Hello Everyone,
Watch any video on travel to Omaha and you’ll always find two museums make the must-see lists. One is The Durham Museum while the other is the Joslyn Art Museum. Both are renowned for their architecture and the treasures within their walls.
DURHAM MUSEUM
The museum houses 40,000 historical objects relative to Omaha and the surrounding region. However, perhaps, its greatest artifact is the former Omaha Union Station where it is housed. The structure has achieved fame as one of the top art deco buildings in the country.
Its architect was Gilbert Stanley Underwood who designed lodges in the national parks for the Union Pacific Railroad. The goal was to encourage people to reach the parks by rail. Among those he designed are Old Faithful Lodge in Yellowstone National Park and Bryce Canyon Lodge in Bryce Canyon National Park.
Typical art deco buildings of the 1920s and 1930s were vertical, had terraced-form sides, and exterior and interior stylized decorations. Omaha’s Union Station design is vertical with 60-foot high ceilings, ten cathedral-like plate glass windows, and towering pillars of blue Belgian marble in its Suzanne and Walter Scott Great Hall. The windows and massive light fixtures are original to the station.
Other elements architects used were geometric shapes to stylize natural elements such as plants, birds, and animals. Note that there are two giant birds on either side of the Great Hall clocks and two ears of corns in the decoration around the western clock. Underwood created these by using zigzags, squares, and lines.
He designed all of the station’s decorations which remain today. Caen stone (limestone quarried near Caen, France) compose the interior walls. The wainscoting consists of highly polished black Belgium marble. Terrazzo floors are laid out in a checkered pattern with three large sunbursts. Gold, silver, and aluminum leaf are found on the ceiling to emphasize decorative elements in a herringbone pattern. The rose tinted glazed windows provide a slightly pink tint to the light streaming into the room.
Dedicated in January 1931, the structure served seven railroads, including the Union Pacific, as a passenger station. It closed upon the establishment of Amtrak with the final train leaving May 2, 1971.
It included many facilities. Its 24-hour restaurant, the Hayden House, had a luncheon counter on one side and sit-down dining on the other. This space is currently available for rentals. It also had a news and magazine stand, a barbershop, taxi stand, Western Union telegraph office, hospital, and travelers’ aid office. During World War II, American servicemen relaxed in the United Service Organization canteen. In 1946, its traffic peaked with 64 steam engines picking up or dropping off 10,000 passengers daily.
You can purchase malted milks and phosphates today at the original soda fountain. Its ticket counter, now the Gilbert M. and Martha A. Hitchcock Museum Shop, is where you can purchase railroad memorabilia, children’s educational books and games, and items from local artisans.
Six groups of statues are scattered throughout the Great Hall. They were sculpted by John Lajba, from Omaha, in 1996 to symbolize people who passed through Union Station. Dressed in period clothing, they range from traveling salesmen to soldiers.
Union Pacific donated the building to the City of Omaha in 1973. It remained vacant until 1975 when it became the Western Heritage Museum. During 1995, it closed for a $22 million renovation project largely funded by Charles and Margre Durham. Upon reopening in 1997, the museum was renamed as Durham Western Heritage Museum. In 2008, it received its final name, The Durham Museum.
On December 23, 2016, Union Station was designated a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service and U.S. Department of the Interior because of the art deco.
PERMANENT EXHIBITS
After exploring the Great Hall, head downstairs. The lower floor is home to Omaha and regional history through permanent exhibits in numerous galleries. Highlights include the 1940s store fronts, restored train cars, Trans-Mississippi Exposition Gallery, and the Byron Reed collection of some of the world’s rarest coins and documents.
The Baright Home and Family Gallery reflects types of housing from the time of the Omaha Indian tribe to homes of the 1940s. You can step into a rawhide tepee or check out a replica earth lodge. Learn about the Omaha tribe of yesterday and today as well as others in Northeast Nebraska such as the Winnebago, Santee, and Sioux. Read about Fort Kearny and Fort Omaha.
From the 1880s to 1915, one story and one-and-a-half story “Workers Cottages” were built in most Omaha areas to house blue-collar families. Many of these exist today. See what an English Tudor-Revival home would have looked like. Look at the dining room, parlor, and kitchen from this type of home to view the technology and household comforts of that period.
Trace the history of Omaha through the different eras. Find out how the Mormons made the area their base before proceeding to Salt Lake City and see one of their Conestoga wagons. View a stagecoach and a model of a steamboat in the transportation section. Learn about the history of the stockyards which existed from the 1870s to 1999. Other sections cover higher education, religion, medical, hotels, insurance, the military (Offutt Base), law and order, and Omaha at play.
Examine the 1922 Mack flatbed truck. It relates the story of Bekins Moving & Storage, one of Omaha’s nationally known companies. You can sit in the authentic Benson Streetcar which roamed Omaha’s Benson neighborhood during the 1940s.
In the Bishop Clarkson Community Gallery section, learn the stories about St. Cecilia’s Cathedral, Bishop Clarkson Hospital, and the Brandeis Building. Discover that one of the Brandeis brothers died on the Titanic and the cathedral took 54 years to build.
