Stauth Memorial Museum

Material Pulses: Seven Viewpoints
2020-09-01 - 2020-10-10 | Stauth Memorial Museum, 111 N. Aztec, Montezuma, KS, 67867, United States
Material Pulses: Seven Viewpoints, an exhibition focused on the art of quilt-making, presents seventeen works by seven fiber artists representing the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Curated by internationally renowned artist and teacher Nancy Crow, Material Pulses contributes to the dialogue of contemporary textile arts. Says Crow, “Material Pulses is the culmination of my mission to bring back the majesty, strength, and energy of textile works, particularly large quilts.”

Crow has seen trends in the medium follow a track of smaller quilts in more neutral colors, and asked, why? The pull of quilting lies in its large, forceful presence and the freedom to use color joyously. Making a quilt is a physical activity, involving piecing parts on working spaces that can span entire walls.
The exhibition features quilts, mixed media, and installation work. Quilts of up to 101 inches high will be featured, for dramatic scale of an art form that is often relegated to its functional qualities. The artists investigate color, pattern, and size through traditional and experimental quilt-making applications. The curator balances a focus on shapes with oversized works, exploring excellence in machine quilting and surface design.
The exhibition’s artists bring their techniques and vision to realizing this celebration of contemporary textile arts. Among them, Elizabeth Brandt balances large geometric and organic shapes, while at the same time flirting with a demanding dark palette. Jayne Willoughby’s work on one side seems contemplative, while the other spouts riotous color systems. Mary Lou Alexander has been exploring shibori (a Japanese dyeing method) for decades, and utilized this technique to exemplify the beauty of mark-making. Barb Wills printed her fabrics, both cotton and silk, with original woodcuts created from Shina wood, using cutting tools from Japan.
The exhibition artists are Denise L. Roberts, Albright, WV; Claire Benn, Surrey, England; Jayne Willoughby, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Mary Lou Alexander, Hubbard, OH; Christine Mauersberger, Cleveland, OH; Barb Wills, Prescott, AZ; and Elizabeth Brandt, Holland, MI.
Curator Nancy Crow has taught quilt-making as an art form in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, England, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, and the United states. She is the cofounder of Quilt Surface Design and Quilt National. The exhibition is organized by Mid-America Arts Alliance and ExhibitsUSA.
Please be aware of and adhere to state mandated guidelines for COVID-19 while visiting the museum. Some staff members have compromised immune systems. Please practice social distancing, sanitize your hands properly and stay home if you don’t feel well. Do your part to make your visit safe for yourself, other visitors and our staff.
Please call in advance to schedule groups and tours of 5 or more so we can make sure the museum is fully staffed for you to have the best experience during your visit. Tours/groups welcome by appointment, contact 620-846-2527 for information or to set up a tour. Business hours for the Stauth Museum, 111 N Aztec Street, Montezuma KS are Tue-Sat, 9am-12pm & 1pm-4:30pm. Admission is free, but donations are gratefully accepted to help pay for this amazing and future incredible exhibits!

Garage Sale Fundraiser
2020-10-31 09:00 - 16:30 (America/Chicago)
Closets cluttered? Drawers stuffed? Storage space full? Kids outgrown their clothes? The Stauth Memorial Museum is hosting a community Garage Sale Fundraiser with all proceeds from this sale to help fund the Museum, it’s exhibits and programs. This sale will take place in front of the Museum on Saturday, October 31st from 9-12. Well this is a great way to clean out all that clutter and make a donation to the museum at the same time. If you have any items you would like to donate for this garage sale, please bring them by the Museum during our regular business hours Tuesday thru Saturday 9-12, 1-4:30.
THEN make sure to stop by for the Garage Sale on Halloween morning to pick up some winter clothes, get decorations for your home, find some great buys on kid’s clothes, household items, glassware, etc. The museum is free to all of you who come all year to see our amazing temporary and traveling exhibits that are displayed here, most of which would not be available to Montezuma, Gray County or southwest Kanas if not on display here. Be generous as all donations and proceeds of this sale will gratefully accepted to cover the rising costs of rental fees and shipping expenses of traveling exhibits! Please give generously to support this gem of southwest Kansas and to continue to keep the legacy of Claude & Donalda Stauth’s visions of bringing the world and its cultures to Montezuma. With your help we can keep it surviving and thriving into the future and for generations to come.

