The passageway to holiday gift ideas and artful inspiration will open next week at the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery in Lindsborg. Four new exhibitions open up to enjoy as well as the work of nearly 50 invited artists in the show that includes paintings, prints, ceramics, jewelry, sculpture, Swedish-inspired folk art, woodcarvings, mixed media pieces, and more.
The new exhibitions open at the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery on November 7, 2021, and continue through January 2, 2022. They feature works by Clara Hatton (1901-1991) and Dale Nichols (1904-1995); paintings by Shirley Dahlsten of Lindsborg and sculpture by her sister, Sandra Keller, of Hutchinson; and the annual Holiday Gift Show. A come and go reception for the exhibitions will be on Sunday, November 7, from 2 to 4 p.m.
By Design: The Life and Art of Clara Hatton features over sixty works by native Kansan Clara Anna Hatton (1901-91). Born and raised on a farmstead in Russell County, Kansas, Hatton studied and taught at the University of Kansas for fourteen years before taking a teaching position at Colorado State University in Fort Collins in 1936. There she created and built what is now CSU’s Department of Art and Art History. Following her retirement in 1966, Hatton returned to Kansas, living in Salina from 1970 until her passing in 1991.
Hatton was an artistic polymath, proficient in printmaking, bookbinding, oil painting, watercolor, ceramics, metalwork and jewelry, calligraphy and lettering, and weaving, all of which are represented in the exhibition. In 1935 her passion for handcrafts and design moved Hatton to take a year’s leave from KU to study bookbinding, calligraphy, and printmaking in London at the Central School of Arts and Crafts and at the Royal College of Art, working with significant figures in the English Arts and Crafts movement. At CSU Hatton used her sabbatical in 1944-45 to earn an MFA at the storied Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, the fountainhead of mid-century design in America.
The Sisters Show: From Oregon to Kansas features the work of Lindsborg natives, Shirley Dahlsten and Sandra Keller. Dahlsten is a painter who has recently moved from Salina to Lindsborg, however, the majority of her career was spent in Oregon. She took classes at various schools in Kansas and received a BS in painting from Portland State University. In relation to her work, she writes, "I believe art is essential to living – it constantly surrounds us and is reflected in all we do as humans. I am convinced that art can improve attitudes and conditions in the world by presenting positive, creative ideas, and solutions."
Keller is a sculptor working with clay and bronze. She graduated from Bethany College and studied with a variety of ceramists and bronze artists through the years. Regarding other influences, she writes, "I was inspired by earth and clay while growing up on our family farm in the colorful Smoky Valley of Kansas. As a child sitting barefoot in my father's freshly plowed furrows, I loved the smell of the earth and the feel and glow of the dark brown gloss the soil cast in the sunlight. Learning to be resourceful from my mother was the road which led to my creativity. She taught me the art of creating something from nothing."
Curated by the Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art in David City, Nebraska, Dale Nichols: Always a Regionalist displays a body of work by internationally recognized painter Dale Nichols (1904-1995). Nichols is best known for his Americana scenes of Midwestern homesteads that often include picturesque red barns and white snow. These have become the prized works on which Nichols built his career and from which contemporary aficionados have built their collections. Paintings dating from 1935 to 1972 established Nichols not only as the fourth regionalist in the line of great artists – Thomas Hart Benton, John Steuart Curry, and Grant Wood – but one who also transcended the confines of the genre to achieve universal success in art circles. Nichols' images have been captured on commercial products such as Gold Seal puzzles, General Mills serving trays, and United States Postal Service stamps. This exhibition presents a variety of subject matter and painting styles in a recollection of Nichols' years growing up on the farm in Nebraska and then traveling the world, holding firm to his Midwestern roots as he journeyed in search of adventure and truth.
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.