Brownville Fine Arts Association will present the works of Loren Entz (1949-2022) August 1-25, 2024, at the Schoolhouse Art Gallery, 427 Main Street, Brownville, Nebraska. The Schoolhouse Art Gallery is open Thursday through Sunday, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. A reception will be held at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, August 2. The show and reception are free and open to the public.
Loren Entz, who enjoyed life in Brownville in his later years, was known for his painting, drawing, and sculpture, often depicting a softer side of rural life. Through many mediums, he captured emotions that thread together many subjects, embodying the past and present American West. His bounteous body of work encompasses the great love he had for nature, wildlife, cowboys and Native Americans, and simple, rural farm life.
He was honored to be a member of the Cowboy Artists of America, an organization which strives to perpetuate the memory of the Old West. Loren was a staple at the Prix de West Invitational Art Exhibition for almost 30 years, was honored guest artist at the C.M. Russell Museum, and was represented in many premier publications and other venues including the prestigious Masters of the American West Exhibition. Throughout his life as an artist, he realized the great privilege of exhibiting his work among some of the greatest contemporary western artists of our time. This he counted a great honor and paid forward the inspiration and instruction he received through teaching others. His work garnered numerous awards, including the coveted Robert Lougheed Memorial Award as selected by his Prix de West peers, the Academy of Western Artists Will Rogers Artist of the Year Award, the Ray Swanson Memorial Award, and many other awards through his affiliation with the Cowboy Artists of America.
His work resides in the permanent collections of the Montana State Historical Society, the Booth Western Art Museum, The Eddie Basha Collection, Buffalo Bill Center of the West, the Billings Public Library, and a multitude of private collections.
If you knew Loren, he wouldn’t have talked about any of this. Instead, he would have been noting the calls of the birds or the light on trees. He would be dreaming and scheming to bring an idea or invention to reality, passing on a funny joke, or having a heartfelt discussion on his great faith. He was a soft, gentle soul, and his care for the people around him was palpable. In epilogue to his life’s work, he carried the humility of a single brushstroke within a large painting. Keenly aware of his slight place within the overall composition, he was awed by the grand picture.
Though a small representation of Loren’s vast body of work across various mediums, subjects, and time periods, these works include a few that Loren kept with him and could possibly be considered “favorites.” Regardless of theme between individual works, it can be concluded that each piece is a reflection of the light Loren saw, and the compositions he carefully picked out and planned out through a storyboard of brushstrokes, sketch marks, and clay.