Philanthropist Warren Buffett is a famous Omaha resident. View a replica of the store his grandfather Ernest built in 1915, the S. H. Buffett Grocery Store. The food he sold came from local farmers or arrived via steamship or rail. Most goods in the store were bought and sold in bulk with wild game being plentiful. It has a cash register, meat weighing scales, and an actual customer list from the store. Warren Buffett worked there as a young boy.
The Byron Reed Gallery should not be missed. Reed founded Omaha’s first real estate company in 1856. By the time he died in 1891, he had become one of the city’s most prominent and wealthiest landowners. He filled his private library with American and ancient rare and historical coins and currency, documents and manuscripts, exonumia (alternative forms of payment such as Sutler and Civil War tokens), rare books, and medals. It is regarded as one of our nation’s top 19th century collections.
The breadth of the collection is tremendous. Some examples are classical coins from ancient Rome, Greece, and Egypt as well as western territorial gold. You’ll see documents authored by the signers of the Declaration of Independence, Civil War generals, and presidents. The collection has peace medals by frontier explorers in their relationships with Native American tribes.
Upon his death, Reed gave his collection and support for a permanent public library to the City of Omaha. In 1985, the City transferred custody to The Durham Museum.
Being one end point for the Transcontinental Railroad led to Omaha’s growth for passenger and freight traffic. In the Concourse Gallery, learn the history of Union Pacific’s ten Omaha passenger depots including Durham Museum’s home.
Lives of Tradition Series examines the roles of Nebraska’s farmers and ranchers. It explores how they lived and worked and how they moved into the 21st century. The Omaha at Work Gallery is a tribute to those who helped shape Omaha’s history.
The Harriman Family Line allows visitors to stroll through train cars from the 1940s and 1950s. These include a Pullman car, lounge car, and caboose. You can also get up close to a steam engine
Pullman built the Cornhusker Club Car in 1924. It was used as part of President Harry Truman’s Whistle Stop tour from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles. The tour covered 36,000 miles and stopped in over 200 towns. The press filled the car from Nebraska to Iowa. The car also transported soldiers during World War II and University of Nebraska football fans between Lincoln and Omaha during the 1960s.
Step inside the Union Pacific National Command Pullman Car built in 1956. For an extra charge, passengers could purchase a berth (fold-down bed) or a cabin with its own bathroom. This and 12 other Pullman cars in the National Series were the last to feature open door-less sleeping spaces.
Check out the O scale model train layout. The depot and diorama depict Union Pacific’s double track main line from Omaha to Ogden, Utah during the 1950s. Its push buttons allow you to lower the crossing guards and turn the lights on in Durham Junction.
At the Mutual of Omaha Theater, watch a short film revealing Omaha’s development from the mid-1800s through the 1950s.
The 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exposition Gallery contains a model of the lagoon and buildings created for this event. Construction began in the spring of 1897 with a little over a year to complete the project by 5,000 workers. Chief architects were Thomas Kimball, C. Howard Walker, and their team. They designed the layout and buildings in the Classical style and patterned it after the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893.
The centerpiece was the Grand Court, a 100-foot wide, man-made lagoon. Extended along the court’s length were 21 buildings. They featured exhibits on technology, commerce, agriculture, and more. Many visitors saw for the first time electric horseless carriages, flush toilets, water faucets, and x-ray machines. They also saw incandescent light bulbs, Jell-O and Sno Cones. They watched each night as the buildings lit up one after another. For many, this was the first time they had seen electricity. Few had ever seen this many lit at once.
TEMPORARY EXHIBITIONS
Its temporary exhibits cover subjects that are regional and national in scope. These range from history and culture to science and industry. This is due to the museum’s affiliation with the Smithsonian Institute and strong ties with the Library of Congress, National Archives, and Chicago’s Field Museum.
Regency of Style: Cultural Changes in 18th and 19th Century Europe is on now to July 21. It portrays how cultural changes throughout Europe affected clothing styles.
After Promontory: 150 Years of Transcontinental Railroading is on display now to July 28. It features the work of such photographers as William Henry Jackson, Timothy H, O’Sullivan, and Carleton E. Watkins. It also consists of contemporary photographers who explore the impact railroads have had on the landscape. All the images emphasize what photographers of different eras have thought of the transcontinental railroad and its impact.
Tyrannosaurs: Meet the Family will be at the museum from to September 1. It’s about the Tyrannosaurs family tree and feature more than 10 life-sized dinosaur specimens on display. An array of fossils and casts will be seen. The exhibit was created by the Australia Museum and toured internationally by Flying Fish.
DETAILS
The Durham Museum is located at 801 S. 10th Street in Omaha. The telephone number is (402) 444-5071. Admission is $11 for adults, $8 for seniors, and $7 for children ages 3-12. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, admission for all ages on Tuesday after 5:00 p.m. is $5. Hours are on Tuesday from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.; Wednesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; and on Sunday from 1:00-5:00 p.m. On Mondays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., June through August and December only. For more information, go to their web site.
