Topeka Magazine | winter 2023 by Sunflower Publishing

W IN TE R 20 23

Art by

Algorithm How artificial intelligence sees and creates art, and what that means for the Topeka art world.

also in this issue CALENDAR OF WINTER EVENTS SOME OF THE CITY'S BEST PIES DOLLYWOOD FOR ALL GENERATIONS

2023 – 2024

Tickets on sale

NOW!

A Prairie Home Companion 50th Anniversary 7:30 p.m. Sat., Jan. 13, 2024

Step Afrika! 7:30 p.m. Sat., Apr. 6, 2024

Come From Away

Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain

7:30 p.m. Thur., Jan. 25, 2024

7:30 p.m. Thur., Apr. 11, 2024

Jesus Christ Superstar

The Midtown Men

7:30 p.m. Wed., Jan. 31, 2024

7:30 p.m. Sat., Apr. 13, 2024

Peking Acrobats

The Spinners

7:30 p.m. Wed., Feb. 7, 2024

7:30 p.m. Tue., May 7, 2024

Diane Schuur at 70

Buddy Guy: Damn Right Farewell

7:30 p.m. Sun., Feb. 11, 2024

Pretty Woman: The Musical

7:30 p.m. Mon., June 24, 2024

8 p.m. Sun., Feb. 18, 2024

MOMIX: Alice 7:30 p.m. Tue., Apr. 2, 2024

785-532-6428 | mccain.k-state.edu |

Dates, artists, venue and ticket prices subject to change.

McCainAuditorium |

mccainksu

Brookwood Retail Liquor

Shear Heaven Styling

Dillons

SoulFire Nutrition

Fox The Barber

Stillpoint Massage and Body Work

H&R Block

Stitching Traditions

Heart and Home Design Co.

Tequila’s Mexican Restaurant

Interior Design Resources

The Burger Stand

Kansas Drug Testing

The Laundry Chute

Linen Tree & Company

The Tasteful Olive

Madison Avenue Boutique

The Wild Bird House

Pam Luthi Insurance Solutions

TopCity Tech

Prairie Trading Company

Triple Edge Barbers

Ryan’s Pub

Wheatland Antique Mall

Sewing Shack

TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Winter 2023

FROM THE EDITOR WINTER 2023, VOLUME 18, NO. 1

Photograph by Andrea Etzel.

Editor Nathan Pettengill Art Director/Designer Alex Tatro Copy Editor Leslie Clugston Andres Advertising Representative Angie Taylor ataylor@sunflowerpub.com (785) 832-7236 Photographer Andrea Etzel Writers Haines Eason Andrea Etzel Susan Kraus AI Art

Welcome to the winter 2023 edition of Topeka Magazine! In this edition, we continue Andrea Etzel’s “You've Got to Try This!” column of great dishes around the city. This time, she invites us to join her on a tour of four of the best pie venues. If you have not already checked them all off your list, then you can think us for the excuse to complete the tour, or to start it all over again. Looking to the holidays and ahead to off-season travel in 2024, Susan Kraus brings us an idea for a perfect intergenerational family travel destination—Dollywood. Call the grandparents and pack up the grandkids for this destination that provides theme-park thrills amid the peaceful and inspiring scenery of the Smoky Mountains. We also have Haines Eason's feature story on how artificial intelligence (AI) is affecting the art world, with commentary and insight from Topeka artists and gallery curators. This story goes along with Tom Averill’s feature story on AI poetry and creative writing that appeared in our previous ( fall) edition. If you missed that edition, you can read it online at sunflowerpub.com. And, of course, we have our calendar of recommended events highlighting holiday fun and winter opportunities throughout Topeka. However you decide to spend the season, we’re delighted to share a bit of your time and wish you the very best. — NAT H A N P E T T E N G I L L , E D I T O R We’ll see you again in the spring.

On the Cover

WINTER 2023

Art by

Algorithm How artificial intelligence sees and creates art, and what that means for the Topeka art world.

also in this issue CALENDAR OF WINTER EVENTS SOME OF THE CITY'S BEST PIES DOLLYWOOD FOR ALL GENERATIONS

The AI progam Midjourney created this image through a reverse-interrogration process applied to an original oil painting, Mary Huntoon's Interior, Hicks Block, 1900s, oil on canvas, 32 x 42," TSCPL Permanent Collection, Gift of Willis MacEntarfer. Painting used with permission of the Alice C. Sabatini Gallery.

Savva Pettengill

Subscriptions $27 for a one-year subscription; email topekamagazine@sunflowerpub.com Please contact us at topekamagazine@sunflowerpub.com for all comments, subscription and editorial queries.

Topeka Magazine is a publication of Sunflower Publishing, a division of Ogden Publications. Director: Bob Cucciniello Publisher: Bill Uhler Ogden Publications 1503 SW 42nd St Topeka, KS 66609

sunflowerpub.com topekamag.com

Landscape, Design and Maintenance topekalandscape.com | 785.232.8837

WHAT’S INSIDE TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Winter 2023

D E PA R T M E N T S 10 D O L LY W O O D F O R T H E H O L I D AY S

Call the grandparents. Gather up the grandkids. This is the nottoo-far destination for small and multigenerational families to enjoy over the holidays or during the offseasons in 2024

13 W H AT ' S H A P P E N I N G

A list of winter events in Topeka

16 Y O U ' VE G O T T O T RY

THIS … TOPEKA'S PIES

New bakeries and old favorites cook up specialty pies for all occasions and all weather … get your list ready to sample them all in the coming year

F E AT U R E 22 M A K E M E A M O N E T

Within a short time, artificial intelligence has become capable of creating technically masterful digital images that can mimic any style of art. What does this mean for Topekans whose lives revolve around teaching and sharing art?

