Feb. 6, 2003

	"Heave and Haul," 1947 etching by Gordon H. Grant.
	"White-Breasted Nuthatch," 1960 color etching by Maurice R. Bebb, is one of the Prairie Prints on display at the Great Plains Art Collection.

Plains collection shows 'Prairie Print Makers'

An exhibit titled "The Prairie Print Makers" now running through March 9 at the UNL Great Plains Art Collection brings together a complete set of gift prints issued by this pioneering graphics society from 1931 to 1965.

The Prairie Print Makers, a Kansas-based print organization, had more than 100 members throughout North America. Among its active membership were many of the foremost printmakers in America during the middle of the 20th century, including John Taylor Arms, Clare Leighton, John Steuart Curry and Stow Wengenroth.

To achieve its goals, and in keeping with the financial constraints of the Depression, the Prairie Print Makers sponsored inexpensive traveling sales exhibitions of new work by its active members. In addition, the organization commissioned an annual print to be created by one of its members. The 34 gift prints run the gamut of traditional printmaking techniques, including lithographs, etching, drypoint, aquatint and wood engraving. This exhibition of representational prints reveals the richness and variety of printmaking in the Midwest during the first half of the 20th century.

The Great Plains Art Collection is free and open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 1:30-5 p.m. Sundays. For information, call 472-6220 or visit <www.unl.edu/plains/gall ery/gallery. html>.

Little Bear and his friends from his Emmy-award-nominated show will perform at 7 p.m. Feb. 14 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts.

'Little Bear,' friends visit Lincoln

The Emmy-nominated TV series Little Bear comes to life in a live musical theatre production titled Little Bear and the Enchanted Wood at 7 p.m. Feb. 14 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts as part of the Lied Center's Family Series.

Little Bear and the Enchanted Wood is the first full-length, live musical production featuring Little Bear, Duck, Owl, Cat and Emily from the television series. In this production, Little Bear and his pals explore the forest and discover the wonders of that world when calamity strikes and leads them into the forbidding "Enchanted Wood." Once in the woods, the friends discover a world of enchantment and mystery filled with songs, dance and audience participation.

Little Bear stars in his own animated television series, now in its sixth season on Nickelodeon. Little Bear is based on the Caldecott Honoured books written by Else Holmelund Minarik and illustrated by Maurice Sendak.

The Lied Center will host LiedFamFest at 5:30 p.m. before the performance. Everyone with tickets to Little Bear and the Enchanted Wood is invited to come early for the family-friendly party, featuring free food and soft drinks, entertainment and hands-on activities.

Tickets for this performance are $12; tickets are half price for college students and those 18 and under. Call the Lied Center box office at 472-4747 or (800) 432-3231 for tickets.

Quilts by Radka Donnell will be on display at the Hillestad Textiles Gallery Feb. 14 through March 7.

Donnell quilt work on exhibit at Hillestad

"Radka Donnell: The Work of Touch" will be on exhibit at the Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery from Feb. 14 through March 7. UNL faculty member Michael James is serving as curator for this exhibition, which will feature an overview of works by Donnell executed during the last three decades.

Donnell has been called an important and influential early quilt artist and has worked with quilts for more than 35 years. She views the quilt as the metaphor for the social fabric that interweaves women's lives across time, cultures and geographic territories.

This exhibition will be Donnell's first solo exhibition in this country since her 1994 exhibition at the Dana Hall School in Wellesley, Mass. It is her first solo show in the central United States. The exhibition coincides with the Wild By Design exhibition at the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and the "Wild By Design" symposium and related exhibitions taking place between Feb. 27 and March 1.

Donnell will give a talk on her work at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 28 in the College of Human Resources and Family Sciences auditorium. A reception in the Hillestad Gallery will follow. The public is invited.

For information, call 472-2911.

Traditional music and dance join forces in Rambleshoe, at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 19 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts.

Dance, music combine for Rambleshoe

Two groups specializing in traditional music and dance, Rhythm In Shoes and Red Clay Ramblers, will collaborate for the production of Rambleshoe at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 19 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts.

Rhythm in Shoes is a company of dancers and musicians whose repertoire is rooted in the traditions of American, English and Irish step dance styles, as well as tap dancing. The dancers fuse the spirit of traditional dance and music with the techniques and production of a modern performance.

Now in their 30th year, the Tony Award-winning Red Clay Ramblers are a North Carolina string band whose repertoire reflects their roots in old-time mountain music, country, rock, Dixieland, bluegrass, gospel and the American musical. They have been guests on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion and have appeared on The Tonight Show and on CBS' This Morning. They have also recorded and performed with artists such as Shawn Colvin, Randy Newman and Michelle Shocked.

Rambleshoe has been described as a "dance-ical" because it blends the elements of musical theater with a dance performance. Nate Cooper of Rhythm in Shoes will portray the title character, a man "who leaves home seeking new experiences and encounters a number of other characters and situations that eventually lead him back home."

Kit Voorhees, director of UNL's Arts Are Basic program, will give a pre-performance talk in the Lied's Steinhart Room 30 minutes before curtain.

Tickets are $36, $30 and $26; tickets are half-price for college students and those 18 and under. Call the Lied box office at 472-4747 or (800) 432-3231 for tickets.

Also

In addition to this performance, the members of Rhythm in Shoes and the Red Clay Ramblers will perform at a contra dance at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 18 at the Johnny Carson Theater. Admission is $6 for adults and $3 for students/youth. Several expert dancers will be on hand to give instruction for those unfamiliar with contra dancing. In addition, the groups' members will also lead master classes and workshops during their visit to Lincoln.

Faculty, guest artists give concerts

School of Music faculty artists John Bailey, flute, and Mark Clinton, piano, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 11 at Kimball Recital Hall.

In addition, guest artist Lucinda Sloan, mezzo soprano, performs at 7:30 p.m. today, also at Kimball Recital Hall.

Both events are free and open to the public and are offered by the School of Music.

Flutist to play original works

The UNL School of Music will present guest artist Robert Dick, composer and flutist, at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 9 in Kimball Recital Hall.

The evening repertoire will include original works by Dick.

Dick performs as a soloist and improvisor but is also a composer and author. He also teaches master classes and has performed solo around the world. He is visiting professor of flute at the University of Iowa.

Dick has a bachelor of arts degree from Yale and a master of music degree in composition from the Yale School of Music. He has received two National Endowment for the Arts Composition Fellowships and a NEA Solo Recitalist Grant, a Guggenheim Fellowship and other grants and commissions. He has written several pedagogical works for the flute and flute compositions for solos, duos and quartets.

This event is free and open to the public.