Born in Sweden, Lars-Birger Sponberg immigrated to Evanston, Illinois with his family in 1930 when he was 11 years old. As a college student he attended the Art Institute in Chicago where he studied with Kenneth Shopen, Laura Van Pappelendam, Louis Ritman and Carl Schwartz.
Now, at 98 years old, Sponberg continues to paint at his home in Deerfield, where he lives with his wife, Dallas. In recent years he has painted landscapes as viewed from the roadside. His bold use of color and strong, sure strokes pay tribute to the landscape; they invite the viewer to experience the broad vistas of the Midwest.

Far from being ordinary landscapes, Sponberg’s paintings are vivid with bold colors and strong brush strokes. They reflect his fascination with the rhythm of mundane occurrences that fill the lives of people between their celebrations and special events.

Sponberg says, "We often mark the significant events of our lives and fail to note the passages that lie in between. In using the Midwest landscapes as subjects of these paintings I am calling attention to the extraordinariness of the commonplace, the in-betweens of the celebrated places as well as the in-betweens of our lives.”
Sponberg’s work is found in numerous private collections. He has had work shown in solo and group exhibitions in Sweden, New York and the Chicago area. His next exhibit, "Significance of the ordinary," at the Swedish American Museum in Chicago, opens on Friday, January 13 and goes through Saturday, March 12, 2017. For more info, see www.swedishamericanmuseum.org

Related events:
Exhibit Opening, Friday, Jan. 13, 6 – 8 p.m.
Gallery Walk, Saturday, Jan. 14, 11 a.m.
Start with Art, Friday, Jan. 27, 9 a.m. – noon
Family Night, Friday, Jan. 27, 4 – 6 p.m.
Exhibit Closing, Saturday, March 12, 4 p.m.