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TOPEKA TALK

TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Winter 2023

You say goodbye, Who Made This?

See the Exhibition

Our feature story on art and artificial intelligence also forms the basis for an exhibit in the main hall of the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library. Sherry Best, art collection curator for the library’s Alice C. Sabatini Gallery, displays the work we chose to feature in our article and provides some additional commentary on the AI-generated artwork that we created in response to the library’s collection as part of our feature story. The images and commentary will be on display until the end of January.

In this edition of Topeka Magazine, we chose to feature several images generated by artificial intelligence. We include these images deliberately and in adherence to emerging professional standards in journalism for AI text and imagery. It is our policy not to use text, photos, or artwork generated by artificial intelligence unless they are a subject of the story itself and required for illustrative purposes (as was the case with this issue). We are not a publication that hoodwinks readers with robot-text and robot-images. Since our founding, we have been dedicated to relying on the work of local writers, photographers, illustrators, and other artists to create the magazine. We also compensate all contributors for their labor. Similarly, locations and people featured in the magazine are—and have always been—chosen by the contributors, and their appearance is independent of any commercial or advertising connections.

and I say hello…. Next Edition hello…. hello!”

This edition marks 17 years of Topeka Magazine. We’ll continue into our 18th year with the spring 2024 edition, which arrives in early March and focuses on stories about gardening and the outdoors. If you do not live in our distribution area, you can always pick up a complimentary copy of our magazine at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library.

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COMING THIS WINTER AT THEATRE LAWRENCE

December 1, 2, 3; 7, 8, 9, 10; 14, 15, 16, 17 In a quiet café a cell phone incessantly rings, unanswered. In an act of compassion and curiosity a stranger at the next table over answers the phone. What begins as a simple gesture to console a deceased man's loved ones quickly spirals into a surreal and mysterious adventure.

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A gripping Miss Marple whodunit from the Queen of Crime! An announcement in the local paper states the time and place of an imminent murder. When a stranger turns up dead at the appointed time it becomes a classic Christie puzzle of motives, concealed identities, twists and turns, and a dramatic reveal before the final curtain.

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10 TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Winter 2023

TRAVEL

Dollywood for the Holidays Call the grandparents. Gather up the grandkids. This is the not-too-far destination for small and multigenerational families to enjoy over the holidays or during the off-seasons in 2024 STORY BY Susan Kraus

There are amusement parks, and then there are theme parks. Amusement parks have rides and are geared for thrills. Theme parks have rides, but within the context of story. That’s what Dollywood is—a theme park inspired by the childhood, life, soul and spirit of country singer legend and philanthropist Dolly Parton that also celebrates the overlooked culture of southern Appalachia: values, music, cuisine, connection to nature and the importance of family. You can come to Dollywood for the rides, but it is the music, the culture, and the ambiance that make this theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, my top beyondTopeka recommendation for families to explore together in 2024.

Dollywood features traditional rides and thrills, but the park shines in offering these attractions as part of a larger theme that includes musical performances and craft demonstrations.

NAVIGATING DOLLYWOOD A full day’s drive from Topeka, or a few hours if you fly into Nashville or Charlotte, Dollywood is nestled in beautiful, rugged landscape north of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. There are plenty of areas for the youngest of visitors. Country Fair and The Village are home to an array of kiddie rides, from Amazing Flying Elephants to Demolition Derby to a Sky Rider and more. The Penguin Players put on shows for kids and families based on Dolly’s “Imagination Library,” a book donation program Parton started to foster literacy, with over 200 million books mailed to kids around the globe in the last 25 years. The rides for older kids and adults are named both to evoke the atmosphere of

