Wabaunsee County Wonders

October 5 – December 15 | 2024

Opening Reception | October 5 | 1-4pm

Artists will be present

Free admission | Light refreshments

Have you ever wondered what your neighbors are making? Maybe they talk about it at church or you’ve seen them share their work or collections on social media? Are you a regular Volland visitor from outside Wabaunsee County but haven’t had the chance to get to know locals just yet?

In Volland’s Fall 2024 exhibit, Wabaunsee County Wonders, Erika Nelson, curator and creator of the World’s Largest Collection of the World’s Smallest Versions of the World’s Largest Things Traveling Roadside Attraction and Museum, will showcase Wabaunsee County’s creative outputs, whether it be leatherwork, paintings and drawings, or Native stone tool collections.

Wabaunsee Countians shared their work with Nelson in an open call on September 15 . She reminds us the tent for creative practices is large, much larger than what is considered traditional art forms. Through interviewing the makers and hearing their stories, Erika created an exhibit that is thoughtful, well designed, and authentic to this place.

With that in mind, viewers can expect items and assemblages of wide ranging topics.

Artists and Collectors:

 Greg Barron collection, Alma
Jim Holenbeck chaps and boots

 Martin Cooney, Alta Vista
stone sculptures

 Donna Fulkerson, Eskridge
collection, inlaid and carved wood box by Lonnie Fulkerson

 Mike Hazelbaker, Alma
handmade chaps, boots

 Sharon Heidemann, Alta Vista
cross stitch

 Jim Holenbeck, Deep Creek Road
handmade boots

 Marta Howe, Eskridge
textile

 Nathan Howe, Eskridge
watercolor and ink

 Sam Kidd, Eskridge
gourds in natural pigments

 Susan Kraus, Paxico
oil paintings on birch board

 George McCaskill, Eskridge
wood carvings and hand-crafted benches

 Homar Marval, Manhattan
oil on canvas

 Robert Meseke, Jr., Alma
handmade tools and spurs

 Gary O’Doniel, Eskridge
watercolor, ink

 Dennis Riley, Eskridge (near Keene)
ceramics, black powder re-enactment objects, and handmade guitar

 Keith Schultz, Volland
custom-made saddle by Jim Holenbeck

 Ron Schultz, Alma
Native stone tools, collection

 Phil Schutter, Alma
wood burnings

 Christopher Spaw, Alma
sculpture relief

 Sally Vee, Alta Vista
assemblage of natural objects

Newsletter Highlights

To further celebrate the talent in Wabaunsee County, each maker and artist was included in a newsletter highlight between October 2nd, 2024 and December 8th, 2024. A complete record of those highlights can be found in the PDF below.

Around the County

Wabaunsee County Wonders is also an opportunity to explore the living, in-place creative objects and environments in the area, as well as the county’s creative industries. For instance, Echo Cliff Park, on Wabaunsee County’s Eastern edge, has signs, tables and seats crafted from metal, concrete and discarded scrap by Earl Hepworth.

Another Wabaunsee Countian, Maude Mitchell (1875 – 1957), made music, paintings, watercolors, and contributed editorials, cartoons and poems to The Wabaunsee County Truth, a monthly church newspaper printed by The Enterprise in the 1920s. Mitchell also forayed into design and sculpture, creating the stone gateway for the integrated Wabaunsee Township Cemetery, where she is buried. Mitchell even gathered the glacier rock used in the gate.

On the subject of rock, Wabaunsee County is heralded for its stone buildings and fences. The Native Stone Scenic Byway crosses through much of the county, showcasing how irregular stones were hewn to make a vernacular building material.

While not on the Scenic Byway, the Volland area boasts two important stone structures: the Grimm-Schultz Farmstead and Volland School, Both may be seen from Old K-10 just south of Volland.   The Farmstead was the subject of the 1997 thesis of Paula Graves Adams, who wrote extensively on the Grimm-Schultz property: Ranching in the Kansas Flint Hills: Exploring the Built Forms of a Family Cattle Ranch. The Volland School was a one-room schoolhouse that served the Volland community in the early 1900s. It has been lovingly restored by Rich Lind, the husband of Deb Schultz Lind, a descendant of students at the school. The school doesn’t have regular open hours, but if the gate is open, you are welcome to explore the school. It is worth the stop.

Creatives are still active in the area. For instance, along the north side of K-4, just east of Alta Vista, travelers are humored by Larry the Chainsaw Guy's wooden sculptures. Much like M.T. Liggett – who placed his totems along US Highway 400 and Kansas Highway 54 in Mullinville, KS in Kiowa County – Larry Frese's sculptures cannot be missed.

Martin Cooney's Walled Garden is on the main street of Alta Vista. Cooney is a stone sculptor and avid gardener who has brought life and color to a brick building without doors or windows, a lovely environment for all to enjoy.

Opening Reception for Wabaunsee County Wonders

Volland will celebrate the creativity that resides in Wabaunsee County on October 5th. Doors will open at 1pm, and artists will be present to visit with you about their work. Free admission. Light refreshments.

Come as you are and enjoy the conversations!