Mercer Gallery Artist Reception 5-7 PM | Crystal Hammerschmidt

Artist Reception

An Artist Reception will be held Thursday, September 24, from 5–7 p.m. inside the Mercer Gallery in the Pauline Joyce Fine Arts Building. The public is invited to meet Hammerschmidt and view the exhibition.

Poster for Crystal Hammerschmidt’s printmaking exhibition, “Register, Roll, Repeat,” at Mercer Gallery, September 25 to October 23, 2026, featuring colorful printmaking artwork and details for an artist reception and workshop.

The Mercer Gallery at Garden City Community College is pleased to present Register, Roll, Repeat—a Printmaking Exhibition, Mostly..., a solo exhibition by Kansas artist and printmaker Crystal Hammerschmidt of Salina. The exhibition brings together recent printmaking and mixed-media works that explore color, texture, pattern, layering, and the possibilities of experimentation.

The exhibition will open on September 25 and remain on display through October 23, 2026. Gallery hours are Monday–Thursday, 9:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m., and Friday, 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

Hammerschmidt earned her BFA from Fort Hays State University in 2006 and her MFA there in 2020. Printmaking has remained central to her practice, while her work has expanded to incorporate sculptural and installation-based approaches. Her artistic development has been shaped by her time at the Women’s Studio Workshop in New York, international collaboration in Germany, and ongoing engagement with drawing, printmaking, and material exploration.

Hammerschmidt currently serves as Art Services Coordinator for the City of Salina Arts & Humanities Department, where she works with public art initiatives and oversees the visual arts component of the Smoky Hill River Festival. Alongside her professional arts career, she maintains an active studio practice.

This exhibition offers the GCCC and regional community an important opportunity to experience the work of an accomplished contemporary Kansas artist in person. Seeing original artwork offers a level of physical, material, and visual engagement that digital images cannot fully replicate. Viewers can encounter the scale, surface, texture, color, and evidence of the artist’s hand firsthand.

Artist Reception

An Artist Reception will be held Thursday, September 24, from 5–7 p.m. inside the Mercer Gallery in the Pauline Joyce Fine Arts Building. The public is invited to meet Hammerschmidt and view the exhibition.

Artist Workshop

On Friday, September 25, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Hammerschmidt will lead Tiny Print Exchange, a hands-on workshop exploring accessible printmaking techniques that can be practiced without a printing press. Participants will create a small edition of miniature prints and exchange them with other participants, resulting in a collaborative collection of original prints. The workshop is open to everyone and will be hosted in Rooms 1402 & 1413, Joyce Fine Arts Building. 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

This exhibition celebrates the playful possibilities of printmaking: layered color, shifting textures, unexpected lines, and the joy of seeing where an idea can go. Since adding a small etching press to my home studio—made possible by a KOCH Foundation grant in fall 2025—I have returned to monotypes, relief printing, and other processes that invite experimentation. Rather than working from one theme, I have allowed the work to grow through curiosity, travel, portfolio exchanges, and recent exhibition opportunities.

Drawing is at the heart of my practice, but printmaking gives those loose sketchbook ideas a new kind of energy. I love mixing inks, building layers, swapping colors, and incorporating scraps from older prints—letting past experiments become part of something fresh. Inspired by gardening, the outdoors, and organic forms, these works are filled with vibrant color, pattern, and movement.

As a full-time arts administrator and longtime printmaking educator, I use studio time as both a creative outlet and an essential balance. I am drawn to printmaking because every process offers a different surprise, and no two prints need to be alike. I hope this collection encourages viewers to explore, take creative risks, and remember that making art can be fun.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

Crystal Hammerschmidt was born in Salina, Kansas, in 1982 and grew up just outside of Salina with her parents and younger brother. She graduated from Smoky Valley High School in Lindsborg as part of the Class of 2001 before attending Fort Hays State University, where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2006. She later returned to Fort Hays to complete her thesis-based Master of Fine Arts and graduated in 2020.

Throughout both her undergraduate and graduate studies, Crystal maintained an active creative practice outside the classroom and consistently exhibited her work. Printmaking became the foundation of her artistic practice during her undergraduate years and remained her primary focus through graduate school. During her MFA thesis work, however, her practice evolved significantly, expanding into a more sculptural, installation-based approach while remaining rooted in printmaking processes.

Shortly after completing her undergraduate degree in 2006, Crystal was selected for a six-month in-studio internship at the Women's Studio Workshop in Rosendale, New York. The experience proved to be an eye-opening and joyful period of artistic growth that permanently shaped the direction of her creative career. Crystal often refers to this time as her "romantic period"—a season of exploration, inspiration, and possibility that still influences her work today.

Another transformative experience came immediately after she completed her MFA thesis in 2022, when Crystal traveled to Germany with a group of sculptors focused on cast-iron work to build an iron furnace in Rudolstadt. Immersed in a collaborative environment centered on large-scale making, the experience further strengthened her interest in sculptural practices, material exploration, and community-engaged art. Together with her time at the Women's Studio Workshop, it remains one of the defining experiences that continues to shape her artistic practice.

From 2007 to 2019, Crystal lived in Lawrence, Kansas, before returning to Fort Hays State University to pursue her MFA. As her career progressed, her artistic practice continued to deepen and evolve in response to new experiences, exhibitions, and her graduate research.

Today, Crystal lives in Salina, Kansas, where she serves as the Art Services Coordinator for the City of Salina Arts & Humanities Department. In this role, she oversees public art throughout the city, serves as a resource partner for numerous public-private partnerships, and supervises the visual arts component of the Smoky Hill River Festival. She has been a member of the Arts & Humanities staff for the past four years while continuing to maintain an active studio practice.

Crystal exhibits her work primarily throughout Kansas and the surrounding region, though her work has also been shown internationally. She is currently embracing an exciting new chapter in her home studio with the addition of an etching press and other printmaking equipment, creating new opportunities for experimentation and continued evolution within her visual arts practice.