TRAVEL

Winter 2023 | TOPEKA MAGAZINE

rural Appalachian life: Big Bear Mountain, Great Tree Swing, Mystery Mine, Lumberjack Lifts, Daredevil Falls and Tennessee Tornado. These rides have “Parent Swap” areas, where one parent can wait with little ones while the other parent rides, then go to the front of the line as soon as the other parent gets off. MUSIC AND MORE A queen of country music is not going to neglect musicians at her theme park. Visitors can sample free performances of blue grass, folk, roots, nostalgic rock, and gospel. On my recent visit, I found 11 performance options to choose from. EAGLE SANCTUARY Dollywood is also home to the nation’s largest eagle sanctuary. Wings of America outdoor theater features three daily shows about raptors (both educational and entertaining), where immense birds may fly directly over your head. RESTAURANTS In every valley or junction, fair or grove of the theme park, you’ll find food. The Front Porch was a great respite for a midafternoon meal. But if you want to splurge, book Aunt Granny’s! It’s a flat fee of just under $30 per adult with family-style meals. Of course, leave room for the park’s cinnamon bread! It’s best bought warm from the Grist Mill, then consumed immediately after lathering it with buttercream icing or apple butter. For many families, tearing into the cinnamon bread is part of the Dollywood ritual. SHOPPING If you want traditional theme park souvenirs and kitsch, you can find them. But Craftsman’s Valley sells traditional crafts from artists you can observe working: glass blowers, portrait artists, candlemakers, blacksmiths, luthiers, and more. And then there are my favorite takeaway crafts—the edible ones! The artisanal honey, jams, candy, and sauces are all wonderful. WHEN TO VISIT Unless it’s the only time possible, avoid summer. April–May and September–October are lovely, but the winter holiday season is magical. Some families do a few days at Dollywood in lieu of presents, and extended families gather to let cousins connect. LOGISTICS Prices might change, and there are some specials. As of now, a one-day adult ticket is $89 (child $79). The better buys are two-day passes at $109 for adults and $99 for children, and three-day passes at $119 for adults and $109 for children. The multiday passes can be used over any five-day period, so younger and older travelers can build in down days, as well as the chance to alternate the thrills of riding Big Bear Mountain with exploring the natural majesty of Smoky Mountains National Park.

Fried green tomatoes are featured at the Dollywood restaurants. This view from Dollywood's official guest lodging highlights the natural beauty of the Smoky Mountains. All photos courtesy Dollywood.

lied.ku.edu | 785-864-2787 See complete season online

The Steps of a Good Man A stage play written and directed by R. Rita Rials fresh production of the DEC 7 Abeloved holiday classic

JAN 13

7:00 pm

7:30 pm

Ira Glass Creator and host of public radio’s This American Life

JAN 27

JAN 31

7:30 pm

Prairie Winds Festival with

A true community event benefiting the Lawrence Schools Foundation

The Westerlies

FEB 3 7:30 pm

Valedictorian level sponsors:

Featuring multiple wind ensembles

Voices of Service

FEB 9 7:30 pm

Inspirational vocal quartet of veteran service members

Gift certificates available any time of year!

FEB 4 7:00 pm

Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra

Bud & Sheryl JACOBS

FEB 26 7:30 pm

Free on-site parking for performances.

WHAT’S HAPPENING

DECEMBER FEATURED EVENT

Kready Holiday Spectacular December 23

Topeka native and Broadway star Jeff Kready and his wife, Broadway star Nikki Renée Daniels, present two shows of holiday music. Maria Cuevas of the band “Maria the Mexican," singers from El Shaddai Ministries Community Church of Topeka, the Shawnee Choral Society and other Topeka performers join the hosts for musical performances.

topekaperformingarts.org | 785.234.2787

Ongoing–December 22 (various dates) It’s a Wonderful Life

The Topeka Civic Theatre presents Philip Grecian’s adaptation of the Frank Capra holiday film classic. Different dates include a brunch or dinner with the production. topekacivictheatre.com | 785.357.5211.

Ongoing–December 31 TARC’s Winter Wonderland

A Topeka tradition—two miles of holiday lights strung across the Lake Shawnee campgrounds for families and friends to enjoy. Ticket proceeds benefit the mission of TARC, the city’s nonprofit dedicated to assisting individuals with intellectual, developmental and related disabilities. Suggested donations are $10 per car, and the display is open 6–9 p.m. on Mondays–Wednesdays and 6–10 p.m. on Tuesdays–Sundays. winterwonderlandtopeka.com

Ongoing–December 30 Zoo Lights

Enjoy the garden landscape of the Topeka Zoo as it bathes in holiday lights and displays. The evening show calendar for December includes special theme nights, the opportunity to rent private party igloos and more. Children’s tickets are $9; adult tickets are $12–$14 depending on night. topekazoo.org/zoolights | 785.783.4264

December 1–20 (various dates)

Songs of the Seasons A range of musical groups—including school groups, woodwind quartets, flute ensembles and more perform seasonal songs in the rotunda of the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library. All concerts are free. tscpl.org | 785.580.4400

Winter 2023 | TOPEKA MAGAZINE

December 2

Miracle on Kansas Avenue Parade Topeka’s annual holiday parade through the heart of downtown. The parade, which includes floats in holiday lights, kicks off from 5th and Kansas Avenue at 6 p.m.

December 2

Most Wonderful Time The Topeka Symphony Orchestra joins with local high school choirs for audience singalong renditions of favorite holiday songs. topekasymphony.org | 785.232.2032

December 2, 9 and 16 NOTO Holiday Market

Gather at the NOTO Arts Center for a holiday gift market of local arts and crafts. explorenoto.org

December 3

I’m So Glad: Kansas City and the Roots of Gospel Music The Topeka & Shawnee County Library presents a free showing of the 3-hour documentary exploring the historic roots and the worldwide impact of the Kansas City gospel culture. tscpl.org | 785.580.4400

December 3

BowDog and Friends The Topeka Jazz Workshop presents BowDog, acclaimed Topeka bassist and composer Bob Bowman and various musician friends, for a night of jazz. topekaperformingarts.org | topekajazz.com