Considering the Commonplace: Prairie Towns Through the Lens of Bob Regier
2020-11-01 - 2020-11-28
Considering the Commonplace: Prairie Towns Through the Lens of Bob Regier is organized around eight themes: elegance, entrances, light & shadow, locomotion, sacred space, sentinels, signs & lines, windows & walls. The exhibit will be on display at the Stauth Museum until Saturday, November 28, 2020.

This exhibit features digital photographs by Kansas artist Bob Regier, Bethel College professor emeritus of art and Kauffman Museum senior design consultant. For twenty years, artist/teacher Bob Regier of North Newton, Kansas, traveled the main streets and backroads of Kansas with his wife Vernette and friends Keith and Aldine Sprunger. Regier’s photographs focus primarily on the built environment of the central Great Plains, particularly the common places of small Kansas towns, and reveal his training in modernist aesthetics and printmaking through his use of abstraction and color fields.
In this installation the artist and exhibit designer experiment with photo production techniques to creatively play with size and format of the digital prints and thereby move beyond the limits of conventional framed photography shows. The exhibit contains sixty-six photos, including large scale banner images.
Bob Regier – Regier studied at the School of the Chicago Art Institute and holds the master of fine arts degree in painting and printmaking from the University of Illinois. He retired from Bethel College in North Newton, Kansas, after teaching art for 32 years. Regier’s primary studio interest has been printmaking, preferably monotypes, and he also has actively pursued graphic design and photography. Since 1985 he has been part of the Kauffman Museum exhibit team, winning numerous awards for exhibit and graphic design. You can learn more about Regier and his artwork at BobRegier.com
For more information contact (620)846-2527. We are expecting many groups and tours during this exhibit, please call in advance to schedule a tour if you are planning to come with a group of 5 or more! Business hours for the Stauth Memorial Museum are: Tue – Sat 9-12, 1-4:30. Closed Sundays, Mondays & major holidays including Thanksgiving Day. Admission is free, but donations are greatly appreciated. Please note that we require mask wearing and social distancing while inside the Museum to help keep staff members and other visitors safe. If you feel that you are sick or have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 14 days please save your visit to the museum for another time.

40 Chances: Finding Hope in A Hungry World, The Photography of Howard G. Buffett
2020-12-16 - 2021-03-06
Newseum Traveling Exhibits
In this powerful exhibit featuring the photography of Howard G. Buffett, 40 photographs document the world hunger crisis as part of a global awareness campaign. Traveling to more than 137 countries, Buffett turned his camera lens on the powerful forces that fuel hunger and poverty.
A philanthropist and farmer, Buffett believes that each of us has about 40 chances to accomplish our life goals, just as farmers have about 40 growing seasons to improve their harvests. His photography is a call to action to find lasting solutions to the world hunger crisis.
The compelling photography in the exhibit illustrates the causes and effects of hunger on five continents and reflects Howard G. Buffett’s belief that hunger is intertwined with poverty, fear, war and conflict, and the lack of opportunity for women.
The exhibit also includes an original Newseum film featuring Buffett and his work, and a tactile display that reveals the leading causes of death worldwide. Visitors can use a touch-screen kiosk highlighting five organizations working on solutions to world hunger and conflict to learn how they can be a part of Buffett’s 40 Chances campaign.
If you had the resources to accomplish something great in the world, what would you do? Legendary investor Warren Buffett posed this challenge to his son in 2006, when he announced he was leaving the bulk of his fortune to philanthropy. Howard G. Buffett set out to help the most vulnerable people on earth – nearly a billion individuals who lack basic food security. And Howard has given himself a deadline: 40 years to put more than $3 billion to work on this challenge.
Each of us has about 40 chances to accomplish our goals in life. This is a lesson Howard learned through his passion for farming. All farmers can expect to have about 40 growing seasons, giving them just 40 chances to improve on every harvest. This applies to all of us, however, because we all have about 40 productive years to do the best job we can, whatever our passions or goals may be.
In his new book; 40 Chances: Finding Hope in a Hungry World Howard captures his journey. Beginning with his love for farming, we join him around the world as he seeks out new approaches to ease the suffering of so many. It is told in a unique format: 40 stories that will provide readers a compelling look at Howard’s lessons learned, ranging from his own backyard to some of the most difficult and dangerous places on Earth.
The exhibit and book present a way of thinking that speaks to every person wanting to make a difference. It’s a mindset, providing reasons to hope and actions to take. It offers new approaches that are desperately needed. 40 Chances gives us all inspiration to transform each of our limited chances into opportunities to change the world.
“40 CHANCES: Finding Hope in a Hungry World”
was developed by the Newseum in collaboration with Howard G. Buffett Foundation The Newseum is an affiliate of the Freedom Forum, whose mission is to foster First Amendment freedoms for all.
freedomforum.org

