Posted by the Omaha World Herald
Art depicts lands, fields and those who have lived on them
In this installment, we focus on Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art, David City.
Best known for
Founded by local volunteers in 2007, the Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art is the only U.S. museum highlighting artwork that showcases farm and rural life. In addition to regular and special agrarian art exhibitions, the museum hosts or sponsors talks by artists, panel discussions, art workshops and humanities presentations.
Highlights
Bone Creek’s permanent and traveling collections present artworks depicting lands, fields and those who have lived on them. A natural focus of the permanent collection is the “Regionalist” movement of the mid-20th century, which included such nationally known artists as Grant Wood, Thomas Hart Benton and John Steuart Curry, as well as David City native Dale Nichols (1904-95), the museum’s most prominently displayed artist. (Several of composer Aaron Copland’s best-known works also were in the Regionalist vein.)
Special features
The Dale Nichols Collection, including his “Four Seasons” series of paintings originally commissioned for a David City bank and prints, drawings and other memorabilia.
The Edward Glannon Collection, featuring the works of Glannon (1911-92), a Pennsylvania teacher, painter and printmaker.
The Luigi Lucioni Collection, showcasing 44 etchings by Vermont-based Lucioni (1900-88).
The Beth Van Hoesen Collection, consisting of original drawings and prints by the famed California printmaker (1926-2010).
Works by Benton (1889-1975), Curry (1897-1946), Robert Wesley Amick (1879-1969) and other important agrarian artists from across the country.
Did you know?
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York owns Nichols’ best-known painting, “End of the Hunt” (1934). Bone Creek gathered Nichols works from 10 major museums and numerous private collections for its 2011 show, “Dale Nichols: Transcending Regionalism.”
On the calendar
Thursday: “Dust Bowl Descent” presentation by author Bill Ganzel, East Butler School, Brainard, Nebraska, 9 a.m. Open to fourth-graders through adults.
Sept. 13: Closing reception for summer-long “Ballad of the Farm: Then, Now, Tomorrow” exhibition, 1:30 p.m. Exhibit remains open during regular hours through Sept. 13.
Sept. 30: Opening of “A Feeling of Humanity: Western Art from the Ken Ratner Collection.” Exhibition open through Jan. 3.
Need to know
Website: http://bonecreek.org
Phone: 402-367-4488
Address: 575 E St., David City, NE 68632
Admission: Free.
Hours: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and 5-8 p.m. Thursday, 1-4 p.m. Sunday. Appointments and tours available.