December 3, 10 and 17 Pickin’ on the Prairie

Americana roots music concerts at the Potwin Drug Store in Old Prairie Town, sponsored by Grandpa Barry’s Guitars and Shawnee County Parks & Recreation. “Old Prairie Town at Ward-Meade” on Facebook

December 4, 11 and 18 Medicare Advice

Volunteer experts with the nonprofit Jayhawk Area Agency on Aging provide guidance and suggestions for those signing up for Medicare for the first time (December 4 and 11), and for a special focus on Medicare Part D (December 18). The free event is held at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library and requires registration. tscpl.org | 785.580.4400

WHAT’S HAPPENING

14 TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Winter 2023 December 6

December 18

January 16

Washburn University’s sopranoalto choir, VoxAura, presents an evening of Christmas music in the Grace Episcopal Cathedral. greatspaces.org | 785.235.3457

Topeka Festival Singers host an evening of holiday choral music at the White Concert Hall of Washburn University. topekafestivalsingers.org | 785.274.9009

Topeka Audubon Society hosts bird-themed conversations and dinner at Blind Tiger Brewery. Please register by sending an email before January 14. topekaaudubonsociety.org

December 19

January 18

The Spire Ensemble presents this traditional holiday performance inside Grace Cathedral. greatspaces.org | 785.235.3457

Country pop and Christian rock multi-gold-album band Sawyer Brown performs at the Prairie Band Casino & Resort. prairieband.com

Wolcom Yule

December 6, 13 Noon Noels

The First Presbyterian Church of Topeka hosts high school choral groups for a concert of seasonal music, sing-alongs, and meal served before and after each performance. Attendance is free, and suggested meal donation is $5. fpctopeka.org | 785.233.9601

December 8–10

Ballet Midwest Presents The Nutcracker Topeka-based Ballet Midwest’s performs the family holiday dance classic. Special 4-pack family discounts are available through advance purchase from Barbara’s Conservatory of Dance or from a cast member. topekaperformingarts.org | balletmidwest.net

December 9 Santa Paws

The Helping Hands Humane Society provides opportunity for your pet to sit for holiday photos with the North Pole’s biggest fan of all pets. Special times are reserved for holiday photos of pets who might be frightened by men or costumes. Photo session donations are $15 and should be reserved in advance. 2023SantaPaws.givesmart.com | hhhstopeka.org | 785.233.7325

December 10

Mannheim Steamroller Christmas Popular electronic-pop holidaythemed musical group provides a one-day concert at the Stormont Vail Events Center. stormontvaileventscenter.com

December 16–17

Kansas Ballet: The Nutcracker Topeka-based ballet troupe pairs with the Topeka Symphony Orchestra and professional ballet artists to stage the holiday fairy tale. topekaperformingarts.org | kansasballet.com

Journey: A Holiday Concert

Handel’s The Messiah

December 27 Geri-Fit

The Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library helps seniors get a jump on New Year’s fitness goals with this Tier III fitness class that focuses on rebuilding lost muscle strength. Free with pre-registration. tscpl.org | 785.580.4400

Birds & Beer Dinner

Sawyer Brown

January 19–February 10 (various dates) Drinking Habits

The Topeka Civic Theatre presents a play about two nuns who create a secret winery to keep their nunnery afloat. topekacivictheatre.com | 785.357.5211

December 27–29

January 20–21

Meet a life-sized Curious George mascot and then explore the ongoing exhibition Curious George: Let’s Get Curious as the beloved children’s book hero guides visitors through interactive math, science and engineering displays. kansasdiscovery.org/events | 785.783.8300

Topeka Friends of the Library holds sale of high-quality donated books, CDs, and other media. Members-only preview sale on January 19. tscpl.org | 785.580.4400

Meet Curious George

December 31

New Year’s Eve in the Tropics The Beacon hosts a tropicalthemed ballroom dance night to ring in the new year. beacontopeka.com | 785.409.6715

JANUARY FEATURED EVENT

First Friday Artwalk January 5

Art galleries, artist studios, businesses, and more open for an evening of shows and performances. Repeats on the first Friday of every month in 2023.

artstopeka.org

Book and Media Sale

January 20 Rivers

The Topeka Symphony Orchestra presents an evening of music dedicated to rivers and water-inspired music, including Handel’s Water Music Suite in D Major (movements 1 and 2) and Florence Price’s Mississippi River Suite. Guest violinist Francesca Anderegg will be featured in a performance of Astor Piazzolla’s popular tangoinfluenced Four Seasons of Buenos Aires. topekasymphony.org | 785.232.2032

January 26–28

Kansas Sports and Outdoors Classic Stormont Vail Events Center hosts one of the region’s largest vendor displays of the latest outdoor gear and accessories. stormontvaileventscenter.com

FEBRUARY FEATURED EVENT

Unfinished Business February 17

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra trombonist Denson Paul Pollard brings solo performances to The Topeka Symphony Orchestra’s lineup of two compositions written specifically for bass trombone and orchestra. The evening also features Sibelius’ popular Karelia Suite and Schubert’s famous unfinished symphony, Symphony No. 8. topekasymphony.org | 785.232.2032

February 2–4

Topeka Home Show The Topeka Area Building Associaion and Stormont Vail Events Center host vendor and information booths dedicated to home improvement and construction projects. stormontvaileventscenter.com

