(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Coming up on "Nebraska Stories," gallery getaways.

Enjoy a visit to the Sheldon Museum of Art.

(upbeat music) Explore the rain of late night's former King (upbeat music) and a tour of the Flat Water Folk Art Museum.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ MUSIC ♪ NARRATOR: To visit the Sheldon Museum of Art is a chance to commune with the famous.

And works with great histories... up and coming new talents; ... and pieces fresh off the easel.

BRANDON RUUD: This painting by Jaune Quick-To-See Smith is the most recent painting acquisition for the museum, so the paint on it is pretty fresh.

NARRATOR: The acquisition reflects a shifting priority to increase the number of works by talented emerging artists as well as those artists traditionally underrepresented in most every museum in the world.

BRANDON: Its also part of the museum's mission to showcase the great diversity of American artists, women artists, artists of color, and Native American artists like Jaune Quick-To-See Smith.

NARRATOR: Curator Brandon Ruud helped select pieces like this one for a year-long exhibition of paintings that will rotate in from the museum's widely-respected permanent collection...a collection carefully acquired through the last 125 years by the Sheldon Art Association.

BRANDON: We are very fortunate to have examples by some of the premiere artists in American art history.

Eastman Johnson, John Singer Sargent, Thomas Eakins, Marsden Hartley, Joseph Stella.

In addition to that, it's an active collection.

We're always looking for new ways to expand the collection, new ways to redefine what it means to be an American artist or what American art means.

NARRATOR: One of the Sheldon's newest and proudest acquisitions is a work by another well-known artist, who had been overlooked by many for years.

BRANDON: It's undoubtedly the most significant um painting acquisition that the Sheldon has made over the several last years.

Lee Krasner was a major abstract expressionist and she was very much influenced by nature in her paintings and so when you look at the canvas, you're not looking at a literal representation of nature, of course, but she was trying to evoke the energy of nature.

Lee Krasner was one of the most important artists to emerge in post-war America.

She was really um interested in all of these influences that were coming to the fore at the time, in particular, psychoanalysis.

And she was using abstraction to capture um her unconscious.

And this was um the inspiration of many artists working at the time, in particular, her husband Jackson Pollock.

But I think her relationship with him also underscores um many of the histories, of women artists still working in the 20th century.

He's considered the great cowboy of abstract expressionism And yet, she was the one who was perhaps more educated.

Um better understood modern painting, but her career still took a backseat to his.

It was only after his death was she really emerging um on her own terms as an artist.

And in the past few decades as a recognizable force in her own right as a great painter.

NARRATOR: One of the most iconic and beloved paintings in the Sheldon collection is Edward Hopper's ROOM IN NEW YORK.... BRANDON: It is probably one of the top five most-recognized paintings in the country it's as if you're walking down a New York City street and stop for a moment in front of these people's windows.

You're capturing a-a secret clandestine view into their lives.

And because of that, you can create your own narrative.

And I think that's what many people do and why they come to this painting over and over again.

Painting has such as great tactile quality to it and seeing a painting for the first time in person, you have such a visceral reaction.

People may have seen them in a book, whether on an I-Phone, an I-Pad, the computer, but seeing it for the first time, experiencing it, there's nothing that can quite replace that feeling.

You think you know a painting, you think you know Edward Hopper's Room in New York, cause you've seen it reproduced in multiple different media but seeing it for the first time, noticing that he had originally put a large bowl in the center of the table to further separate the couple that's in the painting but then he removed it.

You achieve these additional layers of understanding that are just quite brilliant and they can't quite be captured just looking at the reproduction on-line, in a book and that's why we always encourage people, come to the Sheldon, see it in person.

NARRATOR: Sheldon Museum of Art Director Daniel Veneciano spends a great deal of time evaluating potential new acquisitions on his computer but, even for him, there is no substitute for seeing a work in person.

DANIEL VENECIANO: This painting is by Patssy Valdez, who was part of an important Chicano sort of activist artist collective in Los Angeles in the 1970s.

This painting was done uh much later, but I went to visit Patsy's studio with the intention of buying a different painting and when she pulled out this particular canvas, I was so captivated by it that I changed my mind.

