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Coming up on this special edition of the
Best of Nebraska Stories...
Sports, art and some overspray...
Inventing a new circus tradition...
a student pursues the highest honor in 4-H
A climber's reflections on Everest...
and a tour one of America's best trails.
♪ MUSIC ♪
NARRATOR: From Ali to Lebron James, meet the man who has
become the premiere sports artist of his generation.
And he does it all from his home in Imperial.
♪ MUSIC ♪
ARMANDO VILLARREAL: What's it like to be a sports artist?
(Air brush painting)
Sometimes it's a real love for it
and sometimes it's a real hate for it.
I just kind of depends how the art work is going.
(Dabbing paint)
As long as I can remember that's what I wanted to be.
NARRATOR: From Muhammad Ali to Derek Jeter,
Armando Villarreal has been commissioned
to paint some of America's most iconic athletes.
His paintings hang in galleries and private collections
around the world...
a long way from his start in Imperial, Nebraska.
ARMANDO: The first thing I ever remember doing would have
been the Dallas Cowboys in I think first grade.
When I was in the third grade I had another
football drawing in crayons.
That one made it to the state art show
so they made a big deal about it.
There was a lot of stuff I painted
but sports art, there's just something about it.
NARRATOR: Growing up in Imperial,
Armando never had a strong art influence
until he had Mr. Haneline as an art teacher.
DIK HANELINE: He was a high school kid,
there's no doubt about it.
They come in with the fire lit and the passion
and accomplish a tremendous amount of work in his imagery
and the next time you'd see him there'd be
the possibility that "all I'm just not in the mood today"
kind of the typical artist roller coaster.
So trying to motivate him
was probably the biggest obstacle.
ARMANDO: I was not the best art student.
I'll be the first to admit that but I listened.
I didn't exactly pay attention.
I think that was probably the only "F"
I got in high school was in art class.
But Haneline was always the guy that said
reach for the stars, you can always take the moon.
There's something about you that you can do it
and granted, he probably told all of his kids that.
HANELINE: What I wanted him to do was to realize that
if he's looking to the stars, something distant
and he encounters the moon on the way,
seize the moment and then reassess from there
and move forward.
NARRATOR: Although Haneline gave Armando
the push he need to chase his dream,
Armando's father took a more realistic approach.
ARMANDO: Dad says that basically I was stubborn
he told me that art would be a good hobby
but I'd never make a living at it.
It's pretty sound fatherly advice for anybody else.
Because seriously who makes a living as an artist?
BEN VILLARREAL: You know if you want him to do something,
you tell him the opposite.
I don't want you to do this, he would do it.
ARMANDO: There's probably a little bit of truth to that.
(Laughter)
BEN VILLARREAL: So you kinda had to do that and yet,
he wasn't where he needed to be.
So I had to give him, you know, you're gonna have to either get
better at this or you're gonna have to go find a real job.
ARMANDO: Whether he was using some reverse psychology
on me or not, I'm not sure
but it was good motivation either way.
BEN VILLARREAL: And it could have gone either way.
You know, he could have said well, dad's right,
I'll never be an artist, so I will find a real job.
♪ MUSIC ♪
ARMANDO: We made a go at the wildlife art and
all that stuff for a while it was so hard to make money at it
cause there was so much wildlife art
and I was an unknown kid from Imperial, Nebraska.
NARRATOR: Armando went "All-in" and moved to Florida.
After bouncing around and picking up odd jobs for a while,
Armando found a job in California
painting custom motorcycles.
Even though he painted award winning bikes,
Armando could see the effects the recession had on the shop.
ARMANDO: I could kind of see the writing on the wall
that stuff wasn't going very well at the shop
so I just got on line and started looking for a job
on Craig's List and there was a sports artist.
I was, well that'd be perfect.
So I clicked on it and I read it and it says to e-mail Sally.
SALLY WALSH: The journey to find Armando was a really long
journey and sometimes it was really daunting journey.
I actually looked at over 600 artists' work
and at one point, I got it down to around about 200.
ARMANDO: She sent out a mass e-mail to 14 artists.
We went through 500-600 artists
and we've picked you 14 to be the finalist.
So I started going through these names
and there's guys that are like professional,
really well-known sports artist.
I didn't hear much about it for a couple of days
and then she writes me back and says, can we meet?
(Paper crumpling)
SALLY: I knew as soon as I met Mando
that this was definitely gonna be a great choice.
ARMANDO: What I want to do is take you to a place
that brings out the emotion out of the viewer.
I want you to feel like you're maybe
in the batter's box or that you're an outside linebacker.
Like you're part of the game.
I can't think of much else to paint that's harder
than sports art but that's part of why I like it
so much is the challenge.
