Sandoz Center exhibits sandhills with art and photography

For those that grew up in the sandhills, nothing is more true than  the burden of dragging sand and dirt into the house. The art showcase that opened Monday in the Mari Sandoz Center, brought sand into the house on purpose. 

A gallery of sand rugs and sandhill area photography is currently being displayed in the Mari Sandoz center. The exhibit will run from Sept. 3 to Oct. 25 as part of The Sand in Our Art show. 

The exhibit contains sand rugs by Trudy Denham, Assistant  Professor of visual arts, and photography pieces by previous Chadron resident Linda Teahon. Both subjects tie into Mari Sandoz and her stories about western Nebraska, which was on purpose, according to program coordinator, Laure Sinn.

“Trying to keep Mari’s story in the center.” Sinn said. Sand art and photography of the surrounding bluffs and sandhills as Mari Sandoz lived in Chadron area for a short time. 

The 2008 recession gave Denham inspiration to create sand art rugs. The instability of the market and the instability of sand are very similar, she said. The use of dirt as the details of the rugs also correlate with wealth and growth, as more detailed rugs were more expensive. 

This interactive art show will have a reception for viewing at 3:30 Saturday, Sept. 28.