That's part of the importance of seeing real works of art live and in person than just simply on line.

And what's remarkable about this is that it combines um numerous styles.

It's truly surrealist.

You can see kind of Salvador Dali drips.

You get a sense of Vincent Van Gogh's swirl.

The painting comes alive.

It's titled The Crying Tree.

One of the things I love about this painting is that it makes room for the viewers' emotional space.

And I think that's what good art can do is- is make room for--for our feelings.

NARRATOR: While the museum may be well known for its painting collection, it represents just a third of the Sheldon's 12-thousand works, which also include a variety of other media, including a highly regarded sculpture collection.

DANIEL: This work is by Richard Hunt, a pre-eminent American artist based in Chicago.

The piece is called, From an Open Center.

One of the things I love about this piece is that it's made from industrial materials.

He often works in steel.

This is bronze.

And uses industrial techniques.

Welding.

But with that, he produces something that's absolutely lyrical and poetic, so far from its industrial origins.

What he's able to do to create these gestures is stunning really.

NARRATOR: And if the artwork is not quite enough for you, look no further than the building itself, considered to be a work of art in its own right.

DANIEL: This year we're celebrating the 50th Anniversary of this remarkable building, designed by Philip Johnson in 1963.

We put together what we called the Naked Museum exhibition and it's designed to do exactly that, which is to call attention to the beauty of the building itself.

NARRATOR: The Sheldon took down the art work and put the walls on display.

DANIEL: In the Great Hall you'll see Roman and Greek style columns reminiscent of a Roman Temple, for example.

You'll find those gold leaf disks on the ceiling, which were inspired by Islamic Mosques.

You'll see corners and vaulted ceilings that were inspired by Gothic Cathedrals in Europe.

NARRATOR: The Sheldon is no longer naked, instead... she's dressed to the nines with some new pieces & classic favorites to wear on her walls.

♪ MUSIC ♪ (upbeat music) - [Johnny] Now we're going to turn left on South 13th Street.

My house, the old house should not be that far down here.

Here at the next block, Ah yeah, there it is.

Big old white house over there and the big white frame house.

God, I loved that house.

(slow piano music playing) - [Kay] In 1933 when he was eight years old, Johnny Carson moved with his parents from a small rural town in Southwestern Iowa to this unassuming 1500 square foot home in Northeast Nebraska.

The community of Norfolk would prove to be an ideal incubator for a boy whose talent as an entertaining magician would one day rise to national prominence.

And be anointed the 'King of Late Night Television.'

And it's here in Norfolk where Johnny Carson's life story is on permanent exhibit.

It all happened by chance.

When the director of the Elkhorn Valley Museum reached out to the famous comedian a few years after he retired as host of "The Tonight Show."

(jazzy big band music) - [Ashley] She just expected maybe one or two things or none at all.

And then you know after, it was maybe three months but then there comes the thought of, "Well it's not going to happen."

- [Kay] And then the phone rang.

- [Ashley] He called, and said that he would love to visit the museum.

And he would gladly bring us handfuls of artifacts from some of his Burbank offices.

And so he ended up visiting in 2001 and brought with him the first major donation of artifacts from the exhibit.

- [Johnny] Friends at Kung Fu U, will teach you how to make every part of your body, a deadly weapon.

- [Female Assistant] Every part?

- [Johnny] That's right, we'll teach you how to terrorize an entire community with your feet.

And I don't mean by not changing your socks.

(crowd laughing and clapping) I decided to trace my family tree!

- [Man] That is interesting.

Did you go to a genealogist?

- No!

I don't like putting my feet up in them stir-ups!

(laughing and clapping) Wow!

(laughing and clapping) They're cold.

It's dehumanizing.

-Yeah.

- Hunters are self-reliant, believe me when you're walking through a forest, you have to look out for number one and number two.

(laughing and clapping) - [Ashley] So we received some of the mugs that they would've used on set.

We also received his high school yearbook, some of his items from his time at UNL.

We also received... his Rolodex from his Burbank office as well.

