Nationally known impressionist visits DC on Sunday

"Jane Scott Retrospective: Mid-America Impressions" opens Sept. 9 as the feature exhibition at Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art.

The public is invited to meet Jane Scott at a reception on Sunday, Sept. 13, with curator and artist remarks at 1:30 p.m.

Patrons and family from around the country are traveling to attend the reception honoring the 91-year-old artist, one of America's greatest impressionist painters in pastel.

Scott is one of only a very few pastel painters to have earned the exclusive title Master Pastelist, Pastel Society of America (MP/PSA).

She has the rare distinction of being entitled to sign her paintings with these initials.

Bone Creek Curator Mark Moseman has followed Scott's work for over 20 years.

Says Moseman, "When I became curator here responsible for exhibiting nationally known agrarian artists, Jane Scott was one of the very first artists I wanted to present. We are proud to be the first art museum in America to recognize and commemorate the career of one of America's best ever pastel impressionists. You know this is true when you see Scott's Autumn Pond (illus.), and it brings Monet's Water Lilies to mind."

Both pastel and oil paintings were selected by Assistant Curator Amanda Mobley. Only recently Scott started working again in oils. She is a multifaceted artist who beautifully handles various media and subject matter.

Mobley also selected two paintings by Scott's friend and mentor, Augustus Dunbier (1888-1977), so that visitors will be able to glimpse the relationship between two of America's great artists.

Scott loves painting en plein air or outdoors.

"I have no interest in painting from a picture. There is no change of light, no life."

Her teacher, Augustus Dunbier, stressed the importance of capturing the mood of the atmosphere. Outdoors, Scott feels the liveliness of nature and infuses that into her painting. While influenced by Impressionist painters Degas and Cassatt, Dunbier was the single greatest influence on Scott.

She met him in her teens, and their rich friendship lasted nearly 60 years until Dunbier's death. While Scott was Dunbier's prized student and protŽgŽ, her own skill, desire and passion to paint what is beautiful, leaves a legacy beyond her master's shadow.

Dunbier would have envied the brilliance and intensity of light in Scott's pastels.

Scott began painting as a young woman. After raising three children she became a full-time painter. "As a woman, there were a lot of sacrifices that I had to make, but now I am free," she said.

Scott views raising a family and her artwork as a labor of love. Great things do not come without sacrifice. Still painting at 91, she feels fortunate to be able to wander down a trail, find a lovely landscape and interpret it in a beautiful American impressionist painting.

"I like beautiful things, I always have," Scott said recently. This has been the motto of her life.

Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art, 575 'E' Street, 10 a.m-4 p.m., Wed.-Sat.; 1-4 p.m., Sun. Appointments and tours available. Phone: (402)367-4488.

October is Arts and Humanities month so it is a good time to share the news of progress of the local art museum and invite people to enjoy the art and programs offered at 575 E Street in David City.

Visitors to Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art in David City have come to see that the museum's mission is to be the national center for preserving, viewing and learning about exceptional agrarian art. Clearly stating that mission was just one of the HELP [Hands-On Experiential Learning Project] goals achieved during the first year and a half that the museum has been open to the public.

Thanks to many volunteers coordinated by volunteer Mark Mohler the museum has been open for all of its regularly scheduled hours of Wednesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday 1 to 4 p.m., as well as for special tours and events. The current exhibitions include the art of Beverly Evans Garcia "From Barnyard to Pasture," which ends Oct. 15, and "Jane Scott

Retrospective: Mid-America Impressions," which ends Nov. 29.

Educational activities associated with each exhibition continue to be planned, and area schools and community clubs and organizations schedule their tours by calling the museum at 402-367-4488.

Future exhibitions and events are posted on the website of www.bonecreek.org.

Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art graduated from the one year HELP program in July. Board member Brian Zimmer joined board members Anna Nolan [Covault] and Allen Covault at the final sessions in North Platte. The plaque presented at that time is on display in the middle gallery of Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art.

Nolan, president of Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art, commented, "The in-depth guidance of the HELP program has proved invaluable. We attended all of the sessions throughout the year and brought recommendations to our board."

