GCCC Mercer Gallery to Host Ceramics Exhibition by David Mai
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.
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 Mai, view the exhibition, and engage in conversation about his work and artistic practice.
An Artist Demonstration will be held Thursday, September 17, from 9–10:25 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.–noon in Room 1402 of the Pauline Joyce Fine Arts Building. Mai will demonstrate ceramic techniques and discuss his artistic process. Everyone is welcome to attend. Demonstration space is limited, so an RSVP to Gallery Director Michael Knutson at michael.knutson@gcccks.edu is appreciated but not required.
The Mercer Gallery is located inside the Pauline Joyce Fine Arts Building at Garden City Community College, 801 Campus Drive, Garden City, Kansas. The gallery encourages the community to visit, experience original artwork, support working artists, and discover the cultural value of the arts in Western Kansas.
For additional information or questions, contact Knutson at michael.knutson@gcccks.edu.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My mixed media sculptures serve as visual memoirs, capturing abstract images of farmland and agricultural practices. Rooted in autobiographical memories from my upbringing in rural Kansas, these sculptures reflect my experiences and environment.
As I reflect on my early years on the High Plains, I find myself drawn to the legacy of my Volga German ancestors who farmed the land. My father instilled in me a deep sense of pride in our Western Kansas roots, emphasizing the importance of land ownership and connection to the earth.
In the vast expanse of the High Plains landscape, I found beauty in its seemingly desolate openness—a sentiment not shared by all. Exploring the pastures, gazing at the expansive sky, and traveling dirt roads were adventures of my everyday life. Farming required work like driving tractor, harvesting, mending fences, tending cattle, and irrigating fields. Relentless winds and blowing dust were constant. Farmers closely followed the weather because their livelihood depended on it. Storms brought some needed rain, lightning, blizzards, hail, and an occasional tornado.
My Landplates and sculptures serve as chronicles of these memories, capturing the stress patterns of drought through crazed glazes and dry textured surfaces reminiscent of cracked earth. I use natural processes such as drying, cracking, burning, and oxidation to evoke effects of natural forces on the land. Experimenting and combining clay with other materials adds texture, depth and meaning to my stories and experiences.
While my journey as an artist spans over five decades, I continually return to pottery forms that evoke a sense of familiarity and craftsmanship. While traditional plates and bowls remain a foundation, my more recent work ventures into the realm of non-functional art, allowing for personal meaning and greater exploration of form and concept.
Just as farming demands a strong work ethic, persistence, and adaptability, so too does the artistic process. Each piece is a testament to my ongoing quest for improvement, informed by lessons learned from both success and failure. With each new creation, I try to make a better artwork than the previous one.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
David Mai has called the Flint Hills home for 39 years, drawing inspiration from the rugged beauty of the Kansas landscape. Raised in rural Western Kansas, his formative years were shaped by a love for the outdoors and a passion for artistic expression. As a child, it was magical to create a lake by digging a hole filled with water. He built build roads and houses with sticks, mud and stones to surround the lake. Encouraged by a dedicated art teacher in high school, he pursued his creative interests, earning a BFA in Ceramics from the Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA in Ceramics/Sculpture from the University of Montana.
Throughout his career, David has been an advocate for arts education, working as a Kansas Artist-in-Education and teaching art in Emporia schools. In retirement, he continues to share his passion for ceramics through teaching classes at the Emporia Art Center and promoting art in the community. Although he no longer actively farms, his Volga German connection to the land endures through his art, gardening, landscaping, and conservation endeavors.
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