THE JOSLYN ART MUSEUM
The Joslyn Art Museum has gained fame for its art deco architecture and the breadth and quality of its acquisitions. Showcasing art from the antiquities to the contemporary, it’s Nebraska’s only museum with a comprehensive permanent collection. Its major focus is 19th and 20th century American and European art. Besides more than 20 galleries, the museum features a 1,000-seat concert hall, fountain court, lecture hall, classrooms, sculpture garden, café shop, and Art Works, an interactive space for art exploration aimed at children.
The museum was a gift to the people of Omaha from Sarah Joslyn in memory of her husband, George. She wanted something that would honor her husband, represent his love of music and art, and provide a permanent home for the arts. She decided to build a concert hall surrounded by art galleries.
Due to his positions as president and general manager of the Western Newspaper Union, Joslyn became Nebraska’s wealthiest resident. The Union was a monopoly in the auxiliary printing business. It supplied standardized, preprinted news to more than 12,000 newspapers in the United States that reached 70% of the population.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, sheets of newsprint were preprinted with general news and features on one side then shipped to small town newspapers. There editors printed the local news on the other side.
The original building took three years to build, cost nearly $3 million, and opened in 1931. Its exterior and retaining wall was constructed from 250 boxcars filled with Georgia Pink marble. Its three-level interior contains 38 types of marble and stones from seven countries. It has been listed among the 100 finest art deco buildings in the United States and is the only solid pink building in Nebraska.
Omaha architects, John and Alan McDonald, designed the building and the structure’s Native American themes. Visitors will note the thunderbird prominently used on the entrance columns and throughout the building. John David Brcin designed its exterior decorative panels. They refer to peoples of the plains - the native tribes and the later European explorers and settlers. Hartley Burr Alexander, who did the inscriptions for the Nebraska Capitol carved them as well for the Joslyn Art Museum.
In 1994, British architect Norman Foster designed the museum’s Walter and Suzanne Scott Pavilion, a 58,000-square-foot addition. It features the same Georgia Pink marble. The pavilion’s lower level is home to classrooms, galleries, a gift shop, and Café Durham. It also houses the Mind’s Eye Gallery featuring exhibitions of original art by children’s book illustrators.
The Peter Kiewit Foundation Sculpture Garden opened to the public on June 6, 2009. Kiewit was a legendary Omaha builder. His family’s construction business built Joslyn’s original memorial building. Besides numerous sculptures by internationally renowned artists, visitors find a reflecting pool and water wall, granite pathways, and an entrance plaza. On October 31, 2009, a children’s Discovery Garden opened on the campus’s northwest corner. Take time to also notice the Parking Garden and Evelyn A. Veach Atrium Garden.
In October 2018, a new expansion by the renowned international firm of Snøhetta was announced. The firm’s recently completed works include the redesign of the public space in Times Square and the expansion to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The plan is to add more galleries allowing the Joslyn to display more of its growing collection. This includes the gift of 50 works from the nationally-renowned Phillip G. Schrager Collection, regarded as the single most important gift of art to the museum since its founding.
THE PERMANENT COLLECTION
The collection includes over 12,000 works representing artists and cultures from antiquity to the present. Visitors will recognize the names of many European and American painters.
The Ancient Collection includes objects from Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Among them are an exceptional collection of Greek pottery; a portrait bust of Amenirdas I, an Egyptian princess; and a Roman bust of Augustus re-carved from an earlier portrait of Nero.
Visit the museum’s second floor south side to find five galleries devoted to European art. They’re classified by Medieval and Renaissance, Baroque and Dutch Golden Age, Neoclassicism and Romanticism, 19th Century Academic Art, and Impressionism and Beyond. You’ll find such names as Titian, El Greco, Claude Lorrain, Rembrandt, William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Joshua Reynolds. Impressionist masterworks are by such noted artists as Camille Pissarro, Pierre Auguste Renoir, and Claude Monet. The Joslyn is home to one of two plaster versions of Edgar Degas’s famed sculpture Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. The other is in Washington, D.C.’s National Gallery.
On the north side are the five American themed galleries classified as Colonial (American Origins), Art of the American West (Across the Wide Missouri), 19th Century (An Expanding Presence), Art of the American West 19th Century (Impressionism and Realism), and 20th Century (Abstract and Regionalism). View Colonial era portraits by James Peale, Mather Brown, and John Trumbull. Thomas Cole and Homer Dodge Martin represent the Hudson River School landscapes. You’ll also see important post Civil War paintings by Eastman Johnson, Winslow Homer, Thomas Eakins, William Merritt Chase, Mary Cassatt, and Childe Hassam. Along with the paintings, visitors will view notable examples of early American furniture as well as 18th through 20th century sculpture and decorative arts.
The American West Collection, the heart of the museum’s American art works, is located in two galleries. It is particularly noted for its comprehensive holdings by the Swiss artist Karl Bodmer. Bodmer’s watercolors and prints document his 1832-34 journey through the Missouri River frontier. Another major group of watercolors is by Alfred Jacob Miller based on his Rocky Mountain travels. Visitors will recognize such names as N. C. Wyeth, Thomas Hill, George Catlin, Carl Wimar, Charles M. Russell, Thomas Moran, and Frederic Remington.
