Tuesday, July 16, 1985
The Nebraskan
Pago 7
expresses western heritage
Arts &: lEaterf airomeirtt
Collection
By Laura Hansen
Staff Reporter
Hidden in the depths of Love Library,
not far from the Infamous "stacks" lies
the Great Plains Art Collection.
The Great Plains room, on the second
floor of Love south, holds the multimillion-dollar
Christlieb collection of
Western Art. Jon Nelson, curator of the
collection, said it was donated in 1980
by Dr. and Mrs. Christlieb of Bellcvue.
Nelson said that there is only room
to show about one third of this vast
collection at a time. The collection Is
supplemented with traveling exhibits
and donations like "In Search of a
Route" which will be showing until the
end of the month.
Nelson said the room also contains
examples of work by famous artists,
like Charles Russel and unusual pieces
by Carl Kauba.
" Nelson said a basic theme of realis
tic, western subjects ties all these
great pieces of art together. Western
art, he said, is an expression of Ameri
can values, it represents the feeling
people hold about this country.
Nelson said that if we don't know
about our culture we are ignorant peo
ple, and that art is important, to our
culture.
Through July 23rd the room will be
displaying a recent acquisition, "Sum
mer Shower," a painting by western
artist Ted Long. The painting was
donated by Dr. Leon S. McGoogan, of
Omaha.
Long, a Nebraskan, also has a bronze
in the Great Plains room. The piece
contributes to the room Nelson said,
"like a voice in a choir," merely adding
to the tradition of great western artists.
The painting is part of a display of
paintings about Native Americans by
contemporary artists.
Long's "Summer Shower" is repre
sentative of the artist's work, and was
inspired by his feelings for the West.
Long said he "dreamed of the days
when the great herds of buffalo, the
Sioux, Cheyenne and Pawnee once tra
veled and camped on the ground."
"In Search of a Route" is a series of
lithographs that function like photo
graphs Nelson said, and they tell a tale
of America in the summer of 1853.
They were produced on the Issac I.
Stevens survey of the 47th and 49th
parrallels.
Ciitt
Rex Reed . . .Siskel and Ebert . . iiz
Smith . . Judith Crist. . .Vincent Can
by .. .
Mention these critics' notorious
names to anyone and stand back: out
pours a deluge of disgust and hatred
Scott
Harrah
from the mouths of many film, music,
book and theater fans. A critic is con
sidered a professional bitch, someone
who uses exotic adjectives to ruth
lessly slaughter everyone's favorite en
tertainment. They are perhaps the most
influential journalists in the mass
media, because if enough of them slam
out a negative word about a particular
film or album, failure follows.
Critics, infamous or not, are a mis
understood species.
Everyone has a favorite performer
and a film, book or album they consider
"the best."
But no matter how much praise peo
ple have for a certain entertainment,
someone out there is going to hate it.
It is always the critic who doesn't
care for the latest public rave like
"Ghostbusters" or "E.T." who receives
myriads of hate mail.
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Jon Nelson, Great Plains
exhibit featuring buffalo
Artist John Mix Stanley accompan
ied Stevens on his survey, illustrating
detailed accounts of the plains.
The Congressional Globe of January
1959 said "Every unexpected or unan
ticipated gorge in the moutains has
been displayed in a beautiful pic
ture . . .in the highest style of art in
the most brilliant colors.'
Nelson said people can learn a lot
from an exhibit like this. These are
straightforward pictures, he said, that
fcM&
I remember the days when I too des
pised critics. Like many, I thought: "If
the critics all think it's a dud it must be
a blockbuster." But then I got a job on
the entertainment page of this paper as
a reviewer and my perceptions of crit
ics changed tremendously.
I had written fake reviews for fun in
high school, but I never took it seri
ously. My first reviews were a bit too
serious and too lenient. I didn't
want to be known as another caustic
critic out to rip apart everything, so I
tried to be nice with lots of flowery
adjectives.
After writing a number of reviews
laden with action verbs and colorful
cliches like "a riveting, tour de force,"
I started to feel like Mr. Rogers giving
vocabulary lessons.
So I began dishing dirt, constantly .
revealing every slice of reprehensible
rankness in the things I criticized.
I soon became the very thing I'd
once disdained: a cruel critic . . .and
I've loved every pompous, pretentious
moment of it.
not.
