As the first chief photographer of Rolling Stone magazine, Baron Wolman got readers up close and personal with Mick Jagger, Jimi Hendrix, and other iconic rock stars of the 1960s and ’70s—and he became an icon himself. Ben Ahlvers worked with Wolman in curating the exhibit Backstage Pass: Baron Wolman and the Early Years of Rolling Stone, featuring 35 photographs, contact sheets, and original magazine covers. It is on display at the Library through early January.

Ahlvers, exhibitions director at the Lawrence Arts Center in Lawrence, Kansas, discusses the project and the enduring significance of Wolman’s work, which represents what was great about music and musicians of that era.

Ahlvers has been gallery director at the Lawrence Arts Center since 2009. He also is a ceramics artist who has exhibited his work around the country.