Opinion

Artrain USA offers rare oppourtunity

Tuesday, March 19, 2002

Parents will probably begin hearing first-hand about a remarkable art experience their school-age children have enjoyed.

That should serve as a motive to make plans now to visit Artrain USA -- Artistry of Space, while it is still parked in the BNSF yards in McCook.

More than 900 students are booked to tour the mobile exhibit of original space-related art, a mobile art museum sponsored by NASA, the Smithsonian's National Air & Space Museum, DaimlerChrysler, BNSF and other railroads.

The number of visitors will surely multiply several times when the exhibit opens to the public, Saturday from noon to 7 p.m., and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The exhibit is also handicap-accessible.

For those of us with an aerospace interest, Artrain USA is the next best thing to visiting sites like the National Air & Space Museum, Cape Canaveral or the Kennedy Space Center in Houston.

The Artistry of Space consists of 78 paintings, drawings, prints, music and fiber art from the NASA and Smithsonian collections.

We are fortunate that NASA's Art Program, established during the heady space-race days of 1962, has continued through current endeavors such as the Mars Pathfinder and Hubble Space Telescope missions.

Since 1962, NASA has invited more than 250 American artists to be involved in the U.S. space programs and to interpret space flight through their art.

The original works of talents like Paul Calle, Lamar Dodd, Wilson Hurley, Peter Max, Robert McCall, Robert Rauschenberg, Norman Rockwell, Andy Warhol and James Wyeth will give us insight into the exploration of space that only an artist can.

Take some time this weekend to tour the Artistry of Space. It may just be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

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