As Ally Goad guided a visitor through the Robert Henri Museum and Art Gallery, she pointed out one of her favorite paintings, “In Amsterdam,” a moody urban landscape illuminated by a dramatic sliver of light breaking through dark clouds.
“The composition of this particular painting is almost perfect. It draws your eyes from the corner across the entire painting, and the dome echoes the minty color of the light above. Even though he painted the people below with just a single dab of a brush, your brain fills in the gaps. I think it’s stunning,” said Goad, a sophomore from Gothenburg, Nebraska.
With her lifelong love of painting, academic studies in studio art and art history, and skills honed as a speech competitor, Goad was a natural fit as a summer intern at the award-winning museum and gallery in Cozad, Nebraska.
“About three years ago, I started thinking about working in the museum business, creating and curating galleries. Then, two days before I was about to leave college for the summer, an email about this internship popped up in my inbox. I thought it was the perfect opportunity,” Goad said.
Initially, Museum Executive Director Peter Osborne thought the 19-year-old might be too young for the program (previous interns were more experienced, including one from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland). Still, Osborne was impressed by Goad’s “fantastic” application essay and selected her for the position.
“After she had been here for about 10 days, we threw her to the lions and had her give tours. I can’t tell you how many visitors over the summer have told us what a great tour guide she is. She’s very poised and knowledgeable,” Osborne said. “Ally also brought her skills as an artist and a student of art history to the position.”
This story originally appeared in the 2024 HC Today.
Sharing a colorful life
Goad guided hundreds of visitors through the Robert Henri Museum, a two-story, gray building that was a hotel for travelers and Henri’s childhood home from 1879 to 1883. Henri’s father, John Cozad, a well-to-do gambler who founded the prairie town on the 100th meridian, fled Cozad after fatally shooting a local rancher during a land dispute. His family left soon after, all assuming new identities.
“Robert Henry Cozad became Robert Earl Henri. He kept that name for the rest of his life, even though his father was eventually exonerated,” Goad said.
Henri attended art school in Philadelphia and became a distinguished painter and art instructor in New York City, teaching students like Edward Hopper and George Bellows, who went on to illustrious careers.
A realist and leader of the Ashcan School of Art, Henri completed more than four thousand oil paintings. He is best known for portraits of ordinary people from different social classes and ethnicities, like the paintings “Dancing Gypsy Girl” and “Dutch Girl with Sailor Hat” that hang in the Cozad gallery.
“In my own art, I enjoy painting and drawing people. That’s probably why Robert Henri quickly became one of my favorite artists; he worked primarily in portraiture,” Goad said.
In addition to museum and gallery tours, Goad worked in the archives and wrote descriptions for an exhibit focused on the geography of where Henri painted, including places like France, Holland and New York. The exhibit will be housed in a new $3.5 million gallery scheduled to open in December.
“I trust her knowledge and her ability to do research,” Osborne said. “These descriptions need to be right because this will become the national center for Robert Henri’s legacy. We have more of his paintings on display than anywhere in the world. We’ll add another 10 or 15 in the new gallery.”
Learning to lead a nonprofit museum
When she wasn’t busy greeting visitors attracted by the Robert Henri Museum signs on Interstate 80, Goad participated in sessions with Osborne designed to immerse her in the world of museum management. Topics included nonprofit legal structure, exhibit creation, strategic planning, budgeting and bookkeeping, fundraising and collection management. She also attended a board meeting and met with nonprofit directors in the community.
Given Goad’s aptitude and passion for the profession, Osborne has invited her back as an intern next summer. Through her eyes as an artist, he wants her to analyze and create descriptions of all the paintings in the gallery. Goad is eager to start that process and explore other ideas she’s generated.
“I’d like to create a timeline of Robert Henri’s life and career,” she said.
“Next summer. You’re on it,” Osborne said.
