An Encounter with Presence: Emery Blagdon

Starting in the 1960s in rural Nebraska, Emery Blagdon (1907–1986) built an increasingly dense environment filled with sculptures made of baling wire and aluminum foil, brightly colored paintings, hand-painted lightbulbs, salts, and other organic matter. Impacted by personal tragedy, Blagdon worked for nearly thirty years on this constantly changing installation called The Healing Machine. His intent was to channel the earth’s energies to alleviate pain and illness.

The Healing Machine could not be preserved in situ and is now in the Arts Center’s collection.

Harry Bertoia (1915–1978), a prominent Modernist designer, made hundreds of sounding sculptures from the early 1960s until his death in 1978. These works are known collectively as Sonambients. He installed several sculptures in a stone barn on his property for performances that have been described as spiritual, enlightening, and transformative.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.