And then just a handful of smaller items.

And I guess the biggest part of that would've been his six Emmy's.

Some of his more notable awards, as well.

- [Male Speaker] Johnny Carson, one of America's greatest television personalities, Johnny Carson left the Nebraska plains to reside over late night TV for almost 30 years.

With a quick wait and a sure golf swing.

Johnny's good natured humor kept the pulse of the nation and assured us that even in the most difficult times it was still okay to laugh.

United States honors Johnny Carson who personifies the heart and humor of America.

(clapping) - [Kay] Later the same year, the Johnny Carson Gallery opened.

And just recently it underwent a major renovation that has a slightly modified focus.

[Ashley] The past exhibit focused solely on his career and left out a lot of information about his general personality, his relationships, other people who were important to him.

So this one really, really highlights Johnny as a person and focuses on some areas of his life that while he was living, he was very private about.

- That's my mother and father.

- [Male Speaker] Please stand up there and take a little bow.

(applause) - [Kay] For a man who appeared affable on national television.

He had a distant relationship with his own mother.

Though said that she too had a great sense of humor.

But even at the zenith of his career Ruth Carson was sparing of affection and approval toward her son.

After her death in 1985 a box containing a lifetime collection of clippings about her famous son was found in her closet.

Which came as a surprise to Johnny.

- [Ashley] It took a lot for people to be he welcomed into his closer circle.

And even then he, was very quick to, to let people go.

If he felt that they had wronged him, even in the smallest of ways.

That close circle of Johnny were able to see things differently.

And so we have shared some of that information here.

- [Kay] Among the people Johnny considered special, was his favorite teacher, Faye Gordon.

Who he gifted a Rolex watch.

- [Ashley] I know that he returned every once in a while to visit old friends or family members or Faye Gordon.

- Hi everybody.

(class in unison "Hi") - [Ashley] Faye Gordon was actually one of Johnny's high school teachers for penmanship.

We actually see a small clip of her reteaching Johnny and a couple of his classmates in his... 1982 special.

I believe it was, "Johnny Goes Home."

We do ovals for roundness of letters and for the connecting stroke out of that.

- My ovals are better than your ovals.

- [Faye] All right.

(class laughing) - We have a handful of other items that we do keep in a preservation area.

Maybe the most the interesting would be his personal makeup kit.

It was kept exactly as Johnny left it.

And so it's sort of a way for us to look into, one, like how his mind worked.

And how he organized things.

Things that he found or felt were important.

Or essentials to have backstage.

I mean, it even still has one -of his deodorant sticks (chuckles) in a drawer.

And so it, yeah, it's just a way I think to feel feel a little bit more connected with him as a person.

- [Kay] Johnny was raised with two siblings, an older sister Katherine, and a younger brother Richard.

And Johnny wasn't the only Carson family member with a successful television career.

For more than 35 years, Dick Carson directed national shows like "Merv Griffin" and "The Wheel of Fortune."

But during the 1960s Dick Carson was the television director for "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson.

The brothers were close throughout Johnny's lifetime.

But it's another Carson relative who now checks in on the Elkhorn Valley Museum to lend a helping hand, whenever he can.

- [Ashley] We have had a couple of visits with Johnny's nephew Jeff Sotzing.

He's been our liaison between the Johnny Carson Foundation and he is head of Carson Entertainment.

He checks in on us every couple of months just to make sure that we're doing okay and what he can do to help.

(piano music playing) - [Kay] Though he rose to great fame and held court with millions of Americans on late night television, Norfolk is what grounded Johnny, the memories of being a regular kid.

Kicking around town and dreaming of things to come.

- [Johnny] Down the road here, a few miles is a town of Norfolk, Nebraska where I grew up.

The Indians, the Sioux, the Ogallala and the Pawnee who roamed this great plain state years ago, called Nebraska, Flatwater.

Most of us know it as the "Cornhusker" state.

I simply call it home.

GEORGE NEUBERT: I have never thought about buying an Elvis on velvet.

But I was in a Goodwill shop and saw one of those and thought, you know.

