Nebraska Stories
Willa Comes Alive and More
S13 • E10 Apr 28, 2022
Willa Comes Alive - In 2019, Omaha sculptor Littleton Alston won the commission to create a bronze of writer Willa Cather for National Statuary Hall at the United States Capitol. During a single day at a Colorado foundry, we witness the 7-foot metal sculpture come alive through the patina process with flashbacks to its evolution over the past three years. Benny Hochman, Holocaust Survivor - When German troops crossed into Poland in September 1939, Benny Hochman was a young teen living in Lodz with his parents and two siblings. Within a short time of the invasion, Benny and his older brother, a Polish officer, were imprisoned at Auschwitz. There Benny lost his brother, younger sister, and parents - all murdered by the Nazis. Young, weak, and angry, Benny was determined to survive. Time and the River - The four seasons of the Platte River Basin explored in a beautiful montage of timelapse photography. Produced by the Platte River Basin team and edited to newly commissioned chamber music by Kurt Knecht, a composer from Kansas City, Missouri. Stansbury Stone Faces - In 1899, an elderly William Stansbury built a brick building in the small town of Nelson and adorned it with 12 life-sized, peculiar looking faces carved by a local stonemason. Some are notable, but most are locals.
