Areas In Need of Support
For almost 75 years Joslyn Art Museum has provided the community with a place for culture, education and entertainment. This relationship between the community and the Museum has been a very successful and mutually beneficial partnership since the Museum opened in 1931.
The Museum has served local and regional audiences by developing a permanent collection that surveys the history of art from antiquity to the present, by presenting outstanding special exhibitions from collections and museums around the world, and by providing widely acclaimed art classes and programs for families and children.
As Joslyn embarks on its 75th anniversary year, it plans to reinvigorate and transform itself into an even more dynamic "gathering place" for today's diverse local and regional audience, whose expectations of our institution have changed with the new demographic, economic and social changes that our city and region have experienced.
As Joslyn Art Museum embarks on the next five year plan, several areas have been identified as special priorities. Moving forward within these areas will depend on resource development. Please take a moment to explore these areas, share our vision for the future and help us realize our dreams.
Conservation
Please click on the highlighted link for additional information pertaining to conservation at Joslyn Art Museum.
Conservation
The Margre H. Durham Center for Western Studies
Please click on the link below to review a list of current publications.
Durham Center for Western Studies
Journals of Prince Maximilian of Wied Project
Joslyn Art Museum seeks funding to publish a five-volume publication of the diaries of Prince Maximilian of Wied; journals that are a record of his expedition to North America in 1832-1834. The journals kept by Prince Maximilian on his journey to North America are unquestionably one of the most factual and reliable sources of information about the customs of the native peoples of the Great Plains in the 1830s.
The project entails translation and publication of a five-volume set of the journals of Prince Maximilian of Wied. A ten-year project, the first volume will be unveiled in February 2008.
In May 1832, Prince Maximilian, along with Swiss artist Karl Bodmer and a hunter-taxidermist, David Dreidoppel (both in Maximilian's employ), set sail from Germany for Boston to begin their trek to explore the lands of North America. They reached Boston on July 4th, which began a two-year journey that would take them from the east coast through the heartland of this country. Over the course of those two years, Prince Maximilian collected countless natural history specimens and made written recordings of his experiences with many Indian tribes and cultures.
Upon his return to Germany, Prince Maximilian published a two-volume publication about his travels, accompanied by an atlas of eighty-one engravings, the production of which was supervised by his traveling companion and artist, Karl Bodmer. Shortly after his death in 1867, Maximilian's work was stored in the Wied family archives where it remained for decades.
The national significance of this project has been duly noted by Dr. James Billington, Librarian of Congress. He has stated that this will be one of the most significant publications regarding the history of the 1800's this country has seen in decades. For more information about this project, please contact the Curatorial Department at 402-342-3300 or click here to send an email message. If you are interested in making a contribution toward the completion of this important publication, please click on the make a donation button on this screen, or contact the Development Department at 402-342-3300, or click here to send an email message, and someone from the department would be happy to contact you with additional information.
Education
Joslyn Art Museum's educational programs bring art and people together for discovery, learning, and enjoyment and are fundamental to the institution's mission. Looking to the future, Joslyn will be more engaged with the community and seek ways to be more relevant and accessible to a broader audience. Building on a tradition of quality programming in education and interpretation, the Museum will develop a "center of excellence" in education, offering innovative programs that challenge the imagination, entertain, and engage diverse audiences. Joslyn Art Museum seeks to become a primary center for teaching and learning in the arts and humanities. Please click on the highlighted link for additional information pertaining to educational programs at Joslyn Art Musem.
Education
If you are interested in making a contribution toward educational programming, please click on the make a donation button on this screen, or contact the Development Department at 402-342-3300, or click here to send an email message, and someone from the department would be happy to contact you with additional information.
Sculpture Garden
At a gala event on November 11, 2006, marking the start of Joslyn Art Museum's year-long 75th anniversary celebration, Museum director J. Brooks Joyner announced a plan for a new sculpture garden. The garden is the focal point of a campus redevelopment plan that, over the next two years and beyond, will dramatically change the face of Joslyn's grounds and includes a variety of important 19th- and 20th-century sculptures, as well as contemporary works by internationally renowned artists; flowing reflective water features; enhanced entrances and drives; renovated and expanded parking; and landscaped green spaces, rich granite pathways, and an entrance plaza to welcome visitors. A model of the project is currently on display on the Museum's Strauss Bridge.
"Part of being a great city is having great public spaces," noted Walter Scott, Joslyn Art Museum Foundation board chairman and Joslyn Art Museum board of governors executive committee member. "In addition to serving as an invitation to view great art in an outdoor setting and continue exploring the arts inside the Museum, this project will enhance the public face of the Museum, in-step with the current revitalization of Omaha's downtown and focus on the city's quality of life."
