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Dick Durst pulls up a chair in the Lied set studio. O Pioneers! Set Evokes Horizon, Nebraska's Skyscapes Designing Keeps Durst Current with Theatrical WorldBy Annie Mumgaard, Public Relations Try out this word association experiment: turn to your university neighbor and say "academic dean." Most likely you'll hear responses such as "administrator," "decision-maker" and "overly busy." You most likely won't hear "designer," "creator of visual metaphors" or "dreamer." "I think my colleagues would agree," said Dick Durst, dean of the College of Fine and Perfoming Arts, "that sometimes it feels that deans exist to do meetings." So to keep this dean fresh within the important work of the administrative process, Durst dreams and designs stage sets - specifically the set for Tyler White's operatic treatment of Willa Cather's "O Pioneers!" The show opens Nov. 12 at Kimball Hall and audiences will immediately notice how the scene enhances the theme of family struggle set in the Nebraska prairie. Through the use of a blackened stage, a forced visual perspective, spare yet vital props, lighting and cloth streamers that will extend over the audience, Kimball's auditorium will be transformed into a horizon where land and sky meet. The design is one meant to envelope the audience into this "expansiveness" which Durst feels is Nebraska. The set will also physically extend over the orchestra pit allowing the actors to embrace the audience into the action. "Durst has done a fantastic job creating a sense of presence and a sense of openness and space," White said. "What he has done is created a single set created on many different levels and angles, all oriented around a central vanishing point. It's difficult to establish that sense of breadth and the wonderful sense of these big plains." Added Durst: "The biggest challenge we faced was how to stimulate the audience to dream a bit with us. Tyler wrote this incredible project, in addition to his regular duties, and the challenge for the director and scene designer was to make the locations come to life in the mind of the audience." Durst wandered through the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery looking for contemporary images that spoke to this sense of vastness and expansive horizon. Born in western Nebraska, Durst remembers a childhood enhanced by incredible sunsets and skies full of magnificent clouds. For this specific opera, Durst wanted to find a way to represent, what artist Keith Jacobshagen calls a Nebraska "skyscape." Durst's design style leans away from representational realism toward an abstract reality. "If somebody comes expecting to see the Nebraska Sandhills, they'll probably be disappointed." said Durst. "We've gone with a visual metaphor you'll know but not like you've ever seen before. "Of course a visual metaphor's only good if somebody understands it. It doesn't work if nobody understands it." Whether anyone understands his vision, Durst said the chance to work on an important premiere was fulfilling. "This opera is one of those tremendously unique experiences," he said. "It's an opportunity to learn via a work that's not been seen or done by anyone before." All this creative activity added energy to this dean's packed schedule. "I love the collaborative process, " he said. "Not just being an artist working in a vacuum but being responsible to the entity I'm working on and to the other members of the production team." By practicing his field of expertise, Durst believes he is keeping himself on the edge of his thought process. "We all need to do something that breaks the routine, keeps us on the knife's edge, fresh, alive and able to do our work," he said. State Museum, Indian Affairs Commission Collaborate on Development Tribal Encounter Kits Offer Insight into Ponca, Santee CultureBy Kelly Bartling, Public Relations Open the buffalo-skin box and step into the world of the Ponca, where buffaloes' bladders are used to carry water and medicine, and buffalo bones are babies' teething toys. In the world of the Santee, one can encounter the arts of the Dakota, where star quilts, beaded chokers and dream catchers show the elegance of the tribe's artistry, the Wacipi pow wow is experienced, and the Dakota language is heard. These experiences and many others are offered Nebraska children now through two new Tribal Encounter kits through a joint effort of the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs and the University of Nebraska State Museum. The kits were developed by representatives from the Ponca and Santee tribes, in collaboration with the University of Nebraska State Museum. Containing resources and educational activities on the unique history and rich culture of the tribes, the encounter kit activities create an authentic and interactive learning experience for students, and present the vibrant and growing cultures of Native Americans. "These kits are a reflection of the cultures of these tribes, their history and their arts," said Judi Morgan, executive director of the Commission on Indian Affairs. "A lot of people have never been on a reservation or been exposed to these cultures, and these kits give a hands-on experience and an awareness of these cultures and tribal history." The