Facilities
The Department of Art and Art History is housed in two buildings, Nelle Cochrane Woods Hall and Richards Hall. Both are in the "arts quadrangle," which is the southwest corner of UNL's city campus. This arts quadrangle also includes: Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and Sculpture Garden, Lied Center for Performing Arts, Kimball Recital Hall, the School of Music's Westbrook Music Building, the Department of Theatre Arts Temple Building and the Hixon/Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts dean's office in 102 Nelle Cochrane Woods Hall. The department's main office is in 120 Richards Hall. Learning takes place in well-equipped and well-lit studios, shops, laboratories and classrooms.
Richards Hall
Richards Hall houses the department's gallery of art (the Eisentrager • Howard Gallery); painting, drawing, visual literacy, sculpture and ceramics classrooms; a 1500 square-foot papermaking studio; and other faculty and student studios. A multimedia-equipped 200-seat auditorium and a 46-seat seminar room are located on the lower level.
The Eisentrager • Howard Gallery of the Department of Art and Art History on the first floor of Richards Hall is an integral part of the educational process of the University, providing the department, general public and University community with opportunities to view, contemplate and interact with contemporary artwork from a variety of sources both at the national and international levels.
The department's gallery serves as an extension of the studio and classroom learning experience. The opportunity for students and the public to meet and discuss contemporary art issues with an artist who may be exhibiting in the gallery is an important aspect of the gallery programs. Regularly scheduled exhibitions include traditional thematic shows that complement the curriculum, as well as installations and site specific works that introduce students to new genres. The gallery maintains a commitment to exhibiting artists who reside in the state of Nebraska focusing on those in Lincoln and Omaha.
A major function of the department gallery is to exhibit the work of faculty and students, including MFA thesis exhibitions, BFA Capstone exhibitions for graduating seniors, a biennial faculty exhibition and an annual competitive undergraduate exhibition, which are all part of the exhibition schedule.
The gallery was renamed the Eisentrager • Howard Gallery in appreciation of generous donations by two emeriti faculty, James and Dorene Eisentrager and Dan and Barbara Howard.
The Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and Sculpture Garden, adjacent to the department, is the setting for temporary exhibitions and periodic showings of works selected from the University's permanent collection. The Sheldon Gallery also schedules a biennial exhibition of department faculty members' art work. Sheldon houses one of the nation's most respected University collections of 20th century American art work.
Woods Hall
Woods Hall houses the department's slide collection, printmaking studios, book arts studio, graphic design computer lab, a general purpose computer lab, photography darkrooms, a visual literacy lab, and general purpose classrooms. The department slide library now numbers over 100,000 slides. The printmaking and book arts facilities occupy most of the top floor of the Woods Art Building. The five large rooms feature full-length walls of windows, creating exceptionally well-lit and inviting workspaces. The shop includes separate rooms for etching, lithography, letterpress and book arts, with large work tables in each area. Work areas for the mediums of screen printing and relief are provided in a central work area, as well as in the large advanced/graduate print studio.
