by KARA SCHWEISS
Andy Acker enrolled in classes at Omaha University, but by the time he graduated with a bachelor of fine arts degree in painting in 1973, it had become the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The late 1960s and early ‘70s were an interesting time on campus as it grew westward, he said, and he even recalls a protest or two.
“They were going to cut down some big trees… There were about three or four people that chained themselves to the trees in protest. They were just ignored,” he said, chuckling at the memory. “One guy made it about five nights in a row, and then he gave up.”
Progress marched on, and UNO’s campus already looked different when Acker returned in the 1980s and earned a bachelor’s degree in K-12 art education in 1990. He’s enjoyed seeing the changes over half a century, he said.
“Watching the university grow has always been exciting. When we started out, we had the art galleries on the third floor there in the art department of the administration building. They took a couple of classrooms, and did it really nice, with good lighting ratios,” he said. “Then they got the old Milder house, a Japanese-style house, as they started to move west into some of those mansions… Then this new building went up when we were there.”
(The distinctive Hymie Milder house was located on the then-western edge of campus where the Weber Fine Arts Building now stands. It was moved 10 blocks in 1990 to a residential neighborhood and is still there 35 years later.)
Acker said he has fond memories of studying under art professors like Peter Hill (1933-2020), who has pieces in the permanent collections of the Sheldon Museum of Art in Lincoln, Joslyn Art Museum, and the Museum of Nebraska Art in Kearney; renowned sculptor Sydney (Buzz) Buchanan, whose work entitled “Rhino Chair” is still on campus; and Wayne Higby, who became an internationally acclaimed ceramic artist.
“There was a high caliber of professors there,” he said. “I think just about every class I took had somebody that was pretty accomplished in their field.”
Acker said he was surprised to find out one of his own paintings was discovered in recent years in storage at UNO.
“There was a painting from when we used to leave a piece of artwork from our thesis show,” he said. “They recognized ‘Acker’ from (daughter and fellow artist) Jordan Acker Anderson, and asked her about me.”
From 1990 to 2001, Acker was an art teacher for Omaha Public Schools. For eight years starting in 2005, he worked for Heartland Scenic Studio on design and fabrication of museum exhibits, commercial displays, custom store fixtures and theatrical scenery. After relocating to Milwaukee for family reasons, he’s continued providing similar expertise part-time for First Stage Performing Arts’ children’s theater sets and props.
Even while engaged in full-time or part-time employment, Acker has always created art. His comprehensive art education at UNO introduced him to multiple media, but his focus has been drawing, painting and sculpture, he said. Acker’s work has been featured in numerous juried art shows and exhibitions throughout the year, including an alumni exhibition at UNO this past February (along with the work of his daughter and her husband Joshua Anderson and father-in-law Ken Anderson). He doesn’t have a website but posts to social media on his Facebook page @andy.acker.3 and Instagram @r.t.zahn. Even as he continues to create, Acker is enjoying seeing the newest generation, his grandsons, develop their own talent.
“They have always sat down and done drawings with me,” he said.