They're washed out from all the reflections and
the light and then you're throwing portrait art
on top of that it's not like I'm painting a duck.
When you're painting a mallard duck it's just got
to have a green head and that's a mallard duck.
When you're painting David Ortiz it has to look
like David Ortiz, there's no leeway there.
SALLY: Armando Villarreal is the foremost sports artist of
his generation because there's-it's simply fact.
There just isn't somebody of his generation so young
that has accomplished that many paintings.
His paintings now hang in museums
or in very important private collections.
ARMANDO: You know, that's not really my thing to judge.
I don't see it as I am.
Like I said, I feel like I still have so much more to
learn and so much-so many things to accomplish that just,
once again, seems a little premature
to be throwing something out like that.
DIK HANELINE: Though he might just be looking at
landing on the moon now,
he still realizes he's got to go to the stars.
ARMANDO: The way I see it, my next painting's my best painting.
So as long as I have that mind set,
I'm fine with where I'm at, cause it will always get better
and when I get to the point where
that's my best painting, then I can quit.
Sheridan Swotek is hoping her innovative 4-H project
will put her on track to receive the organization's highest
recognition, the Diamond Clover Award.
♪ MUSIC ♪
SHERIDAN SWOTEK: I pledge my head to clearer thinking,
my heart to greater loyalty,
my hands to larger service,
GROUP: my health to better living
for my club, my community, my country and my world.
SHERIDAN: Alright, thank you.
And we have the Nebraska flag for the Nebraska motto.
Who would like to hold that?
♪ MUSIC ♪
SHERIDAN: Alright, we'll review it real quickly.
Its "Equality Before the Law."
Alright, can we all say that together?
GROUP: Equality before the law.
SHERIDAN: Alright. Good job.
♪ MUSIC ♪
(Sewing machine)
KAROL SWOTEK: My mother was a local 4-H-er
and then I was kind of a local and state,
now she has gone on to national.
Oh, I think she will be an intergalactic 4-H-er
before you know it.
She's very motivated and very determined and
very willing to do the hard work it takes to get things done.
♪ MUSIC ♪
SHERIDAN: In the 4-H program
there is something called the Diamond Clover Program.
You have to do something monumental in your community.
I would never thought I'd actually be doing goats.
KAROL: My daughter said
I just think it would be just so fun
and I know other counties have sheep exchanges
or other animal exchanges.
SHERIDAN: Goats are just something
that people are probably not most familiar with.
He actually was able to donate six goats from his family.
And so that is how we kind of got started.
COLE MEADOR: One of my goals, ultimately,
was to be able to have some type of project like this
where urban kids could show a goat.
All kids should be able to raise some type of animal
during their life.
You know, most kids can raise a dog or a cat,
but their nothing compared to raising a livestock species.
KID 1: Head might jump on you.
KID 2: Okay, leave it out so that when they're ready...
MEADOR: You know when you are dealing with livestock
you're dealing with all sorts of different health problems.
MEADOR: Go straight into that muscle.
And pull it straight back to make sure you're not in a vein.
And just give him the shot and rub a little bit.
MEADOR: I'm getting those animals broke to show,
bonding with that animal and then in the end,
ultimately, having to sell that animal.
So it's a totally different aspect to raising a pet.
(Feeding goats)
SHERIDAN: They come out every other night or so and
work with their goats and really get the goats to know them.
Working with our goats is basically just kind of
walking them around and practicing setting them up.
And just getting your goat to know you.
Then by the time of the fair, they're really familiar
with their goats and they're ready to show them.
MEADOR: Then if the judge stands right here,
all of you guys should be at the front of your goats.
So as that judge looks down the line
all he sees is those animals.
So he is comparing them.
Perfect.
Sheridan, why don't you go ahead and walk her again.
(Traffic noises)
♪ MUSIC ♪
SHERIDAN: There are kids who are really disconnected from
what how agriculture affects us.
I took them to my work and got 160 K through 5 kids
be able to interact with a goat.
SHERIDAN: "So what are other things you see about Ted?"
SHERIDAN: Some of them,
they've never seen a goat before in person.
And so having them come up and see a goat and feed a goat
and having them have that hands on interaction.
is really pretty cool.
4-H KID 1: So, on a Nubians, their ears are big and long,
so you can actually notice that they have ears.
Then on the LaMancha goats, they have little ear lobes,
that are about the size of that.
(Goat eating hay)
4-H KID 2: At the fair, you take their collar and
you put them up right there and hold them with two fingers
and lead them around.
4-H KID 1: So you don't choke them.
SHERIDAN: The kids usually don't expect to come
to their summer day camp and work with a goat.
We've done this a couple of times
and they are still talking about the goat that came
like three weeks ago.
