Star Quilts Featured at Hillestad Gallery

A selection of historic star quilts-often celebrated as prizewinners at 19th century agricultural fairs and treasured as family heirlooms-will be on view in the exhibition, Covered by the Stars: Quilts from the James Collection. The quilts from the acclaimed James Collection of the International Quilt Study Center will be on display May 17 through July 30 at the Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery on the University of Nebraska east campus.

The International Quilt Study Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, holds over 900 quilts ranging in date from 1750 to 1996. This particular show features stunning star quilts dating from the early 1800s to the 1930s, This exhibition of extraordinary quilts was organized initially by guest curator Merikay Waldvogel in association with the Museum of Our National Heritage, Lexington, Mass.

Star quilts are known in the quilting world as patterns that require exceptional skill. That is because the pieces must be sewn perfectly so they lie flat with all the points aligned at the star's center. A quilter's nightmare is seeing a bump in the middle of the star, which can be caused by the slightest deviation in piecing. The star quilts in this show are outstanding examples of the style with vivid color combinations and exceptional needlework. Many are a history lesson in textile technology, containing a wide variety of early printed fabrics. One of the most unusual star quilts in the exhibition was made by Harriet Miller Carpenter, a Mennonite, for her first grandchild. The quilt, "Nighttime Sky," is an applique quilt that features a constellation of stars on a dark blue background. It's unusually elaborate, compared to conventional Mennonite and Amish styles.

The Robert Hillestad Textiles Gallery is located on the second floor of the Home Economics Building on east campus. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday. The Hillestad Textiles Gallery features a quilt show every summer. The International Quilt Study Center is housed in the same building. For more information about this exhibition or other IQSC activities, call Carolyn Ducey, curator, at 472-6301 or visit our web site at http://www.ianr.un i.edu/tcd/quilts/homepage.htm.

Bird Art Exhibit at NU Museum

A new exhibit of Nebraska bird art opens May 12 in the Hall of Nebraska Wildlife in the NU State Museum.

The exhibit, which features art from the personal collection of NU ornithologist Paul Johnsgard, will run for about 11 months, said Judy Diamond, professor of museum studies and assistant director for public programs at the museum.

The exhibit is limited to works by Nebraskans or those who have made Nebraska their residence for all or part of their professional careers. It is not a complete artistic survey and is limited to two-dimensional drawings and paintings. No sculpture or photography is included in the exhibit.

"(The artists) follow in the tradition of John James Audubon, who was one of the first great naturalist artists to visit Nebraska and depict its diverse and beautiful wildlife," Johnsgard writes in notes for the exhibition.

Artists represented in the exhibition are Neal Anderson, Michelle Farrar, Deb Gengler-Copple, John Janovy Jr., Johnsgard, Mark Marcuson, James D. McClelland, C.G. "Bud" Pritchard, David Reiser, Wilma Schafert, and George Miksch Sutton.

Several of the artists have collaborated with Johnsgard on his many books.

Johnsgard is Foundation Professor of Biological Sciences. He has worked at the university since 1961 and has published nearly 40 books, most illustrated with his own drawings.

Cather Memorabilia Donated to Love Library

Dr. Robert and Doris Kurth of Prairie Village, Kan., recently donated their Willa Cather collection, including more than 40 rare books owned by the Nebraska author, to the University of Nebraska Foundation. The gift, valued at more than $30,000, will be added to the collections in Love Library at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

"The donation of a portion of Willa Cather's own library to the University of Nebraska will help strengthen NU's position as the center of Cather scholarship," said Chancellor James Moeser. "Scholars will increasingly be drawn to Lincoln as the epicenter for Cather research in particular, and Great Plains literature generally. I am delighted by this wonderful gift."

The Robert and Doris Kurth Cather Collection will be the central focus of Love Library's collection of original works by Cather and make the university a premier site for Cather research nationally.

"The Kurth Cather collection is particularly important to the university libraries because it complements and strengthens the libraries' current Cather holdings, providing UNL students and faculty access to a major collection of Cather materials," said Joan Giesecke, dean of libraries. "This gift will add both works by Cather as well as works about Cather to the collections. But, perhaps most exciting is that the collection includes books from Willa Cather's personal library. Some of these books include Cather's own notations."

Susan Rosowski, Adele Hall Distinguished Professor of English, agreed. She explained that the Kurths' gift would provide much insight into the working and artistic life of Cather.

"This gift makes it possible to peer into Cather's mind," Rosowski said. "Looking into her library takes us beyond generalizations to the very personal world of ideas that Cather awakened to as a student at the University of Nebraska. Having access to these materials has contributed significantly to our work on the Willa Cather Scholarly Edition and the collection will be available for other scholars now and in the future. It's a wonderful prospect."

