By McAye Fegler, College Relations
More than 60 years of work by local artist Dave Nixon is exhibited in the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center this semester. The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to noon, and 1 to 4 p.m.
Nixon has had a passion for art for quite some time. During high school, he said he took a college-level drawing course from William Artis where he learned many of the skills he still uses.
After graduating from high school, Nixon attended the University of Nebraska- Lincoln and continued to study art in multiple forms. While in college, Nixon created T-shirt designs and sold them. Nixon majored in geology with minors in anthropology, zoology, and art while attending UNL.
After graduating from UNL in 1972, Nixon became a geologist and museum artist.
“The catch with being a museum artist is your work should not overwhelm the specimen. Make it kind of ephemeral,” Nixon said.
Multiple pieces of Nixon’s art are in CSC’s Eleanor Barbour Cook Museum. He completed a mural approximately 60 feet long. Although the museum layout in the Math Science Center of Innovative Learning has changed substantially since his original contribution, Nixon described his mural as covering three walls while casting an image of Toadstool Park with about 10 feet of mammal tracks scattered across the painting.
Nixon completed exhibit work for the University of Nebraska State Museum’s Trailside Museum of Natural History at Fort Robinson State Park. Some of his work is still showcased. He created work that was mostly displayed as backgrounds for exhibits. Nixon worked on upgrading the murals from 1961 to 1980 and worked full-time at the Trailside Museum from 1991 to 2002. He commuted from Lincoln to Fort Robinson twice a year for about 14 years before 1991 to contribute his skills to both locations.
Many symbolic images can be seen throughout Nixon’s work. Nixon enjoys incorporating wildlife native to Nebraska, especially elk, specific colors with certain meanings, significant astrological constellations, thunderbirds, Greco-Roman images, and Lakota images and traditions.
Nixon has also enjoyed the art of flintknapping since 1980. He makes arrowheads, knife blades and other shapes such as snakes and fish skeletons.
After retiring in 2002, Nixon has spent time with his children, toured different locations, and provided civic outreach demonstrations. He enjoys sharing his passion for art with others and hopes people will begin to view flintknapping as an art form instead of a hobby. Nixon encourages emerging artists to think outside of the box and take risks with art.
“Never quite do anything the way you’re supposed to, you might surprise yourself,” Nixon said.