Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery
LINDSBORG - Five new exhibitions open at the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery on Sunday, August 3, and continue through October 19, 2025. They feature Practical In Her Art: Women Artists of the 1930s; paintings by Karen Matheis of Lawrence, prints by Juana Estrada Hernandez of Providence, Rhode Island; mixed media works by Harley Elliott of Salina; and Swedish art from the Gallery’s permanent collection.
A reception for the exhibitions will be on Sunday, August 3, from 2 to 4 p.m., with exhibition talks beginning at 2:30.
Despite the challenges of the Great Depression, the decade of the 1930s was a dynamic time for art making in Kansas. Right along with the men, women artists worked tirelessly to keep the visual arts alive during those challenging times – teaching, traveling for professional development, and blazing trails for new endeavors including art therapy programs and artists’ unions. For this exhibition, curators around the state have collaborated to highlight the careers of key Kansas women artists and the progress they made enlarging the field. The show includes work by Mary Huntoon, Margaret Whittemore, Avis Chitwood, Sue Jean Covacevich, Clara Hatton, Norma Bassett Hall, and Anna Keener.
Karen Matheis’ exhibition, Constructive Landscape, explores the reinterpretation of the Midwest landscape with a focus of human interaction with nature. Responding to and building upon past landscape painting, the show will acknowledge the presence of human interaction and bring consciousness to a pressing need to imagine the future in which humans have a sustainable co-existence with our environment.
Previously a student and printmaking professor at Fort Hays State University, Juana Estrada Hernandez currently teaches at the Rhode Island School of Design. For her exhibition, Nuestras Historias (Our Stories), she utilizes her experiences growing up in the US to create prints that addresses social and political problems surrounding migrant communities. Her creative practice stems from a love of drawing, Mexican folklore, culture, and her family’s intergenerational migration stories.
Harley Elliott will be exhibiting mixed media pieces from his Ally series. He began creating the series after a serious health crisis in 2014 and writes, "It’s a matter of recognizing allies more so than wanting allies. Creating some is also good because art is a process of discovery. I might discover an ally within myself that I didn’t know I had." Elliott uses basic materials for creating each work: a 16 by 20 inch illustration board, acrylic paint, Conte crayon, inks, colored pencils, and occasionally a non-traditional medium.
The final exhibition honors Lindsborg’s biennial Hyllningsfest celebration, happening this year on October 17 & 18, by having an exhibition of Swedish and Sweden American art from the Gallery’s permanent collection.
The Sandzén Gallery is located at 401 North First Street in Lindsborg. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is free, with donations appreciated. Docent tours for groups are available by two-week advance appointment.
For more information about Birger Sandzén, the Gallery, and these exhibitions visit www.sandzen.org or phone (785) 227-2220.