A Hillstrom Museum of Art exhibit traced “the sweet and unsavory connections between food, labor, culture, craft, and community” in the fall of 2025. in conjunction with the Nobel Conference focused on sugar. Co-curated by Art History majors Nora Birkholz ’27, Chloë Rossow ’26, and Audrey Power Theisen ’25, with Art and Art History professor Colleen Stockmann, Farm to Frame explored the (often invisible) processes of food production and preparation through more than 100 artworks, objects, and interactive dioramas from the Hillstrom’s collection and beyond. The exhibit also included photos from Gustavus College Archives showcasing Gustavus life through food. Even before our dining service began its “best college dining” dynasty, before Christmas in Christ Chapel buff ets gave us the energy to belt out “O Come All Ye Faithful,” food was central to the Gustavus experience.
Photos courtesy Gustavus Adolphus College Archives.
The serving
line at an alumni Smörgåsbord on a Homecoming
Saturday (1950s).
Marian Knight and other food service
workers (undated).
Gusties on the steps of Old Main with trays strikingly
similar to today’s (1930s).
The 2019 St. Lucia Court eating lutefisk.
A Beta Chi sister hydrating (undated).
Evelyn “Ma”
Young ’39 takes fika. The Caf is named for her.
Tabling outside the Caf
to make Gustavus Minnesota’s first Fair Trade College
(2009).
The line for food from a variety of cultures at
International Festival (2017).
Pairing muffins with nacho cheese
at Midnight Express (2014).
Muhammed
Ahmed Khan ’17 with the halal chicken dish he taught
Caf staff to make from his mother’s recipe in Pakistan
(2016).
Gustie women expressing
their love of pizza and peace (1980s).
