heinrich

A brass horn, burnt wood and welded watch parts. That was Reinhold Marxhausen. Above, "Rejoice," 1967, which was featured on page 71 of A Centennial Invitation Exhibition, by the Nebraska Arts Council.

Next, metal instrument key pads incorporated with burnt wood forms. That was Reinhold.

Polished harness knobs and red string became figures, below. More Reinhold.

Mixing materials was Milt Heinrich. One of Reinhold's students.

Wood and round metal in a pattern. That was Milt.

 Industrial materials, colored wire. Tall and sturdy, monumental. That was Milt.

Three minute. Part 1 of artist. Milt Heinrich talks about mixed materials at one telephone company in Blair, Nebraska. Both sections are twelve feet by ten feet.

 

Seven minutes. Part 2 of Heinrich. Body putty wall relief for a second telephone company in Blair. The history of buried telephone phone cable.

 

Three minutes. Part 3 of Heinrich on sculpting his large stand alone works.The future of buried phone cable.

Twelve minutes. Part 4 Heinrich about making monumental work. His comments about the cement sculpture called the Open Book, which was made be his college art instructor, Reinhold Marxhausen.

Below, photographs chart the stages of the1959 Open Book monument

stopping to think

Remember Me when you do this.  
  
A sip of wine and the crunch of bread. These bring to mind the intimate involvement of my living Savior. The One who found me and makes my mind to know his wondrous activity every moment of every day in 2017.

His blood poured out for me from his physical death. His body nailed to wood till he died. His body entombed. His body brought to life to live on and on as all God and all Homo Sapien. He did this for me.

An artist is moved.
She is led to nail various sizes of hardware onto a burnt section of wood. Nails indicate where His feet were. Where His hands were. The nails remind her of people both past and present. She thinks about her own resistance. How easy it is to say no to God. This too is part of the story. What Jesus means to her. Why He came.

Other artists do the same -- they listen, they are moved, they plan a design, fingers and eyes move with precision. This kind of art draws minds to the Lord. Stopping to think about Jesus can be called prayer. It is worship. It is liturgical. We stop and think about what He is drawing us into. While I walk, while I sit, under a tree, in a yard, in a car, in a church, by myself, or with others. The One I love.

His ability to change hearts and minds. His ability to cancel debts. His ability to show mercy to me. His strength and kindness and intelligence. Instructions for amino acids to fold over in a specific sequence for each specific protein within every living cell. That I can know HIM. That is awesome!

wood - glass - formica - elmer's glue - joy - design - celebrate

The space for such creating once took place in the basement of Brommer Hall. It continues on in the basement of Jesse Hall. 

With funds from a donor the Center for Liturgical Arts now has its own new building at 540 North Columbia Avenue in Seward. Ground broke just four months ago. Already a building. What a wonder.

Three minutes. Concordia University president Brian Friedrich.

Actually the original vision happened about right here. Today, you long term Seward residents know: the house was green, almost the shade now covering the outside walls of the Center. In here lived for many years, Dorris and Reinhold Marxhausen and their children Karl and Paul.  Brian Friedrich

What the Greeks said to the disciple Phillip: "Sir, we want to see Jesus." John 12:21

Former Marxhausen family residence at 540 North Columbia in Seward.

 Harvey D. Lange, Associate Professor of Theology, 1972 yearbook, p. 86

Carol and Harvey Lange, Concordia Teachers College, 1976 yearbook, p.106

Reinhold on his studio deck working on welded sculpture piece 
for Hope Lutheran Church in Park Forest, Illinois, 1966

 New Forms for Worship item by Marxhausen, 1968.
Paint on Morrell ham lid.

 
Reinhold Pieper Marxhausen, Professor of Art, 
varnishing New Forms for Worship project 
in Art Annex basement, 1969

 

Professor Marxhausen design, July 1970, 
Lutheran Church Missouri Synod conference, Denver, Colorado

 

Those in attendance of building dedication September 22nd.

 
Seven minutes. Director Mark Anschutz shares two stories for the center.

