Back to Inside

Postcards from Midlin

By Julie Rausch

Clark Britton, WSU professor of art, and Tom Averill, professor and English writer-in-residence at Washburn University, have collaborated on a series of postcard illustrations of a fictional Kansas town in the late 1950s. But the story line written on the backs of the cards has a connection to a real-life place — WSU, then the University of Wichita.

The public will have a chance to view this collaboration during three showings in two Kansas cities later this year.

After completing several creative projects and going into phased retirement in spring 1996, Britton, feeling retrospective, envisioned drawing postcards from Midlin, a mythical community. The postcards would be written to a young man who had left the small Kansas town to attend the University of Wichita in 1957.

“The idea was that I would create the messages along with postcard drawings, and his family and friends would send messages to the boy, Ken Johnson, about home,” said Britton, who joined the university faculty in 1957.

He soon abandoned the idea of writing the messages because drawing the postcards consumed his time and focus. Britton said the process of the drawings was in snapshot vision from his mind of a particular place and he drew them in pen without preparatory sketches or references.

“It was a direct envisioning of the aspect of the city,” Britton said. “As I worked on it, I began to think about the community where the place became so familiar as I imagined it, and in a sense, it became like a real place to me.”

Accompanied with descriptions, the 38 postcard illustrations done on cream-colored paper include Midlin Main Street, the Chichkawh Bridge over the Blue River, a boy getting on the bus, the volunteer fire department, the doctor’s office over the drug store and the U.S. Post Office east of the Union Pacific tracks.

After completion, the postcards were put in a drawer for about a year until Britton had a conversation with George Platt, associate professor emeritus of public administration. Britton showed his Midlin postcards to Platt who suggested he send them to the Britton showed his Midlin postcards to Platt who suggested he send them to the University Press of Kansas. The editor referred Britton to Averill. Inspired by Britton’s drawings, Averill decided to write a story centered around Midlin.

“I was very struck by Clark’s work, and the more I looked at it, and thought about the place and the details, the more I found a particular mood, and with that, started thinking of a story,” Averill said.

With Britton’s collaboration and vision, the locale and architecture of the 1950s town helped inspire Averill’s story, “Jump Shot” about Ken Johnson.

“I began by trying to write a story that refers in some way or other to all of the postcard illustrations,” said Averill. “But it was too long, so I cut it to its dramatic core and then used the postcards to have Midliners write to Ken after he leaves Midlin to attend Wichita University.”

Woven in the story are references to the first showing of “The Wizard of Oz” on television, William Inge plays shown on Broadway including the feature film “Picnic” which was shot in Kansas, Dwight Eisenhower in the White House, and life in 1950s Kansas.

“Jump Shot” took on a life of its own through its characters. It’s a 3,000-word story about Ken in his senior year in high school. He is trying hard to get over his sister’s drowning death, and trying to win the basketball championship for his school. He fails on both accounts, but learns more about himself. At the end of the story he leaves for Wichita. The postcards continue the story while Ken is at WU, staying in room 32 in Brennan Hall. At the end of that story line, Ken decides not to return to Midlin.

“The metaphor of the jump shot is that you plant yourself firmly, but then you let go,” said Averill.

Britton and Averill did the actual handwriting on some of the postcards. Averill wrote postcards from Ken’s dad and Britton wrote postcards from Ken’s friend, Bill, and his high school coach. They commissioned two women, Eva Williams, a Wichita public school principal, and Amy Fleury, assistant professor of English at Washburn, to write postcards from Ken’s mother and sister.

The postcards, descriptions, Midlin city map, the “Jump Shot” story, and artist statements about the self-published collaboration will be included in a 36-page catalogue available at three exhibitions.

The Kansas Historical Museum in Topeka will show the matted and framed postcards from Dec. 11-Jan. 15. The exhibition also will be shown for three weeks in the Union Building on the campus of Washburn Jan. 19-Feb. 12. Newman University will show Britton’s and Averill’s work Feb. 22-March 12, including a presentation and reception from 4-6 p.m. March 8 in DeMattis Gallery.

Inside WSU is published by the Office of University Communications for Wichita State University faculty and staff on Fridays - with an exclusive online versionevery other Friday - during the fall and spring semesters. Items to be considered forpublication should be sent to campus box 62 or amy.geiszler-jones@wichita.edu 10 days before publication.

Editor
Amy Geiszler-Jones

Online Designer
Matthew Hicks