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Construction notes

The main-floor gallery will be closed through July while the Center converts our mezzanine space into a work area for our Graduate Fellows. The lobby and outside of the building will also be getting some work done at the same time. The downstairs gallery and its exhibit, Spurs & Spitfire: Humor of the American West, will be open throughout the construction. Stay tuned to our Facebook and Twitter pages to see photos from the process.

Center Fellow edits Willa Cather Letters

This first publication of the letters of one of America’s most consistently admired writers is both an exciting and significant literary event. Willa Cather, wanting to be judged on her work alone, clearly forbade the publication of her letters in her will. But now, more than 65 years after her death, with her literary reputation as secure as a reputation can be, the letters have become available for publication. Andrew Jewell, an associate professor and Fellow at the Center, is the editor of The Willa Cather Archive and is the coeditor of the new compilation The Selected Letters of Willa Cather.

Fellow wins 2013 visual arts fellowships

The Nebraska Arts Council awarded an Individual Artist Fellowship in visual arts to Center for Great Plains Studies Fellow Elizabeth Ingraham. Jess Benjamin, who will exhibit her work at the Great Plains Art Museum in 2014 in conjunction with the Center's drought symposium, has also been selected. fellowship information here.

Give to Lincoln Day totals

The Center and the Museum received $1,046 in donations on May 16 during the Lincoln Community Foundation's Give to Lincoln Day. Thank you to everyone who donated! If you would like to make a contribution the center's work providing community events, scholarly projects and a world-class art museum, visit our donation page.

New audio up

Priscilla Grew, director of the University of Nebraska State Museum and professor in the department of Earth and atmospheric science gave a presentation at the Center titled "Engaging Lifelong Learners in Natural History: The Land-Grant Mission of the University of Nebraska State Museum." Listen to the talk and view slides from the presentation here.

Great Plains Fellows win grants

Several Great Plains Fellows have received Rural Futures Institute grants for projects in teaching and engagement.

-- Lisa Pennisi, School of Natural Resources, along with Center for Great Plains Studies Director Rick Edwards, received one to develop a course on ecotourism, tourism marketing and community engagement with a long-term goal of assisting rural landowners and communities by developing successful ecotourism ventures.

-- Yunwoo Nam and Zhenghong Tang, both from the College of Architecture, a grant to establish a service-learning program within established curricula. Over two years, they hope to add serving-learning components to 12 existing courses.

Read the press release here and get more information about the individual grants here.

Announcing the 2015 Great Plains Symposium

The Center for Great Plains Studies is announcing a partnership with the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs for a spring 2015 event centered on Native Americans in the Great Plains. The Center's 41st Annual Great Plains Symposium will be held in the spring of 2015 with the theme of Chief Standing Bear, the Standing Bear Trail and continuing issues for Native Americans in the Great Plains today. The symposium is a two-day, interdisciplinary event attracting scholars, public officials, tribal members and other interested members of the public from across the Great Plains. Read the press release, print a flyer for the event and go to the NCIA's website.

More news and notes

See previous entries from this section here.

Climate Change in the Midwest: Impacts, Risks, Vulnerability, and Adaptation