‘MIRAGE’ accepted into Hays Arts Council’s 43rd Five State Photography Exhibition
2026-27 Competition and Exhibition
Dec 4, 2026 – Jan 31, 2027
43rd Five State Photography Exhibit Schedule
Mirage is 1 of 100 photos selected from 608 photo submitted from five state region.
Mirage
The surrealistic 14ers of the Sangre de Cristos Mountains loom over the foothills at La Vita Pass and the San Luis Valley.
Spring fog and rain create a majestic mirage in the San Luis desert.
Single capture image
–Hwy 159, San Luis Valley, CO
Dec 4, 2026 – Jan 31, 2027
The Five State Photography Exhibition is a juried, competitive exhibition open to any photographer living in Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Colorado.
The juror will award a total of $1,500 in cash across the three categories: Nature, People, and Open.
This is an annual project, and last year, in 2025, 648 photos were submitted, with 150 selected for exhibition.
The Five State Photo Exhibition is always the anchor of the Winter Art Walk, and will be at the Hays Public Library Schmidt Gallery for the 2026 exhibition run.
43rd Annual Five State Photography Competition & Exhibition
2026 Juror, Elise Kirk
Elise Kirk is a photographic artist and educator concerned with human nature in an ecological world, and the ways in which we construct ourselves through our environments. She was raised in middle-Missouri, studied film at Columbia College Chicago and on a U.S. Fulbright award in Madrid, and completed her MFA in photography at the Rhode Island School of Design. She worked for a decade as a media producer in New York and Washington, D.C. for clients including National Geographic, Discovery, and VICE, leading to an expanded documentary approach in her own practice. Elise has participated in numerous residencies, including the International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) in New York, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts in Nebraska, and the U.S. National Park Service. She is currently Associate Professor of Photography and Chairperson of the Department of Visual Art at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.
Winter Art Walk
Hays Arts Council is proud to present the 2026 Five State Photography Competition and Exhibition, opening on December 5th, 2026, with the Winter Art Walk from 10 AM – 4 PM