In 1979 the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas, commissioned photographer Richard Avedon to travel the American West in order to make a series of portraits of people he found at locations including rodeos, mining camps, cattle ranches, and slaughterhouses. The project, titled In the American West, took Avedon and his team of assistants to 189 towns in 13 states over a five-year period. From 17,000 sheets of film exposed during 752 sittings, 124 photographs were ultimately selected for the series. The images not only departed from the romanticized depictions of the region previously found in art and film, but also were printed at a scale that was extremely rare for the time.
Richard Avedon New York City, NY 1923–San Antonio, TX 2004 Danny Lane, Fourteen Year Old, Christine Coil, Seventeen Year Old, Calhan, Colorado, 7/31/81 Gelatin silver print flush-mounted to aluminum, 1981; printed 1985 60 x 47 1/2 inches University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Olga N. Sheldon Acquisition Trust, U-6766.2018
For the series In the American West, Avedon posed his subjects in front of a portable white backdrop and photographed them with a large 8x10 view camera.More info
On March 5, 2019, artist John Walker discussed his creative process and fascination with the coastline of Maine with writer and art historian Jennifer Samet, who first interviewed him in 2013 for her ongoing column in Hyperallergic, “Beer with a Painter.”
The Prodigal Sun, a sculpture by Christie Asuoha, has been awarded first-place distinction in the Convo Project, a juried student competition seeking original creative projects inspired by the color black.
Jurors Richard Graham, an associate professor and media services librarian at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, and Melissa Yuen, Sheldon’s associate curator of exhibitions, also awarded second place to Sarah Meeves for an architectural project titled Absence of Light and honorable mention to Sa Nguyen for the sculpture Black Wind and to Samuel Stanley for the musical composition Black as the Void, Two Pieces for String Orchestra Inspired by the Color Black.
Asuoha and Meeves will receive monetary prizes of $1,000 and $500, respectively, provided by the Pace Woods Foundation, which serves to inspire and nurture growth of people and organizations involved in the arts and education.
Sheldon Museum of Art supports the creative work of students across disciplines. The Convo Project was held in conjunction with the fall 2019 exhibition In Conversation: Black, a selection of artworks dominated by the color black that invite the viewer to contemplate detail concealed in shadow and revealed in light. Submissions to the Convo Project could take the form of any media such as visual art, musical composition, writing, fashion, graphic design, video, architecture, animation, interactive media, cinematic arts, data visualization, or other emerging media.
First Place The Prodigal Sun
Christie Asuoha The Prodigal Sun
Sculpture
Second Place Absence of Light
Sarah Meeves Absence of Light Architectural model and photography
Honorable Mention Black Wind
Sa Nguyen Black Wind
Sculpture
Honorable Mention Black as the Void Two Pieces for String Orchestra Inspired by the Color Black
Samuel Stanley Black as the Void, Two Pieces for String Orchestra Inspired by the Color Black
Musical composition
More info
For more than fifty years, Sheldon Museum of Art has provided a venue for students, faculty and staff, alumni, and visitors to engage with art and one another. As an academic art museum, Sheldon schedules its exhibitions to coincide with the academic calendar.
Built in 1963, Sheldon was placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior on September 3, 2013. More info
