The Hixson–Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts is the
fine and
performing arts college at the
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a public land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the Morrill Act of 1862, the school was known as the Univers ...
(NU) in
Lincoln
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincol ...
,
Nebraska
Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...
. The college was established on July 1, 1993 as the College of Fine and Performing Arts, combining arts-focused programs from across the university. It was renamed in 2000 after receiving an $18 million donation from Christina Hixson and Lied Foundation Trust. Most of the college's facilities are located in the southwest corner of NU's City Campus in what is sometimes referred to as the "Arts Quadrangle." Andy Belser has served as dean of the college since 2022.
The Hixson–Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts includes the School of Art, Art History & Design, the Glenn Korff School of Music, and the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film. It is closely affiliated with the
Lied Center for Performing Arts, the Nebraska Repertory Theatre, and the
Sheldon Museum of Art
The Sheldon Museum of Art is an art museum in the city of Lincoln, in the state of Nebraska in the Midwestern United States. Its collection focuses on 19th- and 20th-century art.
History
Sheldon Art Association
In 1888, The Sheldon Art Assoc ...
.
Schools
School of Art, Art History & Design
The University of Nebraska established the School of Fine Arts in 1912 as part of the
College of Arts and Sciences
A College of Arts and Sciences or School of Arts and Sciences is most commonly an individual institution or a unit within a university that focuses on instruction of the liberal arts and pure sciences, although they frequently include programs and ...
, though the university had offered degrees in the field since not long after its inception in 1869.
The school was initially located in the
University of Nebraska State Museum
The University of Nebraska State Museum, also known as Morrill Hall, founded in 1871, is a natural history museum featuring Nebraska biodiversity, paleontology, and cultural diversity, located on the University of Nebraska–Lincoln City Campus nea ...
, along with the exhibits that would become the
Sheldon Museum of Art
The Sheldon Museum of Art is an art museum in the city of Lincoln, in the state of Nebraska in the Midwestern United States. Its collection focuses on 19th- and 20th-century art.
History
Sheldon Art Association
In 1888, The Sheldon Art Assoc ...
. The School of Fine Arts was shut down in 1930 but reestablished in 1937 under the guidance of director Arthur Westbrook.
It was renamed the School of Art, Art History & Design in 2016. Richards Hall, one of the oldest buildings on NU’s campus, has served as the home of the school for several decades and underwent an extensive modernization in 2000.
![Lied Center for Performing Arts, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Lied_Center_for_Performing_Arts%2C_Lincoln%2C_Nebraska%2C_USA.jpg)
The school is a member of the
National Association of Schools of Art and Design
The National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), founded in 1944, is an accrediting organization of colleges, schools and universities in the United States. The organization establishes standards for graduate and undergraduate degrees ...
.
Karen Blessen
Karen Blessen (born 1951) is an American graphic artist. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting in 1989 for work together with David Hanners and William Snyder on a special section called "Anatomy of an Air Crash." She was the first ...
, recipient of the 1989
Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting
The Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting has been presented since 1998, for a distinguished example of explanatory reporting that illuminates a significant and complex subject, demonstrating mastery of the subject, lucid writing and clear p ...
, graduated from the school in 1973 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts.
Glenn Korff School of Music
In 1894,
University of Nebraska chancellor James Hulme Canfield
James Hulme Canfield (March 18, 1847 – March 29, 1909), born in Delaware, Ohio, the son of Rev. E. H. and Martha (Hulme) Canfield, was the fourth President of Ohio State University.
Raised in New York City, Canfield attended Williams College an ...
created a music conservatory under the direction of Willard Kimball, who was hired from
Iowa College (now Grinnell College).
The University of Nebraska discontinued its official association with the conservatory in 1910, though Kimball operated it privately until his retirement in 1917. The school became a charter member of the
National Association of Schools of Music
The National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) is an association of post-secondary music schools in the United States and the principal U.S. accreditor for higher education in music. It was founded on October 20, 1924, and is based in Reston ...
in 1924.
In 1930, the university purchased the conservatory, located just off-campus on the corner of 11th and R Streets, for $100,000 and officially established the School of Music.
NU constructed a recital hall on the site of the conservatory in 1969 and named it after Willard Kimball, who died in 1939.