The museum’s American Indian art features historic and contemporary painting, sculpture, drawings, photographs, prints, and objects by Native Americans. Among the many impressive objects are the ledger books by Howling Wolf and White Horse and a beaded jacket belonging to Logan Fontenelle, the grandson of the Omaha chief Big Elk.
The Spanish colonial art collection is small but notable. It reflects the influence of Spanish missionaries on native artists from the 16th to 19th centuries with a particular emphasis on Mexico and Bolivia.
The Asian collection is quite diverse as it spans a 4,000 year overview of Asian civilization. It highlights the cultures of China, Japan, Korea, India, Tibet, and Southeast Asia. Featured are such artifacts as an 18th century (Kang-xi) eight panel, carved, red lacquer screen and a contemporary Japanese Kutani vase.
You will find their extensive modern and contemporary art includes major works by many leading painters from the 20th and 21st centuries. Jackson Pollock’s Galaxy, 1947 is regarded as this collection’s centerpiece. Complementing this abstract expressionism work is art by Hans Hoffman and Helen Frankenthaler. Regionalism is represented with paintings by Grant Wood and Thomas Hart Benton and pop art by George Segal and Tom Wesselmann.
Dale Chihuly’s Inside and Out is seen at the far end of the museum’s glass atrium. Another of his sculptures, Glowing Gemstone polyvitro chandelier, hangs above the café.
TEMPORARY EXHIBITS
In addition to its permanent collection, the museum hosts special exhibitions. These feature works from other museums, institutions, and private collections worldwide. Although the Joslyn doesn’t charge a general admission, sometimes the special exhibitions can involve an entrance fee.
Visitors can view Garth Williams: Illustrator of the Century until August 11. He illustrated such books as E. B. White’s Charlotte's Web and the Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie series. You’ll find it in the Mind’s Eye Gallery.
The Art of Seating: 200 Years of American Design is running until September 8. It shows how creativity and imaginative style combine to make a humble piece of furniture very different. It has a ticket fee of $10 for general public adults and $5 for college students with ID. It’s free for all college students the weekend of August 24 and 25 and free at all times for those ages 17 and younger.
Jay Heikes is an American contemporary artist who pairs traditional media (graphite, oil paints, and bronze) with such materials as dirt, rocks, and sheet music. It’s also at the museum until September 8.
OTHER PROGRAMS
The Joslyn offers a wide variety of programs and classes for children, teens, and adults. These programs foster an understanding and appreciation of all artistic endeavors - from visual arts and film to music, dance, and poetry.
For those who enjoy concerts, the Omaha Symphony presents its 2018-19 Symphony Joslyn Series in Joslyn’s Witherspoon Concert Hall on six select Sundays, September through May, at 2:00 p.m. Joslyn curators present pre-concert gallery talks at 1:00 p.m. and 1:25 p.m. which showcase works of art inspired by concert themes. Single tickets for the concerts are $33 each.
Docent-led guided tours occur on Wednesday at 1:00 p.m., select Thursdays at 6:30 p.m., Saturdays at 10:30 a.m., and Sundays at 1:00 p.m. All are free of charge.
To find out about other programs, visit Joslyn Art Museum’s web site.
CAFÉ DURHAM AND MUSEUM SHOP
You can enjoy a light meal or refreshments at their café. Here is their schedule:
Tuesday-Sunday:
10:30 a.m. - coffee and breakfast pastries
11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. - lunch (sandwiches, salads, soups, daily specials; a breakfast special is included on Sundays only) Wine and beer are now available.
2:00-3:00 p.m. Beverages and desserts
If you are looking for art-related gifts, books, videos, prints, gift items, jewelry, and cards, you will want to stop by the Joslyn’s Museum Shop. It is open during all regular museum hours.
MORE DETAILS
The Joslyn Art Museum is located at 2200 Dodge Street in Omaha, Nebraska. Their telephone number is (402) 342-3300. General admission is free. Sometimes a fee occurs for special exhibits. Hours are Tuesday through Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. On Thursday, hours are extended to 8:00 p.m. Closed Mondays and major holidays. Hours may change for special exhibits.
Watch any video on travel to Omaha and you’ll always find two museums make the must-see lists. One is The Durham Museum while the other is the Joslyn Art Museum. Both are renowned for their architecture and the treasures within their walls.
DURHAM MUSEUM
The museum houses 40,000 historical objects relative to Omaha and the surrounding region. However, perhaps, its greatest artifact is the former Omaha Union Station where it is housed. The structure has achieved fame as one of the top art deco buildings in the country.
Its architect was Gilbert Stanley Underwood who designed lodges in the national parks for the Union Pacific Railroad. The goal was to encourage people to reach the parks by rail. Among those he designed are Old Faithful Lodge in Yellowstone National Park and Bryce Canyon Lodge in Bryce Canyon National Park.
Typical art deco buildings of the 1920s and 1930s were vertical, had terraced-form sides, and exterior and interior stylized decorations. Omaha’s Union Station design is vertical with 60-foot high ceilings, ten cathedral-like plate glass windows, and towering pillars of blue Belgian marble in its Suzanne and Walter Scott Great Hall. The windows and massive light fixtures are original to the station.