February 15

Dinosaur World Live Topeka Performing Arts Center hosts a family-friendly stage performance of lifelike dinosaur puppet-figures. topekaperformingarts.org | 785.234.2787

February 16–18

Kansas Lawn and Garden Show Stormont Vail Events Center hosts vendors and experts on home lawn and garden improvement. stormontvaileventscenter.com

February 20

Birds & Beer Dinner Topeka Audubon Society hosts bird-themed conversations and dinner at Blind Tiger Brewery. Please register by sending an email before February 18. topekaaudubonsociety.org

February 24–25

Great Overland Comic Convention Shawnee County Parks & Recreation hosts two days of gaming, cosplay, and comicindustry vendors at the Great Overland Station. “Great Overland Station” on Facebook

16 TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Winter 2023

LOCALE

You’ve Got to Try This …

Topeka’s Pies New bakeries and old favorites cook up specialty pies for all occasions and all weather … get your list ready to sample them all in the coming year STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY Andrea Etzel

The Big Cheese from Dad's Buns

LOCALE

Winter 2023 | TOPEKA MAGAZINE

Pie must be one of the most versatile desserts. Sweet, tart, savory, gooey or creamy—no matter the season or what you’re in the mood for, there is a pie for it. In this edition of “You’ve Got to Try This,” I challenged myself to experience some of the best pies in our community and surrounding area. It was a tough assignment, but someone had to do it. DAD’S BUNS Maggie Sullivan knew it was time to for a change. The pandemic and sudden loss of her mother led Sullivan to grieve and then reassess her next steps in life. She attended a virtual leadership conference in May 2020 and was motivated to pursue a lifelong interest in baking. “That year for Mother’s Day I sold 27 cheesecakes,” she recalls. By 2021, she opened her home bakery, Dad’s Buns, specializing in pies and baked treats such as cookies, scones, empanadas, and—of course—sweet buns. Sullivan says whatever she does, she hopes to combine tradition and sophistication. “I strive to achieve a very balanced and complex flavor that makes you crave your next bite,” she explains. Her Big Cheese, for example, is a traditional graham cracker crusted, New York–style cheesecake with a delectable sour-cream-based topping that sets it apart from the others. It’s not overtly sweet or too rich, the tanginess of the cream cheese shines through, and the fresh berries on the topping boost the aesthetics and flavor. Sullivan says her favorite pie is an old standard. “It may seem simple, but I love making my cherry pie,” Sullivan says. “Tart cherries are a must and just the right amount of sugar.” That cherry pie is Sullivan’s best seller most of the year though her pecan pie makes a run for that top spot during the winter holidays. Whether making a traditional, creative or special-order pie, Sullivan enjoys the process of shaping and baking all of them. “I love making pies simply for the amount of handiwork it requires,” Sullivan says. “Rolling out the crust is very relaxing to me.” Dad’s Buns | dadsbuns.com

Maggie Sullivan switched careers during the pandemic to open Dad's Buns, a boutique bakery that cooks up everything from sweet buns to pecan pies.

18 TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Winter 2023

LOCALE

SOMMERSET CAFÉ If there is a line outside the door of a café, then it is almost always worth stopping by and sampling some dishes. Sommerset Café’s Friday night country-style dinners are one of the biggest reasons you’ll find lines outside of this café to the southwest of Topeka. If you haven’t been there for a Friday meal, arrive early and leave room for pie. The main dishes rotate and come with plenty of side dishes. For example, there might be fried chicken with salad, mashed potatoes and white gravy, corn and a dinner roll. But there is always a towering pie case in the middle of the hall. The case reads “Homemade Pies” and lists the flavors available that day. The staff say that the best seller is coconut cream, which on this night sold out after only 30 minutes. Other favorites include lemon, banana cream, cherry or strawberry rhubarb. Sommerset Café has been known nationally since it was featured on Good Morning America in 2008. Becky Frank, who purchased the restaurant in March 2023, recognizes she has a long tradition of irresistible fresh and crust-perfect pies to uphold. On any day, she is baking pies for the restaurant as well as for out-of-state mail orders, which are shipped out with twoday notice for whole pies. Sommerset Café | 5701 SW Douglas Rd, Dover | 785.256.6223

Sommerset Cafe has earned a reputation for serving up generous comfort-food meals and fresh-baked pies.

WHAT TOPEKA IS READING

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20 TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Winter 2023

LOCALE

BOBO’S DRIVE IN Bobo’s, Topeka’s iconic retro carhop diner, keeps the pie choices simple—apple pie with ice cream or apple pie without ice cream. With ice cream is the correct choice, but that doesn’t mean the pie isn’t perfect. Much like the 1948 diner itself, the apple pie here is an American classic, from the tender, golden crust, to the subtle blend of cinnamon and sugar that mixes perfectly with the tangy apple filling. When owners Trisha and Richard Marsh became owners of Bobo’s in 2007, they inherited the diner’s recipes, so the apple pie served today is the same one customers have been enjoying over the last 70 years. It’s all made from scratch, and the recipe is top secret. Not even Guy Fieri, the bleach-blond host of Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, could get the recipe when he visited the Capital City in 2008. Between winning a spot on national TV showcases and being named one of the 8 Wonders of Kansas Cuisine by the Kansas Sampler Foundation, Bobo’s and its famous apple pie have garnered a reputation that extends far beyond Topeka. Be sure to find out—or confirm once more—why the pie has become famous. In case one slice isn’t enough, whole apple pies are available as well. Bobo’s Drive In | 2300 SW 10th Ave. | 785.234.4511

Both Bobo's Drive In and Bradley's Cafe have continued legacy pie traditions under new ownership.

