T he papers in this issue of Great Plains Quarterly were presented at the symposium  The Arts on the Plains: The Role of Institutions,  held 16-18 March 1988. The Nebraska Art Association, celebrating its one hundredth anniversary, collaborated in hosting the conference. The conference focused the Association\u27s review of its own scope and impact by establishing a context of comparable efforts by other organizations, institutions, and individuals in the Great Plains and adjacent states. The six papers that follow illustrate the breadth of that comparison

Geske, Norman A

English

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University of Nebraska - Lincoln 
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Great Plains Quarterly Great Plains Studies, Center for 
1989 
Arts Institutions on The Great Plains: An Inroduction 
Norman A. Geske 
University of Nebraska at Lincoln 
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly 
 Part of the Other International and Area Studies Commons 
Geske, Norman A., "Arts Institutions on The Great Plains: An Inroduction" (1989). Great Plains Quarterly. 
401. 
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/401 
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Great Plains Studies, Center for at 
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Plains Quarterly by an 
authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. 
ARTS INSTITUTIONS ON THE GREAT PLAINS 
AN INTRODUCTION 
T he papers in this issue of Great Plains 
Quarterly were presented at the symposium "The 
Arts on the Plains: The Role of Institutions," 
held 16-18 March 1988. The Nebraska Art As-
sociation, celebrating its one hundredth anni-
versary, collaborated in hosting the conference. 
The conference focused the Association's re-
view of its own scope and impact by establishing 
a context of comparable efforts by other orga-
nizations, institutions, and individuals in the 
Great Plains and adjacent states. The six papers 
that follow illustrate the breadth of that com-
parison. 
Our hope that the conference would stim-
ulate the scholarly study of the various cultural 
institutions that have established and supported' 
the arts in the American West was not disap-
pointed. The history of cultural institutions has 
largely remained unexplored by scholars, and 
many of the papers presented at the conference 
were, indeed, groundbreaking. The conference 
program presented, perhaps for the first time, 
topics that illuminate in very different ways the 
need for cultural expression in frontier society 
and the ways in which both individuals and 
institutions acted to satisfy that need. 
67 
Howard Lamar's keynote address, "Seeing 
More Than Earth and Sky," the lead article of 
this issue, is a masterly summing up of the im-
pulses inherent in frontier society that sought 
to satisfy an appetite for something more than 
the bare practicalities of existence. From the 
beginning of white advance onto the Plains, 
settlers and travelers possessed an awareness of 
the intangible values that are independent of 
necessity. Individuals championed such values 
first. Artists accompanied scientific and mili-
tary expeditions; settlers sought to relate them-
selves to a new environment; and artist-teachers 
arrived early to depict and instruct the pioneer 
communities. Eventually patron-collectors and 
arts institutions developed from this activity. It 
is in these institutions, the colleges and uni-
versities, libraries and archives, academies of 
art and music, the traditions of religious sects, 
and the associations of citizens, like the Ne-
braska Art Association, that the developments 
of the last hundred years find their story. 
While Howard Lamar provides an overview 
of "the rise of a Great Plains aesthetic," Fred-
erick Hoxie describes how one individual, Ed-
ward E. Ayer, shaped what we know about the 
68 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, SPRING 1989 
American Indians by his enthusiastic and im-
aginative but disciplined collection of a re-
markable body of American Indian art now 
housed at the Newberry Library. Thomas O'Sul-
livan describes the results, intended and un-
intended, of the first New Deal program to 
support the arts, the Public Works of Art Proj-
ect, as it took shape in Minnesota. In his dis-
cussion of the development of private art 
collections into the great twentieth-century 
museums of the American Southwest, Keith L. 
Bryant describes the careers and aesthetics of a 
number of men and women who, like Edward 
Ayer, institutionalized their own collecting phi-
losophies in museums that will continue to de-
termine what the public sees. Finally, in two 
companion articles, Robin T ryloff and Sarah 
Rosenberg discuss the growth of the National 
Endowment for the Arts and the National En-
dowment for the Humanities as well as their 
state affiliates. 
Taken as a whole, the 1988 conference was 
an occasion that not only recognized the 
achievement of one of the important institu-
tions of its kind on the Great Plains but also 
set out an agenda for the future exploration of 
our cultural history. The publication of these 
articles is the next step into that future. 
NORMAN A. GESKE 
DIRECTOR EMERITUS 
SHELDON ART GALLERY 
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN 


