December 18, 2003

The holiday postcard designed by Heather Morris, a senior from Grand Island, is inspired by textiles. Photo courtesy of the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts.

Art students create holiday postcards

Four graphic design students have created designs for holiday postcards that have been mailed to high school seniors as part of the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts' recruiting plan.

"This postcard provides a personal contact from the college in the fall semester to new recruits," said Faye Kopke, admissions coordinator. "At the same time it showcases some of the talented students in the college. Most colleges do a letter from their dean or department chair as a fall mailing to new prospects. Since we are a fine and performing arts college, student art sent in the mail as a postcard might be more effective and more appealing."

The postcards have been mailed to more than 1,000 high school seniors who expressed an interest in fine and performing arts in the UNL Office of Admissions' Talisma database.

The four students who submitted postcard artwork were Katie Bartling, a senior BFA student from Lincoln; Breanna Gabehart, a junior advertising major from Henderson; Heather Morris, a senior BFA student from Grand Island; and Ananda Walden, a sophomore BFA student from Omaha.

"The four ambassadors volunteered to do the art work as part of their fall work projects," Kopke said. "I encouraged them to volunteer because they can use the piece they designed to add to their portfolio."

"The response I hope we get from prospective students is that they will feel that UNL is not such an impersonal place," Kopke said. "It's an unexpected gesture to send prospective students a holiday greeting card. I hope it will show them that current students majoring in fine and performing arts are interested in them, and that they can feel welcome at UNL."

Gallery to offer exhibition, workshop on printed textiles

The Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery will present the exhibition, Process and Pattern Hand, dyed and digitally printed textiles by Ana Lisa Hedstrom, from Jan. 28 to March 12.

The gallery will offer a workshop with Hedstrom called "Resist Scouring Silk" from 6-9 p.m. Feb. 6 and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 7 in the Home Economics Building on East Campus.

The workshop will use two recipes for selective removal of sericin, the natural gum that is part of the silk as it is spun into a cocoon. Students will make samples and a scarf length. The workshop is designed for beginners through advanced students.

Registration is limited to 20 participants. A fee will be charged.

To obtain a registration form or for more information, call or e-mail Sharon at 472-2911 or <sreeder1@unl.edu>.

The annual meeting of the Friends of Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery will be at 1 p.m. Feb. 8 and will include a lecture by Ana Lisa Hedstrom at 2 p.m. in Home Economics Room 11. A reception will follow on the second floor.

The Nebraska Arts Council, Friends of the Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery, Friends of Fiber Art International and the Duncan family of Lincoln are helping to underwrite the cost of presenting this workshop, exhibition and catalog.

For more information, call Wendy Weiss at 472-6370.

Ross to close Dec. 19 for work

Theater will reopen Jan. 9 after renovations

The Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center will close Dec. 19 to begin renovations to the facility to improve the film-going experience.

Renovations will be done to the center's lobby, projection booth and both auditoriums. Among other things, changes will be made to the ticket counter and concession stand and the stair and aisle lighting systems and acoustical panel systems in both theaters. More seating will be added to the Cooper Theater as well.

The Ross will reopen Jan. 9 with The Station Agent by Tom McCarthy, winner of the Audience Award at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival.

The Friends of the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center will celebrate the new media arts center's one-year anniversary on Jan. 10 with cake and refreshments in the lobby. The event will be open to the public.

In conjunction with that celebration, the Friends of the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center are planning a major membership drive in support of the center's film exhibition program.

One improvement already in place is an ongoing exhibition of the center's movie poster collection on display in the lobby. One dozen framed posters, many from the Jensen Cinema 16 Collection, are on display.

The exhibit will be changed every three to four months, allowing different posters to be exhibited and giving the lobby a periodic new look.