New Addition to the Sandzén Gallery
The Sandzén Gallery is out of art storage space and we need YOUR HELP to ensure the preservation of our treasures. As one of the few collecting institutions in Kansas it is vital that we are able to adequately house and care for the important artworks in our permanent collection. Unfortunately, after nearly 70 years, our partial basement area has been overrun and creatively organizing things has come to its absolute limits. Therefore, the Sandzén Foundation Board of Directors and I are asking for your financial help to construct an additional storage area on the northwest side of the Gallery building.
Why is it needed? Well, the Gallery's permanent collection includes over 11,200 works of art and it is steadily growing. Currently there are approximately 8100 prints, 1025 paintings, 605 drawings, 325 ceramic works, 145 sculptures, 75 pieces of jewelry, 70 glass pieces, 50 pieces of furniture, 50 photographs, 40 textiles, and 750 non-categorized objects in the collection.
Hailed throughout the world as the repository of Birger Sandzén's cultural legacy, the Gallery has the premier collection of Sandzén's artwork, including 257 oil paintings, 84 watercolors, 165 drawings, over 6,150 prints, and many of the artist's sketchbooks. The family's archives, held at the Gallery, consist of more than 9,600 letters in English and 3,100 in Swedish and other languages. Documents, exhibition catalogs, written materials, and photographs serve to record Sandzén's life and interaction with his contemporaries.
In addition to the work of Birger Sandzén, the collection features art by the Prairie Print Makers, Bethany College art teachers and students, artists of Kansas and the Smoky Valley, Asian antiquities, Swedish art, ceramics, woodcarvings, and textiles. Notable artists include John Taylor Arms, Albert Bloch, Rose Cabat, Mary Cassatt, John Steuart Curry, Albrecht Dürer, Bertha E. Jaques, Gene Kloss, Carl Milles, Bruce Moore, Henry Moore, Gertrude and Otto Natzler, B.J.O. Nordfeldt, Pablo Picasso, Henry Varnum Poor, Doel Reed, Renoir, Rembrandt, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Paul Soldner, Beatrice Wood, Grant Wood, Anders Zorn, and many more. It is a collection that needs to be preserved for generations to come.
A blueprint of the proposed area on the website illustrates our plans to more than double the current storage and provide the permanent collection with necessary breathing space and room to grow. While we plan to continue using the current storage area, the new addition will house more artwork, have a dedicated library and archives, receiving area, and space for pedestals, shipping supplies, and other day to day necessities.
In addition to requesting funding from the Gallery’s dedicated supporters, our plans include applying for grants, auctioning items that don’t fit our mission or duplicate what’s here, and tapping into other revenue streams to generate the necessary $1.2 million needed for the new construction.
Over the years the Gallery has been sustained by the generosity of its membership, donors, art buyers, and Bethany College, rarely asking for more than operational assistance. However, the need to expand art storage is vital for preserving and enhancing this rich collection. We ask you to be a part of this building for the future and to give to the best of your ability.