November 15, 2001

Superman, 1998, by Bill Sienkiewicz.

Comic art comes to Sheldon

Works from a collection recently donated to the Sheldon comprise Comics, Heroes, and American Visual Culture, which opened Nov. 9. The exhibition features nearly 70 works of comic and superhero art drawn from the Dan F. and Barbara J. Howard Collection of American Popular Art.

The collection contains more than 100 works as well as a significant research library. The exhibition runs to Feb. 28.

Although cartoons and caricatures have played an important role in Western culture since the Middle Ages, the development of the comic strip is a unique American phenomenon and has contributed significantly to American visual culture, including the development of high art in the United States.

Comics, Heroes, and American Visual Culture is divided into two parts, one focusing on comic strip art, the other featuring fantasy and superhero art.

The comic strip art exhibition features the work of such important early strips as Gus Mager's Grafto the Monk (1907), Milton Caniff's Terry and the Pirates and George Herriman's Krazy Kat. This section also shows the development of the so-called "adventure" strip, pioneered by Roy Crane in the 1930s with Wash Tubbs and Captain Easy and continued by Caniff's Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon and Dick Calkins's Buck Rogers through the 1940s and 1950s.

Also included are such favorites as Harold Gray's Little Orphan Annie, Chester Gould's Dick Tracy, Walt Kelly's Pogo, Gary Larson's The Far Side and Bela Zaboly's Thimble Theatre, which came to be known simply as Popeye.

Another part of the exhibition focuses on the seminal contribution of the "superhero" to another major comic art genre, the comic book. Loosened from the daily and Sunday newspaper, these self-contained publications featured such memorable larger-than-life characters as Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel, Captain Midnight and the Spirit, among many others. Emerging from Roy Crane's "adventure" strips of the 1930s, the "superhero" came to embody the values of an American society blossoming into a world power. This exhibition features comic strips and original paintings by the most important creators and illustrators of this genre, including Will Eisner, Alex Ross, Joe Shuster and Bill Sienkiewicz.

The Education Committee of the Nebraska Art Association is presenting a special cartoon workshop for school-age children, featuring Lincoln resident and cartoonist Bob Hall, who currently illustrates Batman for DC Comics. The workshop will take place Jan. 19.

A symposium, The Art of the Comics, which will celebrate and explore the significance of comic art to U.S. culture, will be hosted by the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery on Feb. 1-2. Among the participants will be Will Eisner, creator of The Spirit; Chris Ware, whose publication of Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, has made him a significant graphic novelist; Bill Sienkiewicz, who has made Batman and Superman images; and comic art historian Robert C. Harvey, among others.

A series of videos on The History of the Comics will be available for viewing in Sheldon's Great Hall at noon and at 2:30 pm throughout the course of the exhibition according to the following schedule.

On Tuesdays, Volume 1 features The Katzenjammer Kids: Betty Boop, Little Orphan Annie, Popeye, Tarzan, Gasoline Alley, Dick Tracy, Flash Gordon, The Phantom.

On Wednesdays, Volume 2 features Superman, Batman, Steve Canyon, Peanuts, Captain America, James Bond, Beetle Bailey, Mad Magazine and Andy Capp.

On Thursdays, Volume 3 features Vampirella, Conan, Furry Freak, Spider-Man, Little Annie Fanny, Incredible Hulk, Fantastic Four, Creepy Magazine and Judge Dredd.

On Fridays, Volume 3 features X-Men, Outland, Heavy Metal Magazine, Green Arrow, Watchmen, Atom, Elf Quest, Ronin and Green Lantern.

Krazy Kat is also available for viewing, upon request.

Exhibition Comics, Heroes, and American Visual Culture is now on display at the Sheldon Art Gallery through Feb. 28. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, from 7-9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and from 2 to 9 p.m. Sunday. Call 472-2461 for information.

Photo exhibition shows African American aesthetic

A photographic exhibition opening Dec. 8 at the Sheldon presents the works of three African American artists who represent three generations of aesthetic achievement.

The 25 images contained in Interpreting Experience: Bey, DeCarava, VanDerZee focus attention on how these artists have used photography to explore and express the depth and texture of human identity and experience. Drawn primarily from the Sheldon Art Gallery's permanent collection, the exhibition compares and contrasts the photographic vision of Dawoud Bey, Roy deCarava, and James VanDerZee. It runs to March 3.

Although he devoted his 80-year career to photographing the most successful African-Americans at the turn of the 20th century, VanDerZee (1886-1983) is most known for his photographic documentation and expression of the participants of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s and '30s.

Born in New York City during the Harlem Renaissance, deCarava studied painting and printmaking at the Harlem Art Center from 1940-42. DeCarava began exhibiting his photographs during the 1950s and, like VanDerZee, his subjects were most often African-Americans living in an emerging "urban" environment. In contrast to VanDerZee, whose subjects were often posed, DeCarava captured his subjects going about their daily lives. Interpreting Experience includes four prints from the Sheldon Art Gallery's collection and seven prints on loan from the Hallmark, Inc. collection of Photography, in Kansas City, Mo.

