Monday, March 24
Lawrence Business Magazine LLC
Lawrence Business Magazine LLC
2016 Third Quarter - Impact of Art

The Art Patron

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The Art Patron

Business owners improve employee, customer experience with walls adorned with local art.

| 2016 Q3 | story by JULIE DUNLAP | photos by Steven Hertzog
Emprise Bank, Stan Herd

Russell Kansas Sunset, a painting by artist Stan Herd hangs in the main lobby of the Emprise Bank on Wakarusa Drive, Lawrence


Walk into any Emprise Bank, and you will find a unique piece of Kansas everywhere you look.

From Elden Tefft’s bronze Jayhawk sculpture near the entrance to Stan Herd’s stunning prairie mural across the lobby, the Wakarusa branch, like all Emprise Bank branches, reflects bank chairman and lifelong Kansan Michael Michaelis’s deep appreciation for art and love of Kansas.

Regional Market President Cindy Yulich has enjoyed seeing Michaelis’s passion spread to each branch and their employees during the 25 years she has been with the bank.

“It’s been a real education for all of us at the bank to be exposed to this collection,” Yulich says.

Michaelis owns 2,770 works of art by 780 artists, all of whom have ties to Kansas. Pieces from Michaelis’s collection fill the bank’s 35 branches in the state, though three are on loan for a show in New York right now and will eventually make their way to a show in Spain. The pieces vary in media from paintings to photographs to sculptures to glass and more, each one carefully catalogued and tracked.

Vincent Price

Yulich points to the painting hanging on the wall of her office, a vibrant nighttime scene bringing Joe’s Donuts (formerly located on 9th Street) to life. She explains that employees have a say in selecting the art that hangs in each of their private offices, exposing them to works they may never have seen otherwise.

Customers’ reactions to the pieces as they enter the lobby and its surrounding offices make the business of banking a more enjoyable one for them, while employees credit the art, in part, with increased job satisfaction.

In addition to supporting the livelihood of Kansas-tied artists, Emprise Bank supports local art organizations, including the Lawrence Arts Center’s (LAC) arts-based preschool, in an effort to nurture little artists as they grow.

Emprise

Mike Michaelis, owner of Emprise Bank, holding Checkered Necklace by artist Marjorie Schick

“It’s such a part of the fabric of Lawrence and serendipitous that Mike’s passion fits in so well,” Yulich says of the arts. “And if the community is thriving, we’re all thriving.”

Investing in the arts, Yulich adds, “is just the right thing to do.”

At Intrust Bank downtown, Regional Market President Doug Gaumer firmly agrees.

“Art is an important amenity to the community,” the longtime Lawrencian explains, “because it enhances the livability.”

After more than a decade in the banking industry spent keenly in tune to the economic changes and challenges in Lawrence and around the state, Gaumer has seen the positive and powerful role a strong arts base plays in sustaining and growing a city’s economy. From attracting and retaining citizens who contribute their skills and enthusiasm to the workforce and community, to providing area youth with opportunities not necessarily available at school or at home, the impact of the arts is undeniable.

“The arts make Lawrence a more attractive place to live, work and invest,” Gaumer states, noting opportunities to participate in and enjoy the arts lead to increased capital and spending dollars in Lawrence. “It’s important to support efforts that help the community and economy grow.”

Gaumer witnesses the widespread value of supporting a vital arts community not just as a businessman and father, but as an audience member, as well.

“I’ve never seen a bad show in Lawrence!” he brightly smiles, citing traveling shows such as the Lied Center’s presentation of “Mama Mia” and a cappella group Straight No Chaser, and local shows such as the Lawrence Arts Center’s presentation of “MotherFreakingHood!” among his favorites.

Intrust Bank has been a regular supporter of the Lawrence Arts Center, Theatre Lawrence, the Lied Center, Van Go Inc., Friends of KU Theatre and fine arts in area schools, among other places. While Intrust Bank supports a large number of health, humanitarian and educational endeavors in Lawrence, as well, Gaumer finds supporting the arts to be not only important but also enjoyable. “People are very gracious,” he says, “it makes it easy to do.”

Gaumer adds, “We allocate our resources to the highest and best use, and we believe arts are very worthy.”

Patrons

Dan and Sally Shriner at the Cider Gallery for an LAC Board of Directors meeting

For Dan Schriner and Sally Hare-Schriner, supporting the arts is simply in their blood.

As a student at Topeka High School, Dan found refuge, clarity and peace in the school’s third-floor gallery and art center.

“For me, it was an outlet,” Dan says of art. Though he was a regular in art teacher Jean Bass’s art studios (and in the principal’s office, his wife chuckles), the retired computer systems designer turned down an arts scholarship to earn a degree in math, as well as an MBA from the University of Kansas.

Sally grew up surrounded by the arts, as well. Her grandmother was a painter and her grandfather a woodworker, both artists who passed the appreciation for art and artists’ work through generations.

“If there was a piece of art in our home, it was original,” Sally says of growing up the granddaughter of artists. “Art always had meaning and a story.”

