HAC
The Hays Arts Council exhibition “The War Years: A Kansas Experience, 1941-1945” was created 30 years ago by then HAC director Leland Powers and HAC members Leon J. Staab and Michael Jilg. It was developed to honor the (then) 45th anniversary of the end of World War II.
It opened in September of 1990, and remains in the HAC’s permanent collection of works.
The 75th anniversary of that historical event will be this fall, but we're noting that February of 1945 is regarded as the “beginning of the end” of the war. Seventy-five years ago this month, the Battle of the Bulge had barely ended (Jan. 25, 1945, the Yalta Conference was held, the bombing raids on Dresden started, the Battle of Iwo Jima began, and United States Marines ultimately raised the U.S. flag on the summit of Mount Suribachi.
In honor of that February 1945 history, we are again showcasing this collection of images throughout this month at the Hays Arts Council, 112 E. 11th St., Hays.
The exhibition features images gathered from private collections, largely from Hays area service men & women. It was designed to document the human quality of their war experience.
The original photos were, in general, small snapshots - but they were professionally enlarged to 2ft x 2ft.
Among the images are those from the collections of Wendelin Staab, F.R. Oshant, Jr., Ed Moore, Arris Johnson, Dr. John Streck, Helen Kramer and Thaine Clark. The exhibition is comprised of 16 panels featuring a single image and its accompanying text.