Those two families, the Lange - Marxhausen family, started this marvelous idea of the Center. Now ideas take a while to start and to flourish. And that's what happened. It took years and we don't know exactly when things happened but the Spirit moves. You know the Spirit loves creation. It moved at Creation, and was in Creation, and I believe the Spirit moves over the Center. So, when I think about that moment, when these two men out on that deck were talking about THIS, they didn't know we would be in a building. They didn't know how we would reach across the ocean. They didn't know what God had planned for THIS, but they were MOVED BY THE SPIRIT. And the Spirit also led me here.      Mark Anschutz

 

Mark Anschutz oversaw the new property to keep portions of the Marxhausen inspired landscape. Such as the path to the Reinhold and Dorris Marxhausen studio. He matched the exterior color to the green that was on the Marxhausen front porch. Various trees started by Dorris Marxhausen continue to flourish, a couple a persimmon trees, and a marvelous giant ponderosa pine along the Lincoln Street side.

 

Thank you Mark for your love and dedication. He preserved and showcased the original front door, next. Which my father glued piece by piece, then burned portions with a torch, then wire-brushed, and at the end waxed down. It has a loud metal doorbell which rings loud when you pull the porcelain knob.

 
Six minutes. Harvey and Carol Lange

A six year program with funding for each of those years. Sufficient to hire a part-time worker who would design a proposal for congregations to enhance their sanctuary for Christmas or for Easter. And this person would take this design to teacher conferences or pastor conferences. And would also talk about the potential for liturgical art --- The first hired person was Mark Anschutz. Here we are fifteen years later. Would you believe that this proposal would lead to fabricating a 72 pane glass stained glass wall. 20 feet tall and 80 feet across. And all those pieces of glass fabricated here in Seward. And then packed and shipped to Hong Kong, where they are put in place. Harvey Lange

 

  
One minute. With gratitude to the Lord.

 
News spot on Channel 10 of new center

Photos and videos of dedication by Karl Marxhausen
Additional photos courtesy of Mark Anschutz, director of the Center for the Liturgical Art.

**********

wait for it

Preparation. 

Friday Saturday and Sunday rain was sent to soften the ground.

"One thing that’s obvious as I’ve browsed through the thousands of Marxhausen photographs my family has archived in recent years: every place that Reinhold and Dorris Marxhausen ever lived quickly came to bear the indelible stamp of their personalities and creativity.   No place was that truer than here at 540 where, over a half-century they made an old frame house and two bare lots into a place bursting with ideas and life, a home for family and a refuge for friends.  When their energy and engagement with this place faded away, our family labored long and hard to maintain and preserve the echos and memories of the life of this place.   That’s why finally surrendering that stewardship felt so powerfully like death for us."   Paul Marxhausen

1962 Designs, Reinhold Marxhausen at Mills College, Oakland

But that grief always recalls for me John 12 – “unless a seed fall into the ground and die, it remains alone … but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit.”  

This imagery of renewed life and growth was one of Reinhold’s favorite themes and it was embodied in every living thing Dorris ever nurtured, and we see the reality of it here, today, as we break ground for the new Center of Liturgical Arts.  When I read the invitation to attend today another verse began to resonate in my brain:  “Behold, I do a new thing – now it will spring forth.  Do you not see it?” 

1961 prototype and 3 foot full sculpture, 

Reinhold Marxhausen at Mills College, Oakland

  

Ground breaking gathering, Monday, May 1.

"I do see it, I and my family, and we will watch eagerly to see what emerges."     Paul Marxhausen, son of Reinhold and Dorris. Address at CLA ground breaking, May 1st, 2017, Lincoln and North Columbia corner, Seward, Nebraska. Click to hear remarks:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxbB5WnF9RVHQWo1QnRqbkhDRDA/view

Photos of event taken by John Nollendorf, a friend of Reinhold Marxhausen. Double click to enlarge images.

Interior of Marxhausen studio. Outline on floor marked where Reinhold assembled mosaic wood and colored glass for two murals in Nebraska State Capitol.

Paul Marxhausen, son Reinhold and Dorris, works for the University of Nebraska, as Supervisor of the Engineering Electronics Shop. 

"My warmest thoughts are with you from California to Seward, Nebraska especially on this day. 

What an extraordinary event to celebrate a groundbreaking for a new chapter in the rich lives all of you have experienced at 540 North Columbia Ave.  I cherish the memories of my many visits there with you, Dorris & Marx.    I join you in looking forward to the delight of knowing that artists will continue in the Marxhausen legacy of expressing God's eternal gift of art affirming the Good News of life in Christ." Mary Gunderlach.

(Family photos are property of Marxhausen Estate.)