New Campus Sculpture Demonstrates Balance of Unbalance

It's just west of Behlen Hall - a composition of brightly colored geometric shapes rising more than 40 feet into the air. You can't miss it.

As part of it growing sculpture garden, the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery installed Fletcher Benton's Balanced/Unbalanced Wheels, #2 Sept. 12 at 10th and R streets on the UNL campus. The work is a donation to the gallery's collection given in honor of Carol and Saul Rosenzweig of Beverly Hills, Calif.

A massive but graceful sculpture, it is a physically imposing large-scale work that consists of a dynamic composition of brightly colored geometric shapes such as circles, beams, and cylinders balanced precariously in a whimsical manner. Significantly, Balanced/Unbalanced Wheels, #2 is the second of Benton's sculptures installed in the downtown Lincoln area, the first being Balanced/Unbalanced Three Triangles, 1994, a monochromatic piece installed on the corner of 13th and O Streets.

Born in Jackson, Ohio, in 1931, Benton began his career as a sign painter. He received a BFA from the University of Miami in Oxford, Ohio, and moved to San Francisco in 1956. After spending a few years in New York and traveling abroad, Benton returned to the Bay Area and began to experiment with three-dimensional work, especially kinetic sculpture. In 1974 Benton abandoned this direction, which had brought him international critical acclaim as one of the pioneers of kineticism, in order to explore the structural implications an expressive potential of larger three-dimensional sculpture through the pared down language of minimalism. In the process, Benton, like many contemporary sculptors, developed a relationship between "hands on" art making in a studio setting and the pre-fabricated industrial context of the metal foundaries. His ability to retain his "touch" and personality while using the apparently impersonal nature of the foundry distinguished Benton's work from many other contemporary sculptors working today.

Although Benton spent time on the East Coast, his mature work bears little of the preoccupation with traditional modernist idioms that has characterized the New York artworld since the late fifties. His work melds the two dominant modern sculptural traditions: the cubist/constructivist tradition exemplified by David Smith and the autonomous, anti-descriptive sculptural syntax of the Minimalists such as Tony Smith and Donald Judd. In Benton's hands, then, these two competing traditions are treated in an uncharacteristically light-hearted and playful manner reminiscent of his Bay Area aesthetic environment.

'A' Festival to Celebrate the Arts Sept. 29-30

The world of architecture and the fine and performing arts will offer a dramatic blend of sights and sounds at the first annual 'A' Festival Sept. 29-30 in UNL's arts quadrangle, located in the southwest corner of city campus.

This large, outdoor festival of arts and architecture begins at noon Sept. 29 and continues to noon the following day. A combination of fun activities and information about the arts and architecture, the 'A' Festival is for all ages and offers a variety of food, entertainment, demonstrations, tours of the arts and architecture facilities, and sales of photographs, prints, ceramics, CDs and books. Children's activities will include face painting, sidewalk art and a juggler.

The festival will be situated in the UNL arts quandrangle, which is an area on the southwest corner of campus that includes Architecture Hall, the School of Music, the Lied Center and Kimball Hall, the Temple Building, the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, and the Woods and Richards Hall art buildings. Most musical performances will take place in the heart of the festival - he sculpture garden area west of Sheldon Gallery.

All events are free except for the regularly scheduled performances at the Lied Center and the Studio Theatre. For more information call the College of Fine and Performing Arts at 472-9339 or the College of Architecture at 472-9212.

The event is sponsored by the alumni of UNL's College of Architecture and the College of Fine and Performing Arts in conjunction with the UNL Alumni Association.

"A" Festival: Exhibits, Music Dance and More

The "A" Festival, Sept. 29-30, will feature a variety of attractions for all audiences. A welcome will be given at the festival by UNL Interim Chancellor Joan Leitzel and Lincoln Mayor Mike Johanns Friday at 5 pm. Other events include:

ART

MUSIC

ARCHITECTURE

DANCE

SALES

THEATER

Sheldon Watercolors Touring the State

Once again, the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery will provide to outlying communities in Nebraska the opportunity to experience first-hand original works of art from the Sheldon's permanent collection. This successful outreach program has been seen by more than 120,000 people over the last nine years and has become an anticipated and expected event for each of the 11 participating communities.

Transparent and Opaque: Watercolors from the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and Sculpture Garden is the ninth annual touring exhibition focusing on the development of American watercolor. This special exhibition of 20 works was drawn from the permanent collection of the Sheldon Art Gallery.

