Renowned artist to do ‘live’ sculpting at Stuhr Museum on Saturday

LINCOLN — Jack and Marilyn Wilson volunteered for 40 years in the back offices of the Stuhr Museum, helping organize records of the museum’s foundation and aiding the museum’s research team.

Soon, their hard work will be memorialized at the Grand Island attraction in a bronze sculpture crafted by an renowned artist.

This week, sculptor Benjamin Victor will be working at the Stuhr Museum to craft a clay model of a Pawnee woman and her infant child. It is an initial step toward placing a bronze sculpture along a pathway to the museum’s popular Pawnee Earth Lodge.

The Earth Lodge, where schoolchildren are given living history demonstrations about how the Pawnee lived on the plains of Nebraska, was recently renovated and rebuilt due to a donation by the Wilsons’ two sons, Jim and John, as a memorial to their parents.

That led to discussion of a more permanent memorial that culminated in engaging Victor, an Idaho-based sculptor who has done four works for National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol, including the bronze of Ponca Chief Standing Bear. The idea was to honor Pawnee history and culture.

The culmination of Victor’s visit with be on Saturday, when he “live” sculpts from 1-5 p.m., using a Pawnee/Lakota/Santa Ana Pueblo model, Ana Eva Warne, who will be accompanied by her mother, Maylynn Riding.

Bonnie Smith, executive director of the Stuhr Museum Foundation, said Saturday’s event will let visitors see “history in the making” and help them learn more about two instrumental and dogged museum volunteers.

“Jim and John Wilson wanted to provide a significant acknowledgment of their parents,” Smith said. “They wanted to make sure that people knew that by volunteering you can make a difference.”

She added, “It’s not always your money,” she added. “It can be your time.”

Exactly when the Pawnee sculpture will be installed has not yet been determined.

Several other events are scheduled for Saturday, including three showings of a Ken Burns film, “The American Revolution.” Admission Saturday is free. For more information, refer to the websites: www.stuhrmuseum.org and www.benjaminvictor.com.