Ongoing is the ‘labor of love’ to restore, reinstall NE’s iconic Pershing Center mural

Rendering of the Pershing mural, which was rescued from demolition, is being restored and is to be resurrected at the historic Wyuka Park in Lincoln. (Courtesy of Michelle McCullough, Moment Architecture)

LINCOLN — When they jumped into action a few years ago, Liz Shea-McCoy and friends knew little more than they did not want to see the Pershing Center mosaic mural destroyed.

They got an expert to tell them whether a rescue was feasible. They raised enough money for early phases of preserving the mural, including the task of detaching 763,000 small ceramic tiles. 

They secured a storage place, then a future home in Lincoln’s historic Wyuka Park.

And the work has kept growing, in good ways, says Shea-McCoy.

Mural in 3-D

For instance, the team is now investigating the possibility of creating a 3-D model of the mural for use by visually impaired populations.

Discussions about the model started, Shea-McCoy said, after a blind woman approached the rescuers and remarked that she’d always wanted to “see” the Pershing Mural.

Shea-McCoy and other key Nebraska educators also are assembling a 17-lesson academic package to be available for free. They believed that students and the public would want to know more about what the mural represents, its background, history and how the rescue came together.

Each lesson aims to serve as a springboard of discussion and inspiration in areas such as historic preservation, architecture, language arts and public investment in art.

“I thought it had a life of its own in the beginning,” Shea-McCoy said of the project. “Now it’s become even more important and enriching to our state, to kids, to teachers, to the people who now will be able to see it who are blind.”

With a fund-raising goal of $4.1 million, the campaign still needs $2.1 million. 

Installation of the mural at the historic Wyuka Park and Cemetery grounds, which was established by the Nebraska Legislature in 1869 and is Lincoln’s oldest park, can begin as early as this summer if the financial goal is reached, said Shea-McCoy.

The preservation team said Nebraskans have been generous, sometimes donating more than once to the rescue and restoration effort.

Lasting memories

The mural is to be reinstalled on a 40-by-140-foot wall in the park. Restoration has been time-consuming, with each of the mosaic’s 763,000 one-inch square tiles in 40 different color shades being cleaned, polished and refitted into complex patterns by hand, the rescue team said in a media release updating the effort.

“Guided by a large print taken by a drone before the mural was removed, this careful restoration process ensures that the Pershing Mural is restored in its original grandeur,” the statement said.

The mural had spanned the now-demolished Pershing Auditorium facade since 1957.

Created by artists Leonard Thiessen and Bill J. Hammon, the mural’s assorted tiles depict 38 figures involved in wide-ranging activities such as sports and circus acts and historical scenes.

Shea-McCoy calls the artwork a repository of both Nebraska history and lasting memories by many throughout the state.

Construction of the Pinnacle Bank Arena in 2013 helped render the Pershing Center obsolete.

Donors may contribute online (www.NSHSF.org) or send funds to the Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation, the project’s fiscal sponsor, at 1201 Lincoln Mall, Suite 100, Lincoln, 68508.

The group also suggested “Give to Lincoln Day,” on May 30th as a way to donate. 

Shea-McCoy considers the restored mural a “labor of love” and a Nebraska cultural icon.

“It’s a show stopper,” she said.

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