Historian Krenn to speak on Cold War at Sheldon Museum talk

            Historian Michael Krenn will address the U.S. government's practice of commissioning art and using it as a covert weapon during the Cold War in his April 17 lecture "When Fine Art Attacks!: Propaganda, Censorship and Visions of America in the Cold War," at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Sheldon Museum of Art.

            The 5:30 p.m. lecture is in conjunction with the museum's current exhibition "Partners & Adversaries: The Art of Collaboration." It is free and open to the public and sponsored by the Nebraska Humanities Council.

            Krenn is an author and professor of history at Appalachian State University, and previously was a professor at the University of Miami. He earned his bachelor's degree at Weber State College, his master's from the University of Utah and Ph.D. from Rutgers University. His book, 'Fall-Out Shelters for the Human Spirit," which discusses the cooperation of the U.S. government and American art establishments in the global battle against communism, is on sale in the Sheldon Museum Store.

            Sheldon Museum of Art houses a permanent collection of more than 12,000 objects focusing on American art. Sheldon, 12th and R streets on the UNL City Campus, is open free to the public during regular hours: Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.; closed on Monday. Additional information is also available on the museum's website, www.sheldonartmuseum.org.

Writer: Eileen Boehmer