The Howard G. Buffett Foundation is the exclusive sponsor of the “40 CHANCES: Finding Hope in a Hungry World” exhibit.
www.thehowardgbuffettfoundation.org
For more information contact (620)846-2527. We are expecting many groups and tours during this exhibit, please call in advance to schedule a tour if you are planning to come with a group of 5 or more! Business hours for the Stauth Memorial Museum are: Tue – Sat 9-12, 1-4:30. Closed Sundays, Mondays & major holidays. Admission is free, but donations are greatly appreciated. Please note that we require mask wearing and social distancing while inside the Museum to help keep staff members and other visitors safe. If you feel that you are sick or have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 14 days please save your visit to the museum for another time.

Voices of Conscience: Peace Witness in the Great War
2021-03-21 - 2021-05-01
Voices of Conscience: Peace Witness in the Great War
On Display March 21st, 2021 – May 1st, 2021
Voices of Conscience: Peace Witness in the Great War is a traveling exhibit that remembers the witness of peace-minded people against the First World War 1914-1918. This witness included men and women, religious believers and secular humanitarians, political protesters and sectarian separatists. They resisted U.S. involvement in the war, the enactment of military conscription, the war bond drives, and the denial of freedom of speech under the Espionage and Sedition Acts. For this resistance many suffered community humiliation, federal imprisonment, and mob violence at the hands of a war-crusading American public. This exhibit lifts up the prophetic insights and the personal courage of World War I peace protesters, and suggests parallels to the culture of war and violence in our world today.
The exhibit is organized in ten themes that encourage exploration and reflection. The theme modules surround a recreation of an Alcatraz Prison cell, the site where Hutterite conscientious objectors were punished for refusing military participation. Text and quotes provide interpretation and raise provocative questions for viewers while large-scale graphics and photomurals immerse visitors in the historical experience of witnessing for peace during “total war.”
A collaborative team of historians and museum professionals developed Voices of Conscience at Kauffman Museum. The exhibit is based on Kauffman Museum’s 30 years of experience in designing and building award-winning projects with a specific focus on innovative approaches to traveling exhibits.
Voices of Conscience: Peace Witness in the Great War is a traveling exhibit developed by Kauffman Museum, which remembers the narratives of peoples of faith who opposed the war.
The exhibit examines key questions such as:

Who speaks for peace in times of war?
What am I willing to fight for?
What am I willing to die for?
Is paying for war participating in war?
How would I respond to violence?
Who are the voices of conscience today?

Stories of the death of the Hutterite Martyrs of Alcatraz and the tarring and feathering of Mennonite farmers in Kansas provide examples of stalwart faith in the face of terror perpetrated by war advocates.
Download the Discussion Guide here.
For more information visit VoicesOfConscienceExhibit.org

Western Kansas Art “Hang-In” 2021
2021-05-11 - 2021-06-12
Western Kansas Art Hang-In 2021

On Display May 11th – June 12th

Artists from Hugoton, Meade, Garden City, Sublette, Ulysses, Montezuma, Dodge City and many other western Kansas towns have their artwork on display to create this one-of-a-kind exhibit.
Designed specially to give the many talented artists in Western Kansas a time and place to showcase their work. Amateur and professional participants will display beautiful 2 an 3 dimensional art including paintings, drawings, woodcarving, metal arts, mixed media, sculpture, photography, ceramics, textiles & fiber art, computer art, graphic design, drawings and more! This is not a juried (judged) art exhibit, but just a fun way to showcase the many exceptionally artistic and gifted people in western Kansas. Come see the talent western Kansas has to be proud of and vote for your favorite piece. Art will be displayed from artists from many western Kansas communities.
A People’s Choice Award will be given to the artist who received the most votes from visitors during the exhibition.