A full-color, illustrated brochure was designed for the exhibition along with additional interpretative material such as instructional packets for local school teachers. Sheldon's collection has become a popular teaching resource among school teachers, due in a large part to the Sheldon Gallery's participation in a summer teachers institute - Prairie Visions - held annually at the Sheldon in cooperation with the Nebraska Department of Education.

Strawberry and Chocolate at Ross Theater

A warm and sentimental film from one of Cuba's major directors, Strawberry and Chocolate, opening at the Mary Riepma Ross Film Theater on Sept. 28, is a provocative but humane comedy about sexual opposites. In this appealing Cuban variation on Kiss of the Spider Woman, Diego (Jorge Perugorria), a rebellious gay artist, insinuates himself into the friendly graces of David (Valdimir Cruz), a stoically prim heterosexual university student who believes, with the naivetŽ of a Marxist Boy Scout, in the eternal glory of the Revolution.

Strawberry and Chocolate shows Sept. 28 through Oct. 1 and Oct. 5 through Oct. 7. Screenings are at 7 and 9 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays; at 1, 3, 7 and 9 p.m. Saturdays and at 3,5,7 and 9 p.m. Sundays. Admission is $5.50; $4.50 for students; and $3.50 for senior citizens, children and members of the Friends of the Mary Riepma Ross Film Theater.

Wynton Marsalis and Orchestra Bring Jazz to the Lied Stage

Trumpet virtuoso Wynton Marsalis will lead the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra in concert at 8 p.m. Sept. 30 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts.

Composed of several generations of the world's foremost jazz musicians, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra maintains a performance repertory of historic compositions and newly-commissioned works for big band.

The orchestra has specialized in the work of Duke Ellington, and its annual presentation of Ellington's music every August has become a cultural highlight of New York City. In 1992, the orchestra showcased Ellington's compositional career from the mid-1920s through the early 1970s with a national tour, a live television broadcast and the release of Portraits By Ellington on the Sony/Columbia label.

Marsalis is the group's conductor and as artistic director of the entire Jazz at Lincoln Center program. A musician and composer, he regularly lectures and conducts master classes for students of all ages and interests. Prior to the Lincoln performance, Marsalis will speak at the Kimball Recital Hall, adjacent to the Lied Center. The free lecture is open to the public and begins at 7 p.m.

Concert tickets are $32, $28, and $24; half price for people 18 and under or UNL, Wesleyan and Doane students with proper identification. The Lied Center box office is open for walk-in sales weekdays from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and 90 minutes before the performance. Phone orders may be placed by dialing 2-4747 or 1-800-432-3231.

New Installation Reinterprets Sheldon's Great Hall

The Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery presents the second in a series of exhibitions titled Interpreting the Great Hall. With each exhibition, an artist is invited to create a site-specific work in response to the Great Hall, the two-story entryway and reception area of the museum designed by renowned American architect Philip Johnson.

The current installation was created by Catherine Ferguson, an environmental artist from Omaha. Interpreting the Great Hall: Catherine Ferguson will be on display through Nov. 5. The Interpreting the Great Hall series activates the cool elegance of the Great Hall and offers visitors the opportunity to consider installation art, a vital and important contemporary art medium. The distinctive room provides access to the exhibition galleries on the second floor by way of a bridge-like causeway that is both a grand staircase and a focal point within the monumental space.

Ferguson has been a prominent installation artist in the Midwest for more than 20 years. Many of her works are interactive, an invitation to the viewer to participate in the work in order to fully realize its meaning. Interpreting the Great Hall creates an environment for contemplation and personal experiences in a public context.

Two elements define the monumental work. On the first floor a 12-foot diameter black sphere encrusted with found objects commands attention. As the viewer circumnavigates the imposing shape and examines the many objects on its surface, an entrance becomes apparent. One enters into the sphere to discover both visual and aural surprises. Above the sphere, on the bridge, is a gold house shape into which one can look through a peep-hole and into a secret interior space.

The two parts of the sculpture are both physically and metaphorically related. They present a spiritual journey, from the earthly to the celestial realms.

Catherine Ferguson received a B.A. in literature at Creighton University. Recently, she was invited to collaborate with Spanish sound artist Mario Verandi to create a unique installation in London which will subsequently travel through Great Britain. Ferguson has also created an installation in Barcelona, Spain. Her work for the Midlands Invitational at the Joslyn Art Museum in 1992 was unanimously well received, as were earlier environments she created in Sioux Falls, S.D., Des Moines, Iowa, and Chicago.