kits are intended for classroom use among fourth- through eighth-graders, but could also be educational for younger students. Each kit contains five sections of activities that can be integrated by teachers for their classroom curriculum. Books, videos, artifacts, oral histories, dramatic readings, audio tapes, coloring books and games are part of the variety of materials included in the tribal educational kits. "What's special about these kits as an educational resource is the fact that one can experience tribal culture from the tribe's perspective," said Judy Diamond, assistant director for public programs at the University of Nebraska State Museum. "These experiences can be through many modalities: songs, dances, art, oral histories... and provide hands-on, inquiry-based learning, which encourages kids to think on their own." The tribes themselves suggested which materials to place in the kits, which resources would be used and which literature would accompany stories such as the Trial of Standing Bear, and the Great Sioux Uprising of 1862. Tribe members provided oral histories, made star quilts, provided recipes and suggested questions and answers for tribal "jeopardy" game. "The tribal representatives served as the primary developers of the kits, writing the activities, suggesting materials, and creating activities," Diamond said. The Ponca kit was developed by Phil Wendzillo, director of cultural affairs for the Ponca tribe, and the Santee kit was developed by Judi Morgan and M. Sue Settell of the Commission on Indian Affairs, and Linda Wipple of the Santee tribe. The tribes' perspective on the historic elements of the kits was essential, Diamond and Morgan said. The Ponca encounter kit includes a box made from buffalo hide created by the Intertribal Bison Cooperative, and contains buffalo artifacts that encourage touching: hooves, hide, bone, teeth and other resources that teach that the Ponca used the buffalo in its entirety as its staple. A thin, dry buffalo bladder membrane is touchable and shows how the Ponca used it to fill and carry with water and medicine. "This is a very important step for the State Museum to increase cultural sensitivity, and we hope to be able to continue to collaborate with the tribes and support their efforts to be better understood," Diamond said. "The Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs has been a vital force in making this whole process possible." Wendzillo said the kits will be an excellent teaching tool and a way for the tribes to increase their cultural awareness. "My hope would be that with at least one tribal kit could be used at one time or another in the schools once during each child's education," he said, "and that the kits will continue to evolve and be updated." Durward B. "Woody" Varner Dies at 82 Varner Called Man of Integrity, AccomplishmentThe University of Nebraska community mourns the loss of D.B. "Woody" Varner, who died Oct. 30 at age 82 following a lingering illness. Varner headed the NU system for seven years before coming its chief fundraiser. He holds the distinction of being both the chancellor and president of the university. When he arrived in Nebraska from Michigan in 1970 to assume the reins of NU central administration, the CEO position was titled chancellor. Soon, the title was switched to president. He left that position in 1977 and became chairman of the NU Foundation until his official retirement in 1987. During that period, he led the foundation's first successful capital campaign, which raised more than $52 million, double its $25 million goal. Under his leadership, the foundation became a fund-raiser rather than a fund-manager. Varner never fully withdrew from supporting Nebraska's premiere educational institution. His famous "soft-sell" as a fundraiser was enhanced by his reputation as a "friend-raiser." His memory for names and faces was legendary. Varner spearheaded the fund-drive that resulted in the construction of the Lied Center for Performing Arts. He had seen a news article about the Lied Foundation, named in honor of NU alumnus Ernst Lied. A visit with the foundation's trustee, Christina Hixson, produced a pledge of $10 million toward building a performing arts center. Varner was instrumental in raising the matching $15 million to contruct the building and served briefly as its director. The list of honors and awards bestowed upon Varner is long. A lasting tribute is the D.B. and Paula Varner Hall, which houses NU Central Administration. The building was named for the Varners following his retirement as system president. The Omaha World-Herald, which named Varner its Midlands Man of the Year in 1976, remembered him on its editorial page Nov. 1, calling him a "thoroughly decent and honorable human being." The paper cited him for his diplomacy, respect, kindness, trust, integrity, and genuine friendliness. "Nebraska is a better place for the way Woody Varner lived his life," the paper wrote. In addition to his wife, Paula, he is survived by two daughters, a son and five grandchildren. A memorial service was held Nov. 2 in Lincoln. Memorial contributions are suggested to the NU Foundation, Varner Family Fund or to Westminster Presbyterian Church, Lincoln. |
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