For more information contact (620) 846-2527. We are expecting many groups and tours during this exhibit, please call in advance to schedule a tour if you are planning to come with a group of 5 or more! Business hours for the Stauth Memorial Museum are: Tue – Sat 9-12, 1-4:30. Closed Sundays, Mondays & major holidays. Admission is free, but donations are greatly appreciated. Please note that we require mask wearing and social distancing while inside the Museum to help keep staff members and other visitors safe. If you feel that you are sick or have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 14 days please save your visit to the museum for another time.

Dorothea Lange’s America: Photographs of the Great Depression
2021-06-29 - 2021-08-21
art2art is proud to present a focused exhibition of original lifetime prints by the legendary documentary photographer Dorothea Lange. Highlighting this show are oversized exhibition prints of her original portraits from the Great Depression, including White Angel Breadline, Migratory Farm Worker, and, most famously, Migrant Mother – an emblematic picture that came to personify pride and resilience in the face of abject poverty in 1930s America.
Lange herself had known adversity early in life. At age 7 she was stricken with polio, which left her with a lifetime limp. And at age 12 her father disappeared from the scene, leaving an impoverished household behind. Every day she would ride the ferry with her mother from Hoboken to lower Manhattan, to a roiling working-class neighborhood teeming with immigrants. During that period Lange talked her way into photo courses with a range of teachers as diverse as Arnold Genthe and Clarence White
In 1918 she moved to San Francisco where she befriended the photographers Ansel Adams and Imogen Cunningham, and, through them, the celebrated Western painter Maynard Dixon, who became her first husband. She soon opened a thriving portrait studio that catered to San Francisco’s professional class and monied elite. But with the crash of 1929 she found her true calling, as a nomadic chronicler of the many faces of America, old and young, urban and rural, native-born and immigrant, as they dealt with unprecedented hardship, sometimes with resilience, often with despondence. Her immortal portraits seared these faces of the Depression era into America’s consciousness.
This is an expanded version of the exhibition with 55 photographs, in which Lange’s work is supplemented by that of other notable social documentarians of the era, including Walker Evans, Ben Shahn, Wright Morris, Mike Disfarmer, and others. Exhibit toured by art2art Circulating Exhibits.
This exhibit also displays western Kansas residents’ Depression Era photographs, household items and family heirlooms. These artifacts and the exhibit images are a reminder of how much the Great Depression and Dust Bowl are Kansas stories.
We are expecting many visitors for this exhibit. Please schedule a tour in advance for groups of 5 or more by calling the Stauth Memorial Museum at (620) 846-2527 or by emailing stauthedu@yahoo.com. Please follow all CDC guidelines to protect the museum’s employees and other visitors.

Fiendish Autumn Decor
2021-08-31 - 2021-10-09
Fiendish Autumn Decor
On Display Now through October 9th, 2021
Whether you call it Autumn or Fall, this exhibit presents a fun way to enjoy how your friends and neighbors decorate for Autumn, Fall and Halloween! See the latest trends and get decorating ideas for your home or business. There are 13-16 mini-exhibits decorated to bring the spirit of Autumn, Fall and the Halloween holiday to the museum and its visitors. Exhibits are themed by tradition and decorated by businesses, individuals, clubs or groups to share this special time of the year with the museum and its visitors.

This exhibit is inspired by previous exhibitors and visitors to our bi-annual Christmas Traditions of Southwest Kansas exhibit that had mentioned for several years now that they wanted us to host a fall and Halloween exhibit using the same dynamic.
Stop by to see all the great decorations and get ideas for your own Fall, Autumn and Halloween decor!
Please schedule tours in advance for groups of 5 or more by calling the Stauth Memorial Museum at (620) 846-2527 or by emailing stauthedu@yahoo.com. Please follow all CDC guidelines to protect the museum’s employees and other visitors. Business hours for the Stauth Memorial Museum are: Tue – Sat 9-12, 1-4:30. Closed Sundays, Mondays & major holidays. Admission is free, but donations are greatly appreciated!

