Theo’s Suisse Confectionary.
Roster vinyl print & application plan
Session List vinyl print & application plan
