|
· Cover
· News
· Music
· Lazy I
· Film
· Theater
· Art
· Sports
· Lifestyle
· Dish
· Books
· Culture
· 8 Days
· Heartland Healing
· Hoodoo Blues
· MoJoPo
· News of the Weird
· Television
· Letters
|
|
|
Home - Art
|
Stitch in Time - |
World-class quilt collection and museum a must-see
by Leo Adam Biga
The next time you look at that quilt hanging on your wall or covering your bed, try reading it. Every quilt, you see, tells a story.
Nebraska’s newest world-class arts venue, the International Quilt Study Center & Museum, opened three weekends ago in Lincoln to 1,500 visitors, including many enthusiasts from the state’s tight-knit quilting community.
Special guests included Robert and Ardis James, native Nebraskans who envisioned the center years ago. The New York-based couple built a fabulous collection of quilts beginning in the 1970s. Their 1996 donation of 950 quilts to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, whose College of Education and Human Sciences is the center’s academic home, led to the center’s creation in 1997. In its first decade the center operated from cramped, found-inadequate quarters in the Home Economics building on UNL’s east campus. The museum is allied with the college’s Department of Textiles, Clothing and Design. |
|
|
|
Jackson Action - |
Group show a first, post-flood, in original venue space
by Sarah Baker
Jackson Artworks has recovered from devastating flood damage it suffered last May and opened a new show this month, Journeys 4 Revisited.
The post-flood gallery is larger but has maintained the same welcoming feel and is filled with work from many of the same artists that graced the original.
The gallery opened 1992 as a studio for a group of local artists. They eventually needed a space to show, and so created Jackson Artworks. The space will continue to exhibit local artists and national, traveling shows.
On May 5, 2007, severe thunderstorms hit the Omaha area. The next morning, Jackson Street owners Jim and Kat Moser found more than five inches of water on the gallery’s floor. Artwork was damaged, as was the space, which had a 20-by-22 foot hole in the roof. The office was destroyed and two showrooms demolished.
The Mosers and Gallery Director Marcia Manzo figured out what had to go and what could be saved. All the pieces for the original Journeys 4 show, now part of the new opening, survived. |
|
|
|
Sketchbook - |
*Joe Broghammer opens a show this weekend at Vera Mercer’s A Moving Gallery. It will be in the Garden of the Zodiac space, on the ground level of the passageway at 1034 Howard St. A celebration is slated for Thursday, May 8, at 7 p.m. For more information, visit amovinggallery.com.
*KANEKO, 1111 Jones St., presents one of its first events Friday, May 9 at 7 p.m. National Geographic World Explorer Wade Davis will discuss his award-winning book and five-year study of the world’s vanishing cultures during “Life at the Edge of the World: A Celebration of Culture.” Tickets are $25, $15 for students and seniors. Visit thekaneko.org. |
|
|
|
72, 86’d - |
Bob and Roberta Rogers’ gallery displayed art and heart since ’74
by Sarah Baker
As one of the city’s oldest gallery spaces prepares to close its doors this summer, the artists who showed there are reminiscing.
Bob and the late Roberta Rogers, the owners of Gallery 72, weren’t thinking about money when they opened the gallery on Leavenworth street more than three decades ago.
“My parents did not open this place to become rich, or famous, or to make a huge fortune,” said their son, John. “They opened it for the love of art. That was their driving, compelling reason.”
John plans to close the gallery. His father is ailing and can no longer maintain the building, but a few more openings are ahead for Gallery 72. |
|
|
|
Sketchbook - |
|
If you haven’t been to the Loves Jazz Art Center, 2510 N. 24th St., now’s your chance. Saturday, May 3, is Harlem Night at the center. The fundraiser will feature a few words from Preston Love Jr., soul food from Big Mama’s Kitchen, live music from The Last Few Jazz Ensemble and a cash bar courtesy of Trovato’s. Proceeds from bar tabs and ticket sales go to the center. While you’re there, check out the current exhibit: photographs of some of Omaha’s best jazz musicians and venues throughout the city’s history. For more information, visit lovesjazzartcenter.org. |
|
|
|
Gut Level - |
Glass artist Therman Statom brings more than meets the eye
by Sarah Baker
It’s hard to say which is better: Therman Statom’s exhibit at the Bemis Center or the artist himself. My conclusion: Both are great.
Statom’s site-specific glass installation Nascita, or “origin,” is an ambitious work — as one friend put it, “that’s a lot of glass” — but it’s also unusually inviting. It suits Statom, who gave a wonderfully engaging talk a day after the opening.
The show includes many large-scale pieces, most of which Statom promises will change during the course of the show, and a few “finished” self-contained works that compliment the installation pieces.
