The Gallery is closed for Winter Break December 4, 2023 - February 2, 2024
Questions? Call 785-499-3616 and leave a message
We will see you in 2024!
24098 Volland Road, Alma, KS
785-499-3616
The Volland Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit, serves as an anchor for activities in Volland: art exhibitions and community programming in the gallery; outdoor performances at "the Ruin;" artist residencies in Volland; guest accommodations in the Loft and the Little House for the general public; and the History, Nature, and Sculpture Trail, open throughout the year from dawn to dusk.
Otto and Bill Kratzer's Mercantile opened in 1913 in the little railroad community of Volland and quickly became the social and cultural center of the ranching community that surrounded it. Today the former general store has been re-purposed as an art gallery and event center and serves once more as a gathering place for the community, both near and far.
Located in a scenic valley in the Flint Hills, the Volland boasts award-winning spaces with good art and friendly conversation. Join the artists, writers, scientists, and poets who enrich and enliven our community.
The Volland Foundation is open Friday, Saturday, Sunday, 1 to 4 pm
and by appointment
Call 785-499-3616 and leave a message. We will return your call.
If you visit when the gallery is closed, you will find information at the north door
- Discover the "Ruin" on the South Lawn
- Hike the History, Nature, and Sculpture Trail | Trail Maps at the north door
Open year-round, dawn to dusk
Reservations for private events, the Little House and the Loft
are available during Winter Break
"Writing Wabaunsee County"
From Left to Right, Mary Pinard & Beth Wynstra
Beth Wynstra and Mary Pinard are returning for another community theatre event.
Click here to see how YOU can be a playwright or an actor - or both!
Can you tell a good story?
Writing samples are due December 15, 2023
All are encouraged to apply. No experience necessary.
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Volland Artist-in-Residence Program 2024
Applications are now open.
Due January 19, 2024
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Left to right: Kevin Benham and Michael Shi, Fall 2023 resident artists. Shi, photographer, is documenting Benham's installation, Konza Bales, positioned to align with the Winter and Summer Solstice.
psst..have you heard that the Wonderstruck Ukulele Academy is coming to Volland next April?
check it out!
The Volland History, Nature, and Sculpture Trail
Sculptures by Mark McHenry
There are six to be discovered. Can you find them all?
The History, Nature, and Sculpture Trail is open every day of the year from dawn to dusk.
WINTER ON THE TRAIL
A passing train thunders down the elevated track above the trail and demands your attention, inspiring awe and wonder. The foliage is gone now, and the sound of the train is more commanding than ever.
Buckthorns, elms, hackberries, bur oaks, white oaks, and chinkapins, now bare of their leaves, reveal an architecture that is stark, strong, and tested by time. The millions of stones that cover the dry river bed are mixed with crinoids that are 500 million years old. Squirrels scurry along, as they have for thousands of years, following the age-old retrieval of nuts laid by for this time of year. Birdsong is rare, and insect chatter has ceased. The sounds of the woods are now whispers and sighs. Winter has arrived, and with it silence, and a time to be quiet.
On the trail, history and nature are palpable - and now so is art. It can be touched and felt. Mark McHenry, architect and sculptor, has gifted several sculptures to the Volland Foundation. Created over a lifetime and not specifically designed for this place, McHenry recognized they would feel at home here - and they do. The materials of iron, wood, stone, and found objects resonate with the Flint Hills and its culture. The architecture, engineering, and vision of each piece is complex and intriguing. They stir the imagination.
Six sculptures await your discovery - on the Nature Trail and on the grounds of Volland as well.
Look for two along Volland Road suspended from trees, responding to the Kansas winds, turning in the breeze. One is located north of the Store, and another south, both alongside the road.
A walk across the south lawn, west of the Ruin, to a slight knoll in the pasture, is another sculpture to view, circle, and wonder. Follow the path west over the hill, and you will find yet another sculpture, close to the Nature Trail's south entrance. As you enter the woods, look for two more: one before the first bend in the trail and the other after you cross the rocky, dry streambed, walk up a slight hill, find the giant hackberry tree, and look left. It's about halfway in your walk through the woods.
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(Please note, restrooms are not available when the Store is closed)
Future art studio at Volland
You can help build the studio!
Click here to see how...
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