Marysville's Lee Dam Center for Fine Art hosting 'The Art of Manufacturing' exhibition through next week
A Marshall County-based exhibition highlighting the past and present of manufacturing in Northern Kansas and beyond runs through next week, including a Senior Saturday event on November 1.
By News Channel NebraskaMARYSVILLE, Kan. - A Marshall County-based exhibition highlighting the past and present of manufacturing in Northern Kansas and beyond runs through next week, including a Senior Saturday event on November 1.
The full press releases previewing the exhibition and the Senior Saturday events have been reprinted in full below.
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Manufacturing is more than machines. It’s people. It’s skill. It’s creativity. In recognition of Manufacturing Month, the October exhibition at the Lee Dam Center for Fine Art, 201 South 9th Street, is “The Art of Manufacturing.” The exhibition uses contemporary and historic photography to show manufacturing in a different way, focusing not just on the finished product but on the artistry within the process.
The exhibit opens October 5 and continues through November 1.
The exhibition brings together two photographers with different vantage points. Brad Romano, based in Boston, has photographed for clients that range from BMW and Amazon Kindle to Toyota and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. His work finds rhythm and beauty in the lines and textures of modern industry. Tom Parker, a retired photographer and journalist from Blue Rapids, adds a Kansas perspective, with images that reflect the character of rural life.
Both turned their attention to Landoll Company in Marysville, where they photographed employees on the job. These images—of workers measuring, welding, shaping and assembling—reveal the skill and artistry found in manufacturing.
Alongside these contemporary photographs are selections from the Marshall County Historical Society. These images recall the industries that helped shape the Marshall County community: workers hand-rolling cigars inside the Pusch Cigar Factory around 1920, an ice plant on Spring Street powered by steam and ammonia compressors, a sawmill north of Marysville that briefly produced oak whiskey staves in the 1950s and a Blue Rapids company that manufactured fiberglass components in the Union Pacific yards.
The exhibition runs during Manufacturing Month, a national celebration of the role industry plays in building communities.
Gallery hours are Sundays from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., Wednesdays from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Fridays from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. The art center will be open on Friday, October 31. Families are invited to step inside the gallery for Halloween treats.
On Saturday, November 1, Senior Saturday offers a hot breakfast and a close look at “The Art of Manufacturing” at the Lee Dam Center for Fine Art, 201 South Ninth Street, Marysville.
Doors open at 8 a.m. with coffee on and the gallery lights up. Guests are invited to enjoy a hot breakfast—biscuits and gravy, breakfast casseroles, breakfast sweets, coffee, juice and water.
At 9 a.m., Don Landoll will share remarks on Marysville’s manufacturing heritage and where it’s headed next. His comments will connect the community’s past and present, highlighting the people, processes and partnerships that continue to shape local industry.
Inside the gallery, visitors can explore “The Art of Manufacturing,” an exhibition that brings the shop floor into focus. The exhibition features new work by Brad Romano, a Boston-based photographer whose images find rhythm in the lines and textures of modern industry, and Tom Parker of Blue Rapids, a retired photographer and journalist whose eye reflects the character of rural Kansas.
Both photographed on site at Landoll Company in Marysville, capturing employees measuring, welding, shaping and assembling—work that reveals the skill and artistry behind manufacturing.
Select Marshall County Historical Society images round out the exhibition with scenes from earlier industries across the county.
Senior Saturday is designed to be easy: come early for breakfast, stay for the 9 a.m. remarks and take an unhurried walk through the exhibition. The morning offers a comfortable setting for conversation, reflection and a closer look at Marshall County’s craftsmanship and ingenuity.
Breakfast and gallery admission are offered by freewill donation.
This exhibition is sponsored by the Marshall County Arts Cooperative, Landoll Company and the Marshall County Historical Society. For more information, visit marshallcountyarts.org.