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By Sarah Baker
Senior editor
Editor s note: Today, we begin the first in a three-part
series exploring the history, mission and future of the
Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery.
In 1963, when Philip Johnson designed the Sheldon
Memorial Art Gallery, he compared it to a church.
He hoped his design would be something people could
identify with and look at with a sense of pride.
He said, in his architect’s statement, that sometimes the
function of a museum runs counter to its function as a home
for the arts. He didn’t want that for me Sheldon.
In his own words: “I was determined there would be no
museum fatigue.”
And Johnson, in designing his “home-for-pictures,” cre
ated a home - in every sense of the word - for one of the
most important collections of 20th century American art.
It continues to serve its purpose even today - as an
unmatched artistic achievement, as well as an identifying
symbol synonymous with art.
“It’s sort of an island that sits there,” said Dan Siedell,
curator of the Sheldon. “It functions as a work of art in its
own right”
Siedell said the great hall of the gallery — an open, light
filled, white space - provides a certain ambiance for the vis
itor and forfhe viewer.
“The Great Hall reflects a cohesive balance - a classical
balance - on art. The gallery spaces are tucked away off the
hall, and that provides a quiet, reflective place,” he said. “It
calls for the viewer to walk through and, as they do, see sur
faces where it makes them think ‘some painting should be
there.’ I think that’s what Johnson had in mind.”
Art History
The museum has sustained a constantly flourishing col
Heather Glenboski/DN
DAN SIEDELL, CURA
TOR of the Sheldon
Memorial Art Gallery,
aims to turn the
gallery into a
“research collec
tion.” He has been
curator for the past
four years.
u-—
(The Sheldon)
junctions as a work
of art in its own
right”
Dan Siedell
curator of the Sheldon
lection since 1888.
The gallery houses both the Nebraska Art Association
collection, founded in 1888, and die university collection,
initiated in 1929. Together they make up the permanent col
lection of more than 12,000 works.
The collection incorporates art from many different
realms - Cubism, Modernism and Abstract Expressionism -
and many different media.’The museum owns an extensive
vault of prints and photographs, not to mention its eclectic
sculpture garden hill of 20tlj century works that extend the
lifeblood of the museum into downtown Lincoln.
“It’s identifiable,” Siedell said. “I take pride in how it
symbolizes art. It works in that context.”
The Sheldon stands as a memorial to Mary Frances
Sheldon, who bequeathed her estate to the university for the
construction of a museum, and her brother, Adam Bromley
Please see SHELDON on 13
Courtesy Photos
ABOVE FAR LEFTi “Ocean Park 89.5” is
part of a widely acclaimed series by
Richard Dlebenkorn, who was considered
to be one of the last “Moderns.” For the
“Ocean Park” series, Dlebenkorn relied
on geometry and brilliant color.
ABOVE LEFE Willem do Kooning's 1954
painting “Woman” is part of a series of
works titled “Woman.” The series,
grounded in Abstract Expressionism, has
been called one of the most Important
achievements In American painting since
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