Lambert donates artwork to CCCC Library

Don Lambert, a 1970 graduate of Cloud County Community College, recently donated two pieces of artwork to the college’s art collection housed in the library.
 
One of the pieces, titled “Morgan (39.45307 N, 97.2759 W),” was painted by Brad LeDuc, who along with Lambert, presented it to CCCC Library Director Jennifer Schroeder.
 
LeDuc, a native of Clyde, currently teaches art at Auburn-Washburn USD 437 in Topeka, where he lives with his wife and two sons. In 2013, he was named the Milken Educator for the state of Kansas, was the 2013 Distinguished Kansan for Education and later was a 2014 fellowship recipient from the Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes. In 2018-19, he was named the Outstanding Secondary Art Educator of the Year for Kansas.
 
The art piece is acrylic on canvas, was part of an exhibition that began as a commentary on the experiences of physical transitions in space. The artist contemplated questions including, “What are the most traveled paths my body takes from point A to point B?” What are the most significant passages I make?” In reflecting, LeDuc was also drawn to the significance of “place,” contrasting his childhood home in Clyde with his present home in Topeka, and the impact those two places have had on who he is today. 
 
The two-hour drive between Topeka and Clyde was a well-traveled path for LeDuc. The journey from point A to point B was a near meditative experience, full of many views he had enjoyed passing by over the years including this view on Frontier Road, west of Morganville. Making the trek was a welcomed voyage of familiarity; old and new. The transition between the two places and this work before you, are symbolic in terms of the similarities and differences between who he was and who he became. The two horizontal bands of gradient color in the work represent these transitions between the past (top/muted color gradations) and present (bottom/brighter color gradations). They overlap spatially (vertically) and fade, symbolizing the connections we have with place, our past, our present and their ties to the passage of time,
 
The second gift to the library was a photograph by Philip Heying titled “Mother Eagle,” depicting an eagle protecting its nest with an eaglet visible. The photograph was taken on the Dobbins Ranch in the Flint Hills on April 3, 2023.
 
With these two most recent gifts, Lambert has now donated 53 pieces of artwork featuring Kansas artists to the library.
 
“We are very grateful to Don Lambert for his generosity,” said Schroeder. “The art collection in the library reveals a very unique and diverse collection that can be enjoyed by anyone who visits the Cloud County campus.”