Arts Institutions on The Great Plains: An Inroduction

DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska

University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Great Plains Quarterly Great Plains Studies, Center for 1989 Arts Institutions on The Great Plains: An Inroduction Norman A. Geske University of Nebraska at Lincoln Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly  Part of the Other International and Area Studies Commons Geske, Norman A., "Arts Institutions on The Great Plains: An Inroduction" (1989). Great Plains Quarterly. 401. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/401 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Great Plains Studies, Center for at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Plains Quarterly by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. ARTS INSTITUTIONS ON THE GREAT PLAINS AN INTRODUCTION T he papers in this issue of Great Plains Quarterly were presented at the symposium "The Arts on the Plains: The Role of Institutions," held 16-18 March 1988. The Nebraska Art As-sociation, celebrating its one hundredth anni-versary, collaborated in hosting the conference. The conference focused the Association's re-view of its own scope and impact by establishing a context of comparable efforts by other orga-nizations, institutions, and individuals in the Great Plains and adjacent states. The six papers that follow illustrate the breadth of that com-parison. Our hope that the conference would stim-ulate the scholarly study of the various cultural institutions that have established and supported' the arts in the American West was not disap-pointed. The history of cultural institutions has largely remained unexplored by scholars, and many of the papers presented at the conference were, indeed, groundbreaking. The conference program presented, perhaps for the first time, topics that illuminate in very different ways the need for cultural expression in frontier society and the ways in which both individuals and institutions acted to satisfy that need. 67 Howard Lamar's keynote address, "Seeing More Than Earth and Sky," the lead article of this issue, is a masterly summing up of the im-pulses inherent in frontier society that sought to satisfy an appetite for something more than the bare practicalities of existence. From the beginning of white advance onto the Plains, settlers and travelers possessed an awareness of the intangible values that are independent of necessity. Individuals championed such values first. Artists accompanied scientific and mili-tary expeditions; settlers sought to relate them-selves to a new environment; and artist-teachers arrived early to depict and instruct the pioneer communities. Eventually patron-collectors and arts institutions developed from this activity. It is in these institutions, the colleges and uni-versities, libraries and archives, academies of art and music, the traditions of religious sects, and the associations of citizens, like the Ne-braska Art Association, that the developments of the last hundred years find their story. While Howard Lamar provides an overview of "the rise of a Great Plains aesthetic," Fred-erick Hoxie describes how one individual, Ed-ward E. Ayer, shaped what we know about the 68 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, SPRING 1989 American Indians by his enthusiastic and im-aginative but disciplined collection of a re-markable body of American Indian art now housed at the Newberry Library. Thomas O'Sul-livan describes the results, intended and un-intended, of the first New Deal program to support the arts, the Public Works of Art Proj-ect, as it took shape in Minnesota. In his dis-cussion of the development of private art collections into the great twentieth-century museums of the American Southwest, Keith L. Bryant describes the careers and aesthetics of a number of men and women who, like Edward Ayer, institutionalized their own collecting phi-losophies in museums that will continue to de-termine what the public sees. Finally, in two companion articles, Robin T ryloff and Sarah Rosenberg discuss the growth of the National Endowment for the Arts and the National En-dowment for the Humanities as well as their state affiliates. Taken as a whole, the 1988 conference was an occasion that not only recognized the achievement of one of the important institu-tions of its kind on the Great Plains but also set out an agenda for the future exploration of our cultural history. The publication of these articles is the next step into that future. NORMAN A. GESKE DIRECTOR EMERITUS SHELDON ART GALLERY UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN 

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