I first encountered the Josyln Art Museum, as I retraced Lewis and Clark's passage up the Missouri River. I had read Stephen Ambrose's book, Undaunted Courage, and wanted to follow the Corps of Discovery's route as much as I could. I made a quick stop in Omaha to look at the Joslyn Art Museum's collection of paintings, drawings and lithographs by George Catlin and Karl Bodmer. Both artists, like the Lewis and Clark expedition, traveled documenting both the land and the people who had inhabited it for centuries prior to "discovery". I remember being blown away by the extent and quality of the Joslyn's collection, and I have been returning ever since.
Similar to the Wichita Art Museum, the Joslyn began as a memorial for a husband who had passed away after making a fortune in the newspaper business. Sarah Joslyn honored her late husband George, by donating three million dollars in 1931 to construct a gorgeous art deco museum of Georgia pink marble. The museum became the cultural center of Omaha. However, the museum outgrew the space. In 1994, a new addition was built by its side of the same Georgia marble. Thirty years later, the museum had outgrown its space once again, so another new addition opened last September. The new LEED Gold certified addition is very different from the art deco original, but it honors the past and beautifully ties the original 1931 structure and the 1994 addition together. The new space doesn't merely provide more gallery space, it provides far greater opportunities for gatherings and events to take place surrounded by art. The newly configured space is its own work of art. And of course, the restaurant is fabulous and a very pleasant place to enjoy lunch.
One of my personal pleasures of the Joslyn is the sculpture garden. Amongst the sculptures is a bronze covered wagon pulled by struggling oxen, a reference to the Oregon Trail which traverses Nebraska, south of Omaha. The whimsical cartoon character driving the wagon just makes you smile, or it does me since I knew the artist Tom Otterness, from my days at Coleman Junior High and Wichita Southeast High School. I have encountered Tom's work in public places all over the country. His playful style engages people to participate in his sense of humor.
Take a Walk with Birkenstock.
