Bethany College Announces Student Art Award Winners as Part of Messiah Festival of the Arts

LINDSBORG, KAN., MAR. 28, 2024 – Works of art by Bethany College students are currently on display as part of the 2024 Messiah Festival Juried Student Art Exhibition. The annual art exhibition will continue through April 1, in the Mingenback Gallery. 

The Juried Student Art Exhibition is part of the Messiah Festival of the Arts, the celebration of sacred music, theatre, and art at Bethany College and features ceramics, drawings, jewelry, paintings, photography, printmaking, and sculpture created by Bethany art majors that have taken art courses. Award winners were announced at a reception on Sunday, March 24 at 2 p.m. in the gallery.

The following honors were awarded: 

• Best of Show - "Teapot" by Riley Ahlstedt, junior, art education, Lindsborg, Kansas. 
• Best of 2D - "Diño’s primera Navidad" by Annette Trenado, junior, video game design, Hutchinson, Kansas. 
• Best of 3D - "Sunflowers" by Elizabeth McCoy, junior, graphic design, Sylvan Grove, Kansas. 
• Best of Freshmen/Sophomore - "Miscellaneous Bones" by Kinsley Morrison, freshman, art therapy, Wichita, Kansas. 
• Best of Junior/Senior - "Under His Wing" by Katie Buchanan, senior, art education, Salina, Kansas. 
• Best of Digital - "Ashamed" by Taryn Stout, senior, majoring in art therapy, studio art, and visual art administration, from Sterling, Kansas. 
• Best of Photography - "A.T." by Kenneth Sanders, junior, art therapy, Sylvia, Kansas.                                           
  

"The Bethany Art and Digital Media faculty are incredibly proud of the work, dedication, and talent that our students have demonstrated through their accomplished artwork on display, as well as the awards earned during the Messiah Festival of the Arts. We would also like to thank our juror, Bethany alum Laura Krusemark for her time to come judge the show as well as the community of Lindsborg for their continued support of the arts at Bethany College," says Sarah Mathia, Assistant Professor of Art and Chair of the Art and Digital Media Department. 

The gallery show is free and open to the public. The Mingenback Gallery is open on weekdays, Palm Sunday, and Easter weekend 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Mingenback Art Center is located on the corner of Olsson and Second Street on the Bethany College campus. Mingenback is a premiere center for art instruction and houses a gallery to showcase regional artists, Bethany College students, and alumni. The Bethany College Art Department recognizes that open and rigorous inquiry is essential to a liberal-arts education. Because art reflects life, art made and displayed within the Mingenback Art Center may address mature themes. 

Bethany College, established by Swedish Lutheran immigrants in 1881, is a college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The mission of Bethany College is to educate, develop, and challenge individuals to reach for truth and excellence as they lead lives of faith, learning, and service. At Bethany, students join a community of dedicated educators and caring mentors who walk alongside them as they discover, explore, and navigate the path to their purpose. Bethany College is on the Web at www.bethanylb.edu and is located in Lindsborg, Kansas, the fine arts and crafts capital of the state.