A lasting legacy and the power of art

“A true artist is not one who is inspired, but one who inspires others.” – Salvador Dalí

Lynne Faulkner loved art. According to her brother Steve, she was creating sketches in her room from the time she was in grammar school, armed with supplies provided by her artist uncle. The lone girl in her household, art was more than just a respite from her six brothers — art was her passion.

“She loved art,” Steve explained. “She believed in the power of art.”

Lynne Faulkner

A career in art education

That love of art carried her through middle and high school, then she took a pause to start a family. Life happened, and she became a single mother who worked several jobs to support her family. She added art classes at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln to her already hectic schedule, earning her degree. She soon began teaching at Lincoln Public Schools, first at Clinton Elementary and then at Cavett.

“Lynne started off as an art teacher, then became a specialist — which, as far as I can gather, meant she interacted with pretty much every elementary student once a week,” Steve said. “There were times I’d visit her classroom and art facilities and realize that during any given week, she was interacting with and teaching art to up to 600 kids per week.”

In her 29 years at LPS, Lynne Faulkner touched so many lives through art education. What her family didn’t know was that during that time, she was also amassing a vast collection of her own work. Steve said she was so involved with teaching and organizing art education programs throughout the city that her family had no idea how much art she was personally creating during her downtime at home.

A vast collection of quality art

Lynne retired from teaching in 2017, and passed away suddenly in October 2023 in Madison, Wisconsin, while visiting her son’s family and lending her loving care to her grandbabies. The sudden and unexpected loss left a void throughout their entire family, but as they began going through her things, they discovered a trove of thousands of art pieces she had created over the course of several decades.

“All of this art surfaced as we went through her things,” said Steve, explaining that they kept finding more and more beautiful abstract art pieces as they settled her estate. “There’s so much fine art there that’s worthy of ownership, of being sold to others so they can experience that feeling that good art gives you.”

Steve began discussing the art with Lynne’s best friend, Joan Mendoza-Gorham. As they discussed the wealth of art pieces, they began to formulate an idea for what to do with it. With the blessing of Lynne’s son, and after distributing art pieces within the family that spoke to them, the decision was made to begin selling the remaining art pieces — with proceeds to begin a memorial fund supporting various financial needs within art education at LPS. 

Linking up with UBT

Joan was discussing the project one day with her son-in-law, UBT’s CEO Jason Muhleisen, who put her in contact with the organizers of a series of makers markets at Union Bank Place in downtown Lincoln. “After meeting with the organizers of the markets, we realized that this is a great way for her art to be seen and sold to support the memorial fund, and possibly work toward displaying other local art, perhaps student art too,” explained Steve.

The project will kick off officially on Thursday, November 21, at a makers market for Downtown Lincoln Association’s Shop the Blocks event. Steve and Joan hope to be able to showcase Lynne’s art to a good audience that first evening and throughout the series of four markets that stretch into April 2025.

At their booth, Steve said they’ll have 10 to 15 pieces of framed art that Lynne had created leading up to the early 2000s. They’ll also have prints of pieces she had in sketch books and some postcard-sized prints available for purchase. “Her art tends to be a little abstract, in that way where you can look into the art and see things that you might not recognize initially,” Steve said.

Honoring Lynne’s legacy

For Steve and Joan, as well as Lynne’s son, this is a proper way to honor and memorialize a kind soul who left them all too soon. “This project and her art are how she’s still present with us,” mentioned Steve. “I think about this a lot: We exist for such a short time on this earth. What is it that lives on when we’re gone?”

For Lynne Faulkner, it’s a legacy of kindness and a passion for creating and teaching art. That love for art now has the potential to reach a new generation through her memorial fund and the students who reap the rewards of art education. 

The first of the makers markets where Steve and Joan will be displaying Lynne’s art for purchase by the general public will be Thursday, November 21, at Union Bank Place from 4–9 p.m. as part of Downtown Lincoln Association’s Shop the Blocks event. Click here to learn more about our series of four makers markets that run from November through April 2025.