By TIM UNRUH

Salina Journal

LINDSBORG -- Snaring a share of attention in the 8 Wonders of Kansas series might spark some interest in the Red Barn Studio Museum, executive director Marsha Howe said, and add visitation in this touristy town.

The studio in Lindsborg where artist Lester Raymer created works from 1945 until 1991, made the list of finalists for the 8 Wonders Art contest sponsored by the Kansas Sampler Foundation.

The Sandzen Memorial Art Gallery made the list, and Birger Sandzen's Depression-era murals in the Lindsborg, Belleville and Halstead post offices, are part of the collective post office art entry. In all, 24 arts finalists are vying for the final eight.

"It definitely puts the eye on the Red Barn Studio. We don't have a real visible facade. People who haven't learned about it will come check it out," Howe said.

Making the top eight "certainly would give us bragging rights," Howe said.

There were 84 nominations for the 8 Wonders of Kansas Art, said Larry Griffis, Sandzen gallery director, "and to be among the final 24 is terrific."

The top eight will be determined by public vote, either online at www.8wonders.org, by calling for a ballot at (620) 585-2374, or picking up a ballot at finalist sites where there is an office. Voting concludes at midnight, Oct. 15, and the top eight will be announced Oct. 31.

The recognition will help promote the Sandzen Gallery, which is visited by 8,000 to 10,000 people a year. The Red Barn Studio has about 2,000 visitors a year, Howe said.

"We hope this will increase the interest in the gallery and more people will learn about one of the treasures of Kansas," Griffis said. "We're so glad that the Raymer Society, as well as the mural in the post office, are part of the category for this honor."

Other finalists from north-central and northwest Kansas:

n The Boyer Museum of Animated Carvings, Belleville.

n Buffalo Bill bronze sculpture, Oakley.

n Pete Felten stone sculptures, Hays

n Garden of Eden and the Grassroots Art Mecca, Lucas.

Depression-era art commissioned by the federal government for post offices statewide are together one entry.

In Kansas, 29 murals and sculptures were commissioned to provide work for artists and to decorate public buildings, according to the Kansas Sampler Foundation Web site, and 21 remain in active post offices.

Five others on the finalist list were either moved, or they exist in former post office buildings that serve other purposes.

Among them are 1940 sculptures by Carl C. Mose, entitled "Land and Communication," outside of the Smoky Hill Museum, formerly the Salina Post Office, at 211 W. Iron.

Sandzen's 1938 mural at the Lindsborg Post Office is called "Smoky River," a painting measuring 67 inches by 156 inches wide.

"I think it was maybe the first post office he did. It's a fairly typical Sandzen," said Ron Michael, curator at the Sandzen gallery.

Sandzen's 1939 "Kansas Stream" in the Belleville Post Office, is 52 inches by 156 inches wide, and includes depictions of four horses.

"Horses were kind of unusual for Sandzen. He did them occasionally," Michael said.

Hanging in the Halstead Post Office is Sandzen's work titled "Where Kit Carson Camped," done in 1941. It's 46 by 144 inches wide.

All three of his post office paintings are oil on canvas.

Other post office art listed from the area:

n Goodland: "Rural Free Delivery," by Kenneth M. Adams, 1937, oil on canvas.

n Herington: "Arrival of the First Train in Herington -- 1885," by H. Lewis Freund, 1937, oil on canvas.

n Russell: "Wheat Workers," by Martyl Schweig, 1940, oil on canvas.

Reared in Sweden, Birger Sandzen, taught at Bethany College, Lindsborg, from 1894 to 1946. He was a prolific painter and printmaker until his death in 1954, completing more than 2,600 oil paintings and 500 watercolors, in addition to lithographs, block prints and drypoints.

Red Barn Studio was Lester Raymer's working studio from 1945 until he died in 1991, at age 83.

Raymer was a painter and craftsman. The studio museum is filled with his paintings, prints, ceramics, metalwork, woodcarving, stitchery, furniture and jewelry.

"He made a living from his art," Howe said. "Almost everything Lester did was with recycled materials."

Raymer is well-known for the special Christmas gifts he made for his wife, Ramona. Starting in 1960, he made toys for her.

His work reflects religious symbolism, a love of circuses and folk art, Howe said, and he was a student of art history.

n Reporter Tim Unruh can be reached at 822-1419 or by e-mail at tunruh@salina.com.

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echowe says....
WOW who is that beautiful woman at the top of the page....oh yeah that my MOM!!!!!!!! man is she awesome
2/24/2009

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