Robert Henri Museum unveils new art gallery in Cozad

COZAD, Neb. A brand new addition built in a small Nebraska town is expanding and honoring the legacy of a renowned American artist whose family also founded the community.

The brand new $3.5 million Robert Henry art gallery is now open to the general public in Cozad.

It will more than double the amount of available artwork on display.

The new expansion along with the affiliated museum now has the largest Robert Henry collection and officials say that this new expansion was much needed

"We just keep getting more and more Henry paint Robert Henry paintings so we now will have more than 30 or 35 on display here and in our old gallery we were full we just couldn't take any more and we're getting them more and more so we've borrowed a bunch of paintings for this show and I'm sure we're going to get more donated," said Robert Henri Museum and Art Gallery Executive Director Peter Osborne. 

The renowned American artist Robert Henry, born Robert Henry Cozad, spent most of his childhood in Nebraska until his father John Cozad had a dispute with a local rancher whom he later shot and killed.

The family then changed their identity and moved back east. Robert's boyhood home is part of a museum that bridges both history and fine art.

Visitors at the new art gallery can expect a unique exhibition layout organized not by theme but by geography.

"We're doing something that most art galleries do not do and that is we're telling the history of his life and why he went to various places and also look at his art as well so it's not usually done that way but we're our exhibits here were built to cater to our visitors who are coming off the interstate many times have no idea who Robert Henry is or if they do they wonder 'why is here of all places in a town of 4,000 people' so that's an interesting part of the story," added Osborne.

The museum has been making steady progress for almost four decades as it first preserved Henry's boyhood home in the 1980s then constructed the original gallery in 2014.

The new 5,000 square foot gallery is complete with modern climate control and security systems in addition to a new gift shop, outdoor patio and space for education and events.

The new building becomes the museum's new main gallery while the old space transitions into a library and local Cozad. archive.

"There's lots of reasons to come I mean you could easily spend two hours here in our new gallery and at least an hour over in our museum and over in the other gallery as well so you could easily spend the day here and do all kinds of neat things," said Osborne.

Funding for the facility is coming from grants, donations and a two million dollar gift from longtime museum patrons Larry and Tammy Paulsen.

Officials say that staff will be putting the finishing touches on the new gallery in the coming weeks and will have even more artwork to display in the near future.