The Labors of the Hand highlights the hard-working and industrious nature of Nebraskans. It depicts 4 men each performing manual labor. The man on the left works on a grinding wheel. Next to him is a farmer or rancher with his hand on a bull. The third is working as a carpenter and the final is a construction worker with bolts and nuts displayed on a table in front of him.
The three large murals were painted by Kenneth Evett and added to the Capitol in 1956. They represent Industrial Enterprises, Intellectual Works, and Humanitarian Works, and are titled “The Labors of the Hand”, “The Labors of the Head” and “The Labors of the Heart”.
About Kenneth Evett
Professor Kenneth Evett won a nationwide juried competition to paint three murals for the Lincoln, Nebraska State Capitol building. The award not only provided him with a substantial prize with which he took his family to Rome, Italy, to spend his first sabbatical year, but also brought him some unwelcome national-level publicity when a Nebraskan legislator offered mocking comments about the “modern” art in the capitol building.
