Wild at Art

I don’t need to tell you, Wichita is home to a number of really great art pieces.  From paintings at the Wichita Art Museum to sculptures at Wichita State, our city has a lot to offer.  I mentioned WAM and WSU because they both are home to Ernest Shaw sculptures. The artist told me in an email, “I love those two works in Wichita.”

Ernest Shaw was born in 1942 in New York City.  He began his career as a psychiatrist, but after a decade, he decided to pursue his interest in art in 1973. But as he recently told “The Artful Mind” “The two careers might seem to have little to do with each other on the surface.  Still, they are very deeply interconnected in that they both deal with transformation, paying focused attention, looking for powerful ways to express narratives, and change.”

To coincide with the installation of “Cluster IV” the Wichita Art Museum held an exhibit called, “Ernest Shaw: Sculptures, Paintings and Drawings.”  According to an Eagle article in 1981, “The exhibition of works by noted contemporary artist Ernest Shaw… focuses on painting and drawing, and the exhibition includes some of these works as well as eight of his smaller sculptures.”  Shaw was in attendance for the event.

The Wichita Art Museum has two other pieces by Shaw.  “Hunt Series,” an oil painting that is not currently on display. There was also a welded steel sculpture, “Harmonic Series, #35.”  It was part of the 1982 remodel of the Hands-on gallery, but it has since been removed and is no longer on display.

I took the “Artist Statement” from ernestshaw.net and asked ChatGPT to turn it into a shorter piece.  Here’s that version:

Ernest Shaw, a seasoned artist who previously practiced psychiatry and psychotherapy, shifted his focus to photography in 2017 after over 50 years of sculpting, painting, and drawing. His earlier sculptures, admired for their primal truths, varied from massive granite commissions to smaller steel and wood forms, often comprising extensive series. Shaw’s diverse body of work found homes in prestigious collections nationwide.

In his photography phase, initiated in 2017, Shaw explores existential themes like mortality, balance, and presence. His “No-Self” series, launched in 2019, blends photography with drawing and painting to portray the ever-changing nature of identity. Drawing from his medical and mindfulness background, Shaw’s dual paths of art and healing intertwine, reflecting the transformative essence of both professions.

The Wichita State Sculpture started out as a centerpiece to the new Misco Industries Building at 257 N. Broadway.  An Eagle article in November, 1982, said that MISCO Industries boss, “has commissioned a three-piece sculpture by Ernest Shaw to anchor the atrium’s attractiveness.”

The three pieces stood proud for 15 years.  According to the Eagle on October 10th, the bank donated “the abstract steel, treelike shapes” to Wichita State University. “Cluster IV (Trees)” was installed on campus in 1997.

”Beautifying Wichita Through Sculpture” said Shaw, “seeks to balance spontaneity with concentration, intellect with feeling, power with restraint–to follow mystery and beauty and spirit.” Art for him “is the persistent search for elusive truths, a fulfilling way of being and knowing.”

Besides Wichita, Shaw has displayed his work in Daytona Beach, New York City, Indianapolis and in many university collections throughout the U.S.

Shaw continues to work in his studio in the Shawgunk Mountains outside New Paltz, New York. 

To learn about some of Wichita’s other art pieces check out How Great Our Art.