Then I'm in another town 10 states away and I find another one and it looks like the same palette, possibly the same artist, years apart.

And the two just made a pair.

So it's also about low art.

Bad taste and good taste.

And I do that on purpose.

(upbeat music) NARRATOR: George Neubert is an expert on low art, high art, good taste, bad taste, and he's arranged highlights from his collection into one small space he calls the Flatwater Folk Art Museum.

In Brownville, Nebraska.

(upbeat music) ♪ And darling do I ever, ever cross your mind ♪ And do I ever cross you... ♪ NARRATOR: Neubert spent most of his career directing fine art museums.

The Sheldon Art Gallery in Lincoln, the San Antonio Museum of Art.

Serious art.

This is different but that doesn't necessarily mean it's inferior.

GEORGE: Great art is a final analysis of the quality of the work and that can come from someone who's untrained or trained.

And so absolutely folk art is considered, much of it to be great art.

Because in some way it's closer to society sometimes than the art we produce today in studios.

NARRATOR: It all began with an obsession.

George and his wife Eva had amassed a collection of folk art that needed a home.

George had a studio in Brownville and heard a rumor about an abandoned church not far from town.

It had to be moved 12 miles, but it was free.

GEORGE: Well, you know you've heard that cliché, something free is never free.

It was built in 1894 and not much had happened or been done since that time.

So it was a lot of effort.

Originally, they talked about maybe $100,000 to restore it.

Well, when we opened up a year and a half ago and I counted my bills, it was closer to a quarter of a million dollars.

(grand music) GEORGE: My ego wouldn't allow me to say I made a mistake.

I didn't realize how much effort it would take.

(birds chirping) NARRATOR: Neubert's vision for his museum fit right in with the look of this historic town.

(door clicking shut) Brownville was one of the earliest American villages on the Missouri River.

A boom town that quickly became a ghost town when the railroad left.

But today, Brownville, Nebraska, population 125, is in the midst of a renaissance.

And that includes a new appreciation for the unique qualities of folk art.

(playful music) Upstairs is one experience.

Downstairs is another.

This isn't your typical church basement.

(playful music) (plastic wrap rustling) GEORGE: This is Eric.

My son-in-law was coaching football in Kalamazoo and they had a workshop for mentally limited young people.

Eric was an artist that did this thing, and this guy is incredible.

And obviously this is a gym class that he probably participated in.

I would imagine any MFA artist in a program would like to be able to do a work of this quality.

(playful music) I mean the great beautiful windmill weights we have on display were part of the prairie and Midwest tradition.

Instead of having just a steel glob of cast-iron, there would be a counterweight to turn that fan into the wind.

They started casting animals; horses, bulls.

So these were made to function, but at the same time they brought an aesthetic to their job and now they've become very collectible.

(eerie music) NARRATOR: But there is a piece of nonfunctional fine art on display here, right outside the museum, by internationally renowned sculptor Mark di Suvero.

It's eye-catching, but anyone who knows di Suvero's work will see that something isn't quite right.

(ominous music) GEORGE: His work is usually painted international orange which is a red orange, the color of the Golden Gate, which is where he was raised in the Bay Area.

And I said, Mark, you know, these people around here don't necessarily like modern contemporary.

Could I change the color a little bit?

I said, there is a tractor, Massey Ferguson orange, it's a little more yellow, but I'd like to paint it Massey Ferguson orange so when these farmers see this sculpture they will feel warm and fuzzy and bring back reminiscent of them on the farm and won't be hostile towards "contemporary art".

He said go ahead.

We had it painted Massey Ferguson orange.

So it's probably the only di Suvero with a little bit of different color change.

As viewers, it is the most important way in which we grow as individuals to walk to an object and encounter it and say, I like this, I don't like that.

That's about choice.

And when we learn to make choices in the world, that's what makes us effective.

That's part of the experience of coming through here.

(playful music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - [Narrator] Watch more Nebraska stories on our website, Facebook and YouTube.

Nebraska Stories is funded in part by the Margaret and Martha Thomas Foundation, and the Bill Harris and Mary Sue Hormel Harris Fund for the presentation of cultural programming.

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