'Invitations to Listen' an invitation to experience gentle wisdom at Kansas museum

The piece "100 Days of Walking" by Rachel Epp Buller is on display at the Mulvane Art Museum in Topeka. (Barbara Waterman-Peters)

In conjunction with Washburn University's semester-long theme of health and healing, "Invitations to Listen" was a perfect choice for the Mulvane Art Museum's spring offering.

With an exploration of "how listening can be carried out not just with the ears but with the whole body," artist Rachel Epp Buller "encourages viewers to slow down, use their senses to ground themselves in the present, and simply listen" according to the museum's website.

Buller spent the spring 2022 semester at the University of Alberta as the Fulbright Canada research chair in arts, humanities and culture. She researched and collaborated with university faculty under the auspices of the Research-Creation and Social Justice CoLABoratory, which resulted in this body of work. Buller is a professor of visual arts and design at Bethel College in Newton.

The exhibit, installed in the north and central galleries of the museum on Washburn University campus in Topeka, could be described as both subtle and powerful.

It does not grab you by the throat but instead gently beckons and rewards visitors with insight and wisdom. Visually, it uses pale cream-colored paper, light fonts, and elegant calligraphic headings so delicate they whisper. Exquisite laser-engraved graphite drawings of trees suggest the outdoors.

Arranged in sets such as "letters" and "scores," the words of the artist encourage walking from one beautifully designed digital print to the next and reading every word.

"Winter Walking" consists of 10 large sheets, each with a ghostly image of a tree and text richly laden with suggestions.

"A change in rhythm develops the thread of a meditation honoring the legacy of trees," or "turn from eye to ear" are just two of them.

The subtle method of sharing her own experience renders Buller's work timeless and therefore powerful. Wanting to be heard, she whispered.

– Barbara Waterman-Peters

"Listening Toward Our Futures: Ten Letters" is displayed in a glass case, as though these missives are of such significance they must be carefully preserved. Indeed, a line from one bears this out: "Letters will slip through the very fabric of time."

"September Scores: Invitations to Listen" is a group of thirty sheets with titles such as "Fruits and Disappointments," "Upside Down Gifts" and "Wild and Messy." The last one advises us to listen to more than the obvious "calm ambient sounds," but to "make room" for other, less pleasant noise. This segment is accompanied by an audio component of a soft speaking voice.

Although aware of it, I left "100 Days of Walking," made up of 100 small accordion books joined together and suspended from the ceiling, until last.

Covered in watercolor washes suggesting landscapes, the little books revealed different places, topographical features and times of day. A few had text, but they could not be read, as though the artist wanted to hold some moments for herself.

The subtle method of sharing her own experience renders Buller's work timeless and therefore powerful. Wanting to be heard, she whispered.

One would think such an experience would be sensory overload: so many observations and conclusions to contemplate in a single afternoon would overwhelm. Nothing could be further from the truth. Participating fully in the artist's "invitation" is exhilarating.

Walking out of the museum, one has a feeling of possibilities, of new ways to live in the world. As both a visual artist and a writer, I found this exhibit resonated with me. Sound and listening as concepts have occupied my thinking and literary output recently. Accepting the opportunity to enjoy and contemplate this exhibit was a timely choice.

Learn more about the exhibit at the Mulvane Art Museum's website.

Barbara Waterman-Peters taught at Washburn and Kansas State Universities as well as for Lassen Community College in California. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.

by Barbara Waterman-Peters, Kansas Reflector June 3, 2023

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Barbara Waterman-Peters (BFA, Washburn University; MFA, Kansas State University; honorary doctor of fine arts, Washburn University) taught at Washburn and Kansas State Universities as well as for Lassen Community College in California. She has received a certificate of recognition for outstanding achievement from the state of Kansas and theMonroe Award from the Washburn University Alumni Association. In 2011, she was awarded the ARTY for Distinguished Visual Artist from ARTS Connect in Topeka. Her work has been included in more than 300 solo, group and juried exhibits. She wrote, edited, and published The Paper, the newsletter of the Collective Art Gallery, and articles about artists in Kansas City for the Forum. Currently she writes about art and artists for Topeka and Kansas magazines. Her poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction and illustrations have been included in numerous publications.