Central City native and internationally known painter Todd Williams has put all 93 Nebraska counties on canvas for a statewide exhibition during Nebraska’s sesquicentennial celebration next year.
Nebraska joined the union on March 1, 1867.
Its sesquicentennial has been in the planning and development stage for several years. One of the first major projects involved Williams and “Painting the Legacy of Nebraska,” which recognizes all 93 counties, featuring “historic locations and aesthetic scenes relevant to each individual locale.”
For Hall County, Williams painted the Platte River. One painting shows the river during the drought of 2012, and the other involves the annual spring migration of the sandhill cranes on the Platte River.
Growing up in Central City, Williams developed his gift of painting and art. After high school, he attended Central Community College in Columbus and graduated with an associate’s degree. He then earned a bachelor’s degree from the Kansas City Art Institute and worked 10 years for Hallmark Cards until 2002, when he decided to pursue a career as a professional artist.
He said growing up in Nebraska was always impacting his imagination and he wanted to “bring its beauty to life on canvas.” Williams said his goal was to paint one or two paintings of each county showing both the counties’ historical legacy and the “diversity and simplicity of the landscape and landmarks.”
Williams said his artistic influences have been the American Impressionists of the 19th century and early 20th century. American Impressionism is a style of painting characterized by loose brushwork and vivid colors. He said his Nebraska paintings have now all been completed and will be part of a traveling exhibition in the state next year, including Stuhr Museum.
For the Legacy of Nebraska project, he worked with historians, sponsors and leaders in each county to determine significant subjects. The project seeks not only to educate Nebraskans about their history, but also to “reach well beyond the state’s borders with a traveling exhibition, a Legacy of Nebraska commemorative collectors’ art book, and a documentary film produced by NET, Nebraska’s public television affiliate.”
The exhibition will open at the Nebraska History Museum in Lincoln on Statehood Day, March 1, 2017. The exhibition will be on view there until June 4. It will then travel to Grand Island’s Stuhr Museum, where it will be on display from June 17 to Aug. 20. All 120 paintings will then move to Omaha’s Gallery 1516 from Sept. 1 to Oct. 15, 2017. For the rest of the year, the collection will be split up into regional selections and will be simultaneously exhibited at Bone Creek Museum of Agrarian Art, David City; Homestead National Monument of America, Beatrice; Gallery 92, Fremont; Knight Museum, Alliance; Norfolk Arts Center, Norfolk; and the West Nebraska Art Center, Scottsbluff.
Williams said it is his desire for this project to “reawaken an appreciation for the arts while preserving the unique beauty and heritage that Nebraska has to offer.”
More information about his work can be viewed at www.ToddWilliamsFineArt.com. Information about the Painting the Legacy of Nebraska project is at ne150.org/events-programs/painting-the-legacy.