Tearing apart someone's artistic en
deavor may not be the most respecta- , , ,
ble job around, but it is often approp- That's why I always laugh at people
riate because most of the trip Hollywood who send me letters, telling me my
Art Collection curator, seems to
and a Montana mountain man.
can tell us a lot about early lithograph
production and Western history.
The goals of the Great Plains room
include displaying great works of West
ern art, becoming bigger and becoming
better, according to Nelson.
To meet these high ideals the show
room has many things planned for the
upcoming year, Nelson said.
In January they are planning the
first Solon Borgham exhibit in the Uni
ted States since 1904. Borgham wes i.e
and the disc-biz churns out is 100 per
cent pure pabulum.
Only a select few actors, writers and
musicians truly deserve to be called
"riveting, tour de forces."
Wit, satire and humor have always
been the creative impetus behind in
sults, ridicule and criticism in daily
life. So naturally it is necessary for a
critic to also be a talented writer. Most
of them are. -
It is no surprise then that some of
America's greatest writers like Willa
Cather and Truman Capote were also
critics. Cather was once a drama critic
for the Lincoln Journal; Capote was a
critic of everything.
Critics do perform a worthwhile ser
vice for the public. They let consumers
of movies, albums and literature know
what's got class and what's total trash.
But what many don't understand is that
they are writers with a certain style and
an arbitrary sense of taste that should
not be restrained by journalistic objec
tivity or people in general. They speak
their mind like any other writer and
should be allowed to do so whether
their opinions are public consensus or
dloiiMa clone s demands
r
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Andrea HoyThe Nebraskan
contemplate our Western heritage as he views a bronze
younger brother of Gutzon Borgham,
the sculptor of Mt. Rushmore in South
Dakota. Solon was born in Utah, but
raised in Fremont and Omaha.
There is also a Ted Long and Tom
Palmerton exhibit coming up this fall.
Rosaline Carr from the Great Plains
center in Oldfather Hall said that she
hopes the collection will make stu
dents more aware of things of beauty
and make them more human. Art, she
said, is a big part of the human
reviews constitute bad journalism be
cause they're "subjective." That's ex
actly what a review is supposed to be.
Some have even tracked me down to
personally tell me wrhere to go. "How
dare you put down Sheena Easton!" a
teary-eyed Madonna clone screamed at
me once in the union. "She has a pretty
voice and dresses so hot."
Another time I was in a local record
store where a group of "underground
Auditions for the new musical "King
of Hearts" will be held at the Lincoln
Community Playhouse, 2500 S. 56th St.,
tonight from 8 to 10 p.m., and Wednes
day, July 17 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Those interested in auditioning are
encouraged to attend an information
session from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. tonight to
find out about the play and to hear the
music before auditions.
Those auditioning should be availa
ble for callbacks at 6:30 p.m. Thursday,
July 18.
America's leading folk instrumen
talist, John McCutcheon, is returning
to Lincoln, Friday, July 28 at the Joyo
Theater, 6102 Havelock Avenue.
The 8 p.m. concert will feature
4
v
experience.
Nelson said he hopes people can
gain a visual history of the great plains
by viewing the collection.
The Great Plains Art Collection is
open to the public from 9:30 a.m. to 5
p.m. Monday through Friday, from 10
a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and from 1:30
to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
The gallery is not open when the
library is closed.
elitists," dripping with paisley and
punk pretensions, pointed at me. One
of them said, "That's him! He's the guy
who slaughtered the Smiths."
I really don't care if my reviews
affront Madonna clones, pseudo punks,
or anyone else if I don't always praise
their immortal idols. I instead find it
amusing because I know they would
feel the same if the dreaded poison pen
was in their hands. In other words,
don't knock it 'til you've panned it!
3
Shorts
McCutcheon on fiddle, hammer dulci
mer, banjo, and singing traditional
songs a show that will appeal to all
ages. Advance tickets are available at
Dirt Cheap, the Nebraska Union, and
London Stringed Instruments for $5,
$2.50 for senior citizens, and $1 for
children under 12.
The concert is sponsored by the Lin
coln Association for Traditional Arts.
Kool and the Gang, one of the most
popular R & B pop bands of the '80s will
perform at the Omaha Chic auditorium
Friday, July 19 at 8 p.m.
Reserve tickets for the group, known
for their current hit "Fresh," and "Cele
bration," are $15.25 and on sale at
Pickles.