Lindsborg exhibition revisits town's 1970s art scene across three venues
Organizer says more than 55 artists will be represented when the show opens Oct. 2
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Sign up freeMore than 55 artists connected to Lindsborg's 1970s art scene will have work featured in an exhibition opening Oct. 2 at three locations, according to the Smoky Valley Arts and Folklife Center, which is organizing the show.
"The Lindsborg Seventies Art Show" will include work by former Bethany College students and other Lindsborg residents from that period. The exhibition will be displayed at the arts center at 114½ S. Main St., Prairie Sea at 108 S. Main St., and the Mingenback Art Center on the Bethany College campus. The show revisits a period documented decades earlier in Lindsborg, a town HGTV named Kansas' most charming small town in 2025, citing attractions including its Swedish heritage sites and the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery, located at 401 N. First St., a separate downtown location from the Main Street venues hosting this exhibition.
An opening reception is scheduled from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3. The center said many of the participating artists plan to attend.
The Smoky Valley Arts and Folklife Center's announcement says the three-venue exhibition continues through Nov. 8. Visitors planning a late-October or November trip should call ahead to the arts center or the Bethany College Art Department to confirm whether the show is still on view.
The center cited a Dec. 31, 1972, Wichita Eagle headline that described Lindsborg as "Kansas' Only Claim to an Art Colony."
Randall Griffey will give a companion presentation from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 18, at the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery, 401 N. First St. Griffey, a Bethany College alumnus, is program director for American Art at the Henry Luce Foundation, according to the center's announcement. The announcement states he was a curator in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Department of Modern and Contemporary Art from 2013 to 2022.
The Smoky Valley Arts and Folklife Center is open from 1 to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday or by appointment. Prairie Sea lists varying hours and is available by appointment.
Bethany College's website lists the Mingenback gallery as open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and free to the public. The Sandzén gallery's website lists 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays as its posted hours.
Visitors may contact the arts center at 785-227-7034, the Bethany College Art Department at 785-227-3380, ext. 8244, or the Sandzén gallery at 785-227-2220.
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