LINDSBORG — New exhibitions opening at the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery in Lindsborg include paintings by Topeka artist Cally Krallman, work by students of Birger Sandzén from the permanent collection, and a continuing two-person exhibition of art and fossils by Ray Troll of Alaska and Chuck Bonner of Scott City. The new exhibitions open on Sunday, Jan. 20, with a reception from 2-4 p.m. and gallery talks beginning at 2:30 p.m. at 401 North First Street in Lindsborg. The exhibitions will continue through March 17.
Cally Krallman has been painting from her home base of Topeka, both plein-air and in the studio, for 25 years. Her work has been featured in many national and international exhibits, including the Art in Embassies federal program. She has had work accepted in the Salon International, Oil Painters of America juried competitions, Missouri Valley Impressionist Society, and American Women Artists National juried competitions. She is well known for her dynamic oil and acrylic paintings of the Flint Hills and Kansas prairie, emphasizing poignant sunsets and sunrises that define the Midwest.
Krallman received a B.F.A. in 1981 from Washburn University and, later, a Fellow award from the school in 2015. She is a member of numerous painting societies and has been published in a variety of art periodicals. Additionally, she is a songwriter with six albums to her credit.
The gallery is showing the work of 52 former students of Birger Sandzén (1871-1954), reflecting the number of years of the artist’s tenure at Bethany College in Lindsborg. Sandzén often conducted summer landscape classes for other institutions as well. As a professor, Sandzén was well remembered by a host of students for his kindness and genuine commitment to teaching.
Undergraduates, workshop attendees and non-traditional students of all ages flocked to Sandzén’s art classes wherever they were held. Students and former students participated in all of the various exhibitions Sandzén organized and some went on to be art instructors themselves, such as Oscar Brousse Jacobson (1882-1966), who directed the University of Oklahoma art department from 1915 until 1945. Others include Charles B. Rogers (1911-1987), Carl Wm. Peterson (1919-2009), and his last private student, 12-year-old David Yust, who took Saturday painting lessons in the early 1950s and went on to a career as a painting professor for Colorado State University in Fort Collins.
Prairie Ocean: Long Time No Sea, an exhibition featuring the work of Ketchikan, Alaska, artist Ray Troll and Chuck Bonner of Scott City, remains on display through the end of this exhibition cycle. The show is a mixture of science and art, with its focus being Kansas and its paleontological past.
The Sandzén Gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 1-5 p.m. on Sunday. The Gallery is closed on Mondays. Admission is free, with donations appreciated. Docent tours for groups are available by two-week advance appointment. For more information about Birger Sandzén and the Sandzén Gallery visit the website www.sandzen.org or call 785-227-2220.
