Mercer Gallery Closing Reception: Highbrow/Lowbrow
Thursday, February 26, 2026, from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m in the Mercer Gallery
The Mercer Gallery at Garden City Community College launches the new year with a dazzling exhibition by world-renowned, one-of-a-kind artist extraordinaire Erika Nelson. Titled Highbrow / Lowbrow, the exhibition is on view now through February 27, 2026, transforming the Mercer Gallery into a place where academic research meets spectacle and the gallery flirts with the midway.
Erika Nelson is an independent artist, educator, curator, writer, and rural arts activist based in the art-eclectic town of Lucas, Kansas. Internationally celebrated for her work exploring contemporary art in the public realm, Nelson’s practice draws deeply from American vernacular culture, roadside attractions, and self-made visionary environments. Her work asks big questions through small wonders, inviting audiences to consider how belief, persuasion, delight, and spectacle shape cultural meaning.
In Highbrow / Lowbrow, Nelson brings together works that move between the personal and the public, the project-based and the play-based, the collaborative and the singular. Her practice navigates the liminal space where galleries meet midways, where academic rigor rubs elbows with spectacle, and where belief systems are revealed through humor, craft, and wonder. Visitors may even encounter playful nods to regional landmarks and local curiosities, grounding the exhibition firmly in place while opening outward to larger cultural conversations.
A closing reception will be held on Thursday, February 26, 2026, from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m., offering the public an opportunity to meet the artist, experience the work firsthand, and connect with others who share a passion for the visual arts.
On Friday, February 27, 2026, Nelson will present a Sideshow Banner workshop and artist talk from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the art classrooms of the Joyce Fine Arts Building. Space for the workshop is limited, and attendees are encouraged to RSVP to Michael Knutson at michael.knutson@gcccks.edu to reserve their spot.
The Mercer Gallery, located in the Pauline Joyce Fine Arts Building at Garden City Community College, is open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, please contact Gallery Director Michael Knutson at michael.knutson@gcccks.edu.
