Marxy in the Sower - March 9, 1989

This is a short article about Marxhausen and other Concordia faculty having work accepted to the Fred Wells 13 art exhibit. The work was called, "Night Encounter" and in wood. I checked the photos of wood pieces I have and didn't find one with that title. Maybe it isn't in the Marxhausen Gallery collection?

Marxy in the Sower

The Sower is the student newspaper of Concordia University, NE. It has been around for decades and I've found several stories and photos featuring Marxhausen there.

Here's a photo of Marxy snapped at a Chorale performance. I love his expression. This is from the April 1, 1982 issue.

Book Review in SCI

This article is a book review printed in the Seward County Independent on July 24, 1985. I was given a copy last year when I visited Marxhausen's studio. Just this week, I discovered a copy of the book reviewed here at Link Library.

In addition to a collection of videos produced by Marxy, Link library has these resources as well: a book entitled Seeds from the Sower: Responses to the Parables of Jesus which includes art by Marxhausen and several other CUNE art faculty; Seward Drawings by Karl Marxhausen, which also includes a note thanking his dad; and a vinyl record of the sounds created by sculptures by several notable artists in the field, including Marxy.

Marxhausen in the Broadcaster

The Broadcaster is CUNE's official magazine. The 2010 Winter issue featured a story on the event honoring Reinhold Marxhausen. It has great photos and a description of the event. You can view it online at the school's website. The story is on page 34. Here is the URL:

http://www.cune.edu/about/publications/broadcaster/broadcaster-winter-2009/

Marxy in the Yearbook - 1952

Marxy in the Tower - 1960

I'm a journalist for Concordia's student newspaper, The Sower, and I'm going to look into finding articles about Marxhausen in the old issues. The Tower yearbook has been a great source of information, so I have high hopes that The Sower will have stories about Marxy's art projects, perhaps even interviews.

The 1960 yearbook featured some striking artwork. The images centered on the theme of growth and used poetry alongside image, something I've observed in work by Marxhausen. Were these illustrations by Marxhausen? If someone can confirm they are, I will post them on this blog.

Please visit the Marxhausen Facebook page and see if you can help identify these mysterious art works.

Here is the faculty shot of the 1960 yearbook.

Koenig was a contemporary of Marxhausen and the founder of the Koenig collection. He was memorialized in the 1960 Tower.

Other Blogs with Informaiton on Marxhausen

While browsing the internet, I discovered two other blogs with posts about Marxhausen. One seems to be a blog analyzing sound, and contained a quote and photos of Marxy I had not seen before.

Once I found a stone that was brown, irregular and very smooth. It was heavy, and looked a bit melted. I remember showing it to a wise, old, bearded rock-hound pastor from Morristown, Minnesota. Reverend Zimmerman's house and life were filled to overflowing with interesting stuff he had collected in his lifetime. When he saw my brown stone, his bushy eyebrows twitched, He looked at me and said 'Son, this is a meteorite - a star' That stone became special to me and I carried it around to surprise all my friends. I was the boy with stardust in his pockets.

You can read the full blog post here.

The other blog I stumbled across is about Seward Nebraska. Marxhausen left such an imprint on the community, it's not surprising to see his work discussed here.


According to the author, Mike Sylwester, these photos were taken on July 4, 1975, and originally had a caption: "Marxhausen Seward Fourth of July Parade float. Old St. John Lutheran Church in the background." Sylwester explains that the second picture "shows the front of the float being held by Karl Marxhausen (in the foreground) and Reinhold Marxhausen (in the background). The back of the float was held by Paul and Dorris Marxhausen (son and mother) and some friends, but they are not seen in these pictures."

He also quoted Reinhold Marxhausen's son, Karl, who discussed how the float was constructed:

Dad used hula hoops for the four corners. With a walker in each hoop. He created a fish line grid, to which inflated ballons were secured. The rectangular float could be elevated by the front and back walkers moving to the middle, creating a 20 high arch.

The full post can be read here.

Marxy in the Tower - 1974

One of the rare yearbook photos where Marxy is not busy on a project. There was little art or other information relating to Marxhausen in this yearbook.

Marxy in the Tower - 1971

On the opposite page, Marxhausen is quoted:

When one says yes to life - all the findings are an affirmation and celebration to belief. Looking and searching s to never know, and expectancy is high.

The entry reads:

First semester Professor Marxhausen invited all art majors and minors to help draw a scale picture of the moon which was placed on the north wall of the science building. During interim his art and science, using techniques from both disciplines, created optical illusions which were placed in the science building stairwells.

Also noteworthy, photos of the student senate and officers were taken in front of Marxhausen's Open Book that year.

- Duncan

Marxy in the Tower - 1970

I've been reading older editions of Concordia's yearbook, The Tower, and every one has a bit of info about Marxhausen. I've found some excellent quotes by Marcy and photos of his work I haven't seen anywhere else. Reinhold is pictured on the bottom alongside one of his pieces. The text says that he "enjoys making home-made wine."

The second page shows a few artworks, presumably by both students and professors. They are not labeled, but at least one piece looks like Marxhausen's sound sculptures, the picture right in the middle. A couple others look like they use wood, which may be by Marxy, or by students who learned to use a similar technique.

