A bronze sculpture of a young girl drawing in a sketchbook will soon grace Sunken Gardens — a tribute to the late Beatrice "Mike" Seacrest, an avid supporter of both the arts and city parks.
A few years ago, members of the Seacrest family reached out to the city saying they’d like to commission a sculpture in honor of their mother, who was involved in many civic activities during her lifetime, including being president of the Nebraska Art Association and a member of the Lincoln Parks and Recreation advisory board.
Seacrest also played an active role in the construction of Sheldon Museum of Art on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus and development of public art in the city.
Family members reached out to the Parks and Recreation Department about creating a memorial to Seacrest in Sunken Gardens a couple of years ago.
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Director Lynn Johnson said the department didn’t hear much until March, when the family called to say it had commissioned San Diego artist Mary Buckman to create the sculpture.
Buckman is now finishing the work, which is about 30 inches high by 48 inches wide, and it will be shipped to Lincoln and installed in the northern part of the gardens May 28, said Bobby Bartja, a city park planner.
It will be placed on a stone pedestal — the same limestone used in other places in the park.
Public Art Lincoln, an advisory group to city officials, approved the design and placement, Bartja said.
Down to the wire
The small but very determined group trying to save the Pershing Center mural just got another short reprieve — it now has until June 1 to raise the rest of the $1 million needed to safely get the 763,000 tiles off the building before it's demolished.
The new goal: 12 days, not two, to raise about $350,000.
The group has been furiously fundraising since March to reach the total amount — $3 million — to remove, restore and relocate what was the largest mural of its kind when it was created 65 years ago.
Along the way, the group realized if it got the first $1 million, that would be enough to get the tiles safely off the building, and the group could raise the rest of the money after that.
Then it got an extension to May 20.
Then fundraising guru and arts advocate Liz Shea-McCoy again appealed to the city with her latest pitch: If the group could have until June 1, it could take advantage of Give To Lincoln Day on May 26 to solicit more donations.
Hallie Salem, redevelopment manager for the city’s Urban Development Department, said she spoke with other city officials who decided it was a good idea.
“We think that strategy of using Give To Lincoln Day ... could generate some interest,” Salem said.
Getting the mural down is time-sensitive because the city is working with Omaha-based developer White Lotus on a $25 million-$30 million redevelopment project of the Pershing block.
The redevelopment project has cleared the first step with the City Council, but the federal financing — using affordable housing tax credits — is a complicated process and the city has agreed to give the developer up to three years to purchase the site because of the uncertainty around funding.
But city officials say the demolition of Pershing, which is full of asbestos and has fallen into disrepair, must happen — and will be one of the “next steps” discussed with White Lotus officials.
All that is to say, time is a little less short than it was, but not much.
“If people care about that mural, make that investment now,” Salem said. “Don’t wait for the demolition crew to be out front.”
Tax-deductible donations may be made online at or by mailing to the Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation, 128 N. 13th St., Suite 1010, Lincoln, NE 68508, noting Pershing Mural Preservation Project on the check.
Learning to be better leader
One of the City Council seats will be empty for the three July meetings and Council member Tom Beckius wants his constituents to know why: He’ll be at a three-week program designed to help him become a better councilman.
Beckius, elected to the council last year, was selected to participate in the Harvard Kennedy School’s state and local government executive series, a program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The program is designed to train public officials to better address concerns of their constituents and community.
He also was chosen as a David Bohnett Foundation Leaders Fellow, a program designed to develop the next generation of municipal leaders.
Good marks for Lincoln parks
Lincoln’s parks ranked 24th on a national score index that rated park systems in the 100 largest U.S. cities.
Created by Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit that works with communities to create parks and protect public land, the ranking is widely considered the gold standard for evaluating parks.
Lincoln received the strongest marks for park access because 91% of residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park, far exceeding the national average of 75%.
Lincoln also received above-average marks for park amenities, including basketball hoops and restrooms.
Washington, D.C., was rated the best big-city park system in the country for the second consecutive year.
The index is based on five factors: park equity, which compares access of communities of color to white communities and low-income neighborhoods to high-income neighborhoods; park access; park acreage; park investment; and park amenities.