Soon after college graduation, Dan’s career took the couple all over the world. The pair purchased art from regional artists at every stop, amassing an impressive international collection by the time they returned to Lawrence.

Dan’s aptitude for design served him well with his degrees, as he retired at the age of 43 with newfound time and renewed energy to pursue the passion that had brought him so much joy as a young adult.

He returned to the art of weaving before moving on to stained glass after taking a class at the Lawrence Arts Center, where he discovered a love for going large.

“When I get into something, I go big,” Dan explains of the massive stained glass installation pieces, including a glass dome, that stood out among the more moderate-sized pieces his classmates created.

The drive to “go big” also led Dan to woodworking. Using many of Sally’s grandfather’s tools and referring often to online video tutorials, Dan spent his time creating inlays and hand-crafting pieces, eventually moving into the art of home rehabbing and flipping.

During this time, Dan and Sally (who, at one point divorced and then remarried, but that’s an entirely different story, they laugh) began working with KU Endowment’s Far Above campaign. Their contacts with other area philanthropists, coupled with their long-engrained love of art and overwhelmingly positive experiences with the Lawrence Arts Center, drew them to pay forward their love of and foundation in the arts by supporting area art venues and artists.

“Art is so much more than play,” Sally, an early childhood education specialist explains, “it’s the process, it’s the how. (Lawrence Arts Center) caters to children’s creativity where school budgets are being cut.”

Dan is especially impressed with the support the artists give to their community, particularly when it comes time for the Lawrence Arts Center’s annual auction, as hundreds of regional artists have contributed their own pieces during the years.

“Art is for all ages,” he says, reflecting on his life as an artist. “It can be harder as an adult than as a kid, but it’s so important for growth.”

“Art broadens horizons,” Sally continues, “and allows you to see the world’s reality.”

The pair also supports the Spencer Museum of Art, located on KU’s campus, a place local art patron Tom Carmody holds dear to his heart.

“Our first Mother’s Day in Lawrence,” Tom recalls, “all my wife wanted was for the kids to take her to the Spencer.”

Patrons

Tom & Kay Carmondy pose with family, friends and Ruben Haro-Villa the young artist who created this custom made Van Go Bench

Like the Schriners, Tom and Kay Carmody settled in Lawrence with a lifelong love and appreciation for the arts after spending time living in a number of different cities. Supporting both individual artists and arts organizations such as Lawrence Arts Center, Spencer Museum of Art and Van Go, the Carmodys have immersed themselves in Lawrence’s more creative communities during the years, believing in the positive impact art has on a child’s life.

“Go to any Van Go event, and you will hear testimonials from the kids that art changed their lives,” Tom says, adding, “and saved their lives.”

The son of an artist and self-admitted movie buff, the longtime area businessman has written a number of screenplays including “The Only Good Indian,” with filmmaker Kevin Willmott, which played in the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Tom’s film company, Prairie Fire Entertainment, finances and produces films, most recently “The Listeners,” which played at the 2016 Free State Festival, an annual event Tom is happy to support.

“I’ve seen the impact a successful festival can have on a city,” Tom says, noting the increase in business shops and restaurants can see on any given Final Fridays and during the run of the Free State Festival. “It’s good for the city.”

He is quick to credit the vision of Final Fridays and Free State Festival organizers and participants, underlining how much these artists love Lawrence.

“It’s important to recognize what the arts can bring (to a city),” Tom emphasizes, encouraging Lawrencians to “attend the events, hear what kids say. That is powerful.”

Driven by personal experience, architect Dan Sabatini happily supports the arts, as well.

Sabatini’s mother was an artist. Growing up, he often accompanied her on jobs, drawing alongside her. Though he claims his drawings weren’t necessarily gallery-ready, the experience shaped his career in architecture and solidified a love and appreciation for art.

A trained dancer and lifelong lover of both visual and performing arts, Sabatini served on the Lawrence Cultural Arts Commission roughly twenty years ago, a position that allowed him to become better acquainted with the needs and supporters of the city’s arts community.

“I got to know area artists,” he adds, citing Emily Markoulatos and Lisa Grossman as two of his favorite standouts.

Since then, the Sabatinis have become steadfast supporters of the Lawrence Arts Center, KU’s Spencer Museum of Art and KU’s Swarthout Recital Hall.

Though supporting the arts has benefitted the growth of his architecture business, Sabatini believes in the greater good that comes from a community with a rich and accessible arts education and scene.

“My accountant told me, ‘You don’t need to make any more arts donations for your taxes,’ ” he laughs. “I just told her, ‘That’s not the point.’ ”

He explains, “The more confident people I’ve met in my life were through dance, which is one of the biggest reasons I support the dance programs at LAC.” He adds that any activity, from sports to dance to theater, can be very costly, and supporting scholarship programs that allow all children to participate in these life-changing, skill-building activities is highly important for the benefit of the whole community.

Reflecting on his upbringing and the joy his three children have experienced from the arts, the impact is profoundly clear to him. “If you’re going to feed your soul in the world, it’s got to be through art.”

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