Visiting Sculptors Program
Wayne State College School of Arts and Humanities

2004-05

Sculpture by Leslie Bruning Now Exhibited on Wayne State College Campus

On Thursday April 23, a sculpture entitled "Time Sails" by Omaha sculptor Leslie Bruning was installed in the new Student Center Plaza on the Wayne State College campus. The work, on loan from the sculptor, will be exhibited in the Plaza for one year. Created in 2002 and previously on exhibit at the Market North Sculpture Park in Omaha, "Time Sails" utilizes a recurring theme in Bruning's sculpture of reflecting upon the nature and passage of time. It measures 10 feet high and 6 feet in width.

The selection of the work was accomplished by students, faculty, and staff of the College. According to James O'Donnell, dean of the School of Arts and Humanities at Wayne State College, "It is important for any campus to maintain a climate that celebrates creative achievement, and I am delighted that our history includes doing this on many levels through annual performances of all types, a full annual schedule of exhibitions in our Nordstrand Visual Arts Gallery, and a diverse permanent collection of art works that are owned by the College and by the WSC Foundation. Part of this climate on many campuses also includes outdoor exhibitions that are installed on loan for periods of time, and I think the "Time Sails" piece by Bruning is an ideal work for this type of exhibit in the new Plaza at Wayne State."

Leslie Bruning was born in Syracuse, Kansas and raised in Wisner, Nebraska. After studying at Graz Center in Austria, he graduated with BA degree in Art from Nebraska Wesleyan University. In 1970 he was awarded an MFA degree in Sculpture from Syracuse University. He is currently Chair of the Art Area of Bellevue University ( Bellevue, NE) and a founding member of the Market North Hot Shops Art Center in Omaha.

Bruning received his first sculpture commission in 1969 at the County-City Building, Lincoln, NE and has completed over 30 commissions since that time. He has produced the Governor's Art Award for the State of Nebraska, has received numerous awards, and his works are included in many public and private collections including the Museum of Nebraska Art in Kearney. Bruning has participated in over 100 Juried and Invitational Shows throughout United States. In 1998 and 1999 he participated in the Pier Walk Sculpture Exhibition on Chicago's Navy Pier. "Having spent most of my life on college campuses, both as a student and as a professor," Bruning states, "I find the campus to be the ideal setting for most of my sculpture. I am pleased to have a piece on the Wayne State College campus since it is near an area where I spent my youth."

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2005-06

John Hachmeister Sculpture Now on Exhibit at Wayne State College

A work from the “Jupiter’s Trees” series of sculptures by John Hachmeister was recently installed for exhibit at Wayne State College. The work, on loan from the sculptor, is located among the pine trees found west of the Peterson Fine Arts Building on the WSC campus, and will remain on the campus until September 2006.

John Hachmeister received a B.F.A. degree in painting from the University of Kansas, and M.A. and M.F.A. degrees from Kansas State University. His work has been shown in over 100 venues nationwide, including the Dolphin Gallery in Kansas City, Missouri; the Holter Museum of Art in Helena, Montana; the Galeria Mesa in Mesa, Arizona; the Salina Art Center in Salina, Kansas; a mid career retrospective at the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center in Kansas City, Missouri, and a liquid steel performance piece at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, New Jersey.

Just over 16 feet tall, the “Jupiter’s Trees” work is designed for outdoor exhibit. The work is made of wood with an exterior skin of tar-like encaustic, and an interior light system powered by a solar cell that creates an interior glow that illuminates silhouettes of human figures when viewed at night. While visiting Wayne State College for the work’s installation, Hachmeister also provided a workshop on public art and a public presentation of slides of his other works. The selection of the work to be installed was accomplished by Wayne State College students, faculty, and staff.

Hachmeister has presented numerous lectures on his own work and on grassroots environmental art sites. Hachmeister co-authored the book, “Backyard Visionaries, Grassroots Art in the Mid-West,” and has worked for over a decade to preserve "The Garden of Eden" in Lucas, Kansas, which an art site that has been described as one of the top ten most important in the world. He has served on panels at both the College Art Association and the International Iron Art Casting Conferences, has conducted workshops in metal casting and patination, and has designed and operated both commercial and academic foundries. For more information about the exhibit please phone the School of Arts and Humanities at 375-7394.