Henry C. Pearson, Yengongora, color etching, 1965, UNL-F.M. Hall Collection

LINCOLN, NE.- Peace, Love, and the Psychedelic Sixties, an exhibition drawn from of artworks in the Sheldon Museum of Art collection that were created in the 1960s, opened recently.

The exhibition includes three elements. The largest component offers artworks that express the mythologized vision of the 1960s still alive in the popular imagination. These works are colorful, dream-like and even psychedelic. They give the sense of experimentation, vigor and youthful energy associated with the era.

In protest of the Vietnam War, hundreds of thousands of Americans rallied in the streets in the late-1960s. The exhibition also includes a Vietnam portfolio with poetry and art created in 1967 to protest the war. Many artists dissented through print media: from Ad Reinhardt’s appeal to United States leaders to end the violence expressed in words printed on airmail stationery to Louise Nevelson’s industrial-looking arsenal.

Music was a central form of expression in the 1960s. Musicians participated in Civil Rights rallies and anti-war protests. Large crowds gathered to hear groups such as the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead and the Rolling Stones. The exhibition’s third element is a series of music posters created by Family Dog in San Francisco to advertise upcoming concerts and appearances. Posters selected for the exhibition document the range of creative expression using color and psychedelic designs and graphics.

In conjunction with the exhibition, the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center will present 1960s films in its Movies on the Green series beginning Tuesday, July 17, and running for six consecutive weeks.

Poster for a concert and the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco