New views at Center

Some behind the scenes as well as up-front changes have taken place at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center over the summer.
Although the changes are apparent, the sources are not. Most of the improvements are courtesy of anonymous donors, said Bowlus Director Susan Raines.
A new sign in front of the Center provides updated information on programming and events. The scrolling text LED sign was purchased through a combination of $13,000 in private funds and a $9,000 grant from the Friends of the Bowlus Foundation, Raines said.
Inside, a storeroom has been converted to a functional kitchen.
“And we have an ice machine, that’s my favorite part,” Raines said.
Raines previously hauled ice for events and receptions in her car from Iola High School. In addition, there was no water supply to that level of the Bowlus, “so when we made punch or coffee we had to go up and down the stairs with it,” said volunteer coordinator Judy Cochran.
The new kitchen, complete with maple cabinets, ice maker, granite-look countertops and sink are all thanks to donations. Mary Kay and Dave Heard of Western Auto provided a heavy duty industrial microwave oven.
Still more changes are on the way for the Center.
“We have a person — who wants to remain anonymous — who offered to redo all the frames for all the student art work over the course of the next year, Raines said.
“He’s making all the frames himself. We had a donation to pay for the materials and this person is providing the labor,” she said.
Outdoors, a greenscape renewal project may be the only work with definite names attached to it.
The landscaping has been a labor of love by a group of local Master Gardener students, Raines said.
“It started with Don Hillbrandt,” she said. Then the project was picked up by Kansas State University Extension Master Gardener students as the community service portion of their class, Raines said.
The group, Patti Boyd, Nancy Maier, David Lee, Ellery Robertson, Loraine Shirley and Debbie Bearden, provided labor over the past three years, Raines said. Plants were bought with doantions; mulch was a donation of Stinette Timbers, LLC, in Kincaid.
Boyd and Maier still volunteer their time on the plantings, with Boyd regularly bringing her husband Mark and daughters Emily and Clara to help weed, Raines said.
Lobby tiles ruined in recent rain storms and pitted metal doorjambs are two needs of the Center yet to be addressed, Raines said.