Lentz Center director opens last exhibition: 'Director's Choice'
Released on 05/11/2010, at 2:00 AM
Office of University Communications
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
WHERE: Lentz Center for Asian Culture, 1155 Q Street, Hewit Place, Lower Level (map]
Barbara Banks is preparing for one final show.
Retiring July 1, the director of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Lentz Center for Asian Culture unveiled the museum's final exhibition, "Director's Choice," May 7. The exhibit runs through June 27 and will feature items collected during Banks' 16 years with the Lentz Center.
"This is not an exhibit of my favorite things, or all things acquired during my time as director," Banks said. '"Director's Choice' is an exhibit of what I think are the best things."
Banks is the third director/curator of the Lentz Center, located in the lower level of Hewit Place, 1155 Q St. She has worked in that capacity for 16 years, joining UNL in 1993.
In her tenure, Banks has increased the Lentz Center collection from a little more than 250 items in 1993 to more than 1,000 pieces of Asian art today.
Banks quietly started preparing for the exhibit as thoughts of retirement began a few years ago. However, those plans accelerated when a UNL budget reduction earlier this year called for the closure of the Lentz Center.
She immediately began pulling featured items, then built smaller art pieces around related themes. "Director's Choice" features about 80 items from Bhutan, China, Tibet and Japan.
"This is a broad brush of the collection and my hope is, when people see it, they'll walk away thinking they saw a lot of interesting things," said Banks. "Personally, I like each of the items for different reasons. They are all pretty close to my heart."
When the Lentz Center closes in July, the collection will stay in storage in Hewit Place. Workers from the upper-level Great Plains Art Museum monitor the Asian art items. Banks said an advisory board is being set up to decide what exhibitions will be featured in the Lentz Center space. The exhibition space will also be used by the Great Plains Art Museum. The Lentz Center collection will also be open for research and study.
Later this summer, Banks will leave Lincoln for retirement near family in Phoenix. She will stay involved with the art community, through colleagues in the area and by joining a group that supports the Phoenix Art Museum.
She also plans to convert her doctoral dissertation about horses in early China into a book. Her dissertation is titled, "The Magical Powers of the Horse as Revealed in the Archeological Exploration of Early China."
"The book will be about how horses were originally buried, sometimes in large numbers," said Banks. "Then there was a switch to clay and/or bronze horses in the burials. So the book will talk about that evolution." She has tentatively titled the book, "Underground Horse."
And, while she's excited about moving on to other projects, the transition is bittersweet.
"I was just thinking the other day about what I'm going to do without all this wonderful art every day," said Banks. "Moving away and having a different life will make things easier. But, I'm definitely going to miss UNL, the Lentz Center and all that I've accomplished here."
A retirement reception for Banks is 4 to 6 p.m., May 13 at the Van Brunt Visitors Center, 313 N. 13th St. The event is free and open to the public.
The Lentz Center for Asian Culture is dedicated to the enrichment of knowledge and understanding of Asia and is the only museum in Nebraska devoted solely to Asian art. Its unique collection provides an opportunity for enhancing instructional programs on the UNL campus, as well as enriching the cultural environment of the citizens of the state of Nebraska. The Lentz Center was named for the longtime (1937-73) director of University of Nebraska bands, Donald Lentz, and his wife, Velma. Their many years of work and study in Asia led to the initial endowment and basic collection of the museum. The Lentz Center was approved by the NU Board of Regents in 1983 and dedicated in Morrill Hall in 1986. It moved to Hewit Place in 2000.
The museum is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays, 1:30-4 p.m. Sundays, closed Mondays. For more information, telephone (402) 472-5841 or visit www.unl.edu/lentz.
WRITER: Troy Fedderson, University Communications, (402) 472-8515
News Release Contacts:
- Barbara Banks, Director, Lentz Center
phone: (402) 472-5841
Associated Media Files:
- Barbara Banks, retiring from the Lentz Center for Asian Culture, which closes July 1.
- Carved squash and blossom box with flowers and crickets. Carved ivory, tinted. 19th-century China. Gift of Mary Hillegass.
- Seven-piece miniature tea set. Spinach Jade, 19th-century China. Gift of Mary Hillegass.
- Hanging scrolls by modern Chinese painter Liu Maoshan. Barbara Banks, director and curator of the Lentz Center for Asian Culture, purchased the scrolls in Chongqing, China. The paintings are scenes from Suzhou, China.