Sunday, July 8, 2018
Thank you to the many supporters that helped us celebrate 10 years!
Here is a recap of some of what has been accomplished:
Five minutes to cover the highlights of the last ten years by Anna Nolan and Allen Covault
Major results of establishing this art museum have been the special friendships and connections among artists, volunteers, board members, visitors and other supporters that continue to develop and that we are celebrating today. Many visitors have expressed appreciation that urges them to keep in touch and support the continued growth and success of the museum. The opportunity to present, research, and celebrate the art of Dale Nichols and his brother Floyd Nichols was made possible thanks to the support and detailed information of Dale’s niece Ruth Nichols who was on the founding board along with Mike and Laura Moravec, Brian Zimmer, nationally known artist Mark Moseman and his wife Carol and ourselves.
Because of Moseman’s connections, nationally known artists were among those quick to accept the invitation to exhibit. Examples can be seen on the displays put together by Gabrielle Comte. As the years have passed other board members have brought their special skill set including artist and educator Amy Tomasevicz and lawyer Tim Wollmer. The most ambitious exhibition “Dale Nichols: Transcending Regionalism” was organized, written and funded through grants obtained by our curator Amanda Mobley Guenther who handled every aspect of the exhibition which traveled to three other nationally known museums and was praised by the Smithsonian blog. Another major exhibition mounted by Director Carol Kobza “Ballad of the Farm” connected the museum with many others celebrating their agrarian roots and involved artists from a six state region including our first exhibitor V…. Vaughan from Round Rock, TX who taught our first art workshop.
From the first year, HELP grants provided structure and contacts with museum associations critical to professional development with annual conferences by the MPMA (Mountain-Plains Museums Association) where museums from a ten-state region learn how to share solutions to problems and are recognized for successes at the annual awards. Bone Creek Museum has received national recognition thanks to the website development and graphic design of Ashley Cameron and the writing of Amanda Mobley Guenther.
As a result eleven awards have gone to our museum from the MPMA for publications and social media along with an award from Nebraska Tourism. Grants from Butler County Tourism in 2018 have also helped with the current exhibition of “Worthy Rivals: Dale Nichols and Terence Duren.”
In addition the museum was recognized this year by the Nebraska Association of County Extension Boards largely through the efforts of Gabrielle Comte for her work with 4-H and sharing those projects at the Butler County Fair annually. The 2016 Rising Star award from the NEBRASKAland Foundation was thanks to then board member Carey Potter. In 2017 the Nebraska 150 exhibition was able to share the art of 150 artists who either lived in this state or had connections to Nebraska. This inspired current board members Vice President Ruth Thoendel and Alice Wood with the support of Kathleen Lohr, Secretary Cheri Schrader, Jim Hanna, Johnathan Hladik and our President Ron Clarke to look to the future and “2020 Vision,” an exhibition under development thanks to the great success of the Nebraska 150.
After the 3 year period of being a nonprofit was achieved our museum received many grants from The Nebraska Arts Council with the additional support of the Nebraska Cultural Endowment. Other grants came from the Butler County Area Foundation Fund and the Butler County Arts Council which also hosts Summer Art Day Camp each July. In addition, there are many supporting memberships that are renewable annually from area businesses and individuals. This year a one-time gift from the David Jay Friis estate to the museum and the support of the Nolan Covault Foundation encourage future growth.
However, most important to our success from the beginning has been the more than 100 volunteers many recruited and scheduled by Mark Mohler. Visitors have complimented the special welcome and the displays that so clearly communicate the purpose of our museum which is to connect people to the land through art.