Flyover People Daily News

Today’s Flyover People column as seen in The Emporia Gazette:

Gary Blitsch in the SouthWind Gallery

SOUTHWIND GALLERY

When Gary Blitsch purchased a custom picture-framing shop in Topeka he felt uncomfortable putting the word owner on his business cards.

“People expect an owner to know something,” Blitsch said. So, instead, he went with the label of humble shopkeeper. Eighteen years later, his Framewoods of Topeka business cards still carry the humble title.

Blitsch, originally from Waterloo, Iowa, settled in Topeka in 1962 after his service in the Navy. In 1992, although he had enjoyed many of his 30 years in banking, he was ready to move on. In his search for a new direction, he walked into a frame shop. The next day he bought the place. Five years later, he added the SouthWind Gallery.

I had never visited this gallery before, but having seen the store’s postings on Facebook, I decided to check it out one morning when I was in Topeka.

As I entered the gallery, from the back room came a welcoming “Hello” and a few seconds later out stepped Gary Blitsch.

Blitsch greeted me and showed me around, telling me a little about Michael Duane, whose work is featured in the gallery through May 15. Duane, of Overland Park, works in pastels and creates vivid clouds and landscapes. His show is called “Ethereal Visions of the Flint Hills.”

pastels by Michael Duane

If someone didn’t already know and love the Kansas scenery, when they saw Michael Duane’s brilliant landscapes, they would want to visit the Flint Hills in person.

Blitsch is not an artist himself, but he loves art and artists, and from what I could tell, he revels in the dynamic energy of bringing people together – artists, patrons, townspeople, anyone.

He hasn’t yet decided on SouthWind’s big project for this year. Last year, they promoted Stan Herd and the Kansas Lottery’s Painted Byways program. In 2008, the gallery sponsored a plein air event on the University of Kansas campus in which 65 artists spent a day painting K.U. scenes. Another year, they bussed patrons and artists to a chuck wagon dinner in the Flint Hills. The artists had to pay for the trip, but each patron was required to purchase a painting.

Blitsch mentioned an international art exchange that celebrates 30 years of friendship and diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China. Three American pieces of art are being sent to China and three Chinese works are coming to the U.S. One of those three incoming sculptures will find a home in Topeka.

In June, “Chinese Lantern Light” will be unveiled on the Washburn University campus. Blitsch says it’s a 16’ tall contemporary sculpture in red stainless steel.

(Chinese-born) U.S. citizen Kwan Wu, who sculpts in Overland Park and whose work is displayed in the SouthWind gallery, created one of the pieces going to China. Some of Wu’s more familiar works are the statues of Phog Allen at K.U. and George Brett at Kauffman Stadium.

sculpture by Kwan Wu

It was the first Friday of April when I stopped by SouthWind Gallery. And in Topeka, first Friday means Art Walk, so that evening art lovers would be trailing through about two dozen galleries in town.

Topeka’s Art Walk has been going on for five years and Blitsch says that it is good for all of Topeka. “We’ll have 300 people through here and I’ve talked with other places and they’ll have about that many, too. Those who go on the Art Walk will also probably be having dinner out somewhere, or a cocktail. And Art Walk has created a lot of impetus for other things.”

“I like the city. I like what’s going on. I think there are a lot of good, positive vibes going on in Topeka right now,” Blitsch said. “There’s a visioning process we’re involved with now in Topeka.”

You know how it is when you’re around someone who loves his work – that zeal and creative energy raises your own energy level. After spending an hour in the world of Gary Blitsch, I had absorbed some of his enthusiasm and could see more possibilities for connection and creativity in my own life.

While talking about his business and his association with artists and the community, he smiled and said, “It’s like being paid to eat ice cream. It’s just a fun thing to do.”

SouthWind Gallery and Framewoods of Topeka is located at 3074 S.W. 29th Street in Topeka. For more information, go to www.SouthWindGalleryOfTopeka.com.

Copyright 2010 ~ Cheryl Unruh

“Art”

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