- Duncan

Marxy in the Tower - 1969

Marxy appears to be putting polyurethane on a wood sculpture. Above the art professors, there are works by students. The yearbook itself doesn't have information on the names of the students who created the works. Any former students recall these art works? I wonder which ones were in Marxy's class. One of the photos looks like a wood mosaic, which a student could have learned in one of Marxy's classes.
The title page for every section, "Faculty," "Students," etc., showed the same photographs. For the student section, the photo of the students was highlighted in gold ink, and so on for the other sections. Marxhausen was the faculty member featured in this yearbook, which meant this picture was on the title page of each section, and printed in gold for the faculty section. Once again, the photos of Marxhy show him hard at work.

Marxy in the Tower - 1968

[Edit: I learned from his wife that these are not pajamas. They are "Harlequin" pants, colored red, black, and white, that she made special for him.]
This wooden object use to be in the Campus Center. None of the older professors thought Marxhausen built it, but was it one of his students?
This page shows how students were involved in chapel. When I interviewed Dr. Serk, she recalled that attendance at chapel was mandatory, students had assigned seats, and there were chapel checkers to ensure students were in their right seat. This yearbook came several years after she was a student. Do any alumni recall if this was the policy in 1968, or does this particular chapel ring a bell? A large pile of junk was created, which the pastor used to illustrate his topic. Could Marxhausen have designed it, or at least have worked with the art students who made it?
The trend I'm noticing in the yearbook pictures of Marxhausen is that he is always working!

Marxy in the Tower - 1966

[9-19-10 Update: I scanned Marxy's faculty photo and posted it. Also found what looks like a painting of Marxhausen by a student.]

These was a feature story in The Tower.

[Edit: I showed this to Karl Marxhausen, and he confirmed that he's the one in the photo here with his dad.]

The 1966 issue had a whole section devoted to student artwork, including this portrait by Dave Burk. Look familiar?

Marxy in the Tower - 1964

This first one is the regular faculty photo you should find in every yearbook. The headline read "Art and Music Departments Provide Outlet for...Individual Expression" but the opposite page didn't show any more art professors so I didn't bother to scan it.

This second photo is much more intriguing. I learned from this that Marxhausen was an advisor for the Activities Committee,

Marxy in the Tower - 1963

Now that I'm back at Concordia, I've returned to chronicling "The Tower" yearbook pictures of Marxy. He's to the left of William Wolfram. You can see a photo of his Open Book behind him while he sculpts an organic piece.

The Tower - 1953

Page 62 of the 1953 "Tower" yearbook has a story about the completion of the mural in Brommer, which at that point was the dining hall.

Last year, before I began researching Marxhausen, I was working in Brommer when I met an older man returning for Homecoming. He told me that while he was here, Marxhausen used his hands as the model for the mural. The old student said that Marxhausen just called him as he was on his way out of the cafeteria, positioned his hands the way they needed to be, and drew a gesture sketch so quickly, it amazed the student.

The mural was covered up around the 70s.

This yearbook had a movie theme: the students were the "cast," the administration were the "directors," etc. This page was for the yearbook staff, and Marxhausen is one of the "producers." I take it this means he was the professor in charge of yearbook that year.
Here is his faculty photo, along with Koenig, who left Concordia his estimable collection of art which became known as the Koenig Collection.

Photos of Marxy

Some things never change. Decades ago, these students were enjoying the same musical headsets you can find in Marxhausen's studio today.

You can make out a door knob, an object which clearly intrigued Marxhausen.

A fascinating portrait of Marxy in his studio.

A gallery space for Marxhausen's work:

Styrofoam shapes similar to the ones he showed Letterman.

From the Scrapbook - Invitation

This was the invitation to the celebration honoring Marxhausen last year.

Here is what the text says:

a celebration of MARXHAUSEN

Reinhold Marxhausen, Concordia artist and Seward resident since 1951, will be celebrated at Seward's Rivoli Theater on Main Street Sunday, May 24, from 3:00-5:00 p.m.

Showing Marxhausen films, "Findings," "Timelines," and "A Time to See," produced by Banker's Life and Nebraska NET. These films showcase Marx's artwork and his legacy in Nebraska.

Sponsored by: Seward Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with Concordia University.

This invitation was kept as a souvenir by a local fan of Marxhausen's work.

Click on this thumbnail to view a close-up of the photo by Marxhausen used in this invitation.

- Duncan

Visiting Ridgewood

This past Saturday, the writer's group on campus here visited Ridgewood retirement center and delivered handmade Valentine's cards to all of the residents with a bible verse written on the inside about Jesus' love.

I didn't even have to look for Marxy! He was right there. He nodded that I could take his picture. I showed him what it looked like after I had taken it (oh the marvels of digital cameras), he looked right at me and nodded his approval :)

Marxy has Alzheimer's.

Being there with my camera, it made me think of the video Marx had made when he found out he had this disease. He did different workshops with residents at nursing homes and the one in the video he took photographs of the people and then also did a drawing of the photographs and hung them all up on a wall, like a gallery. The exercise was to help raise their self-esteem again and show them their beauty--many of the elderly had a negative opinion of themselves. I'll see what I can do to get that up here...

Although I did not go there with that same intent (we were delivering Valentine's! And it was fun!), I did take a few pictures.

They were so delighted to have us college students go and visit!

Here, they were creating rain-sticks out of toilet paper rolls and tin foil:

The woman standing is Jan, an assistant, and she's so good with them!

Giving Valentine Cards:

This lovely lady loved to sing. We told her she had a pretty voice, and this was the surprised look she gave us:

Austin, explaining the verse about Jesus:

This little lady was sweet--she asked for a copy of her picture.

-Amber Dawn