CCAAC holds Art Exhibition

By Alan Carman
The Imperial Republican
    Saturday evening, Nov. 8, the  Chase County Area Arts Council (CCAAC), featured an Art Exhibition at 928 Wellington, (Wellington Gym Complex), displaying the  Christensen Art Collection, which was given to the community of Imperial from former CCS music teacher, Dr. J. Gordon Christensen.
    There were 55 pieces of the Art Collection exhibited. A few pieces didn’t make the show due to limited space.
    The event was held as the launch of a community fundraising campaign to establish an arts center in Imperial. CCAAC is hoping to secure enough funds to buy the Wellington Gym Complex for the Arts Center.
    Fundraising will continue for the rest of 2025. Anyone wanting to donate, can do so in the form of cash, check, PayPal, GoFundMe.com and by direct deposit to CCAAC’s account at Pinnacle Bank.
    An anonymous donor has offered a $25,000 matching challenge to support the establishment of a new arts center in Imperial. Another CCS alumn has offered a $1,000 match challenge as well. That means the first $26,000 donated would actually become $52,000.
    There were over 100 people who attended the exhibition Saturday evening. Most of the Christensen collection was on display in the entrance way and hallway of the Wellington Gym Complex.
    The string quartet, String Fling, performed in one of the old classrooms for everyone’s pleasure. Light refreshments were served during the event.
    In Dr. Christensen’s first year of teaching in Imperial (1968-69), he was involved with a research project for the National Endowment for the Arts. The project was about finding teachers degreed and credentialed to do interdisciplinary arts (Disciplined Based Arts Education) using performance arts to enhance other fine arts. Part of the project involved bringing Fine Art to the community.
    The painting, The Farm in Primaries was one of 16 in the first of six art shows displayed in the music room at the old Broadway grade school that year. The show featured Nebraska artists, and was brought to Imperial through the Nebraska Arts Council. Primaries was the first piece acquired for which is likely the largest private collection of Nebraska Art.
    Dr. Christensen later received the National Music Educator award for his teaching in “Imperial USA” (as he is fond of saying).