August Final Friday
August 28th through September 18th
Join us August 28th from 6pm to 9pm for this year’s “Art in the Park 2026 Preview Show” at the Phoenix Gallery this Final Friday. This will be your chance to get a sneak peek at some of the artists that will be in South Park for this iconic art festival. The preview show will be available to see until September 18th in our fine arts gallery in the Phoenix Underground.
We are so excited to host this preview exhibition live and in person as we have for the last several years. There will be over 120 artists at this year’s Art in the Park. A beloved local tradition, Art in the Park is a fine arts and crafts event that is held in beautiful shade-filled South Park (12th and Massachusetts) on the south end of the vibrant Downtown Lawrence, Kansas. This year’s Art in the Park is scheduled for September 19th and 20th.
Art in the Park is a Lawrence tradition dating back to 1964 and is the Lawrence Art Guild's premier fundraising event. Winning "Best Event" since 2019 as voted by the public in the "Best of Lawrence" contest, Art in the Park is a Lawrence favorite. 2026 will be its fifth year as a two-day event with over 20,000 visitors expected. A variety of musical groups create beautiful background music and food vendors provide a wide variety of sweet and savory options.
To view the Art in the Park Preview exhibit online, please click here.
On top of all of that, we have the “Mirth & Mire” exhibition in our Upper West Gallery, featuring select works from the local magazine of the same title. Founded by Myra Phillips, Mirth & Mire is a magazine for nature and art lovers by nature and art lovers. Each issue is compiled of illustrations and writings relating to that issue’s theme, promising a variety of subject matter and discussion topics with each publication. For more information about Mirth & Mire, please read further.
You can meet the artists and gain insight into their exhibitions on opening night, August 28th from 6 pm to 9 pm.
Opening night music will be provided by local duo Mike Yoder & Terry Moore from 6 pm to 8 pm.
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Mirth & Mire
Lawrence, KS
Artist Statement
This magazine is a passion project created by nature and art lovers. Our goal is to celebrate the natural world through collaborative storytelling and visual art.
Our mission is to create a collaborative space to share work, experiment, and connect to a community. While we strive to create a polished publication, ultimately, this is driven by a shared love of art and nature.
Artist Biography
Mirth & Mire was created in April 2025 and ran monthly for its first year, producing 12 issues in its first volume.
The magazine was founded by Myra Phillips as a way to organize and generate publication-worthy work while highlighting a shared love of nature and science. Since then, the magazine has welcomed new contributors, from longtime friends to fresh collaborative connections.
Currently, Mirth & Mire is in its second volume and follows a six-week publication schedule.
For a closer look at Mirth & Mire, check out their link-tree:
To view this exhibit online, please click here.
You can view the Mirth & Mire exhibit in the Upper West gallery at the Phoenix Gallery