The Kurths spent close to 25 years amassing the collection. But as Robert Kurth explained, he wasn't always familiar with the author.

"Growing up in Lincoln, Neb., I had heard of Willa Cather but had not read any of her writings," said Kurth, who earned his undergraduate degree in 1950 and his M.D. degree in 1953 from the then-NU College of Medicine. "It was the spring of 1975 when Doris and I were caught in a rainstorm while walking down a street in Kansas City. We dashed into a small bookstore and walked out an hour later with eight Cather titles. From that day on, I was stuck on Cather."

Kurth explained that it was the nostalgia of reading about places he had been in Nebraska as well as his own experiences while growing up that made him enjoy Cather's works.

"I found myself seeking out antiquarian bookstores when I traveled to different cities to inquire about Cather books," said Kurth. "As my collection grew, I became aware that if I were to complete my task, I would have to make a special effort to find the rare items. One such book was the 1903 edition of 'April Twilights.'"

Kurth said that a number of dealers and collectors were interested in this book because it was Cather's first publication. A dealer at a Lincoln bookstore told Kurth that he knew of a man in Philadelphia who owned the book and might be willing to sell it. Eventually, Kurth did purchase the 1903 book. It became the most expensive book in his collection.

"I hope that students and faculty members at the university will be able to gain as much knowledge and joy from this collection as I have," said Kurth. "This gift will help to make the University of Nebraska the mecca for Cather studies."

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Indian Music Concert May 23

Raag announces a concert featuring Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan on Sarod and Ustaad Zakir Hussain on Tabla at 7 p.m. May 23 in Kimball Hall.

Tickets are $50 (limited), $30 and $20. Half price for students with valid ID.

Special donor tickets are available for $250/person or $400/couple. They include seats in front two rows, a post concert dinner with the artists at The Oven and a CD.

Please contact Bidisha Nag, 420-6360, or Aradhna Srivastav, 476-7282, for tickets. Please reserve your tickets early, as demand has been greater than expected.

Please send e-mail to raag@unl.edu or visit their Website http://www.unl.edu/raag for more information.

This concert is cosponsored by Pepsi, Startec. Global Communications, the Cooper Foundation and University Program Council.

Ross Theater Summer Schedule Begins May 6

Central Station by Walter Salles opens the Ross Film Theater's summer schedule on May 6. The film continues through May 9 and from May 13 through 16.

Two strangers in a strange land take to the road in search of some sort of home. Salles' film covers more than 3,000 miles of the Brazilian interior and uses landscape with an Antonioni-like mastery.

The second film on the Ross summer schedule is Tango by Carlos Saura starting on May 20. It continues through May 23 and May 27 through 30.

A blend of 8 1/2 and All That Jazz, Carlos Saura's lushly filmed movie (nominated for an Oscar) is about a director's midlife crisis, but it's the loads of dance sequences that drive the film. The plot is merely an excuse to display the passionate Argentine dance in all its glory.

Tango is followed by Three Seasons by Tony Bui showing from June 3 through 6 and June 10 through 13.

With sweeping directorial vision and a powerful poetic narrative, Bui has created an enormously impressive feature debut about the "new" Vietnam. Weaving three (really four) stories into a striking pictorial tapestry, Three Seasons contrasts the traditional to the modern in a nation in the chaotic throes of transition. What ensues is images of lives struggling to find both place and meaning in a nation which won the war but may now be losing a piece of its soul, writes the Sundance Film Festival.

The Dreamlife of Angels by Erick Zonca opens on June 17. It continues through June 20 and June 24 through 27.

This compelling, original film is a notable addition to the life-on-the-fringes catalogue, and a complete surprise. The 41-year-old Zonca's relative inexperience seems incongruous with his assured direction; that is why Dreamlife was considered by many to be the major revelation of this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Relax . . . It's Just Sex by P.J. Castellaneta will be presented from July 8 through 11 and July 15 through 18.

Relax . . . It's Just Sex addresses the issues of sex in the '90s with humor and sensitivity. Featuring one of the finest ensemble casts around, ranging from hot up-and-comers to Academy Award-nominated veterans (including Jennifer Tilly, Bound's femme fatale), Relax . . . It's Just Sex takes a some times hysterical, sometimes serious look at relationships today.

The Great Plains Film Festival comes to the Ross Theater from July 20 through July 25 and July 27 through Aug. 1. The schedule will be announced at a later date.

The Great Plains Film Festival is a biennial regional venue for independent film/video artists working in the U.S. and Canadian heartland. The festival is nurturing a better understanding and a greater awareness of the media arts being produced in this region in terms of their aesthetic, cultural, and social values.