Four elements dominate the show: a 50-foot glass frieze, a freestanding glass room, a 30-foot mirror-scaled snake and multiple-mirrored architectural features. His primary materials include glass, silicon, mirror and paint. The result is a bold presentation saturated with strategically placed color and sparkling with reflection of the bright pieces and the onlooker’s own face and body. He relies on repeating symbols including maps, vessels, foliage and snakes. Some objects were prefabricated and some made on-site, but they come together seamlessly. |
|
|
|
Sketchbook - |
If you want to own a piece of public art, now’s your chance. Fifteen of Omaha’s O! sculptures are for sale in an online auction. Visit alegent.com/oauction to place your bid by May 4 at 5 p.m. The remaining six O!s will be auctioned in a live event May 1. The Omaha Chamber of Commerce purchased the “Traveling O!” and it will continue to travel around the city. Proceeds will support the Behavioral Health Support Foundation, which benefits adults who are uninsured or underinsured and in need of mental health care. A portion will also go to the artists. Starting bids on the online auction are between $2,000 and $4,000. The live auction O!s — created by Colin Smith, Debbie Masuoka, Jamie Burmeister, Littleton Alston, Mary Zicafoose and Therman Statom — range from $3,000 to $8,000.
|
|
|
|
Roper’s Room - |
Gallery’s inaugural exhibit includes a ‘face-off’ between two walls
by Sarah Baker
Craig Roper is an artist and an art collector, so opening a gallery is clearly in his blood. Roper’s space, ProjectRoom, opened Director’s Cut last weekend to a crowd of hundreds. It is located on the second floor of the Parrish Building near the corner of 14th and O in downtown Lincoln.
A day before the space opened, Roper said he’d hoped for success but wasn’t banking on anything. The small, intimate gallery was filled with pieces from Roper’s personal collection — some by world-famous artists — and work of some of Lincoln’s young artists.
A notable omission: Roper’s own work. (He has one small piece in the show that he created about 15 years ago, but it’s hidden away in a corner, and one has to be looking for it to see it.)
“I was kinda reluctant,” Roper said. “I don’t know. I love my work, I just felt awkward.”
We might eventually see Roper’s work in the space — let’s hope so — but in the meantime, he wants to exhibit other artists. As a curator, he wants to play with ideas of context and meaning. |
|
|
|
Sketchbook - |
The Durham Western Heritage Museum has a new, simpler moniker: The Durham Museum. It also has a new website — durhammuseum.org — with a sleek new design and layout. “Western Heritage” was removed from the name to reflect a global mission. The new name honors the late Chuck and Marge Durham, who were instrumental in the building’s resurgence. Chuck died of heart failure April 5 at his Omaha home. He was 90.
|
|
|
|
Tugboat Two - |
The grand reopening of Lincoln’s ‘Little Bemis’
by Sarah Baker
If you’ve been feeling like I’ve been feeling — that you wish something exciting would happen — the wait is over.
Tugboat gallery is back.
The Lincoln space, which has been closed since July 2006, returns to the scene this weekend, during the city’s first Friday openings.
Like most things that leave and come home, it has grown and changed a bit.
The original Tugboat three is down to two. Joey Lynch relocated to Omaha during the gallery’s closure, therefore, Peggy Gomez and Jake Gillespie are now running the gallery as a duo. Lynch will continue to man the “Tugboat Presents” arm of the group, Gomez said as she walked through the still-raw space that Tugboat will now call home. It’s a second floor space above of a series of businesses near 14th and O, in the Parish Building.
|
|
|
|
Sketchbook - |
Anyone who is into the arts likely makes regular trips to the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, but they usually don’t get the chance to see the art made by the folks who run the place. Artist and curator Rob Gilmer will give everyone the chance this weekend with a new show at his RNG Gallery. Undercurrents features Bemis staff Rachel Ziegler, Matt Lowe, Natalie Linstrom and Andrew Hershey, and former Bemis Assistant Director Jeremy Stern. The show opens April 5 from 6-10 p.m. at RNG, 1915 Leavenworth St.
|
|
|
|
Sharing Jewels - |
New Bemis curator promises the unexpected
by Sarah Baker
Hesse McGraw spent much his first few weeks in Omaha in his car.
The Bemis Center’s new curator has been driving around, looking for a new place to live; looking for a place where he fits.
He’s had the best steak of his life.
He’s got plans to go to the Alpine Inn, a North Hills staple.
He’s checked out some small, eclectic galleries and gone to some openings.
“Cities tend to hide their jewels,” McGraw said.
So it makes sense that what brought him to the city, the Bemis Center, long one of Omaha’s most hidden treasures. And McGraw is ready to put Bemis on everyone’s map.
