$10 million Joslyn project features sculpture garden
Beatrice Daily Sun (Beatrice, Nebraska)
November 13, 2006
A $10 million project at Joslyn Art Museum will feature an 1.5-acre outdoor sculpture garden and an expanded parking lot, museum officials announced.
The plan, made public at the museum's 75th anniversary gala Saturday, will begin taking shape in the spring.
The outdoor gallery will lie between the museum and Central High School and be highlighted by landscaping, water features and sculptures from Joslyn's collection.
The former Central High athletic field, which is just north of Joslyn's existing eastern parking lot, will be turned into a new parking area that will add 40 percent more spaces. The museum's existing northwest parking lot will be turned into a green space for families and children's education programs.
Donations will fund the sculpture garden. It should improve Joslyn's exterior and offer an inviting space for the community, said Michael Yanney, the museum's board chairman.
"It just opens up a whole new vista for the public to enjoy," Yanney said. "We've taken many steps to get rid of the private club syndrome that was associated with the museum. We want to be there for everyone, and this project helps do that."
Joyner said some people have mistaken Joslyn, with its art deco facade, for a mausoleum instead of a museum. The sculpture garden should change that.
"It changes our personality, allows us to be more outward-looking and makes us more inviting," Joyner said.
Some $1 million in federal money secured by Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., was earmarked for Joslyn parking expansion and helped the museum move forward with the project.
In October 2005, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., tried to strip the money from a transportation spending bill. Joslyn is in too strong a financial position, Coburn argued, to need federal money. The Senate voted 86-13 against Coburn's proposal.
Since then, Joslyn's foundation has raised more than $4 million for the project, which requires $6.5 million for construction and $3.5 million to set up a maintenance foundation. HDR Inc. and Kiewit Construction Co. are collaborating on the project.
