Robert Henri Museum names Artist of the Month for June

Her work will be on display at the museum with many available for purchase. A reception will take place at the museum on Wednesday, June 7, 2023, from 5 to 7 p.m. to honor her work. Kay’s work will be on display at the museum and available for viewing until June 30

Kay is from Neenah, Wisc., and earned her BA in fine art, art History and English from Alverno College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Over the last twenty years she has studied with artists such as Quang Ho, Dawn Whitelaw, Michael Shane Neal, Scott Christensen and Kevin Macpherson. She has been teaching drawing and painting privately for the last 15 years.

Her artist statement is: Capturing moments of beauty with expressive brushwork and lovely color, yet accurate values is my joy. I consider it a gift to create artwork that captures a snowcapped mountain, a sparkling creek or a child’s sunlit face. Sharing this joy with others is also my passion. Encouraging others to find their own voice and style by teaching them art techniques, regardless of their age, has been fascinating and rewarding.

The museum will also be sponsoring two other programs during the month of June. The first is Ghosts and Gravestones: A Walking Tour of the Cozad Cemetery. Participants will meet at the Museum and drive to the cemetery which is just a short distance away. The program will last about an hour and half and take place on June 10, 2023. Meet at the museum at 1 pm and comfortable walking shoes are suggested.

The museum will also be celebrating Robert Henri’s 158th birthday on Saturday, June 24, 2023, with a huge birthday cake and free admission to the museum and gallery all day long. Henri was born in Cincinnati, Ohio to John and Theresa Cozad. After leaving Nebraska he went on to become one of America’s most famous painters and art instructors. Come celebrate his birthday and life with us!

The Artist of the Month program, now in its ninth year, was established to encourage understanding and appreciation of the arts in central Nebraska and to promote the legacy of Robert Henri, one of America’s greatest art instructors. He taught hundreds of students over his long career including Edward Hopper, Rockwell Kent, Marjorie Ryerson and Elizabeth Grandin. Artists can apply to the museum for consideration for entry into the program by going to its web page and printing off the application and submitting it. Applications are currently being accepted for the 2024 program.

The Robert Henri Museum and Art Gallery is a national treasure that is the result of the work of many volunteers, board members and professional staff who have toiled for more than thirty years. The effort to preserve Robert Henri’s legacy in Cozad started with a small group of people who saw the opportunity to bring recognition to the town that was once home to the acclaimed artist and native son, Robert Henri (Robert Henry Cozad). This group, led by Shirley Paulsen, bought and restored the former Hendee Hotel, Henri’s boyhood home.

With local support and generous donations from Cozad and Henri family members, local and area donors from across the United States, the Robert Henri Museum and Art Gallery’s collection continues to grow. The first Henri painting donated to the museum in 1988 was Portrait of Queen Mariana. Since then, numerous donations and loans of Henri works have been made. In 2014, a climate-controlled art gallery was built to keep the collection in. Today the Art Gallery houses the largest display of Robert Henri works, or those attributed to him, in the United States, including eighteen paintings and forty-three sketches. In addition, there are works by several of his students including Marjorie Organ, Marjory Ryerson, and Ernest Fiene.

The museum and art gallery are located at 218 East 8th Street in Cozad and will be open from May 1 to November 1 on Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information about the museum call 308-784-4154 or visit the museum’s web page at www.roberthenrimuseum.org.