This couple has been sharing their love of art for 50 years — and they are not done yet
Les and Courtney Ruthven collected student art as something of a hobby when they were younger. Later, they collected from professional artists as well.
“We had given our children what we could, and we had filled our house,” Courtney Ruthven said. “Our banker said, ‘Look, you’ve either gotta stop buying or start selling.’”
The couple opted to sell, launching a local collection by the name of Mid-America Fine Arts.
This year, Mid-America Fine Arts celebrates its 50th anniversary.
When asked if they ever thought Mid-America Fine Arts would be around for 50 years, Les Ruthven replied, “Well, we figured if we made it to 50.” Courtney Ruthven simply said, “We weren’t thinking.”
The Ruthvens now sell their collected artwork out of Mid-America Fine Arts’ gallery space, near the intersection of Central and Grove.
“It’s like picking out your best child,” Les Ruthven said when asked about his favorite piece in the gallery. “You can’t get overly attached. Then, if you do, you price them out.”
Mid-America Fine Arts’ owners met when they were both attending college in Tennessee. Courtney Ruthven, whose mother was an amateur painter, and Les Ruthven, whose father was the same, grew up surrounded by art.
“My father was a Sunday painter,” he said. “We would go to Central Park and he would paint. That’s how I was exposed to art.”
The Ruthvens moved to Wichita from Charleston, South Carolina, in 1965. Here, the couple worked as psychologists in a private practice.
“We started out when we came here buying student art, and then as we accumulated a little disposable income, then we graduated,” Les Ruthven said. “We decided that we would have some great works for a short period of time rather than permanently.”
In the beginning, they ran Mid-America Fine Arts as private dealers without their selling space. Eventually, they were able to set up shop in a more permanent gallery to showcase their art.
Mid-America Fine Arts now houses roughly 300 pieces from Kansas artists, as well as a variety of works from other American artists and two from European artists.
“We specialize more in traditional art than modern, of the 20th century, less so abstract,” Les Ruthven said. “I like art to take us to a place or a person or a time period. It’s an extra feeling. It’s more (...) connected to one’s life.”
The Ruthvens said they never saw Mid-America Fine Arts as a job; rather, they viewed showing people through their gallery as more of a respite.
“This was a break from our professional career,” Les Ruthven said. “Sometimes, there’s more in life than a particular job.”
To this day, the couple, now retired, work at Mid-America Fine Arts Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. People can additionally make appointments outside these hours or shop online.
“It’s something that we have enjoyed doing first of all because we wanted to share our art, but also we just love to show it,” Courtney Ruthven said. “We really enjoy it.”
The couple at one point had plans to sell the business, according to a 2015 Eagle story. Now they run the collection space with their son-in-law Greg Moore, who will be transferred ownership of the building eventually.
“It’s not a matter of money, you know what I mean?” Moore said. “A lot of people, they come in here and they say, ‘I had no idea how much art you have in this building. ... This is like a hidden gem of Wichita.’”
Despite Moore’s assistance, Les Ruthven said they don’t plan to retire from Mid-America Fine Arts “as long as we can get around.”
“I think they’re just looking forward to the next 50 years,” Moore said.