HELP is a program of Mid-America Arts Alliance's (Mid-America) Professional Development Division that provides institutional advancement, capacity building and professional development opportunities for Mid-America's constituents. As a participating museum, Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art concentrated on improvements related to nonprofit governance. HELP combined workshops, on-site consultant visits and online tutorials to assist the participating museums in goal-setting and evaluation. Mid-America subsidized all workshop travel and a portion of each museum's attendance at a state or regional museum conference, which allowed them to connect with peers in the field and other state-wide organizations. As a result of this initial support, Bone Creek is not only a member of the American Association of Museums but is a member of the Mountain Plains Museums Association. Having found the MPMA meetings last October in Kansas City to be an excellent source of guidance, the Covaults will be attending the MPMA sessions in Cheyenne, Wyo., this month.

Thanks to another successful grant application, treasured objects and art held by the Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art will be preserved for future generations with help from the IMLS Connecting to Collections Bookshelf. The award resulted in the museum receiving a core set of conservation books and online resources donated by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The IMLS Bookshelf focuses on collections typically found in art or history museums and in libraries' special collections. These references are in the assistant curator's office of the museum for easy referral. The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation's 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Institute's mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas. The Institute works at the national level and in coordination with state and local organizations to sustain heritage, culture and knowledge; enhance learning and innovation; and support professional development. To learn more about the Institute, please visit www.imls.gov.

--submitted by Anna Nolan [Covault] for Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art

"Dale Nichols: Transcending Regionalism" will boost local museum's status

By Larry Peirce
Banner-Press Editor

The Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art in is in its last weeks of a drive that holds major potential for tourism and economic development for David City.

The museum is in its final week of the fundraising campaign for the exhibition and book: "Dale Nichols: Transcending Regionalism" scheduled to open in May 2011.The museum has quietly been seeking the $70,000 needed to secure the national tour and produce a high-quality book on the life and art of David City native Dale Nichols.
 

Curator Mark Moseman and Associate Curator Amanda Mobley have made presentations in recent weeks to the David City Rotary Club and the Butler County Chamber of Commerce. As of this week, the campaign has raised all but $20,000.

Bone Creek Museum invites the entire community to take ownership of Dale Nichols the way Iowa has claimed Grant Wood, painter of "American Gothic," as Iowa's native son.

"The success of this Dale Nichols project is a tipping point for us as an organization. It is the beginning of many projects that look at American Art through an agrarian lens," Mobley said.

The value of Nichols' work has escalated in recent years. This is part of a trend across the country to revive early paintings of Americana.

Mobley said that Nichols was fond of saying that he didn't put Nebraska on the map but "it was Nebraska that put him on the map."

While Nichols was part of the larger art scene, it may be difficult for some people to realize the potential and the attraction of Nichols' work to others around the country.

Mobley said that in 2008, the first year the museum was open, visitors came from 26 states and six countries.

Next year, when the national Nichols' exhibit has a five-month run in David City, the museum could see more than 7,000 visitors.

The effort, however, will take local partnership and investment, Mobley said.

"What might be a big deal for outsiders, might be overlooked by the local community," she said. "I wouldn't want that to happen for David City. I hope the community will partner with us on this project and support the museum."

Moseman said that Bone Creek's board discovered that another museum with more resources was proposing to do a Nichols' exhibition and produce a Nichols' book. Bone Creek was able to convince the other museum to hold off, Moseman said.

Moseman said that Mobley is doing the research and writing of the book on Nichols, and that if the book is not done locally by a museum dedicated to Nichols, the effort may be substandard.

Mobley, an Iowa native, grew up on a farm and was an FFA member. The Bone Creek board of directors has ties to the farm life, Moseman said.

"We know about Dale Nichols and we know about farming. And we want to give credit to agrarian communities, particularly this one," Moseman said.

"It's difficult to communicate the scale and magnitude of this project," Mobley said. "With this project the Bone Creek Art Museum and the community has the opportunity to put ourselves and Dale Nichols back on the map. From a business standpoint, this is a boost to the economic development of the community."

Mobley said the effort has received a substantial boost from the help of the Butler County Area Foundation, the Butler County Arts Council, Egr and Birkel, P.C., and Union Bank and Trust.

 Who was Dale Nichols?