Other elements architects used were geometric shapes to stylize natural elements such as plants, birds, and animals. Note that there are two giant birds on either side of the Great Hall clocks and two ears of corns in the decoration around the western clock. Underwood created these by using zigzags, squares, and lines.
He designed all of the station’s decorations which remain today. Caen stone (limestone quarried near Caen, France) compose the interior walls. The wainscoting consists of highly polished black Belgium marble. Terrazzo floors are laid out in a checkered pattern with three large sunbursts. Gold, silver, and aluminum leaf are found on the ceiling to emphasize decorative elements in a herringbone pattern. The rose tinted glazed windows provide a slightly pink tint to the light streaming into the room.
Dedicated in January 1931, the structure served seven railroads, including the Union Pacific, as a passenger station. It closed upon the establishment of Amtrak with the final train leaving May 2, 1971.
It included many facilities. Its 24-hour restaurant, the Hayden House, had a luncheon counter on one side and sit-down dining on the other. This space is currently available for rentals. It also had a news and magazine stand, a barbershop, taxi stand, Western Union telegraph office, hospital, and travelers’ aid office. During World War II, American servicemen relaxed in the United Service Organization canteen. In 1946, its traffic peaked with 64 steam engines picking up or dropping off 10,000 passengers daily.
You can purchase malted milks and phosphates today at the original soda fountain. Its ticket counter, now the Gilbert M. and Martha A. Hitchcock Museum Shop, is where you can purchase railroad memorabilia, children’s educational books and games, and items from local artisans.
Six groups of statues are scattered throughout the Great Hall. They were sculpted by John Lajba, from Omaha, in 1996 to symbolize people who passed through Union Station. Dressed in period clothing, they range from traveling salesmen to soldiers.
Union Pacific donated the building to the City of Omaha in 1973. It remained vacant until 1975 when it became the Western Heritage Museum. During 1995, it closed for a $22 million renovation project largely funded by Charles and Margre Durham. Upon reopening in 1997, the museum was renamed as Durham Western Heritage Museum. In 2008, it received its final name, The Durham Museum.
On December 23, 2016, Union Station was designated a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service and U.S. Department of the Interior because of the art deco.
PERMANENT EXHIBITS
After exploring the Great Hall, head downstairs. The lower floor is home to Omaha and regional history through permanent exhibits in numerous galleries. Highlights include the 1940s store fronts, restored train cars, Trans-Mississippi Exposition Gallery, and the Byron Reed collection of some of the world’s rarest coins and documents.
The Baright Home and Family Gallery reflects types of housing from the time of the Omaha Indian tribe to homes of the 1940s. You can step into a rawhide tepee or check out a replica earth lodge. Learn about the Omaha tribe of yesterday and today as well as others in Northeast Nebraska such as the Winnebago, Santee, and Sioux. Read about Fort Kearny and Fort Omaha.
From the 1880s to 1915, one story and one-and-a-half story “Workers Cottages” were built in most Omaha areas to house blue-collar families. Many of these exist today. See what an English Tudor-Revival home would have looked like. Look at the dining room, parlor, and kitchen from this type of home to view the technology and household comforts of that period.
Trace the history of Omaha through the different eras. Find out how the Mormons made the area their base before proceeding to Salt Lake City and see one of their Conestoga wagons. View a stagecoach and a model of a steamboat in the transportation section. Learn about the history of the stockyards which existed from the 1870s to 1999. Other sections cover higher education, religion, medical, hotels, insurance, the military (Offutt Base), law and order, and Omaha at play.
Examine the 1922 Mack flatbed truck. It relates the story of Bekins Moving & Storage, one of Omaha’s nationally known companies. You can sit in the authentic Benson Streetcar which roamed Omaha’s Benson neighborhood during the 1940s.
In the Bishop Clarkson Community Gallery section, learn the stories about St. Cecilia’s Cathedral, Bishop Clarkson Hospital, and the Brandeis Building. Discover that one of the Brandeis brothers died on the Titanic and the cathedral took 54 years to build.
Philanthropist Warren Buffett is a famous Omaha resident. View a replica of the store his grandfather Ernest built in 1915, the S. H. Buffett Grocery Store. The food he sold came from local farmers or arrived via steamship or rail. Most goods in the store were bought and sold in bulk with wild game being plentiful. It has a cash register, meat weighing scales, and an actual customer list from the store. Warren Buffett worked there as a young boy.
The Byron Reed Gallery should not be missed. Reed founded Omaha’s first real estate company in 1856. By the time he died in 1891, he had become one of the city’s most prominent and wealthiest landowners. He filled his private library with American and ancient rare and historical coins and currency, documents and manuscripts, exonumia (alternative forms of payment such as Sutler and Civil War tokens), rare books, and medals. It is regarded as one of our nation’s top 19th century collections.
The breadth of the collection is tremendous. Some examples are classical coins from ancient Rome, Greece, and Egypt as well as western territorial gold. You’ll see documents authored by the signers of the Declaration of Independence, Civil War generals, and presidents. The collection has peace medals by frontier explorers in their relationships with Native American tribes.
