THE GROCERY: RUSHVILLE CULTURAL CENTER AND ART GALLERY 

In 2015, Mel and Lisa Ziegler purchased the old, long-shuttered grocery store on Main Street in Rushville. They graciously donated the building to the Sandhills Institute. The purpose of this gift was to establish a central location, aside from their ranch for the citizens of Rushville to experience the programmatic vision of the Sandhills Institute in a more consistent and readily available community program. It is also their belief that the cultural center would act as an economic and activity hub for Rushville’s Main Street. It is their hope, even in some small way, to engage rural America in civically integrated art by both local and world-renowned artists rooted in collaborative research and creative expression. They want this to be a joint effort and feel the Main Street location can help make that happen with the potential for broader community exposure.

True to our symbiotic community vision, architectural plans for renovating the old grocery store were generated with the help of University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor Jeff Day and his master architecture students. The design has received the coveted Progressive Architecture National Architectural Award.

Though the pandemic has slowed the process, we are rigorously fundraising so that we can complete the renovations. To contribute to this project, you can make a tax-deductible donation to the Sandhills Institute or to our GoFundMe listed here: https://gofund.me/09671252

Undergraduate UNL architecture students visited the Sandhills Ranch Headquarters to work on plans and designs to improve headquarter buildings for institute use.