Mercer Gallery Artist Reception | David Mai | 5-7 PM

An Artist Reception will be held Wednesday, September 16, from 5–7 p.m. inside the Mercer Gallery in the Pauline Joyce Fine Arts Building. The public is invited to meet David Mai, view the exhibition, and engage in conversation about his work and artistic practice.

The Mercer Gallery at Garden City Community College is proud to present High Plains Chronicles: An Artistic Journey, a solo ceramics exhibition featuring the work of Kansas artist David Mai. The exhibition explores memory, agriculture, landscape, and the enduring relationship between people and the land.

The exhibition will open August 24 and remain on display through September 18, 2026. Gallery hours are Monday–Thursday, 9:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m., and Friday, 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

Raised in rural Western Kansas and shaped by decades of connection to the Kansas landscape, Mai draws upon agricultural traditions, family history, and memories of life on the High Plains. His mixed-media ceramic sculptures and Landplates transform these experiences into textured, abstract forms. Cracked surfaces, distressed glazes, and natural processes such as drying, burning, and oxidation evoke drought, wind, weather, and the changing conditions of the prairie.

Mai earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramics from the Kansas City Art Institute and a Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics/Sculpture from the University of Montana. Throughout his career, he has supported arts education in Kansas as an artist, educator, and community arts advocate.

High Plains Chronicles: An Artistic Journey demonstrates how contemporary ceramics can serve not only as functional objects, but also as a means of preserving memory, examining place, and telling stories about regional identity. The exhibition offers visitors an opportunity to experience original artwork firsthand while considering the important role artists and the arts play in understanding the communities and landscapes that shape us.

For additional information or questions, contact Gallery Directory Michael Knutson at michael.knutson@gcccks.edu.