Closing Reception for Between Cultures: A Collaboration of Folk Art and Lowriders

Join the Fine Arts and Design Studios (FADS), Mattie Rhodes, the Olathe Leadership Lowrider Bike Club, and the Nerman Museum at the closing reception for Between Cultures: A Collaboration of Folk Art and Lowriders, Wednesday, March 5, 5-7 p.m. at the FADS building at the JCCC Campus. This collaboration includes works from Mattie Rhodes’ Hand-in-Hand Folk Art Collection, lowrider bikes created by students from the Olathe Leadership Lowrider Bike Club, and a series of photographs by Christopher Erazo.

Light refreshments will be provided. Free and open to the public, no RSVP required.

About The Hand-in-Hand Folk Art Collection

Hand-in-Hand was started by long term Hallmark employee, Alice Ann Biggerstaff. Through her travels around the world and encounters with people of various cultures, she unintentionally began her collection of handmade folk art. Biggerstaff donated the collection to the Greater Kansas City Foundation in 1995. She partnered with Mattie Rhodes in 1999 and began displaying pieces from that collection. In 2007, Biggerstaff officially gifted Hand-in-Hand to Mattie Rhodes, which at the time included over 800 pieces. Currently, the collection has more than 1,500 pieces and consists of sculptures, ceramics, toys, miniatures, masks, and textiles. The strongest areas of the collection derive from Latin America and the works of Latinx and Pueblo artists of the Southwest region of the United States.

About the Olathe Leadership Lowrider Bike Club

In the Olathe Leadership Lowrider Bike Club, students receive weekly mentoring, academic support, and participate in community service while building custom bikes they earn upon graduation.

The club strives to encourage high school graduation and post-secondary education, foster positive relationships with local law enforcement to promote healthy community partnerships, as well as provide students with exposure to various career pathways and community involvement through interactions with local professional mentors.

The Olathe chapter of the Leadership Lowrider Bike Club, established in 2017 at Olathe Public Schools, aims to help high school students find belonging and support. The program offers weekly mentoring, academic assistance, and community service opportunities. Graduating students build custom bikes and have donated 400 bikes to the community. Our club members have achieved a 100% high school graduation rate. The bike club program is the first of its kind and now has 15 chapters throughout the country.

At the closing reception, the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art will be awarding prizes and JCCC scholarships to three high school seniors and three underclassmen from the Olathe Leadership Lowrider Bike Club that demonstrated exceptional commitment to the arts and their education.