BRADLEY’S CORNER CAFE When I would mentioned to friends that I was working on a story about pie in Topeka, the usual response was “You’re going to include Bradley’s.” It was most always a statement, not a question. With more than 20 pie options and nearly two decades of generous hospitality, this North Topeka cafe is synonymous with pie for many Topekans. Of course I was going to include Bradley’s. Until pie tragedy struck. But not for long. While Bradley's did close down for the summer and some of the fall, it opened again in October. New owner Jacques Duchesneau has debuted a menu with 20 different pies. The restaurant is taking holiday orders and asks for 24-hour notice for whole pie orders. Bradley's is now open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on all other days. Bradley’s Corner Café | 844 N. Kansas Ave. | 785.235.0086

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a Monet STORY BY Haines Eason

We asked the AI program Midjourney to analyze and then recreate Mary Huntoon's Interior, Hicks Block (1900s, oil on canvas) from the permanent collection of the Alice C. Sabatini Gallery. On the right is the original, and below is Midjourney's reinterpretation. The image on our cover page is another Midjourney reinterpretation of this same painting.

rtificial intelligence is here … and has been for some time. Banks use artificial intelligence, AI, to help speed fraud detection. Email, word processing, and other text-drafting applications have employed autofill for a handful of years now. Our phones are full of AI applications predicting what we will search or where we will go. And, those product recommendations on our favorite shopping sites? Those are, more often than not, robot curated. But what happens when AI moves from helpful tasks to creative endeavors such as visual art— painting and drawing—that has, in part, defined what it means to be human? That’s a question that is being discussed in all sorts of creative circles, including at the Alice C. Sabatini Gallery, home to the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library’s rich and renowned art collection and part of an institution devoted to public education and empowerment. Their struggle to define the possibilities and limitations of AI-generated art for the general public and artists represents a broader wariness and uncertainty about the role of AI in our daily lives and in our understanding of what sets us apart from machines.

The Gallery Until now, the collection of more than 7,900 holdings, at the Alice C. Sabatini Gallery includes paintings, ceramics, carvings, prints, photographs and more—almost all created by humans, save for a few pioneering computer-programming works from 1964 and beyond. Like any collection, the Sabatini holdings contain some works deemed more valuable than others, but as a whole it represents the richness and variety of artists from different cultures, countries, generations, and creative approaches. But now, the uniqueness of this, or any collection, faces a challenge with AI-generated art. The sophistication and scope of AI-generated art has expanded exponentially in the past year. Nearly anyone can use a program such as DALL-E 2 or Midjourney to create a digital image in any style—from a Flemish Baroque style painting to Banksy-mimic graffiti style.

25 Midjourney recreated (below) Helen Hodge's 1900's oil on canvas The Heavens Declare the Glory (left) after scanning the image, describing its features and then being asked to create an image with those exact same features.

With some training and practice, a person can develop “engineering prompt” skills to refine the AI’s output and shape the work, almost partnering with the creation. This is what happened when Jason Allen’s AI-generated work, “Théâtre D’opéra Spatial,” famously and controversially won the 2022 Colorado State Fair digital painting contest. The detailed quasi-magical scene of light pouring into a cavernous, regally decorated room through a wide, circular window angered many in the art community and set off an explosive debate. Some argue that AI-generated art is simply another form of art, and that it is facing the same type of snobbish denial that photography faced in some art circles in the 19th century. Others counter that AI-generated or AI-assisted creations cannot be considered art at all because they exist only by scouring and stealing elements from existing human works that can be found online. Navigating this debate, the Sabatini gallery finds itself facing several key questions: Should they teach how to create AI-generated art? Would they buy it for their collection? Display it permanently? Have they drawn a line between acceptable and unacceptable AI art? The answers are yes, maybe, maybe, and no. “I don’t think I’ve drawn one,” says Sherry Best, the Sabatini’s gallery collection curator, in answering whether there is a clear division between acceptable and unacceptable AI art. She goes on to explain the approach to AI as one of balancing the gallery’s role of preserving culture and serving the public.

“It’s still so new,” adds Zan Popp, the library’s public services supervisor, a position which includes overseeing the gallery as well as several information and learning aspects of the library. “We curate stories,” she adds. “And, if a piece helps to tell a story, I don’t see why we’d leave it out.” Both Best and Popp are adamant that their gallery’s approach to any AI-art question will be guided by their mission to engage and inform their audience. If the team were to bring a work of AI-generated art into the library’s collection, the in-house curators and other art experts would follow the same process they do with any work and be open about the source and the tools used to create it. There might even be an argument to include AI-generated art as a moment in the historical conversation. “At this point, there’s still going to be an artist behind AI,” Best notes. “Someone’s going to have to prompt it. So, is the idea good? Is it relevant to what’s going on in our society and community right now? It really depends on the individual piece.” In other words, the old rules still apply. Sort of. The gallery has already instituted rules about reproductions and derivative types of art. For instance, the library does not collect giclées, highquality, museum-gift-shop–grade prints of a work of art. Even though giclée prints are high quality, Popp and Best say that these works undermine the concept of original works and authentic collections.

