Windmills to Workshops: Lawrence and the Visual Arts
Exhibition Overview
One hundred fifty years ago, members of the New England Emigrant Aid Company traveled from Massachusetts to territorial Kansas, where they founded the city of Lawrence. Besides hoping to profit from the lucrative business of land speculation, the company wanted to create "a city on a hill" that would be a beacon for religious freedom and educational excellence in the fledgling territory. Windmills to Workshops: Lawrence and the Visual Arts is divided into four thematic sections:
* Art that documents the city and citizens of Lawrence Work by faculty associated with the KU Departments of Fine Art and Design Work by artists who have attended the University
* Work by artists and workshops operating in this city
Featured artists include Albert Bloch, Roger Shimomura, Earl Iversen, Cynthia Schira, Larry Schwarm, Ward Lockwood, Keith Jacobshagen, William S. Burroughs and Virginia Randles. As part of the exhibition's emphasis on local workshops, the work of Orval Hixon's Main Street Studio, a portrait photography studio that operated in Lawrence for over 40 years, will be on view in the South Balcony Gallery. Selections of the museum's archive of prints from Mike Sims' Lawrence Lithography Workshop, incidentally celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, are exhibited in the final room of the Kress Gallery.
One hundred fifty years ago, members of the New England Emigrant Aid Company traveled from Massachusetts to territorial Kansas, where they founded the city of Lawrence. Besides hoping to profit from the lucrative business of land speculation, the company wanted to create "a city on a hill" that would be a beacon for religious freedom and educational excellence in the fledgling territory. In conjunction with the Lawrence Sesquicentennial Celebration, the Spencer celebrates the artistic freedom and excellence of Lawrence in Windmills to Workshops: Lawrence and the Visual Arts, an exhibition composed solely from the museum's permanent collection. Kate Meyer, curatorial assistant in the department of prints and drawings, organized the exhibition, assisted by curatorial interns Tera Lee Hedrick, Sean Barker, Emily Stamey, and Michelle Moseley Christian, and student assistants Jennifer Green and Sara Williamson.
Windmills to Workshops: Lawrence and the Visual Arts is divided into four thematic sections:
• Art that documents the city and citizens of Lawrence
• Work by faculty associated with the KU Departments of Fine Art and Design
• Work by artists who have attended the University
• Work by artists and workshops operating in this city
Featured artists include Albert Bloch, Roger Shimomura, Earl Iversen, Cynthia Schira, Larry Schwarm, Ward Lockwood, Keith Jacobshagen, William S. Burroughs and Virginia Randles. As part of the exhibition's emphasis on local workshops, the work of Orval Hixon's Main Street Studio, a portrait photography studio that operated in Lawrence for over 40 years, will be on view in the South Balcony Gallery. Selections of the museum's archive of prints from Mike Sims' Lawrence Lithography Workshop, incidentally celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, are exhibited in the final room of the Kress Gallery.
Exhibition images
Works of art
![William Alexander Griffith (1866–1940), Daisy Field, [west KU campus]](https://sma-search-api.ku.edu/271eaba00a5896ad7d382f6b3cfa5eeedb2599d8ed4071cc8fc9bad7b36fd308/1994.0033.jpg)
