Nebraska by Heart Art: Volume One

Over the past few months, many hearts have been placed cross Lincoln. This is fun project is connecting people around the Capital City with different ways to interpret Nebraska. With so many different sculptures, the fact that this will be Nebraska by Heart Art: Volume One is not surprising. This official description of “Nebraska by Heart” is found on the Sesquicentennial website.

“Nebraska By Heart” is a Public Art Project which will offer a magical and exciting way to celebrate Nebraska’s Sesquicentennial! This innovative Project will be advertised as a not-to-be missed component of the Nebraska Sesquicentennial. It will be a destination for millions of Nebraska, national and international visitors to view and appreciate the outdoor Gallery offered by Centennial Mall to enjoy and appreciate 93 imaginatively designed Hearts, representing Nebraska’s 93 counties and created by talented Nebraska Artists.

Although I have enjoyed looking at the hearts, I was final able to stop and take pictures. One of my high school classmates has been visiting from Texas. We enjoyed driving around the University of Nebraska East Campus to see some of the hearts. I will actually be telling you more about her in my next post.

To find out about the background of the hearts, you will want to click on the links. Rather than including their thoughts in this post, I am simply telling you my impressions. This Nebraska by Heart Art: Volume One will feature six of the hearts.

Internal Connection

This first heart art was created by Bri Murphy and Kately Fanneth. Not surprisingly, the Nebraska Heart Institute is the patron of this project. I think they did an amazing job of turning the heart into an anatomical heart. We are studying the human body this year. Perhaps a return trip will be in order to study the veins and arteries.

Spirts of the Heartland

This second heart art was created by Janell McKain. She wants to capture the epitome of the stories that continue to live on. Her faces imply how the past connects to the future. The heart is a bit abstract. But I really like the mosaic tile base. That must have taken quite a bit of time to organize and create.

Nature’s Gift

Now for heart number three … This third heart art was created by Paula Yoachim. On the edge of the Nebraska Arboretum is where you can find this heart. In the middle of the beautiful landscape, this heart magnifies the beauty of nature. She used specific Nebraska wildflowers and even the state bird, the meadowlark.

So Sweet

This fourth heart art has been created by student, Emilie Alles. She is wanting to celebrate the value of education. Fittingly, this strawberry sculpture is located near the UNL East Campus Food Industry Complex building. The one things that I think is great is that she used the art of help fund a trip to Washington D.C.

Solomon Butcher

This fifth Nebraska heart art celebrates Solomon Butcher. This iconic figure captured many iconic images of pioneers in Custer County. Visiting the Custer County Historical Society Museum provides a wonderful view of his photographs. The artists, Roberta Barnes, Teresa Haney & Paul Loomer, did research to determine what images to use in their painting. This art was done on behalf of the Wild Rose Gallery in Broken Bow. This is a fitting tribute to a man who made his mark on this community.

Honey Bee

Finally for this edition … This sixth Nebraska heart art was created by Courtney Porto. Fittingly, you will find this sculpture in front of the Etymology Building on the UNL East Campus. Although possibly hard to tell, her Nebraska base was painted using a honeycomb pattern. The creator noted the unique design of the honeybee. I definitely have never noticed that a honeybee is heart shaped. See, you can learn new facts every day!

I hope you have enjoyed seeing Nebraska by Heart Art: Volume One. With over 83 completed hearts, I will have many more heartfelt posts to come. Until then, you can follow Nebraska by Heart on Facebook.