Upon his death, Reed gave his collection and support for a permanent public library to the City of Omaha. In 1985, the City transferred custody to The Durham Museum.
Being one end point for the Transcontinental Railroad led to Omaha’s growth for passenger and freight traffic. In the Concourse Gallery, learn the history of Union Pacific’s ten Omaha passenger depots including Durham Museum’s home.
Lives of Tradition Series examines the roles of Nebraska’s farmers and ranchers. It explores how they lived and worked and how they moved into the 21st century. The Omaha at Work Gallery is a tribute to those who helped shape Omaha’s history.
The Harriman Family Line allows visitors to stroll through train cars from the 1940s and 1950s. These include a Pullman car, lounge car, and caboose. You can also get up close to a steam engine
Pullman built the Cornhusker Club Car in 1924. It was used as part of President Harry Truman’s Whistle Stop tour from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles. The tour covered 36,000 miles and stopped in over 200 towns. The press filled the car from Nebraska to Iowa. The car also transported soldiers during World War II and University of Nebraska football fans between Lincoln and Omaha during the 1960s.
Step inside the Union Pacific National Command Pullman Car built in 1956. For an extra charge, passengers could purchase a berth (fold-down bed) or a cabin with its own bathroom. This and 12 other Pullman cars in the National Series were the last to feature open door-less sleeping spaces.
Check out the O scale model train layout. The depot and diorama depict Union Pacific’s double track main line from Omaha to Ogden, Utah during the 1950s. Its push buttons allow you to lower the crossing guards and turn the lights on in Durham Junction.
At the Mutual of Omaha Theater, watch a short film revealing Omaha’s development from the mid-1800s through the 1950s.
The 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exposition Gallery contains a model of the lagoon and buildings created for this event. Construction began in the spring of 1897 with a little over a year to complete the project by 5,000 workers. Chief architects were Thomas Kimball, C. Howard Walker, and their team. They designed the layout and buildings in the Classical style and patterned it after the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893.
The centerpiece was the Grand Court, a 100-foot wide, man-made lagoon. Extended along the court’s length were 21 buildings. They featured exhibits on technology, commerce, agriculture, and more. Many visitors saw for the first time electric horseless carriages, flush toilets, water faucets, and x-ray machines. They also saw incandescent light bulbs, Jell-O and Sno Cones. They watched each night as the buildings lit up one after another. For many, this was the first time they had seen electricity. Few had ever seen this many lit at once.
TEMPORARY EXHIBITIONS
Its temporary exhibits cover subjects that are regional and national in scope. These range from history and culture to science and industry. This is due to the museum’s affiliation with the Smithsonian Institute and strong ties with the Library of Congress, National Archives, and Chicago’s Field Museum.
Regency of Style: Cultural Changes in 18th and 19th Century Europe is on now to July 21. It portrays how cultural changes throughout Europe affected clothing styles.
After Promontory: 150 Years of Transcontinental Railroading is on display now to July 28. It features the work of such photographers as William Henry Jackson, Timothy H, O’Sullivan, and Carleton E. Watkins. It also consists of contemporary photographers who explore the impact railroads have had on the landscape. All the images emphasize what photographers of different eras have thought of the transcontinental railroad and its impact.
Tyrannosaurs: Meet the Family will be at the museum from to September 1. It’s about the Tyrannosaurs family tree and feature more than 10 life-sized dinosaur specimens on display. An array of fossils and casts will be seen. The exhibit was created by the Australia Museum and toured internationally by Flying Fish.
DETAILS
The Durham Museum is located at 801 S. 10th Street in Omaha. The telephone number is (402) 444-5071. Admission is $11 for adults, $8 for seniors, and $7 for children ages 3-12. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, admission for all ages on Tuesday after 5:00 p.m. is $5. Hours are on Tuesday from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.; Wednesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; and on Sunday from 1:00-5:00 p.m. On Mondays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., June through August and December only. For more information, go to their web site.
THE JOSLYN ART MUSEUM
The Joslyn Art Museum has gained fame for its art deco architecture and the breadth and quality of its acquisitions. Showcasing art from the antiquities to the contemporary, it’s Nebraska’s only museum with a comprehensive permanent collection. Its major focus is 19th and 20th century American and European art. Besides more than 20 galleries, the museum features a 1,000-seat concert hall, fountain court, lecture hall, classrooms, sculpture garden, café shop, and Art Works, an interactive space for art exploration aimed at children.
The museum was a gift to the people of Omaha from Sarah Joslyn in memory of her husband, George. She wanted something that would honor her husband, represent his love of music and art, and provide a permanent home for the arts. She decided to build a concert hall surrounded by art galleries.
Due to his positions as president and general manager of the Western Newspaper Union, Joslyn became Nebraska’s wealthiest resident. The Union was a monopoly in the auxiliary printing business. It supplied standardized, preprinted news to more than 12,000 newspapers in the United States that reached 70% of the population.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, sheets of newsprint were preprinted with general news and features on one side then shipped to small town newspapers. There editors printed the local news on the other side.
