NEW Exhibit Open at Nebraska History Museum: The Strange and Wonderful Masks of Doane Powell

“In itself a mask is an ornament,” said Nebraska artist Doane Powell. “The photograph of a mask makes an interesting picture; but a mask worn, with movement, by the proper person, becomes a living art.” Made primarily in the 1940s and 1950s, Powell’s strange and wonderful masks were used in theater productions, circus performances, movies and television, advertising campaigns, magazine illustrations, store window displays, and at social functions. Starting October 10, they will be displayed in a new Nebraska History Museum exhibit, The Strange and Wonderful Masks of Doane Powell, one of four new exhibits opening at the museum this fall. A University of Nebraska alumnus, Powell spent twelve years as a cartoonist for the Omaha Bee. He eventually changed his artistic focus from political cartoons to masks. His skills for caricature were still evident in his new medium. His most popular masks were those of recognizable figures. In his 1948 book, Masks and How to Make Them, Powell explained how he used “laminated paper” to create his masks. He joined three layers of unbleached wood pulp kraft paper with an adhesive, molding them over a facial sculpture of modeling clay on a rigid base. This method destroyed the underlying sculpture so each mask was one-of-a-kind. When Powell died in 1951 at age 69, his apprentice Kari Hunt inherited many of his masks and continued to promote their use, most notably on the television show Masquerade Party (1952-1960). Hunt’s daughter, Karen Schnitzspahn, donated these masks and related archival materials to the NSHS in 2013. The NSHS’s Gerald R. Ford Conservation Center in Omaha repaired damage and deterioration to the masks, restoring and stabilizing them for future generations. This is an exhibit you’ll want to see twice. One set of 26 masks will be displayed October 11 through March 26; a second set of 30 masks will be displayed March 30 through July 9, 2017.