Echoes of art: 'Runway Remix' at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library
Seven artists show wearable pieces inspired by works from the library's art collection.
Those who believe that visual art acts as a form of language, and that artists converse through material conversations, will enjoy the energy of “Runway Remix: Fashion in Focus” currently on view in the Alice D. Sabatini Gallery at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library.
The exhibition’s opening text sets the stage: “Have you ever wondered how artists take their ideas from inspiration to creation?” We could add — as conversations do — “…and how those creations speak to one another?”
The Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library is a special place. As all public libraries do, bless them, they work hard to serve as a “third place” — the required cultural hub that a healthy society needs. Thanks to strong funding and incredible staff, TSCPL is next-level with on-staff curators, its rich collection of visual art, and a rotation of exhibitions in the Sabatini Gallery.
For “Runway Remix,” seven artists designed wearable art, some fashion and some costumes, inspired by works in the library’s permanent art collection. The colors, textures, and themes of the original artworks echo in these newly inspired pieces. Viewing these, visitors are transported back in time to a retro coffeeshop, they breathe among thunderheads, and they can even morph into a mythological beast. Roses and waves and the pages of books yet to be written are designed to converse with the wearer’s body.
Natalie O’Callaghan’s “Partly Cloudy” is an interpretation of clouds and light inspired by Dennis Downey’s 1994 oil painting “Above Santa Fe.” O’Callaghan reinterprets the thick, rotund clouds of the southwest’s monsoon season into a sculptural pouf neckline and white, billowing sleeves. A vest brings the blue, pants create the gray, and the yellow along the outer seam of the pants answers back to the rays of light in the Downey painting. This being the library — another space of creativity, thanks to curator Brittany Keegan — a frame holding sample fabric is displayed next to the painting so visitors can touch the fabric used in the artwork. O’Callaghan’s fashion sketches also reveal her creative process.
Where O’Callaghan’s work could be worn as haute couture, Megan Byrnes, Hugo Gonzalez, and Andrew Ralston of the Topeka Civic Theatre Costume Department go theatrical. They set the scene with their “Meet Me at the Coffee Shop” — a retro interpretation of “Coffee Shop,” a linocut print by Mary Mark. Termed “wearable storytelling,” the display is a microcosm of this concept of visuals speaking to each other, with a fourth wall between the viewer and the showcased artworks. I could hear the conversation and music in my head, the set piece alive as if on stage.
Sheila Krohe and students from the Topeka High School theater design class, “Architectures of the Inner World.” Photo by Leslie VonHolten for The SHOUT.
Sheila Krohe and students from the Topeka High School theater design class bring experimental, imaginative energy to the exhibition with their “Architectures of the Inner World.” Inspired by “A Mythological Bestiary” by Fionnuala Hart Gerrity — a gorgeously illustrated book of folkloric creatures — the simple black dress is made fantastic with beading, ostrich feathers, massive ruby-red organza wings, and a shimmering tail. The work was inspired by Gerrity’s illustration of the Simurgh, a Persian mythological creature with the features of a dog, lion, and peacock weighted by the sorrow of seeing the world destroyed three times. It is an imaginative reinterpretation made from simple, accessible materials.
From left: Mia Wilson, Dress; Vernon Brejcha, "Untitled," 1979. Photo by Leslie VonHolten for The SHOUT.
From left: Ashleigh Robek, “Bound;" Roberta Lavadour, "Diamondback," 2008, paper, thread, wax, magnets, binder's board. Photos by Leslie VonHolten for The SHOUT.
From left: Kelly Vogel, “Copper Waterfall,” 2026; Karen Hardy, “Undertow,” 2015, copper, paper, thread, patina, and cutting. Photos by Leslie VonHolten for The SHOUT.
The transcendent beauty of art — which we need more of in this hard world — is exquisitely interpreted in “Runway Remix” through eveningwear. Mia Wilson’s hand-dyed blue and brown shimmering dress echoes a jewel-colored blown glass vase by Vernon Brejcha. Ashleigh Robek’s variations of white offer a romantic turn for Roberta Lavadour’s 2008 art book “Diamondback.” Kelly Vogel also draws inspiration from book arts, creating a dynamic, genie-like blue and gold bodice and pants that pay homage to Karen Hardy’s “Undertow,” a book made of handmade paper and copper. June Sun’s “Crimson Nocturn” welcomes the viewer to the exhibition, a lovely nighttime garden-party dress of blacks and red inspired by John Talleur’s woodcut print “The Answer Is Yes” (late 1900s).
June Sun, “Crimson Nocturne,” 2026, and fashion design sketch detail. Photos by Leslie VonHolten for The SHOUT.
The front half of “Runway Remix” highlights fashion-forward artworks from the permanent collection: oil paintings of Topeka socialites in their finery, cultural items collected from around the world, and photos of dapper men. Kansas native and groundbreaking photographer Gordon Parks captured an image of men outside a pool hall, their button-up and wool attire relaxed in after-work ease. A portrait painting of Bruna Puig from 1935 by Topeka artist Mary Huntoon precedes the heavy-line style and penetrating gaze of Alice Neel’s later portraits. (Huntoon is known as a leading figure in the development of art therapy, but this painting was a revelation to me.)
This section of the exhibition also explores the craft of clothing through hands-on, family-friendly activities: a sewing machine, a rigid-heddle loom, and a fun sliding interactive component that lets you see the visual impact of pattern and color on everyday items like pants and shirts.
“Runway Remix: Fashion in Focus” shows us that inspiration and interpretation flows in multiple streams within our creative watershed. A poem sparks a painting; a dance inspires a sculpture. Elements and techniques are shared, co-opted, ripped off, or translated into a new dynamic. A fresh creative piece is born. It’s exciting. We will never run out of ideas.
Installation views of “Runway Remix: Fashion in Focus” at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library’s Alice D. Sabatini Gallery. Photos by Leslie VonHolten for The SHOUT.
The Details
“Runway Remix: Fashion in Focus”
February 27-May 17, 2026, at the Alice C. Sabatini Gallery, Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library, 1515 S.W. 10th Ave. in Topeka, Kansas
The Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library hours are Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.-6 p.m., and Sundays noon-9 p.m.
Admission is free to the public, and the facility is accessible to people with physical disabilities.
Related reviews in The SHOUT:
- Stitches in time: 'À La Mode' at Mark Arts
- Mixed-media style: 'The Future is Fashion' at Envision Arts Gallery
Leslie VonHolten is an arts and environmental writer who lives in Lawrence, Kansas. She is co-editor, with Thomas Fox Averill, of "Kansas Matters: 21st-century Writers on the Sunflower State."
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