This long-anticipated redefinition, beautification, and improvement of the grounds is a result of a strategic partnership involving Joslyn, Creighton University, and Omaha Public Schools. Through the partnership, the Museum has succeeded in consolidating its campus while adding significant new property for expansion and development. A collaboration between HDR, Inc., and Kiewit Construction Company, the campus redevelopment project represents the second significant capital initiative undertaken by Joslyn Art Museum since it opened in 1931, preceded by the 1994 addition of the Walter and Suzanne Scott Pavilion, designed by Sir Norman Foster. This latest undertaking coincides with the Museum's 75th anniversary celebration.
"For seven decades, Joslyn Art Museum has played a central role as a place that brings art and people together, and the new campus will express, in a dramatic fashion, why Joslyn has been and continues to be at the center of artistic life in Omaha," said Joyner. "The proposed exterior improvements will essentially redefine the way the Museum is seen and experienced by visitors and fulfill the desire to integrate the Museum's magnificent architecture and collections with its exterior surroundings in a graceful and harmonious setting."
The $10 million Joslyn campus project includes eight major features: Sculpture Garden, Entry Plaza, Discovery Garden, Fountain Wall, Reflecting Pool, Parking Garden, Garden Drive, and Atrium Garden. The project budget also includes enhanced entrance drives and signage, and the creation of a fund for long-term maintenance of the campus and conservation of sculpture located throughout the garden. Phase one is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2007 and will focus on campus redefinition, the parking garden, and the creation of a new entrance off of Dodge Street. Phase two will include the creation of the garden and grand plaza spaces, water features, landscaping, and the addition of new sculptures.
- Sculpture Garden
The Sculpture Garden will be divided into four distinct garden galleries, each with its own individuality and unique sculpture. Among the artists to be represented in the Sculpture Garden are such notables as Scott Burton, John Henry, Kenneth Snelson, and George Sugarman, to name a few. Other signature works by important 19th- and 20th-century and contemporary artists will be acquired over time and placed strategically in locations predetermined by the garden and campus design.
- Entry Plaza
The Entry Plaza, the centerpiece of the Sculpture Garden, will serve as both the formal vehicular approach to the Scott Pavilion entrance and the setting for a signature outdoor sculpture acquired for the Museum's permanent collection. Linked to both the Dodge Street entrance drive and the 24th Street entrance drive, the Entry Plaza will be flanked by granite pavers that closely mirror the interior theme and material quality of the surfaces in the atrium of the Scott Pavilion. The Entry Plaza is both an auto court with a restful island of trees, as well as a drop-off and pick-up location for valet parking during special events. It will welcome visitors and express the collecting vision of the Museum.
- Discovery Garden
The magic of art and nature come together in the unique Discovery Garden. This garden gallery will be located on the northwest corner of the campus and will present "child friendly" sculpture by nationally and internationally known artists who will transform the space into a place of enchantment, mystery, and discovery. Affirming Joslyn's renowned status as one of the top 10 art museums in the country for children and families as announced by Child magazine in March 2006, the Discovery Garden will invite youngsters and adults alike to enter and explore, encouraging intellectual and physical engagement in art-centered surroundings. The garden's design, plantings, and sculpture will emphasize beauty and aesthetic experiences year-round.
- Fountain Wall
Located on the eastern perimeter of the Sculpture Garden, a dramatic 83-foot-long, seven-foot-tall water wall will instantly draw visitors' attention the moment they enter the garden, offering a unique element of continuity and energy connecting all aspects of the Sculpture Garden while providing a calming sound to buffer noise from the surrounding urban environment. Designed to allow for an even but dynamic flow of recyclable water, the Fountain Wall is a work of art in its own right.
- Reflecting Pool
The space surrounding the Reflecting Pool will be designed as a place of contemplation and rest. Located in the center of the Sculpture Garden, the Reflecting Pool will separate the garden galleries as well as connect them with a graceful footbridge. The Reflecting Pool will mirror the surrounding landscape and architecture while creating transitory and ever changing images of the sky above. Central to the axis of the Sculpture Garden, the Reflecting Pool will also be the site of a signature work of art which will attract visitors from all points of the campus.
- Parking Garden
The Parking Garden was completed in 2007 and is located on the north side of the campus, running parallel to Davenport Street. It is accessed from the Dodge Street entrance or from 24th Street along the North Drive. The Parking Garden offers an innovative approach to parking areas, incorporating landscaped islands and original works of art into its design. The Parking Garden will have handicap parking spaces and will be completely accessible.
- Garden Drive
Entrance drives to the Joslyn campus will be redesigned to provide better traffic flow and aesthetic appeal. The Dodge Street entrance will be moved to the eastern-most edge of the campus. This entry will be decoratively landscaped and enhanced by a fountain wall on the east side of the drive. The 24th Street entrance will be re-positioned farther north to accommodate the addition of landscaping and a modest sculpture installation along the Museum.
- Atrium Garden
Providing an important site line from inside the atrium of the Scott Pavilion, the Atrium Garden will create a picturesque view to the outside. Visitors dining in the café or attending special events will appreciate the beauty of this smaller sculpture garden installation.
For more information on the Sculpture Garden project, contact Joslyn Art Museum Foundation at (402) 397-5130 or click below to make a donation. Your generous support would be greatly appreciated.