VanDerZee and deCarava have both had a significant impact on Dawoud Bey's photographic vision. Like deCarava, Bey was born in New York and used a 35mm camera and black and white film to document the streets of Harlem. In the late 1980s, he moved away from this spontaneous photographic aesthetic in order to explore the potential of photographing his subjects in the controlled environment of his studio.

Each Sunday in February (Black History Month) interpretative presentations will occur at 3 p.m. Presenters are Luigi Waites, percussionist; Voices N Harmony, Northeast High School Choral group; One Voice, Mount Zion Baptist Church Teen Group; and the Delta Sigma Theta Step Dancers. Each Sunday performance will be followed with a reception in the Sheldon Great Hall.

There also will be an interpretive space where visitors can submit photographs and leave written responses for possible judging will be adjacent to the exhibition.

A closing reception will be from 5-7 p.m. March 1, with a gallery talk by the exhibition curator with an opportunity to respond to the interactive space.

Last Chance to Dance Nov. 30 and Dec. 1

The School of Music at UNL presents Last Chance to Dance at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 30 and 5 p.m. Dec. 1 in 304 Mabel Lee Hall.

Last Chance to Dance is an informal showing of dance and choreography presented by Orchesis, the UNL Student Dance Organization. The performance will include new choreography by the UNL dance students as well as demonstrations from dance classes in ballet, modern dance and music for dance.

Tickets are $3. A portion of all proceeds will be donated by Orchesis to the relief effort in New York City. For information call Kari Swanson, 472-5803.

Fox Bryant to sign books Nov. 25

Don "Fox" Bryant, former sports information director for Husker athletics, will talk about his new book and sign copies at 2:30 p.m. Nov. 25 at Lee Booksellers, Edgewood Center, 56th and Highway 2.

Bryant is the author of a new book about the Huskers, Tales from the Nebraska Sidelines. The hardback book, published by Sports Publishing, sells for $19.95.

Bryant was a member of the athletic staff for nearly 35 years, serving as the sports information director for 31 years.

For more information call the bookstore at 420-1919.

University Bookstore plans readings Nov. 16

The University Bookstore will host readings by two UNL faculty members from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 16.

Ricardo García, professor of education, will read from his new book, Coal Camp Days, and Peter Bleed, professor of anthropology, will read from his novel, National Treasure.

Coal Camp Days is the remembrance of 6-year-old Matias Montano, a fictionalized version of the author's life in the last years of World War II. García writes about ordinary coal-mining people as they struggle to make a living and raise families.

National Treasure treats 600 years of history and societies that are worlds apart with accuracy and cultural detail.

Women's basketball Nov. 18 on NETV2

The competition and rivalry is never fiercer than when in-state sports rivals face one-another. And when the Creighton University Bluejays invade the Nebraska Cornhuskers' home court, expect plenty of action. In-state rivals Creighton University Bluejays and the Nebraska Cornhuskers will face off at the Devaney Sports Center on "Nebraska Women's Basketball" at 4:30 p.m. Nov. 18 on NETV2.

A tape-delayed broadcast of the game will air at 10:30 that night on the statewide Nebraska ETV Network.

Special defines what it means to be Nebraskan

How can you explain to visiting family and friends what it means to be a Nebraskan? Gather your guests and tune in to Next Exit at 7 p.m. Nov. 20, on the Nebraska ETV Network.

This one-hour special features people from across the state, revealing who they are and how they got here. Native Nebraskans and holiday visitors alike will learn about the varied lives of those who call themselves Nebraskans and appreciate life in the middle of the country.

Some of the "snapshots" include stories from immigrants, those who arrived in Nebraska via the "Orphan Train," the Sons of Italy of south Omaha, international students from Lincoln East High School, and much more.

Statewide reunites warden, ex-con

Be on hand when an ex-convict reunites with the warden and prison guard who helped turn his life around in a special report airing Nov. 23 on Statewide, the Nebraska ETV Network's weekly news magazine series.

This episode of Statewide will repeat at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 24, and at 1:30 p.m. Nov. 25. It will also repeat on NETV2 at 3 p.m. Nov. 25.

Statewide correspondent Bill Kelly introduces viewers to Ramone "Ray" Tapia, who was imprisoned at the Nebraska State Penitentiary from 1952 to 1963. A 1955 riot that nearly destroyed the prison provided the impetus that changed Tapia's life. Warden Maurice Sigler, appointed in the wake of the riot, introduced reforms that led to Tapia's rehabilitation. Today, Tapia lives in Colorado where he is a law-abiding husband, father and grandfather.

Statewide cameras are on hand at a Florida retirement home when Tapia visits Sigler, to thank him and to share stories about prison's change for the better.