♪ MUSIC ♪
(County Fair 4-H kids preparing to show goats)
KAROL: What I've seen through my children and my club
and other kids interacting with 4-H is,
they are enthusiastic when they have a chance
to learn something new.
♪ MUSIC ♪
SHERIDAN: 4-H really teaches 4-H teens to be a greater role model
in their community and with whoever they work with.
I feel 4-H has made me definitely a better person.
♪ MUSIC ♪
(Goat bleating)
♪ MUSIC ♪
A new aerial acrobatics troupe is redefining
the modern circus with dramatic airborne maneuvers
and eclectic talents that both thrill and entertain.
(cheering and screaming)
NARRATOR: Even for Halloween,
it was spectacle enough to stop traffic.
JACK: Goodnight Lincoln!
NARRATOR: Circus performers...
giddy and confident...
paraded into the Bourbon Theater.
This is FreakWorks.
(whoosh sound of blowing fire)
NARRATOR: What they are about to do is physically demanding
...even dangerous.
How's this for pressure: It's FreakWorks
nerve-wracking debut.
Never before has this group performed together in public.
(howlish laughter)
CIARA SEARIGHT: Well come over and lets wash up.
NARRATOR: Rewind a few months.
Hair stylist Ciara Searight works in a funky
salon right across the street from the theater.
CIARA: I've always been kind of a monkey. (laughs)
NARRATOR: So she started playing around with aerial
acrobatics on her own.
CIARA: It's an art form to get out there and show your soul
another way other that just the normal traditional way of dancing.
And it's death defying at some point.
(short scream)
CIARA: I just didn't know anyone else in town who
also enjoyed doing aerials. It's not something common.
SURREAL: I'm Surreal de Sade, I specialize in
aerial silks and trapeze.
NARRATOR: Surreal, her stage name, returned to
her home state for a college degree.
Living in Portland, Oregon she earned a reputation
for impressive aerial performance with a
local circus group.
SURREAL: It's like a dance. A dance in the air.
We are taking the music and letting that
express itself through our bodies.
NARRATOR: Over a few weeks a small group of
aerialists came together.
Just for fun performances at parks and music
festivals but now...
CIARA: I was hoping to find more people in Lincoln that
would want to get together and ah maybe create a circus.
NARRATOR: It turns out Nebraska harbored more
unusually talented freaks than anyone realized.
CIARA: So this is the first time we've had fire.
NARRATOR: There was Jack, the fire-breathing acrobat.
( WOOSH!)
Fire FIRE!
(laughter)
Awesome!
NARRATOR: Not all acts risk life and limb.
Someone recruited hula-hooper Sara at a
music festival.
Turns out she had circus dreams.
SARA: I've always been kind of a weird person,
so yeah I've always entertained that idea.
A lot of freedom in it.
NARRATOR: When a juggling unicyclist seemed to show
up out of nowhere, it seemed like a routine day
at Ciara's backyard carnival.
KELSEY FAWL: They told me that oh we are a circus and they
invited me to be part of it and I was like yes,
I would love to, that sounds great!
♪ Music ♪
NARRATOR: There's a sense here that something shared
brought this group together: singular
personalities with unique talents others didn't
always appreciate.
KELSEY: It's amazing to see how some people, when they first started
how shy they were, just how much they put in since then.
It's really fascinating.
♪ Music ♪
CIARA: In this kind of business you kind of have
to trust the people around you because you are
trusting them with your life at times.
Like you've got my back right?
(laughter)
NARRATOR: By late summer the downtown theater and
bar agreed to turn over the venue for a Halloween
show based on Ciara's enthusiastic belief.
KELSEY: So it was kind of like, let's do this.
NARRATOR: In just a matter of weeks the cast had
written and choreographed 20 separate performances.
SURREAL: I don't think that it has to be the
traditional Barnum & Bailey show.
I think circus can be whatever you want it to be.
PERFORMER: I think that's good.
NARRATOR: Acts combined playfulness and beauty
with an under-current of danger.
SURREAL: Well, I always try to tell a story.
I tend to try to be shocking. Somewhat unforgettable.
NARRATOR: A long, tense, and ragged dress rehearsal
turned out to be the one and only opportunity to
practice on the Bourbon Theater stage.
PERFORMER: You guys will start after they start.
SARA: The dress rehearsals are always kind of frantic.
So we had to figure out the logistics of where we
were going to set everything up and where we
were going to be with our dances and everything.
It is scary.
NARRATOR: It was time for the outsiders to go public.
CIARA: I feel like this is the first of many days
like this.
KELSEY: You don't know what's going to happen.
You know that's the life of performing.
(short drum fanfare)
NARRATOR: For the hour that followed, freaks ruled.