Child in A Strange Country: Helen Keller and the History of Education for People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired
2021-10-26 - 2022-01-22
Explore Low Vision Education with Child in A Strange Country: Helen Keller and the History of Education for People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired. This exhibit, on loan from the Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind in Louisville, Kentucky, will be on display from October 26, 2021 to January 22, 2022 at the Stauth Memorial Museum.

Bring your gently used eyeglasses to donate to Lion’s Club International when you visit the museum to see this exhibit.
In 1891, teacher Anne Sullivan described her famous student, Helen Keller: “For the first two years of her intellectual life she was like a child in a strange country,” wrote Sullivan, realizing that for Helen, no learning was possible until she could overcome the communication barrier posed by blindness and deafness.

“Child in a Strange Country” explores four primary subjects: Reading, Science, Math, and Geography. Using Helen’s educational journey as a lens, “Child in a Strange Country” uncovers the roots of modern education for children with vision loss. The exhibit is designed to be fully accessible, and each section concludes with a sit-down touch table with interactive games and activities which spur the sensory imagination.

In the Reading and Writing area, Museum guests can try writing braille by hand using a slate and stylus or use the Braillewriter. The Scientific Study panels include a tactile model of the human eye, a relief picture of the eye, and natural specimens that can be explored by touch. It also includes an APH Light Box which was invented for low vision students to help develop awareness of light, color, and visual discrimination.
In the Mathematics area, guests can use an abacus to add and subtract. With stationary pins and rubber bands, geometric shapes can be constructed. A Talking Scientific Calculator provides a prime example of how technology plays an important role in helping blind and low vision students learn mathematics today. Textured relief maps, a relief globe, a Talking Tablet, and a modern geography puzzle round out the Geography section.

For more information or schedule a tour call 620.846.2527. We anticipate many visitors for this exhibition. We kindly ask that for groups of 5 or more, please schedule a tour to ensure adequate staffing and the best possible visit to the Museum. Business hours for the Stauth Memorial Museum are: Tue – Sat 9-12, 1-4:30. Closed Sundays, Mondays & all major holidays. Admission is free, but donations are greatly appreciated to help with the costs to host this and other amazing exhibitions.

Dr. Eric Fry – Fry Eye Associates Presentation
2022-01-18 08:00 - 17:00
Final date coming soon! Check out our Facebook page for more details!

Western Kansas Scholastic Arts 2022
2022-02-08 - 2022-03-05
Enjoy award winning works of art from extremely gifted Western Kansas students. The 26th Annual Competition and Exhibition will include over 200 works of art in a variety of mediums: photography, sculpture, metal works, glass, drawings, paintings, ceramics, graphics and much more!
The American Vision Award will be given to the project deemed Best of Show, and Gold Key, Silver Key and Merit Award winners will be displayed. These are among the best of the best young talents in our region, so please come and support them! The WKSA Awards contest is open to Western Kansas Junior and Senior High students in grades 7 – 12 from 31 counties in the western part of our state.
We anticipate many visitors for this exhibition. We kindly ask that for groups of 5 or more, please schedule a tour to ensure adequate staffing and the best possible visit to the Museum. For more information or to schedule a tour call 620.846.2527. Business hours for the Stauth Memorial Museum are: Tue – Sat 9-12, 1-4:30. Closed Sundays, Mondays & all major holidays. Admission is free, but donations are greatly appreciated to help with the costs to host this and other amazing exhibitions.

Prairie Visions: The Works of Leah Johnson
2022-03-22 - 2022-05-14
Stauth Memorial Museum is honored to bring the works of one of Montezuma’s most talented former residents back home!

