New Century Art Guild sponsored a successful Danish craft making workshop on Friday, November 28th, 2014 during Julefest. Workshop participants made charming Danish woven heart baskets. The exercise was led by Pat Crosley.
Category Archives: Photo Gallery
New Century Art Guild’s Art Director Profiled in Omaha Newspaper
With help from a IWCC student, artist becomes advocate for veterans’ art
Monday, August 18, 2014 — By Casey Logan / World-Herald staff writer
Ten years ago, Muller, an art instructor at Metropolitan Community College, met a student named Billy Marples. For class, he submitted drawings of scenes from World War II. Soon the two bonded over military history. Muller asked if Marples, a Vietnam veteran, ever drew from his own experiences at war.
He hadn’t, but Marples seemed to take the question as a challenge. He later submitted a series of charcoal drawings based on his time in Vietnam, including one called “The Incident,” depicting an especially traumatic firefight.
“He got closure to this incident,” Muller said. “He had 35 years of nightmares, and it stopped that day when he made the drawing.”
That same year, Muller and Marples discussed starting an organization to support veteran artists. The mission wouldn’t be therapeutic in nature but rather to provide guidance and training for veterans interested in pursuing careers in visual art.
A decade later, the New Century Art Guild covers three buildings and more than 4,000 square feet of gallery and studio space in Kimballton, Iowa, about an hour’s drive northeast of Omaha. It is run by a third founder, Scott Smith. Muller, who remains based in Omaha, serves as art director. Marples died in 2013.
Through August, the center is home to “Unforgetting Iraq: In Search of Recovery,” a multi-media exhibit that has become all the more timely in recent weeks.
“We were coming from a point of reconciliation,” Muller said of the exhibit’s May opening, “and now we’re on a war front again.”
The exhibit, which features work by Americans and Iraqis, is a small part of Muller’s busy life these days. He still teaches at Metro. He also tries to find time to make his own art, some of which is on display at Modern Arts Midtown, 3615 Dodge St. A painter by training, Muller finds himself moving more and more to three-dimensional art, in part because so much of what is consumed these days comes from two-dimensional screens.
But Muller draws the most meaning these days from his work with veterans. He sees in their work a worldview and selflessness uncommon in the art world, and more and more he believes his own mission is to make sure such work sees the light of day — even if it means less time spent on his art.
“With the veterans I see such a huge return on the investment of my time,” he said.
NCAG Hosts Student Intern from Iowa’s Central College
This summer, for the duration of the exhibit Unforgetting Iraq: In Search of Recovery, NCAG is pleased to host Alison Ranniger, an ambitious young college art student as our student intern. Alison will watch the galleries and visit with guests entering the exhibit. She will also perform other tasks for the Guild. In return, she will enjoy use of the studio space and receive supervision from NCAG Art Director, Troy Muller. She will also receive 6 college credits for her work with NCAG.
Alison is a senior college student and Art Major in pursuit of her K-12 teaching licensure at CentralCollege in Pella, IA. She is from Manning, IA where she graduated from IKM-ManningHigh School. At CentralCollege she has worked in a wide range of media such as drawing, printmaking, painting, glassblowing, ceramics, sculpture, photography, and bookmaking. She has also participated in CentralCollege’s study abroad program in Leiden, in the Netherlands where she studied Dutch art and architecture and worked with a Dutch artist under an independent study.
Welcome aboard Alison!
FINALISTS AND WINNER OF 2014 COMPETITIVE STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP ANNOUNCED
New Century Art Guild wishes to congratulate Kaitlyn Van Patten as the winner of our First Annual Competitive Student Artist Contest and as the recipient of the 2014 Visual Art Merit Scholarship $500.00 Award!
The level of talent and creativity evident in all the submissions, especially the six finalists, made it difficult to choose just one portfolio to receive the monetary award. Here are examples from the finalists:
‘UNFORGETTING IRAQ’ EXHIBIT OPENED DURING TIVOLI WEEKEND
Over Memorial Day weekend, also known as Tivoli-fest in the Iowan Danish Villages, New Century Art Guild opened its gallery doors to a very special exhibit of international artists. The exhibit will be on view for the next three months.
Tivoli-fest brought a crowd of people into the Danish Villages:
Exhibit Preview Dinner was Tasty and Insightful
A special (and delicious!) dinner was held in the NCAG Galleries on Friday, May 17th as a thank you to major donors and art professionals. The thought provoking artwork that surrounded guests represents a joint effort between New Century Art Guild and the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project, based in Minneapolis. This collection, entitled: Unforgetting Iraq: In Search of Recovery, is being shown for the first time in our Kimballton gallery. Once it leaves us in September, it will continue to tour across the US. The exhibition will open to the public Memorial Day weekend.
This exhibit aims to highlight, through art from both Iraqi and American artists, the aftermath of that war. This collection uses images to speak to our capacity as humans to recover from traumatic, devastating events and of our ability to extend compassion to cultures that are different than our own.
Our speaker for the evening was Mr. Rick Burns, an expert on the effect and aftermath of modern warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is also an expert in compassion –and translating that compassion into action.
Rick worked as an Army Civil Affairs officer to better understand the needs of citizens caught up in the ravages of war. After two tours in Iraq, Rick went to Afghanistan as an Army civilian to assist military commanders to better understand the indigenous culture. Through this work of helping locals deal with endless government and infrastructure problems, Rick saw firsthand the daily issues faced by families living in an unstable society.
After he returned stateside, Rick launched the Karadah Project in 2010, which sought (and continues to seek) to help those left behind in the wake of the war.
Kimballton Featured in follow-up to Documentary “Denmark on the Prairie”
Danish filmmaker Jakob Vølver has produced a sequel TV program about the Danish Villages of Southwest Iowa. Both the original program and its recent follow-up have been big hits in Denmark and have triggered waves of interest by Danish citizens in the small Iowa towns. Kimballton, Elk Horn’s neighboring village to the north, was not mentioned in the first documentary, but it finally got its due in the sequel. Danish-speaking Loretta Christensen of Kimballton is featured in both films. She and Annette Andersen, also of Kimballton, take viewers to the new Hans Christian Andersen Sculpture Park in Kimballton. A number of the bronze statues depicting Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales, that were sculpted by NCAG Art Director Troy Muller, were seen (along with Troy) in the second film.
“Meet the Artist” Dinner was Delicious and Inspiring!
NCAG hosted an art exhibition of Mario Lopez’s work at a “Meet the Artist” dinner reception in their Kimballton Gallery. Mario and his lovely wife, Danielle, inspired artists and veterans alike at the event held on Saturday, March 22nd. Lopez shared his inspiration journey as a soldier, family-man, minister and artist. He said, “I am a wounded warrior but I don’t let my war injuries define me. I like that I can help people by showing them that even though life throws obstacles our way, there is no reason to give up because life is always worth living.” Mario presented a gripping slideshow and testimony that kept the audience at the edges of their seats. Mario was made a lifetime NCAG member and also sold two paintings the night of the event.
2nd Annual Veteran Appreciation Day and Open House
“Population at Risk” –Paintings by Troy J. Muller
