California, Here We Come

We here can be mindful of the W. H. Auden remark that Neruda Prize-Winning poet Don Welch was fond of quoting: “A poet’s hope: to be, like some valley cheese, local, but prized elsewhere.”

Plenty of Kearney locals have been prized elsewhere, but as in all art, getting prized anywhere is a community venture, a sharing of honors between the artist and the admirer and the people. Here is a case in point in the words of one Kearneyite, a well-known local doctor whose useful and interesting life put him the position to take a lead in this community venture. Let Dr. Steve Bennett speak for himself:

From my early days as President of Kearney Area Arts Council for two years, to Carol Cope and Jim Cudaback getting me involved with the Kearney Community Concert Association, the Arts in Kearney has always been a passion of mine.

Then, the creme de la creme, MONA has made Kearney a destination point.

It is the Artists, Poets, Writers, Musicians that make Kearney special.

One of the joys I had in 2000, when I was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, was to formally introduce, as my guests each day at luncheon of the Nebraska Delegation, an artist born in Kearney.

Not in any special order, I introduced a young JON BOKENKAMP, who at that time was a budding screenwriter; DARRIN BUTTERS, who was a Disney animator working on the new release of Fantasia; and LESLIE EASTERBROOK, actress of commercial fame in Police Academy.

Each of them made a lasting impression on my fellow Nebraska delegates and our corporate sponsors of the luncheon (Pfizer, Union Pacific Railroad, etc.) and were great young ambassadors for the Arts in Kearney.

On a side note, although not born or raised in Kearney, I also introduced a fellow Nebraskan, Barney Oldfield, of Hollywood fame. Unfortunately, he died three years later, but he was a huge hit with the Nebraska group, many of them who were not aware of his history.

Contributed by Steve Bennett with the assistance of Chuck Peek 

Dr. Bill Northwall

Many elements help the arts flourish, especially when the appreciation of creative vision and skill prompt material support for the arts. Kearney itself has benefited from such generosity, but others elsewhere have also benefited as Kearneyites have taken that kind of vision and generosity into the world. The University of Nebraska Medical Center has just recently become the beneficiary of the new William H. Northwall MD Plaza, connecting some of the old facilities where Bill studied medicine and some of the new facilities in a place of beauty and respite, highlighted by New York artist Jenny Sabin’s “Convergence” sculpture.

Before moving to St. Petersburg, Florida, Bill was a radiologist at Good Samaritan Hospital, Kearney, and in his capacity as ‘engineer’ and ‘entrepreneur’ brought to Kearney our first CAT Scanner. Rosemary and Bill arrived in Kearney in time for Bill to start practice on July 1, 1972, continuing in practice until he retired on June 30, 1998. During that time, he and Dr. Wally Vnuk pioneered bringing radiology to the huge service area around Kearney.

His recent gift to the Med Center celebrated two arts—sculpture and medicine—inspiration and healing—and placed them where, together, they could comfort and inspire. In his remarks at the dedication, Dr. Northwall said, “This plaza is my ‘thank you’ for what this institution has meant to me. May the students, faculty and guests enjoy this space to rest a moment, to reflect, to be grateful and to be inspired. Let this place be a symbol of my appreciation for my medical training here at UNMC.”

Bill brought his training to Kearney; now he has blessed our state with the William H. Northwall Plaza, one feature of which is what appears to be the largest 3-D-printed piece of monumental sculpture in the world. The 10,000-pound stainless steel sculpture is covered with multiple triangular translucent panels of many colors that change with the position of the sun. The cost of the art—the 1% of the project mandated by Nebraska law—was figured from both the Wington Heritage center, the glass-walled structure overlooking the Plaza, and the Northwall Plaza itself.

The Northwall’s daughter, Amy, and her husband Darijo, operate the Dario’s and Avoli’s restaurants in Omaha, favorite dining stops for Kearneyites in Omaha. Son Joel and his wife Beth, as well as Amy and Joel’s children, were present to celebrate, in one Kearney family, medical arts, plastic arts, and culinary arts! Bill’s wife Ethel was also instrumental in the gift and its planning.

Contributed by Bill Northwall with the assistance of Chuck Peek