The Lindsborg Seventies Art Show

Smoky Valley Arts and Folklife Center will host an exhibition highlighting Lindsborg’s art scene during the 1970s. The exhibition, titled "The Lindsborg Seventies Art Show," will showcase works by Bethany College students and residents from that era. The exhibit runs October 2-November 8, with an opening reception on Saturday, October 3, 1:00-5:00pm at SVAFC. With over 55 artists being represented, the full exhibition will be in multiple places such as Smoky Valley Art and Folklife Center, Prairie Sea Gallery, and Bethany College’s Mingenback Gallery.

In the 1970s, a creative energy transformed Lindsborg into a true artistic hub. A headline in the Wichita Eagle in 1972 proclaimed, “Lindsborg Nourishes Kansas’ Only Claim to an Art Colony." The article went on to state that “Lindsborg is the closest thing the Kansas plains have to the Left Bank.” Bethany College art majors and working professionals in Lindsborg studios helped define a pivotal era in art for “Little Sweden, USA.”

Renowned art historian and Bethany College graduate, Dr. Randall Griffey will do a presentation at the Sandzén Gallery on Sunday, October 18, at 2:00pm. The title is "Stayin’ Alive: Art in Lindsborg and Beyond in the 1970s." Griffey is the program director for American Art at the Henry Luce Foundation and, among other curatorial positions, former curator of modern and contemporary art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Smoky Valley Arts & Folklife Center is located at 114 1/2 S Main Street and is open Friday-Sunday, 1:00-5:00pm. The center provides a formal space for artists, craftsmen, and performers to share their work and provides space for lectures, workshops, and demonstrations.