Wednesday, September 7, 1977
page 14
daily nebraskan
Septemberfest proves nonqualify
can attract huge crowds, too!
For a free booklet
on how to stop smoking,
call or write your local unit of the
AMERICAN CAHCEn SOCIETY $
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By Jim Williams
Killing a weekend in Omaha gave me some insight.
Septemberfest, a Labor Day celebration on the
downtown Central Park Mall, was pulling in crowds de
spite bad conditions.
For one thing, there was nowhere to park. I orbited
the cratered slag that Omahans use for pavement until I
found a spot in the warehouse-and-wino district, and
walked from there.
It had been raining on the Central Park Mall, and
Omaha's new downtown showplace smelled like dead
fish. There was mud everywhere, from a slimy ooze inside
the tents to genuine quagmires between them. Two rock
band roadies were trying to jump a puddle while carrying
amplifiers.
There were acts. Some local bands played-but the
Amazing Rhythm Aces, the festival's "name" group, had
played Monday. A flacid belly dancer circulated. A 4-H
club dog obedience class obeyed. Model airplanes flew.
National Guard tracked vehicles, looking at home in the
muddy field, served as jungle gyms.
The, Great Missouri River Raft Regatta drifted down
stream toward an eventual win by two ringers from
Arizona. Bellevue, huffy from the loss of its status as
finish line to the Central Park lountain, would stage its
own raft race the next day. The Arizonans, who had
trained for two months, promised to win that too.
Volunteer entertainment
Entertainment-volunteer mostly, celebrities the
caliber of Dr. San Guinary, were there. But the people.
review
50,000 to 75,000, according to Omaha World-Herald,
came anyway. That compares pretty well with the 85,000
attendance the same day at the Nebraska State Fair.
Southeast from the mall, the Western Heritage Museum
was playing to a much smaller crowd. The museum,
housed in the former passenger railroad Union Station,
had an exhibit of Art Deco, the stylized design of the
Twenties and Thirties.
Art Deco is interesting stuff. It drew its style from
ancient Egypt, when King Tut's tomb was opened in
1922, and from then modem ideas of mechanical power.
For this was before someone decided everything good
must be 100 per cent natural and organic. Artists recog
nized the creative possibilities of what Le Corbusier called
"the great life of the machine," and expressed them ap
propriately in objects that came, not from the sculptor's
hand, but from the production line.
The objects displayed are blatantly commercial
clocks, compacts, chairs and railway posters. But they
were elegant and handsome. They fit nicely in their
surroundings, too, because the station itself was built in
an Art Deco style.
v The museum finally is beginning to see the light at the
end of its financial tunnel, Amtrak, now operating from
an adequate and modern steel building down by the
tracks, has recognized that atmosphere is about all train
travel has going for it. The national rail passenger service
plans to move its Omaha operation back to Union Station.
Roof restored
A Department of the Interior grant is financing the
restoration of the building's roof. In the course of this,
museum directors discovered that what they thought was
brown paint on the ceiling was actually beautiful silver
and gold leaf.
. At the same time, they discovered that what they had
thought was gorgeous veined black marble was just paint
on plaster. It had defied detection for years-looked like
marble, felt solid and cool like marble-but was jusi
paint, applied by some now-lost technique.
The building doesn't really lend itself to use as a
gallery. The ceiling is high enough for three floors, but
there's only one, much of the floor "cramped by ticket
windows and benches. The benches, lighted for reading,
are used as photo displays of early Nebraska. The Art
Deed exhibit is mostly printed sheets mounted sloppily on
pegboard panels.
In the former dining room is a Union Pacific "round
house theater." It is a 360 degree slide-tape commercial
' and the beginning of a fantastic 110 train layout.
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Joslyn Art Museum, on the other hand, has its act
down cold. It's big, impressive, and professional.
The star exhibit now are photographs bv Andreas Fein
inger, a stalwart from the glory days'of life magazine.
The exhibit takes up two rooms. The one you enter con
tains only one photograph-Feiningers self-portraing,
"The Photojournalism"
Pictures dramatic
It's a dramatic, schlocky approach, appropriate to
Feininger's character as a dramatic, schlocky photogra
pher. The exhibit's introductory information says Feininger's
colleagues at Life dubbed him"Double-Truck Feininger',
from the journalistic term for a photograph taking up two
whole pages. The information doesn't mention the snide
quality of the nickname. Some of Feininger's co-workers
thought he concentrated on dramatic images at the ex
pense of journalistic content.
.But all the amateur photographers who ever read
Feininger's books (which aren't bad) will be trooping
down to view the master's images. They're not worth
imitating, but deserve to be seen.
None of these events were really big blockbusters. But
the institutions are making it, and people are turning out.
Why? There must be promoters in Omaha who know how
to put together an unusual event, something that will get
the celebs out arid spawn favorable coverage by press and
TV, something tlat will draw groups willing to entertain
for the chance of public attention. There are people who
know how to apply for and get government grants, how to
tap the arti patrons for money, how to organize con
iinuing series of events that ge. the public into the place.
The arts in Omaha don't depend entirely on artists. They
have hustlers who can make tilings happen.
What did you do in Lincoln this weekend? -
Attention
Student
I Organizations.
s
Earn $10-40 in one morning
by selling FIRST DOWN .
on home game Saturdays
Hurry, these 30 positions
must be filled by Thursday.
September 8. For information
contact Carla or Barb at the
Hnilv IVJehrfiQlcan rmm 34
A Nebraska Union or call 472-2588,
L
You cant
save fha
whole world,
but maybe
just a
lirile piece.
Progress comes in
inches. But even inches add
up. A few fives here. A few -lives
there. And what the
Peace Corps will do for your
life is more than we can ever
tell you. Call the Peace CorpsJ
And maybe you can help get
the world back together, a
piece at a time. The Peace
Corps is alive nd well
Call toll free: Hpf-CC
Brut Afi asflii cvwyyi
UNL'S SEVEN WEEK
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Sec. 1 -Mon. & Wed.: Class, 1:30, Lab. 2:30 or arranged
Sec. 2 - Mon. & Wed.: Class, 3:30, Lab. 4:30 or arranged
Sec. 3 - Tue. & Thurs.: Cass 1:30, Lab. 2:30 or arranged
Sec. 4 - Tue. & Thurs.: Class 3:30, Lab. 4:30 or arranged
Sec, 5 - Tue. & Thurs.: Class 7:30, Lab. 6:30 or 8:30
Two First Semester Sessions
Session 1 September 6 or 7 to October 1 9 or 20
Session 2 October 25 to Decembers (Tues. & Thurs. only)
This non-credit, seven-week Division of Continuing Ctudies
course is designed for those students with average or above
average reading abilities. Emphasis is placed upon comprehen
sion, vocabulary and speed in reading, and upon the attainment
of effective study skills.
Yo Register: 511 Nebraska Hall
Fee: $40.00
Texts: College Reading Skills (available at Nebraska Bookstore)
Craig Workbook (classroom)
Class Location: 208 Richards Hall
UNL Division of Continuing Studies
- For additional information: contact the instructor,
Kay Felton, at 488-8978 or 489-75 1 7.
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