Kimball Recital Hall remains in use; it can seat up to 850 patrons. The conservatory served as the headquarters for the School of Music until 1967, when the university constructed the Westbrook Music Building. It was named in honor of longtime School of Fine Arts director Arthur Westbrook.
The School of Music was dedicated in honor of Glenn Korff in 2013 following an eight-million dollar donation.
Korff had graduated from NU in 1965 with a degree in
chemistry; during his time at NU, he served as a set designer for the male musical ensemble Kosmet Klub.
Korff died shortly after the school was renamed in his honor. In 2021, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln approved construction of a $75 million building to serve as the new home of the Glenn Korff School of Music.
The
University of Nebraska Cornhusker Marching Band (sometimes referred to as "The Pride of All Nebraska") is a part of the Glenn Korff School of Music, though many of the band's members are not students in the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts.
Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film
![Johnny Carson Tonight Show 1965](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Johnny_Carson_Tonight_Show_1965.JPG)
In the late 1890s, chancellor
Elisha Andrews
Elisha Benjamin Andrews (January 10, 1844 – October 30, 1917) was an American economist, soldier, and educator.
Early life
Andrews was born in Hinsdale, New Hampshire.Marquis Who's Who, Inc. ''Who Was Who in American History, the Military''. ...
began fundraising for a building to house student activities at NU. Following a donation from
John D. Rockefeller Jr.
John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (January 29, 1874 – May 11, 1960) was an American financier and philanthropist, and the only son of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller.
He was involved in the development of the vast office complex in M ...
, construction on The Temple (now the Temple Building) began in 1906 and was completed in 1908. Since then, The Temple has served as the home of Nebraska's theater department.
Famed ''
Tonight Show
''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 2010â ...
'' host
Johnny Carson and the Johnny Carson Foundation have given approximately $38 million to the University of Nebraska Foundation.
Carson graduated from NU in 1949 with a bachelor's degree in speech and radio; part of his contributions were used to renovate the Temple Building, where Carson got his start in radio. In recognition of his support, the university renamed the Department of Theatre Arts the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film in 2005.
In 2015, NU announced a further $20 million donation from the Johnny Carson Foundation, which was primarily used to establish the Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts. The new program emphasized media arts skills such as video and board game design, filmmaking, and social media.
The center was constructed in the building formerly occupied by the Nebraska Bookstore, which was purchased by the university and is located on the southern edge of campus. Nearby, the school operates the
Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center.
Affiliates
Lied Center for Performing Arts
The
Lied Center for Performing Arts opened in 1990 and serves as the primary venue for orchestra, theater, and speaking events on Nebraska's campus. The main stage at the Lied Center has a seating capacity of 2,258, while the
black box
In science, computing, and engineering, a black box is a system which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings. Its implementation is "opaque" (black). The te ...
Carson Theater is used for smaller productions.
Sheldon Museum of Art
What is now the
Sheldon Museum of Art
The Sheldon Museum of Art is an art museum in the city of Lincoln, in the state of Nebraska in the Midwestern United States. Its collection focuses on 19th- and 20th-century art.
History
Sheldon Art Association
In 1888, The Sheldon Art Assoc ...
began in 1888 as an on-campus art club. A museum was opened shortly after; the gallery was housed in the
University of Nebraska State Museum
The University of Nebraska State Museum, also known as Morrill Hall, founded in 1871, is a natural history museum featuring Nebraska biodiversity, paleontology, and cultural diversity, located on the University of Nebraska–Lincoln City Campus nea ...
until a dedicated building was completed in 1963.
The building, designed by famed architect
Philip Johnson
Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect best known for his works of modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the po ...
, was selected for the
United States National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 2013.
The Sheldon's collection includes over 13,000 holdings of landscape and still life, American impressionism, early modernism, geometric abstraction, and abstract expressionism, as well as more than thirty sculptures.
The Sheldon is accredited by the
American Alliance of Museums
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, p ...
.
External links
Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing ArtsSchool of Art, Art History & DesignGlenn Korff School of MusicJohnny Carson School of Theatre and FilmJohnny Carson Center for Emerging Media ArtsMary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Theatres in Nebraska
Art schools in the United States