“Is it a copy?” Popp asks as she lists the gallery’s concerns. “Is it an original? Are we receiving it in the only way we should? And, if a work of art is created digitally, how is it meant to be displayed?” Best picks up the thread: “If it was created digitally and presented digitally, what format would it be in? Is it a video? Is it meant to be seen on a screen? Is it meant to be printed? And, if something is digital, what museums and collectors have to think about is ‘when there’s a new format, can we translate this document or file into that new format or medium? Vinyl, cassettes, 8-tracks, beta, VHS… Can we keep it live? If we can’t transfer it, should we be collecting it?” Ultimately, any collection is also a matter of choices based on funds and storage space. What would the curators do if they had unlimited storage and funding to explore, share, show AI art? Best says she would create something that focused on unlimited bandwidth, processing power, storage and program-access to give the public the ability to experiment in creating their own AI art. The library would offer workshops on how to prompt AI to various ends. There would be training for the trainers, too.

“I know eventually we’ll have someone come in and want to know how it works,” she says. “Nooks and Kindles created moments like this for library staff all over the country,” she continues. “We had to be able to teach the new tech.” Popp says she sees the Sabatini as having an advantage in this sense because it can draw on existing library resources. “The beauty of a library is we have the people to help you find what you need. We might not have exactly what you’re looking for, but we’re still helping you discover those tools if that’s the direction you want to go,” Popp says. “We’re still here, as always, to help you learn—at your pace, your chosen topics. It’s the same at the gallery. Our goal is to help people ‘get art.’ Ask the questions, even if you think they might not be the right ones.” Questions about art, both Popp and Best say, touch on timeless and repeated cultural questions about ideas, individual identity, communities, and values. And for that reason, we should create and expose ourselves to art of all varieties. “Art belongs in your everyday life,” Best adds. “It’s hard to ignore a picture.”

The programs DALL-E 2 and CLIP Interrogator created this image (upper left) after analyzing and being asked to recreate an image similar to George M. Stone's 1907 oil on canvas, Kansas Cornfield.

The Artist Ye Wang, an art and drawing professor at Washburn University, says that AI-generated art has already reshaped the world of design, but it might not have as strong an impact on creative art. “AI is a very, very powerful tool,” Wang says. “In the past, you might have needed 100 designers for a job. Now, with this new tool or some other, you probably only need 10.” In part, this impact on design is because design work is often commercially focused for mass production and use. A promotional billboard or a poster can fully exist in the digital world and does not require an original, physical work behind it to fulfill its purpose. Fine art, Wang says, is more resilient to AI-takeover because it involves tactile aspects and should stem from an original copy that will carry ideas and physical signs of its creator. “AI art cannot convey an artist’s personal marks or emotion. There’s no life in it,” Wang says. “Although AI can make a portrait so beautifully, when you see it, somehow it’s still machine-made.” And not only is it machine-made, Wang says, it has to be machine-made twice over. “When a work of AI is done, when you want to actually show it as a piece of art, you have to print it out, and that can never really show the beauty of the art materials,” Wang says. “A real work has physical textures that you can touch and brush marks you can see and touch. On a print, everything’s flat. You don’t really feel the physical thing.” Looking to the future, Wang says he will continue to teach students to create art on their own, through traditional methods, rather than prepare them for a shift toward AI-generated art. But he does encourage his students to explore the technology independently, and he does so himself. “I still make original art with my brushes and paint. But I would definitely explore the tools. Why not use it as some sort of a design for my painting?” he says. “I definitely encourage my painting students to take advantage of the technology. When you can use that technology to do a design for your painting, you can make better paintings, right?” For Wang, as an artist, there is a definite line between AI and human art. “AI is completely from human wisdom, but it can never replace human wisdom,” Wang says.

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The Robots Do the Sabatini STORY BY Nathan Pettengill How would artificial intelligence reimagine works of art from the collection of the Alice C. Sabatini Gallery? To answer this question, we had AI image generation programs study six works from the Sabatini gallery and then create similar digital images based on what it perceived as the fundamental elements of each work of art. We began by asking Sabatini gallery collections curator Sherry Best and the library's public services supervisor Zan Popp to advise us in selecting five works from the gallery collection. These works were specifically chosen to represent the range and uniqueness of the gallery’s holdings. They included four oil paintings and one lithograph; four from the early 1900s and one from 1999. The themes covered a busy battlefield in the Franco-Prussian War; a quiet, domestic scene; and two landscapes. And because we wanted to prevent the AI programs from finding an easy duplication, the works we selected were also ones that not widely printed online. Then, we did what is called a “reverse interrogation” of the images. It consisted of the following steps: 1) We received digital images of each of these works from the Sabatini. 2) We uploaded these files into AI programs. 3) Once they were uploaded, we asked the programs to describe—with words—what they were seeing. Often these descriptions were short phrases of themes, artist names, media (such as “painting”), and schools of art. 4) We then took these words and phrases, fed them back into an AI program, and asked the program to create a work of art based on the AI’s descriptive words of the original work.

