Art gallery features founder of traveling roadside attraction

Kansas artist Erika Nelson of Lucas is the featured artist in the Hesston College Regier Friesen Gallery with her show “Stories from the Road” Sept. 16 to Oct. 18.

“Stories from the Road” is a multimedia presentation of Nelson’s travels across the country, including a sketchbook project entitled “Travel with Me,” framed snapshots from a decade on the road and the popular Route 6 attraction Wigwam Village at Holbrook, Ariz., and a sideshow extravaganza banner for “The World’s Largest Collection of the World’s Smallest Versions of the World’s Largest Things.”

The Wigwam Village in Holbrook, Ariz., is one of the pieces that make up Erika Nelson’s show “Stories from the Road,” featured in the Hesston College Regier Friesen Gallery Sept. 16 to Oct. 18.
The Wigwam Village in Holbrook, Ariz., is one of the pieces that make up Erika Nelson’s show “Stories from the Road,” featured in the Hesston College Regier Friesen Gallery Sept. 16 to Oct. 18.

Nelson is the founder and curator of the traveling roadside attraction and museum The World’s Largest Collection of the World’s Smallest Versions of the World’s Largest Things. She is a consultant to cities wanting to create their own roadside attractions to increase tourism, marketing and economic development. Nelson’s art has been exhibited and is part of collections nationwide. She is also a national researcher, speaker and educator on grassroots arts environments, roadside attractions and the World’s Largest Things.

A reception and chance for the public to meet the artist and hear about her work will be from 4 to 6 p.m. Oct. 18 in the gallery.

The gallery, located in the Friesen Center for the Visual Arts on the Hesston College campus, is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.