Reinhold Pieper Marxhausen was an artist who had a big part in Seward’s past with his work at Concordia University and his art that still resides in Seward.
Marxhausen was born in 1922 in Vergas, Minnesota, and was a renowned artist who worked in many different types of media, including paintings, mosaics, sculptures, and found object art. He attended Dunwoody Technical School and opening his own painting and wallpaper business. Marxhausen was drafted into World War II where he served in the Philippines and New Guinea. According to the Nebraska Capitol Art Experience, during his service, Marxhausen made little trinkets from the objects he found on the islands.
After Marxhausen finished his service, he went back to school and attended many colleges, including the Ray-Vogue Community Arts School, Valparaiso University, and the Art Institute of Chicago. During this adventure, Marxhausen started selling watercolor paintings as he hitchhiked across the country to make ends meet.
While selling his watercolor paintings, the president at Concordia College in Seward stumbled upon one of Marxhausen’s creations and offered him a job teaching at the college. Marxhausen ended up accepting the job and working at the college and university for 40 years, including starting the art department and teaching.
In 1953, Marxhausen married his wife, Dorris Steinbrueck, and the couple eventually had two sons, Karl and Paul.
After working at Concordia for almost nine years, Marxhausen took a year’s sabbatical, during which he earned his master’s at Mills College in Oakland, California, where he also started to experiment with sculptures. Over time, Marxhausen created multiple pieces of art, including Stardust, a sound sculpture made out of stainless steel that made sound when shaken, and six murals for the state capitol building in Lincoln, including “The Spirit of Nebraska.”
Throughout his time at Concordia, Marxhausen also taught art appreciation to communities in or around the Seward area. Marxhausen also went on a tour with his family sponsored by Aid Association for Lutherans to teach communities around the nation about religious workshops, which he first tested at St. John Lutheran Church in Seward.
Alongside all of his art, Marxhausen created “the Flurry,” which was a slinky contraption that honeycombed paper sandwiched between two pieces of cardboard. The Flurry idea was eventually made for sale and later picked up by Wham-O toys, which ended up making a version of it.
Marxhausen eventually retired from Concordia, leaving the university in 1991 because of dementia setting in, but his impact was still felt by CUNE, as the university created the Marxhausen Gallery of Art in his honor.
Marxhausen has also left an impact on the community of Seward, as he taught the importance of art. Seward currently has multiple murals painted on walls including one painted in the Jimmy John’s drive through and another on Rivoli Theatre.
Marxhausen passed away in 2011 and his wife in 2015.
