WAM Nights: Shaping Vision: Four Wichita Painters on Process and Practice
◆ October 17, 2025 | 6:30pm
◆ Free event. No reservations required.
◆ Wooden Lecture Hall
Featuring Sarah Chavez, Rachel Curtis, Sloan Dyer, and Kate Van Steenhuyse, and moderated by Chloe Lang, this panel highlights the contributions of Wichita-based women painters while situating their practices within broader art historical dialogues. This program is presented in conjunction with Wichita Art Museum’s current exhibitions Abstract Expressionists: The Women and Framed in Friendship: American Women Artists and Their Networks.
Artist and Moderator Biographies:
Moderator: Chloe Lang ◆ Registrar and Director of Collections and Exhibitions at the Wichita Art Museum, Chloe Lang currently serves on the City of Wichita’s Design Council. As an artist, she works across painting and cultural production. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design.
Sarah Chavez ◆ Sarah Chavez’s work draws from the surreal, symbolic, and sensual, merging food, the body, and nature into richly layered scenes. Inspired by art history, pop culture, and personal memory, her paintings often hide deeper meanings beneath playful surfaces. Chavez studied Studio Arts & Art History at Kansas State University and is based in Wichita, KS.
Kate Van Steenhuyse ◆ Kate Van Steenhuyse (she/her) received her MFA in Fine Arts from the California College of the Arts, San Francisco, and a BFA in Painting & Women’s Studies from Washington University in St. Louis. She is currently pursuing a graduate certificate in Economic Development from Wichita State University. Kate maintains an active studio practice, exhibiting nationally and internationally. In 2014, she co-founded Harvester Arts in Wichita, KS, serving as its Executive Director for 7 years. She has also served as Ulrich Museum of Art Alliance Board President (2014–2017), graduate faculty at Wichita State University (2011–2017), and board member of the Mid-America Arts Alliance (2017–2020). She currently serves on the boards of Harvester Arts and Groover Labs in Wichita, and is a Fellow of the Kansas Future Fellows program at the University of Kansas. Kate worked as Program Manager at Arts Partners Wichita (2017–2019) and since 2019 has held numerous roles with the Kansas Arts Commission, including Interim Director (2022–2023). She now serves as Assistant Director.
Sloane Dyer ◆ Sloane Dyer (b. 1996, Kansas) is a Native artist from the Midwest whose work centers on the intersection of neurodivergence, Native identity, and emotional healing. Through abstract forms, Dyer explores her lived experiences, using art as a means of processing and expressing the complexities of her inner world. She graduated with a BFA in 2019 from Emporia State University (KS) and is currently pursuing her MFA at Wichita State University (KS). Dyer’s work spans large-scale paintings, ceramic sculptures, and mixed media. Characterized by vibrant colors, bold brushstrokes, and deep engagement with texture and surface, each piece invites viewers to connect on emotional and physical levels, reflecting her belief in the power of art to foster personal and cultural healing.
Rachel Curtis ◆ Rachel Curtis is a figurative oil painter living in Towanda, Kansas, and teaches visual art at Butler Community College. She received her BFA from Kansas State University and her MFA from Wichita State University. Curtis has participated in group exhibitions from Massachusetts to California and has presented solo shows in Kansas, Texas, Nebraska, and Missouri.
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About WAM Nights: We’re open late on Fridays until 9 pm! Get your weekend started with after-hours access to the galleries and shopping in the Museum Store. WAM Nights will include programs with artists, musicians, and performers–don’t miss your chance to see the art at WAM in a new way! Connect with artists in the area during fun gallery experiences through WAM’s partnership with Harvester Arts.
You may also like the following events from Wichita Art Museum:
- This Wednesday, 1st October, 10:00 am, Senior Wednesday: Sit, Sway, See: Seated or Standing Dancing Docent in Wichita
- This Friday, 3rd October, 06:00 pm, WAM Nights: First Friday Field Trip in Wichita
- Next Friday, 10th October, 06:30 pm, WAM Nights: Ten Tiny Dances® presented by Harvester Arts & Smack Dab Dance Lab in Wichita
Also check out other
Arts events in Wichita,
Exhibitions in Wichita,
Fine Arts events in Wichita.
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