By: HANNAH CRICKMAN
Salina Art Center
The Salina Art Center announces the opening of two new exhibitions on view May 28 through August 31, 2025.
High Strangeness: Encounters with the Unexplained in Kansas and Beyond and Tales of Dakota Sandstone, with new work by photographer Terry Evans. Both exhibitions open to the public today, with a First Friday opening reception scheduled for Friday, June 6, from 5–7 PM.
High Strangeness: Encounters with the Unexplained in Kansas and Beyond
May 28–August 31, 2025
High Strangeness explores a wide array of people’s personal encounters with the unexplained through the work of two artists—Susan Hiller (1940–2019) and Hugo Zelada-Romero—whose practices investigate the limits of belief, perception, and trust.
The exhibition features Witnesses (2004), an audio installation by Hiller, who was among the first contemporary artists to approach the paranormal with conceptual seriousness. Her work presents firsthand accounts of unusual phenomena from around the world.
Kansas-based artist Hugo Zelada-Romero contributes photographs and multimedia pieces that explore documented UFO/UAP sightings and metaphysical practices across Kansas. His work delves into how cultural narratives shape our understanding of “high strangeness” and what it means to believe.
The exhibition is curated by independent curator Ksenya Gurshtein. A catalogue is available for sale at the Salina Art Center.
Public Programs for High Strangeness
June 6 | 5–7 PM — First Friday & Opening Reception.
June 18 | 7 PM — Campfire Stories: Artist Talk and Tour with Hugo Zelada-Romero and curator Ksenya Gurshtein, followed by s’mores on the patio.
June 18 & July 16 | 12:15–12:30 PM — Art Byte: 30-minute interactive gallery conversations.
June 28 | 9 AM–5:30 PM | $65 — Summer Road Trip: A day-long excursion to Kansas art and oddities, including the Geneseo City Museum, which contains a fascinating collection of historic UFO memorabilia, Fly Boy Brewery, and Grassroots Art Center in Lucas, KS. Details and registration at SalinaArtCenter.org.
June 29 | 3 PM — Lecture by philosopher Dr. James Madden: A deep dive into UFOs, consciousness, and belief.
July 29 | 6 PM | at the Cinema — The Dundee Project & Love & Saucers film screenings.
August 12 | 6 PM | at the Cinema — Shadows in the Desert: High Strangeness in the Borrego Triangle film screening with Q&A with the filmmakers.
August 28 | 6 PM | FREE | Location TBA — Live Performance: First-person UAP accounts shared in an immersive storytelling experience. Summer Film Series — Featuring Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Batteries Not Included, and Super 8. Visit SalinaArtCenter.org/Cinema for details.
Tales of Dakota Sandstone | Terry Evans
May 28–August 31, 2025
Tales of Dakota Sandstone presents new work by renowned photographer Terry Evans, exploring a familiar pasture transformed by attention, curiosity, and time. What was once overlooked as overgrazed and unremarkable becomes a site of revelation—where ancient sandstone surfaces, remnants of prairie life, and traces of human intervention converge. Evans invites us to consider how deep time and close looking can shift perception. “I’d been looking at the surface of ground, prairie ecosystems, for almost fifty years,” she writes. “But now I wonder if looking at anything long enough and hard enough might reveal the structure of the universe.”
"Artist Talk with Terry Evan" starts June 27 | 5–7 PM — Join us for an evening with the artist to hear more about the stories behind her work.
High Strangeness: Encounters with the Unexplained in Kansas and Beyond was made possible in part by support from Vortex Companies, the National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State University, and Humanities Kansas. Humanities Kansas connects Kansans with stories, ideas, and each other to strengthen our communities.
Tales of Dakota Sandstone is sponsored by Corporate pARTner, Wedel Financial Group, and Friends Of Terry Evans: Sid & Suzy Reitz, Dr. Brad Stuewe & Dr. Paula Fried, Jamie & Brigid Hall, Morrie & Sydney Soderberg, Mark & Carolyn Wedel, Heather & Dr. Boyd Smith, Mike & Debbie Berkley, and Saralyn Reece Hardy.