The original building took three years to build, cost nearly $3 million, and opened in 1931. Its exterior and retaining wall was constructed from 250 boxcars filled with Georgia Pink marble. Its three-level interior contains 38 types of marble and stones from seven countries. It has been listed among the 100 finest art deco buildings in the United States and is the only solid pink building in Nebraska.
Omaha architects, John and Alan McDonald, designed the building and the structure’s Native American themes. Visitors will note the thunderbird prominently used on the entrance columns and throughout the building. John David Brcin designed its exterior decorative panels. They refer to peoples of the plains - the native tribes and the later European explorers and settlers. Hartley Burr Alexander, who did the inscriptions for the Nebraska Capitol carved them as well for the Joslyn Art Museum.
In 1994, British architect Norman Foster designed the museum’s Walter and Suzanne Scott Pavilion, a 58,000-square-foot addition. It features the same Georgia Pink marble. The pavilion’s lower level is home to classrooms, galleries, a gift shop, and Café Durham. It also houses the Mind’s Eye Gallery featuring exhibitions of original art by children’s book illustrators.
The Peter Kiewit Foundation Sculpture Garden opened to the public on June 6, 2009. Kiewit was a legendary Omaha builder. His family’s construction business built Joslyn’s original memorial building. Besides numerous sculptures by internationally renowned artists, visitors find a reflecting pool and water wall, granite pathways, and an entrance plaza. On October 31, 2009, a children’s Discovery Garden opened on the campus’s northwest corner. Take time to also notice the Parking Garden and Evelyn A. Veach Atrium Garden.
In October 2018, a new expansion by the renowned international firm of Snøhetta was announced. The firm’s recently completed works include the redesign of the public space in Times Square and the expansion to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The plan is to add more galleries allowing the Joslyn to display more of its growing collection. This includes the gift of 50 works from the nationally-renowned Phillip G. Schrager Collection, regarded as the single most important gift of art to the museum since its founding.
THE PERMANENT COLLECTION
The collection includes over 12,000 works representing artists and cultures from antiquity to the present. Visitors will recognize the names of many European and American painters.
The Ancient Collection includes objects from Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Among them are an exceptional collection of Greek pottery; a portrait bust of Amenirdas I, an Egyptian princess; and a Roman bust of Augustus re-carved from an earlier portrait of Nero.
Visit the museum’s second floor south side to find five galleries devoted to European art. They’re classified by Medieval and Renaissance, Baroque and Dutch Golden Age, Neoclassicism and Romanticism, 19th Century Academic Art, and Impressionism and Beyond. You’ll find such names as Titian, El Greco, Claude Lorrain, Rembrandt, William-Adolphe Bouguereau and Joshua Reynolds. Impressionist masterworks are by such noted artists as Camille Pissarro, Pierre Auguste Renoir, and Claude Monet. The Joslyn is home to one of two plaster versions of Edgar Degas’s famed sculpture Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. The other is in Washington, D.C.’s National Gallery.
On the north side are the five American themed galleries classified as Colonial (American Origins), Art of the American West (Across the Wide Missouri), 19th Century (An Expanding Presence), Art of the American West 19th Century (Impressionism and Realism), and 20th Century (Abstract and Regionalism). View Colonial era portraits by James Peale, Mather Brown, and John Trumbull. Thomas Cole and Homer Dodge Martin represent the Hudson River School landscapes. You’ll also see important post Civil War paintings by Eastman Johnson, Winslow Homer, Thomas Eakins, William Merritt Chase, Mary Cassatt, and Childe Hassam. Along with the paintings, visitors will view notable examples of early American furniture as well as 18th through 20th century sculpture and decorative arts.
The American West Collection, the heart of the museum’s American art works, is located in two galleries. It is particularly noted for its comprehensive holdings by the Swiss artist Karl Bodmer. Bodmer’s watercolors and prints document his 1832-34 journey through the Missouri River frontier. Another major group of watercolors is by Alfred Jacob Miller based on his Rocky Mountain travels. Visitors will recognize such names as N. C. Wyeth, Thomas Hill, George Catlin, Carl Wimar, Charles M. Russell, Thomas Moran, and Frederic Remington.
The museum’s American Indian art features historic and contemporary painting, sculpture, drawings, photographs, prints, and objects by Native Americans. Among the many impressive objects are the ledger books by Howling Wolf and White Horse and a beaded jacket belonging to Logan Fontenelle, the grandson of the Omaha chief Big Elk.
The Spanish colonial art collection is small but notable. It reflects the influence of Spanish missionaries on native artists from the 16th to 19th centuries with a particular emphasis on Mexico and Bolivia.
The Asian collection is quite diverse as it spans a 4,000 year overview of Asian civilization. It highlights the cultures of China, Japan, Korea, India, Tibet, and Southeast Asia. Featured are such artifacts as an 18th century (Kang-xi) eight panel, carved, red lacquer screen and a contemporary Japanese Kutani vase.
You will find their extensive modern and contemporary art includes major works by many leading painters from the 20th and 21st centuries. Jackson Pollock’s Galaxy, 1947 is regarded as this collection’s centerpiece. Complementing this abstract expressionism work is art by Hans Hoffman and Helen Frankenthaler. Regionalism is represented with paintings by Grant Wood and Thomas Hart Benton and pop art by George Segal and Tom Wesselmann.