♪ MUSIC ♪
SARA: That really gave me a lot of confidence after
that show. I just gave me a lot confidence in myself and
my performing career.
KELSEY: I thought at one point I had to give up on circus dream
and I realized that I don't have to let go and I realized I can find freak work.
(Laugh)
(cheering)
A Lincoln man was close enough to see and hear
the avalanche that killed 16 Sherpas on Mount Everest.
Robert Kay discusses the deadly accident
and the future of climbing at Everest.
♪ MUSIC ♪
Robert Kay: It's been something I've been dreaming of for 35 years.
♪ MUSIC ♪
Robert: And I heard a noise, a roaring,
jet engine sort of a noise.
I knew what it was.
It was an avalanche.
You hear them every 15 minutes in Base Camp.
Watching 13 dead bodies be long-lined on the
helicopter down to camp.
That was really troubling.
A lot of people were at the heli-pad
as the helicopters would come in.
There was a Sherpa standing there looking to
see who the bodies were cause they're all friends.
So that was kind of a very difficult day.
By the end of that same first day though,
a group of Sherpas had kind of rallied
and almost became like a mob going through the camp.
Yeah, it quickly became a management versus labor
we're going on strike, we've got these grievances
and we're not gonna be put aside any longer.
But you got to keep in mind that it was a vocal
minority of the Sherpas who were doing that.
Most Sherpas don't have any resentment towards westerners.
I have never met a bad Sherpa.
I've never met a westerner who didn't have
the highest respect for the Sherpas.
The Sherpas do all the hard work.
They maintain a fantastic attitude while they're
doing things that we couldn't even imagine doing.
♪ MUSIC ♪
I've been to Nepal 12 times.
I've spent over a year in the country.
I have two Nepalese daughters.
I've got dozens and dozens of friends throughout Nepal.
My desire to climb hasn't changed.
My love for the mountain, for the people, for the country,
none of that's changed.
NARRATOR: The unusual formations of Toadstool Geologic Park
make it seem more like a Star Wars movie set than a natural wonder.
But our little gem of the west is now considered one
of the best hiking spots in America.
♪ MUSIC ♪
ANDREW PETERSON: One of the big appeals of this place
is how quiet it can be and the solitude
you can find here.
♪ MUSIC ♪
RICHARD DePOPPE: Amazed at the time frame
what it takes to build up the formations
and then the slow erosion that uncovers what was done.
♪ MUSIC ♪
KATHLEEN HANSEN: Toadstool is always changing.
It is always evolving.
KATHLEEN: They are layers of sandstone and between
those layers of sandstone there are layers of clay.
Clay is pretty soft so we get these actual
toadstool formations because that clay gets eroded away
beneath that sandstone so you get this huge piece of
rock standing on top of this little pillar and it
looks a little bit like a toadstool.
RICHARD: We saw a picture that have been taken up
here in the hillside and it looked so unusual,
we said, we just have to see it.
RICHARD: Are you ready to see some more?
JULIE: Yeah.
RICHARD: Okay.
RICHARD: So we altered our plans
so we could take this in.
RICHARD: There's our next post.
♪ MUSIC ♪
KATHLEEN: It is a place where you can actually
walk back through time and get a chance to
visualize what life was like
before we were even here.
♪ MUSIC ♪
NATE VAN METER: It's pretty cool,
you can get to see tracks from critters that were running
around here 30 million years ago.
EMILY VAN METER: We've been hiking a lot.
Getting into the rock and seeing what we can find.
It's just fun for us.
LYDIA VAN METER: I kind of use my hands to climb the
rock and steep, my dad helped me climb the steep parts.
JULIE VAN METER: You come out to a place like this
and you can't imagine why anybody wouldn't love this,
it's just so spectacular.
♪ MUSIC ♪
KATHLEEN: It is a hidden treasure.
Toadstool's one of the gems not many people know about.
♪ MUSIC ♪
ANDREW: It's off the beaten path.
ANDREW: It's lots bigger than I thought it would be.
There's a lot more formations.
ANDREW: It's nice to just not think about anything
and just enjoy what you're doing and walking around
taking pictures and not really worry about anything else.
That's kind of why I like coming to places like this.
♪ MUSIC ♪
(Birds chirping wind rustling)
♪ MUSIC ♪
Watch our stories on-line at netNebraska.org/nebraskastories
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Join the Nebraska Stories conversation.
"Nebraska Stories" is funded by
The Margaret and Martha Thomas Foundation
and the Nebraska Office of Highway Safety.
Sustained funding for arts coverage on "Nebraska Stories"
is provided by the H. Lee and Carol Gendler Charitable Fund
and the Nebraska Arts Council
and Nebraska Cultural Endowment.
Captioning by Finke/NET Copyright 2015
♪ MUSIC ♪