Elizabeth Dolan’s art work decorates University of Nebraska State Museum

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) - Visitors to Morrill Hall can find the work of a Nebraska artist who painted murals throughout the museum in the 1920s.

Elizabeth Dolan was the daughter of Irish immigrants. She was born in Iowa and came to Nebraska as an infant, said Caroline Clements with the University of Nebraska State Museum.

Dolan studied in Chicago, New York and France and became a recognized fresco artist. Fresco is watercolor on plaster.

After graduating from France, Dolan returned to Nebraska to take care of a family member. E.H. Barbour, the director of the museum, hired her to paint murals to celebrate and highlight the fossils at Morrill Hall after it was constructed.

Dolan was paid $100 a week to paint all of the murals on the first and second floors of the museum.

Dolan traveled with Barbour, researching the fossils and plants to make sure things were scientifically accurate, Clements said.

The murals show renditions of ancient landscapes and modern landscapes behind the mammoths, blending the past and present together.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Dolan was becoming a nationally recognized fresco artist. She painted a mural at a school in France after she graduated before returning to Nebraska.

There is now a resurgence of interest in Nebraska art, and Dolan is celebrated locally, Clements said.

Dolan signed her name on all of her murals. Visitors can look for the watercolor fresco style and search for “Dolan” on each mural as a scavenger hunt.

Dolan was one of the first female artists to have a piece in the Nebraska State Capitol. She also created pieces for Masonic Lodges and local libraries.

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