If you are familiar with collegiate sports, you know all about in-state rivalry between universities! I live in Lawrence, Kansas, home of the University of Kansas Jayhawks, which is my alma mater. Down the road a bit is a town called Manhattan, Kansas, home of the Kansas State University Wildcats. And yes, these two schools are rivals in athletics, but in a very positive way! As a KU alumnus living in Lawrence, I began painting artwork featuring KU several years ago. It wasn’t long before customers, including K-State fans, began asking me to paint artwork featuring their universities. So I have several art pieces featuring both KU and KSU, as well as a few other colleges and universities. Today I am highlighting the artwork I have done for these two Kansas schools. So prepare yourself for plenty of blue & red, and purple & white in this post!
First is my most recent design which I call March of the Jayhawks and March of the Wildcats. The KU version shows the evolution of the Jayhawk mascot over the years, marching on the yellow brick road (it is Kansas, you know) with the skyline of the campus in the silhouetted background. The KSU version shows some of their mascots, again on the yellow brick road (also Kansas) with their campus skyline in the background. Following are some of the other designs I have created which feature KU and KSU, including a kids’ room design and some holiday designs.
To view more of my collegiate artwork or to place an order, visit the Collegiate section on my Still Life Gallery page.
*These art pieces are fully licensed with the respective universities.
Your designs are very clever and should be popular with the fans. KU and KSU are both fine universities (much more than “schools”) and I have degrees from both. In my experience they are rivals in sports, but not so much in academics. There are differences in their missions and in their academic customs, but they are both excellent in teaching and research and I have heard very little “rivalry” on academic issues. Academically, they are cooperative and complementary rather than competitive. I like to see people say that they are excellent sister universities with a healthy sports rivalry.I’ll try to see your show in Manhattan this weekend.
Betty, thank you so much for your comment! I agree completely that KU & KSU are both wonderful universities, with great traditions both in athletics and in academics! And I agree that even the athletic rivalry between the two is very healthy! In our family we definitely cheer for KU sports, but we also cheer for K-State, especially in football! I like your comment that they are excellent sister universities and I think that is very true.