Here is your chance to view private collections of paintings by the late Montezuma resident, Leah Johnson. Leah Johnson was a self-taught painter from Montezuma who learned to paint to support her family after her husband passed away. She specialized in painting Western Kansas landscapes and the sod houses (or soddies) that dotted the area when she was a child. Leah created her own technique of mixing soils native to each homestead into her oil or acrylic paints to give each piece texture and a 3-dimensional appearance.
Her pieces gained popularity with people of this area, and with travelers passing through the area. She is known for painting canvases of homesteads, but each piece also contains her vivid interpretations of the Western Kansas sky. Johnson painted from memory, and considered herself a historian of sorts as she documented the places of her youth. She once said “As an artist, I feel more closely drawn to things of my childhood and earlier… In a sense, I’m cataloging history.”

The Stauth Museum is honored to present this exhibition of Leah Johnson’s works that showcase pieces throughout her career. The exhibit includes pieces owned by many people of the area, including her son Lynn Johnson of rural Copeland, and the Clawson family of Plains; who were avid collectors of Leah’s works. Stauth Memorial Museum is also displaying a barnyard-painted coffee pot from Geraldine Koehn’s collection and a soddy painting that was donated by the Shelden Family of Wichita.
The Sheldon family painting is on permanent display at the museum and is the anchor of what we hope to be a Leah Johnson Collection within the Stauth Museum. If you have a Leah Johnson piece that you would like to donate to grow our Leah Johnson Collection, please contact the museum at (620) 846-2527 or stauthm@ucom.net.

We kindly ask that for groups of 5 or more, please schedule a tour to ensure adequate staffing and the best possible visit to the Museum. For more information or to schedule a tour call 620.846.2527. Business hours for the Stauth Memorial Museum are: Tue – Sat 9-12, 1-4:30. Closed Sundays, Mondays & all major holidays. Admission is free, but donations are greatly appreciated to help with exhibit costs.

Storms of the Plains: A Closeup View with Mike Umscheid
2022-05-24 - 2022-06-18
Inspired by Atmosphere, Earth and Wildlife, meteorologist Mike Umscheid has combined his passion for digital photography with his love of storm chasing and the natural scenery of the Western United States. View powerful images of storms on the Plains, as well as calmer moments with vistas of Western landscapes and wildlife.
Focusing on the finer aspects of each, Mike’s photographs draw in the audience to experience a singular moment “It all became about capturing that perfect moment in time, whether it be the spectacular sky…over a golden wheat field in sunset light, or the intense drama of a tall tornado on the High Plains.” – Mike Umsheid
Additional prints will be available for purchase. Please see museum staff for more information!
Special Thanks to the following groups for funding our mission through the years!

From Here to There
2022-06-28 - 2022-09-10
You won’t want to miss this fun, interactive and educational exhibit coming from the Sciencenter in Ithaca, New York!
How do we move things on land, sea and air? Float on a Hovercraft chair! Move your boat through an authentic canal lock system. Send colored balls zooming through air tubes! Feel the friction! Lift weights with pulleys, levers, pneumatics and hydraulics! Discover the laws of gravity and motion!
From the Sciencenter, learn the following in this unique exhibit:

Gravity and motion affect transportation.
Friction affects bodies in motion: more friction results in slower motion; less friction results in faster motion.
Air pressure can move heavy objects, such as a Hovercraft.
Hot air rises and makes a hot air balloon go up.
A canal lock system can raise and lower boats.
Changing the position of a rudder, sail or wing will make a boat or airplane change direction.
Changing air flow affects the movement of wings.
Pulleys, levers, pneumatics and hydraulics can lift heavy loads.
Magnetic forces allow trains to float in the air.

We anticipate many visitors for this exhibition. We kindly ask that for groups of 5 or more, please schedule a tour to ensure adequate staffing and the best possible visit to the Museum. For more information or to schedule a tour call 620.846.2527. Business hours for the Stauth Memorial Museum are: Tue – Sat 9-12, 1-4:30. Closed Sundays, Mondays & all major holidays. Admission is free, but donations are greatly appreciated to help with the costs to host this and other amazing exhibitions.

Christmas Traditions of Southwest Kansas 2022
2022-10-04 - 2022-11-26
Open to area residents – show off your holiday style! We’re needing participants to help us continue this much-loved, local-favorite exhibit! Contact the museum now to claim your spot for this unique exhibit!
