Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery
LINDSBORG — New exhibitions at the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery include photographs by Jim Richardson of Lindsborg, watercolor monotypes by Kathleen Kuchar of Hays; and the Gallery’s annual “Holiday Gift Show.” They will be on display from Nov. 2 through Jan. 1, with an opening reception planned for Sunday, Nov. 2, from 2 to 4 p.m.
The exhibition, “Kansas: Roots and Reflections,” showcases National Geographic photographer Jim Richardson’s exploration of Kansas over the course of his career, going back almost half a century since he first began seriously thinking about making pictures of the place he knew best. He recalls, “Kansas has always been a challenging subject, not just for me, but for many photographers trying to address a land lacking in outward, conventional beauty and people unaccustomed to public expressions of inner dialogues. In other words, Kansas is generally flat and we Kansans are generally shy.”
The show is roughly divided into four sections: Vintage Kansas, Small Town Cuba, the Flint Hills, and Prairie Grass Roots. Richardson’s first foray into long form photography, away from the press of daily assignments, came when he began to photograph his native state, seeking out unique rural subjects. The water witcher was one and the mule jumping contest is another. These subjects could generally be classified as quirky and unique – the Big-Ball-of-Twine school of photography. But among those somewhat nostalgic subjects was also that of Mrs. A.P. Shintaffer, one of the first images where Richardson got an inkling that he could do images that addressed something more eternal and universal in the human condition.
His extended work in Cuba, Kansas, evolved out of the earlier work when Richardson, “realized that I had to focus on the universal instead of the unique. Cuba gave me that chance and I have been going back to that generous town and its wonderful people for four decades now. Their stories became the story of my photographic life and along the way they taught me much about the meaning of community and how people find meaning in life. With them I sought to create transparent images, straightforward images unclouded by artistic intention, pictures where the subjects were the actors.”
The Flint Hills coverage started with Richardson’s involvement with National Geographic Magazine and his desire to give this section of the state the same level of visual honor often reserved for more legendary landscapes such as the Grand Canyon.
Prairie Grass Roots were photographed as part of a National Geographic story on soil. They came about after Jerry Glover of Salina’s Land Institute developed a way of growing prairie grasses in long tubes so that the roots could be preserved. Richardson then developed a way of photographing the roots in sections and assembling them into highly detailed images. These images were some of the first to reveal the truly impressive structure of the prairie underworld.
Hays guest artist Kathleen Kuchar started her education in a one-room, country school house in Nebraska where she was the only child in her grade for all eight years. Early on she knew that she wanted to be an artist and a teacher. She accomplished both with the help of her parents and encouraging college instructors. She had a 34-year teaching career at Fort Hays State University and is now retired. She continues to create art in her studio and teaches workshops locally and nationally.
About her exhibit, “Dreaming,” Kathleen writes in her artist statement: “There is something about ‘the dream’ that has always fascinated me. I find myself “daydreaming” when I should be focusing on a project. I awake in the morning with “a dream” that needs to be written down and deciphered. I paint a dream. I create a dream. It seems as if I am always dreaming. (Thinking back to the day when I helped my dad with field work, I was always ‘daydreaming’ and sometimes found myself cultivating out a whole row of corn. I was demoted to chopping thistles where I could dream without fear of destroying our crops).
“This exhibition of watercolor monotypes and transparent watercolors is a survey of some of my ‘dreams’ from the past twenty years. The imagery is derived from what I call, ‘the landscapes of my mind.’ In 1991, I was introduced to watercolor monotype when I studied at the Santa Reparta Graphic Art Center in Florence, Italy. Since then I have had a passion for this process. Images are created by painting watercolor on a Plexiglas plate and transferred to damp paper by using a printing press. Occasionally after the print has dried, I will enhance it with acrylics or colored pencils. A technique called chine-collé (adding collage during the printing of the plate) is also used on a few of these prints. What makes monotype unique is there is no edition — each print is a one-of-a-kind.”
The third new exhibit is the Gallery’s annual “Holiday Gift Show” – which has become a favorite for many visitors. Over forty invited artists are represented in the show along with special works from the artists of Clayworks at Disability Supports in McPherson. Art includes paintings, prints, ceramics, jewelry, sculpture, blown glass, Swedish-inspired folk art, and woodcarvings. Works will be of medium to low prices, and ideal for holiday shopping.
The Sandzén Gallery is located at 401 N. First, Lindsborg, and now has extended hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday. The Gallery is closed on Mondays. Admission is free, with donations welcome. Docent tours for groups are available by two-week advance appointment with the Gallery.
For more information about Birger Sandzén and the Gallery visit the website www.sandzen.org or telephone (785) 227-2220.