E. Grobet's Calvary Charge Through the Village (FrancoPrussian War) is set above the Midjourney reverseinterrogation recreation of the original painting from 1900.

Case Study 1: Grobet’s Calvary Charge For example, when we uploaded E. Grobet’s Calvary Charge Through the Village (Franco-Prussian War), the program CLIP-Interrogation told us that it saw “a painting of a group of men on horses, combat photography, inspired by Gillis d'Hondecoeter, widescreen shot, official product image, frank sedlacek, triumph, ilm and digital domain, panoramic, polish, keyframe, stereogram, centre image, aftermath of a huge battle, très détaillé, award winning painting, bar background.” But these were, as CLIP-Interrogation acknowledged, its best guess as to what it was seeing. When asked to describe the certainty that it felt its descriptions applied to the painting, CLIP-Interrogation said it was most confident (26%) that this was a cavalry charge and a battle scene. It was equally confident (26%) that this painting was by or in the style of Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier (a much more famous contemporary known for his paintings of horses and equestrian groups) or, more bafflingly, Gerard de Lairesse (a Dutch painter born in 1641).

When the AI program Midjourney glanced at the same painting, it was most confident in this description: “a painting depicting the second battle of waterloo, in the style of dusseldorf school of photography, vibrant, high-energy imagery, vienna secession, tanbi kei, orientalism, gird-based, en plein air.” There is a lot to unpack in Midjourney’s interpretation. One aspect that is particularly fascinating is that it sees elements of Tanbi Kei, a Japanese subculturethat combines LARPing (live action role playing) and elements of drag based on 18th-century European costumes. It’s not a cavalry charge, it’s the masquerade party of the season! To be fair, Midjourney—like CLIP-Interrogation —also hedged its bets. While it was more certain it was seeing Waterloo, it also thought it might be seeing “a painting of men on horseback, in the style of explosive and chaotic.” Midjourney also said it saw influences of Karl Gerstner—a famed Swiss typographer born in 1930. Perhaps there is something in the composition or the lining up of soldiers that resembles rows of letters. Perhaps the AI is seeing a connection that is not immediately obvious to us, but buried in cultural meaning, such as the pre-mechanization of warfare and the absorption of individual identity into a greater mass. After all, it was Gerstner who wrote his art created individual letters as “parts which combine a meaning and value only if they are combined.” So that is how the AI programs performed as viewers of art, but how would they do as creators? To find this out, we fed back the same descriptions of the artwork the AI provided us and asked them to create images based on these. This process is called “reverse interrogation prompting,” and it is basically asking the AI program to paint us not what it saw, but what it thought it saw. Each program provided variations of the work, some quite similar and others which seemed to accentuate one or more elements it saw in the painting, each true to their original interpretations. Are these works of art? Well, they are certainly works of something, in which art and human artists played a vital part.

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Case Study 2: Waterman-Peters’ Shell Shelf Topeka artist Barbara Waterman-Peters’ lithograph “Shell Shelf ” provided more contrast between the artist’s original creation and the AI-generated derivatives, and one that definitely showed the influence of the AI programs reliance on images populating the internet. When we uploaded “Shell Shelf ” to CLIP-Interrogator, the AI program told us that its best guess (25% resemblance) was that this was a work by Hans Bellmer, a German artist whose sketches inspired H.R. Giger, the Swiss artist who provided the concept art for the Alien movies. And that choice makes sense when we know that CLIP-Interrogator also saw this sketch, at least in part, as “surreal alien ribbed white fruit.” Looking at the same image—which was, in the original, a still life of a tortoise shell—Midjourney saw this as being in the “style of etched still lifes, leaf patterns, fragmented realism” and resembled works by famed early 20th-century American illustrator N.C. Wyeth. It produced a still life with a bleached, leafy plant at the center. Meanwhile, the CLIP-Interrogator and DALL-E 2 pairing settled on a series of images that sometimes resembled a tentacle grafted onto a bonsai fruit tree. When she looked at what DALL-E 2 made of her work, Waterman-Peters said that at least one of the variations was a “beautiful piece” that has “some emotional quality." But she doubts “the emotion will ever be quite there” for any AI-generated art. “I think that people respond to my work because sometimes they see themselves in it, or they see some part of their experience in it,” Waterman-Peters says. “The equation is the artist, the work created, and the viewer—and until all three are there, emotionally, it will not quite be a successful piece. It might be a nice piece … but I wonder if it will leave kind of an empty feeling.” Looking to the future of AI art, Waterman-Peters says we are currently at a very uncertain point.

Barbara Waterman-Peter's lightograph Shell Shelf (above) was reimagined by DALL-E-2 as a strange form of fruit tree.

“AI art is going to be one more variable in the art world. Yes, it is a concern and will be a concern. That doesn’t mean work created by AI won’t be interesting to look at, just as long as people are aware that it was created by AI. It will be a bit of a conundrum until we decide what actual role AI plays. Is its work creative or is it a simulacrum? What is this manipulation? If a human did it on a computer, a human can sign its name. What does AI sign? We’re in this world, but we don’t know all the rules yet.”

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