Interpreting the Great Hall was curated by Daphene Deeds, chief curator. The exhibition is funded in part by the Nebraska Arts Council, through a basic Support Grant, which supports programs of the Nebraska Art Association.

Dance Innovator Petronio to Perform at Lied

Internationally acclaimed dancer/choreographer Stephen Petronio and his company will perform at 8 p.m. Sept. 29 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts.

The Stephen Petronio Company is known as one of the most innovative and talented companies of its generation. In his richly textured, ground-breaking works, Petronio has developed a strikingly unique language of dance that critics applaud for its invention and force.

Since its founding in 1984, the company, which consists of eight dancers, has been commissioned to create new works for dance festivals around the world. They have performed in Michael Blackwood's documentary film, Retracing Steps, and on the PBS Alive From Off-Center program.

Tickets are $20, $16 and $12; half price for people 18 and under or those with UNL, Wesleyan or Doane student identification. The Lied Center box office is open for walk-in sales weekdays from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and 90 minutes before the performance. Phone orders may be placed by dialing 2-4747 or 1-800-432-3231.

Two pre-performance talks will be given in the Lied Center's Steinhart room. Anita Lemon, visiting assistant professor with the UNL dance program, will offer her insights 55 minutes before the performance and again at 30 minutes before curtain.

This Lied Center presentation of the Stephen Petronio Company is made possible, in part, by funds from the Mid-America Arts Alliance Dance on Tour Program of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Nebraska Arts Council.

Piano Duo at Kimball Sept. 24

The UNL School of Music will present duo-pianists Clinton and Narboni in concert 8 p.m. Sept. 24 in Kimball Recital Hall. Admission is free.

The pianists are known for their stunning passagework and interpretive vision as they carry audiences though an array of colors and moods. The husband and wife team has been collaborating at the keyboard since 1986 when they met as colleagues in the studio of famed teacher John Perry.

Clinton and Narboni have received stellar reviews for their recital performances in such cities as Houston, New York, Washington, D.C., and San Antonio. Their critically acclaimed appearances at the prestigious Aspen Institute introduced them to international audiences. The duo pianists have also been featured on many radio and television broadcasts, including National Public Radio's Performance Today. The successful duo team also has captured top prizes in both the 1994 ProPiano New York Recital Series and the 1995 Ellis Competition for Duo Pianists.

UNL Wind Ensemble Opens Season Oct. 6

The School of Music at UNL will present The Wind Ensemble, as it begins its 1995-96 season, with a free performance at 8 p.m. Oct. 6 in Kimball Hall.

Directed by Jay Kloecker, the ensemble's opening program, titled American Images, is diverse and eclectic, and represents both standards of the band's repertory as well as one of the most recent significant new works for the medium. There will be a pre-performance talk at 7:30 p.m. in the lower level of Kimball Hall.

Works will include a transcribed version for wind of John Adams' Short Ride in a Fast Machine, Ladislav Kubik's Symphony for Winds and Percussion, and Morton Gould's Ballad for Band. Closing the program will be John Corigliano's Gazebo Dances.

The UNL Wind Ensemble is the premier wind band in the UNL band program. During the academic year, the students perform a series of five concerts in Kimball hall on the UNL campus. The Wind Ensemble is of the highest level, and includes both new contemporary works for the wind ensemble as well as the standards of the wind band repertory. This ensemble frequently tours and performs regularly for regional national convention programs.

UNL Concert Band Season Debut Oct. 3

The School of Music at UNL will present The UNL Concert Band in its season debut under the baton of new conductor Rod Chestnut at 3 p.m. Oct. 8 in Kimball Recital Hall. The performance is free.

Graduate associate conductor Robert Franzblau will conduct the Persichetti Serenade for Band, Op. 85, which some consider a standard in the wind band repertoire. This work will be paired with Derek Bourgeois' Serenade, Op. 22 that parodies the traditional wedding entrance. Alexander Scriabin's Prelude and Nocturne (Opus 9) are two works originally scored for piano and composed for the left hand alone. A former arranger for the Marine Corps Band, Robert Jager used that experience to fashion the brilliant Esprit de Corps.

For questions regarding these Scarlet pages, contact:
dtaurins@unlinfo.unl.edu
(402) 472-8518, Fax: (402) 472-7825