Alumna Kay Kretschmar Runge (left), with an assist from director of programming Craig Wiebke, Iowa State Center (right), unveils a long-lost painting by renowned American artist Milton Wolsky Tuesday evening at C.Y. Stephens Auditorium. Looking on is Tammy Koolbeck, executive director of the Iowa State Center. Kretschmar Runge supported the painting's restoration and framing. Photo by Christopher Gannon.
For decades, Stars Over VEISHEA (SOV) stage productions were a beloved hallmark of Iowa State's annual student-run celebration -- on par with the parade and cherry pies that marked the spring tradition. Among the many productions to grace the stage, the 1970 performance of "Oliver!" now holds a special place in university history, thanks to a long-lost painting by American artist Milton Wolsky (1916-81).
Milton Wolsky's 1970 painting inside C.Y. Stephens Auditorium. Larger image.
The restored "Oliver!" painting was unveiled May 6 in the main floor lobby of C.Y. Stephens Auditorium, where it now hangs. Alumna Kay Kretschmar Runge, who served on the Stars Over VEISHEA central committees in 1968 and 1969, generously supported the painting's restoration and framing through gifts to Stephens Auditorium.
In 1970, Omaha native Wolsky created a painting that captured a scene from the "Oliver!" production at Stephens, just a year after the facility opened. Wolsky had spent much of his career as a prominent illustrator during the "Golden Age" of American magazine art in the 1940s and 1950s. His work appeared in publications such as Time, Esquire and Collier's. By the late 1960s, he had returned to Omaha and was working with advertising powerhouse Bozell & Jacobs.
One of Bozell's clients, InterNorth (formerly Northern Natural Gas Co.), commissioned Wolsky to paint a series of 37 high-profile buildings across Nebraska and Iowa. These pieces, frequently gifted to the featured institutions, captured architectural landmarks with Wolsky's distinctive eye for line and color. The Stephens Auditorium interior joined this collection, immortalizing a scene from "Oliver!" under Wolsky's brush in black ink and watercolor. The painting, however, seemed to vanish -- until a surprising discovery decades later.
Stephens auditorium staff stumbled upon the artwork in backstage storage in November 2020. Some longtime employees recalled the painting hung in a former staff member's office until her departure in the late 1990s. But at that point, it had slipped quietly into obscurity.
When it resurfaced, the 22-by-22-inch painting had endured decades without protection, yet was in relatively good shape. In January 2021, then-collections conservator Sonya Barron, university library, assessed the painting and proposed a conservation treatment that took about three months for her to complete.
While Barron was working on conserving the painting, staff from the library, University Museums and Stephens Auditorium worked together to identify the artist and trace the photo's provenance. As she worked, Barron discovered an inscription on the back of the board that provided the first clue about the artist.
Additional library sleuthing led to Patrick Drickey, owner of Gallery 1516 in Omaha. Drickey provided valuable insight into Wolsky's career, his work for InterNorth and the provenance of the painting, confirming that completed works in the series typically were gifted to the institutions they depicted.
Now, more than 50 years after its creation, the painting stands not only as a tribute to Milton Wolsky's talent but also as a vibrant snapshot of Iowa State's cultural history.
More information about the discovery and conservation of the painting, including timelapse videos, is on the library's website.