For anyone who is not a longtime resident of David City, and even for some who are, the question might arise: What is so special about Dale Nichols and his art? Amanda Mobley presents this summary about Nichols:

Dale Nichols, born in 1904, is arguably the most famous native son of David City, Nebraska. The first twenty years of his life on the farm had the greatest impact on his art. He is most famously known for iconic red barn Americana scenes, inspired by his memories of the farm. He studied at Chicago's Academy of Fine Art under Joseph Binder. He lived and painted in Arizona, Alaska, Louisiana, Mississippi, Guatemala and Nevada.

Nichols held strong convictions about truthful art made for the purpose of inspiring viewers to reflect on life's greater meanings. He was attuned to light, order, and love in all of his paintings. His work was commercially reproduced on plates and trays, as well as limited edition prints. He was a friend and colleague of Norman Rockwell and Frank Lloyd Wright; making a living as an illustrator, printmaker and painter. He was primarily an oil painter associated with Benton, Wood and Curry of the Regionalist art movement. For that reason his work is in major museums, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

However, his abstractions of reality are also part of the Modernist art movement. Therefore his work is also in museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. He was a Fellow of the Society of Typographical Arts, a member of the Tucson Archeology Society, the founder of the still active Tubac Art Colony in Arizona, a Carnegie Visiting Professor at the University of Illinois and successor of Grant Wood as the Art Editor of the Encyclopedia Britannica, to name a few of his outstanding contributions to American Art.

Nichols passed away in 1995, but has left a legacy of fine art for the world to enjoy.

Photo caption: Amanda Mobley speaks to the Butler County Chamber of Commerce on March 10. The painting, "Breaking Ice" is in the permanent collection at the Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art.
Photo by Larry Peirce/Banner-Press

Nebraska's professional harp and flute "Duo Adante will bring a special blend of music to David City for the Butler County Arts Council at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 14. This concert will include the baroque music of Leonardo Vinci, the romantic styles of Franz Lizst, medieval melodies and "song dreams" for flute and harp. It will be a great way to enjoy the afternoon at St. Luke's United Methodist Church at 620 D Street in David City.

Suggested donation at the door for adults is $8 and B.C.A.C. members are admitted free.

"Duo Adante was formed in 2006 by flutist Betsy Bobenhouse and harpist Heidi Beran.

The two met while playing with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Symphony Orchestra. Both musicians have impressive credentials. Seeing the harp played at a wedding reception when Heidi was 7 years old began the fascination, which resulted in lessons six months later.

Her primary teachers have included Mary Bircher with the Omaha Symphony Orchestra and Kathleen Wychulis with the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra.

Similarly, Bobenhouse is active as a performer in large and small ensembles and has performed with the Nebraska Symphony Chamber Orchestra, the Lincoln Municipal Band, the Lincoln Light Opera and the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra. A native of Omaha, Bobenhouse has been the Flute Instructor and Director of the Flute Ensemble at Nebraska Wesleyan University since 2008; she was Adjunct Instructor of Flute at Concordia University in Seward from 2001-08. In the fall of 2008, Heidi and Betsy performed the Mozart Concerto for Flute and Harp with the Hastings Symphony Orchestra.

Another great arts opportunity in David City is at Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art, open Sunday 1-4 p.m. and on Saturday and weekdays 10 a.m.-4 p.m. A visit to this art museum at 575 E Street is well worth the time. Enjoy the exhibition "Meditations from Missouri" by national artist John Roush as well as such works in the Collections Gallery as "Sodbuster," a masterpiece painting by Harvey Dunn. The Roush exhibition will end March 21 and this would be an ideal time to revisit the art or enjoy it for the first time. For more information go to www.bonecreek.org or call the museum at 402-367-4488.

These and other programs sponsored by the Butler County Arts Council would not be possible without major grants from a number of sources including the Nebraska Arts Council, Butler County Area Foundation, Grand Benefactors Bank of The Valley, Cornerstone Bank of Rising City, Moravec Financial Advisors Inc., Aquinas/St. Mary's Catholic Schools, David City Public Schools and other sponsors printed in all programs. The Nebraska Arts Council, a state agency, has supported this arts event through its matching grants program funded by the Nebraska Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment. Visit www.nebraskaartscouncil.org for information on how the Nebraska Arts Council can assist your organization, or how you can support the Nebraska Cultural Endowment, at www.nebraskaculturalendowment.org. The John Roush exhibition has also been funded in part by the Nebraska Arts Council.