McGraw moved to Omaha from New York, where he was associate director at the Max Protetch Gallery. Earlier, he founded Paragraph, a Kansas City gallery and urban culture project. He edited Review magazine in Kansas City and lectured in the Kansas City Art Institute’s interdisciplinary department. He also makes art: interdisciplinary installations and published works that use photography, video, sound, text and technology. |
|
|
|
Sketchbook - |
While it is unusual for a local politician to take interest in the arts, City Councilman Jim Suttle is an apparent an exception. Suttle will be at the PS Collective tonight, March 27, at 5:30 p.m. for an open forum. The subject: Benson’s burgeoning arts scene. Suttle, a self-described strong proponent of Omaha’s arts community, wants to hear what the public has to say about promoting the performing arts in the historic neighborhood. The event is free, though donations to Suttle’s campaign will be accepted. The PS Collective is located at 6056 Maple St.
|
|
|
|
Working Art - |
Two Bemis shows capture process differently
by Sarah Baker
Although the two recently opened shows at the Bemis Center may seem completely unrelated, there is a common threads: At first glance, things are not always what they seem.
Cuthbert & Solzberg: Archivists and Researchers and Nic Nicosia: Drawing opened in tandem earlier this month and although they are vastly different in both feel and scope, they present the viewer with interesting, engaging environments that are more than just visual. They are experiential. |
|
|
|
Sketchbook - |
|
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Kruger Collection opens its 2008-09 show this week. Technology’s Impact on Design aims to show viewers how technology changes material culture. The show begins with handmade, small-scale products, moves to mass market, machine-made goods and explores the innovation therein. The ever-changing tastes of consumers and the way we interact with our environment are also major themes. The show opens March 28 with a free lecture by Constance Adams, the principal architect at Synthesis Int’l USA. Adams is a specialist in high performance architecture and design, including architecture for human space flight, and she will speak at the Ross Media Arts Center, 313 N. 13th St. The Kruger Collection in UNL’s Architecture Hall-West, 10th and R. The free exhibit continues through March 13, 2009. |
|
|
|
New Blood - |
Artists’ Co-op reaches out to younger artists and viewers
by Sarah Baker
The Old Market’s Artists’ Cooperative Gallery is choosing the best possible moment to get trendy.
Its latest show, Raw Talent, includes 14 of the city’s most engaging and talented artists; all are younger than 40 and have talent beyond their youthful years.
Curator Megan Sanders — one of the Cooperative’s youngest artist members — said the show for younger artists was suggested by fellow co-op member Marcia Joffe-Bouska. The Co-op was showing at the Hot Shops, so the space was free.
|
|
|
|
Sketchbook - |
Home art shows are a rarity, so mark your calendar for Saturday night, when Wayne and Laurie Brekke open their door for a one-night show featuring lots of cool work. The Ides of March features new work by friends and comrades of the Brekkes, who are themselves fine and friendly people. Plan to visit the Bedford House, 4926 Bedford Ave., March 15 at 7 p.m. Wayne says a toga isn’t required. For more information, visit wayneartgallery.com.
|
|
|
|
Tackling a Dynasty - |
Joslyn assembles Qing Court blockbuster
by Sarah Baker
The greatest artistic period in Chinese history was anything but understated.
Lavish in style, material and decoration, the Qing Dynasty lasted for more than 250 years and is the subject Joslyn Art Museum tackles in its latest blockbuster show Elegance of the Qing Court: Reflections of a Dynasty Through its Art. The Qing Dynasty (pronounced “ching”) began in 1664, after the Manchu overthrew the Han Ming empire. Seven-year-old Emperor Kangxi took the throne and the period endured until 1911, when revolt led to the establishment of the Republic of China, now the People’s Republic of China. |
|
|
|
Sketchbook - |
Mixed media artist Carlos Guerrero isn’t baking in Lincoln’s Lux Center for the Arts, but he is having a delectable show. CUPCAKE: The Resurgence takes the familiar dessert and uses it to confront some heavy stuff: dogma, consumption and consumerism. Guerrero, a Lux Center resident artist, uses wood, dirt, clay, wax, paint and found objects in the solo exhibit, which runs through March 29. The Lux Center is located in Lincoln’s historic University Place, 2601 N. 48th St.
|
|
|
|
Nipper’s Gramophone - |
Saddle Creek artist wins a big one for his Cassadaga cover
by Sarah Baker
Zack Nipper already has one gramophone at home, but this one is from his dad.
The elder Nipper has for years collected statues of the American Gramophone logo — a dog looking into the horn of the old-fashioned instruement — because the dog’s name is “Nipper.”
“When I won the Grammy, [my dad] gave me one of the statues that is the same size as the Grammy,” Zack Nipper said. “So when I get my Grammy, they’ll sit next to each other.” |
|
|
<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next >>
|
|
|