Dale Chihuly’s Inside and Out is seen at the far end of the museum’s glass atrium. Another of his sculptures, Glowing Gemstone polyvitro chandelier, hangs above the café.
TEMPORARY EXHIBITS
In addition to its permanent collection, the museum hosts special exhibitions. These feature works from other museums, institutions, and private collections worldwide. Although the Joslyn doesn’t charge a general admission, sometimes the special exhibitions can involve an entrance fee.
Visitors can view Garth Williams: Illustrator of the Century until August 11. He illustrated such books as E. B. White’s Charlotte's Web and the Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie series. You’ll find it in the Mind’s Eye Gallery.
The Art of Seating: 200 Years of American Design is running until September 8. It shows how creativity and imaginative style combine to make a humble piece of furniture very different. It has a ticket fee of $10 for general public adults and $5 for college students with ID. It’s free for all college students the weekend of August 24 and 25 and free at all times for those ages 17 and younger.
Jay Heikes is an American contemporary artist who pairs traditional media (graphite, oil paints, and bronze) with such materials as dirt, rocks, and sheet music. It’s also at the museum until September 8.
OTHER PROGRAMS
The Joslyn offers a wide variety of programs and classes for children, teens, and adults. These programs foster an understanding and appreciation of all artistic endeavors - from visual arts and film to music, dance, and poetry.
For those who enjoy concerts, the Omaha Symphony presents its 2018-19 Symphony Joslyn Series in Joslyn’s Witherspoon Concert Hall on six select Sundays, September through May, at 2:00 p.m. Joslyn curators present pre-concert gallery talks at 1:00 p.m. and 1:25 p.m. which showcase works of art inspired by concert themes. Single tickets for the concerts are $33 each.
Docent-led guided tours occur on Wednesday at 1:00 p.m., select Thursdays at 6:30 p.m., Saturdays at 10:30 a.m., and Sundays at 1:00 p.m. All are free of charge.
To find out about other programs, visit Joslyn Art Museum’s web site.
CAFÉ DURHAM AND MUSEUM SHOP
You can enjoy a light meal or refreshments at their café. Here is their schedule:
Tuesday-Sunday:
10:30 a.m. - coffee and breakfast pastries
11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. - lunch (sandwiches, salads, soups, daily specials; a breakfast special is included on Sundays only) Wine and beer are now available.
2:00-3:00 p.m. Beverages and desserts
If you are looking for art-related gifts, books, videos, prints, gift items, jewelry, and cards, you will want to stop by the Joslyn’s Museum Shop. It is open during all regular museum hours.
MORE DETAILS
The Joslyn Art Museum is located at 2200 Dodge Street in Omaha, Nebraska. Their telephone number is (402) 342-3300. General admission is free. Sometimes a fee occurs for special exhibits. Hours are Tuesday through Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. On Thursday, hours are extended to 8:00 p.m. Closed Mondays and major holidays. Hours may change for special exhibits.
Omaha Union Station
Omaha Union Station's Art Deco Interior
Some of John Lajba's Statues Scattered Throughout the Hall
"Workers Cottages" That Housed Omaha's Blue-Collar Workers
Dining Room Set From An English Tudor-Revival Home
Mormon Conestoga Wagon
Model of Steamboat in the Transportation Section
Ernest Buffett's Grocery Store Where Grandson Warren Buffett Worked
Lincoln Coin in the Byron Reed Gallery
Justin I Gold Coin in the Byron Reed Gallery
Pullman's Lounge Car
Trans-Mississippi Exposition Gallery
Joslyn Art Museum
Entrance to Joslyn Art Museum's Concert Hall
Madonna and Child with Saints Catherine and Agnes by Workshop of Jan Gossaert in Gallery One
Portrait of Dirck Van Os by Rembrandt in the Scott Gallery
Russian Beauty with Cat by Konstantin Makovsky in Kiewit Gallery
Little Dancer Aged Fourteen by Degas in the Drew Gallery
The Meadow by Claude Monet in the Drew Gallery
Young Girls at the Piano by Pierre-Auguste Renoir in the Drew Gallery
Alexander Hamilton by John Trumbull in the Kingman Gallery
Omaha Suit in the Durham Gallery
Portrait of George Joslyn
Portrait of Sarah Joslyn
The Surround by Alfred Jacob Miller in the Durham Gallery
Women of the Snake Tribe and Women of the Cree Tribe by Karl Bodmer in the Durham Gallery
Sunlight and Shadow by William Merritt Chase in the Miriam Gallery
Range Mother by Charles Marion Russell in the Lauritzen Gallery
Stone City, Iowa by Grant Wood in Gallery 10
Inside and Out by Dale Chihuly at Far End of Atrium
Reflecting Pool and Water Wall
Sioux Warrior by John David Brcin in the Peter Kiewit Foundation Sculpture Garden
Large Covered Wagon by Tom Otterness in the Peter Kiewit Foundation Sculpture Garden