Hays Arts Council
The Hays Arts Council is sponsoring the annual Kansas Day presentation this week.
This year’s artist is a returning Kansas Day favorite, Thad Beach. He will be performing Tuesday through Friday with a public performance from 6 to 6:45 p.m. Thursday at the Hays Public Library.
His program is “Kansas, the 34th Star,“ and students will travel the trails of Kansas as Beach takes them on an imaginary journey in a covered wagon to celebrate Kansas, the 34th State.
The audiences will solve state symbol riddles in song, sing about the state seal, experience the People of the South Wind (KANSA Native Americans), celebrate a birthday, and discover the four major trails through Kansas.
This Kansas Day residency has been funded in part through a grant from the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission.
Beach, who now lives in Salina, began working full time as a performing artist while living in the mountains of western North Carolina. He began doing artist-in-the-schools residencies with the Mountain Arts Program.
He has completed more than 300 week-long interdisciplinary residencies in schools since that time, working as an approved artist on rosters with arts organizations, such as the South Carolina Arts Commission, North Carolina Arts Council, Iowa Arts Council, Nebraska Arts Council, Kansas Arts Commission, Kansas Creative Arts and Industries, Wichita Arts Partners, Wolf Trap Early Childhood Institute, Kansas Wolf Trap, Kansas University Lied Center Art.Teach, and Salina Arts and Humanities Arts Infusion.
Beach is a versatile instrumentalist, performing on ukulele, guitar, mandolin, fiddle, jaw harp, and harmonica. Beach’s harmonica playing has won state championship honors in North Carolina and Kansas. Beach also showcases instruments from his “Band in a Bucket.” The limberjack, washboard, bucket bass and other creative and unique musical devices, inspire young and old alike to get involved in music.
There is more info on Beach at his website: thadbeachmusic.com