After Life by Kore-Eda Hirokazu will show at the Ross Theater from Aug. 5 through 8 and Aug. 12 through 15.

The Sundance Film Festival describes the film: After Life is a film centrifugally spun from a striking premise-If our passage to the afterlife demands that we erase all memories but one, what will that memory be?

eXistenZ by David Cronenberg follows from Aug. 19 through 22 and from Aug. 26 through 29.

Jude Law plays a security guard who saves the life of a hotshot computer-game designer (Jennifer Jason Leigh), gets sucked into one of her alternate-reality creations, and then has to flee from assassins with her. Since this springs from the mind of Cronenberg, the computers (or "game pods" as he calls them) have fleshy umbilical-like "umBy" cords that plug directly into the players' spines.

Screenings for all the films, with the exception of the Great Plains Film Festival, are at 7 and 9:15 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays; at 1, 3:15, 7 and 9:15 p.m. on Saturdays; and at 2:30, 4:45, 7 and 9:15 p.m. on Sundays.

Lied Celebrates 10th Anniversary in Style

The Lied Center's 10th anniversary season features more than 35 diverse events and nearly 70 performances.

The season kicks off Sept. 24 with a festival-style concert featuring BeuaSoliel with Michael Doucet. This Cajun wonder performed to sold-out house in 1995.

"You won't be able to sit still when you hear BeauSoleil's eclectic Cajun music," said Charles Henry Bethea, Lied executive director.

The following presentations comprise the season. All events on main stage unless otherwise noted.

Pat Hazell, comedian, "The Wonder Bread Years." Carson Theater, Sept. 8-12

Harry Belafonte, singer. Sept 22.

10th Year Anniversary Festival, BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet. Sept. 24, Lied Plaza.

Bobby Watson and Horizon with Victor Lewis, jazz. Oct. 1

Moscow State RadiSymphony Orchestra and Chorus, Verdi's "Requiem." Oct. 3.

Don Cossacks of Rostov, Russian folk singing/dancing. Oct. 6.

Perlman-Nikkanen-Bailey Piano Trio, chamber concert. Carson Theater, Oct. 5.

Burhan Oçal and the Seamus Blake Quartet, world music. Carson Theater, Oct. 12.

National Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin. Oct. 18.

Irakere, Cuban jazz. Kimball Hall, Oct. 20.

Susan Marshall & Company, "The Descent Beckons," commissioned dance piece. Oct. 22.

CATS, Broadway musical. Oct 26-29

Michael Cooper, masker extraordinaire, Carson Theater, family series. Nov. 2-4.

Club 47 Featuring Tom Rush, Janis Ian, Livingston Taylor and Vance Gilbert; folk music legends. Nov. 5.

The Watts Prophets, "Talk Up/Not Down," roots of rap, Carson Theater. Nov. 12.

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Naoko Tanaka, violin, chamber music. Nov. 14.

The Edlos, The Bad Boys of A Cappella, singers. Nov. 19.

Big Apple Circus On Stage, Broadway-style circus theater. Dec. 2-5.

A Judy Collins Christmas, folk legend. Dec. 12.

Junebug Productions, Roadside Theater and Pregones Theater collaboration, Carson Theater. Jan 21-22.

Yo-Yo Ma, cello, Kathryn Stott, piano, chamber music. Jan. 25.

Orfeo, Michel Lemieux Victor Pilon Creation, multimedia performance. Jan. 28-29.

Ballet de l'Opera de Bordeaux, masterworks ballet. Feb. 2.

Dominic Gaudious, guitar, Carson Theater. Feb. 8.

Bill T. Jones, solo dancer. Feb. 11.

Joshua Bell, violin, chamber concert. Feb. 13.

Rinde Eckert, "Romeo Sierra Tango," multimedia performance, Carson Theater. Feb. 16-17.

Buto-Sha Tenkei, Japanese Butoh dance. Carson Theater. Feb. 22.

Voices of Light with Richard Einhorn. Anonymous 4 and Abendmusik Chorus. "The Passion of Joan of Arc" film set to choral score. Feb. 25.

The Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, jazz. Feb. 27.

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo. Serious ballet parody. Feb. 29.

Aquila Theatre Company, "The Iliad," Carson Theater, March 6; "King Lear," Kimball Hall, March 7.

New York City Opera National Company, The Barber of Seville. March 9.

Poncho Sanchez, Latin Jazz Band. March 11.

Fred Garbo Inflatable Theater Company, family series. March 14-15.

Show Boat, Broadway musical revival. March 17-19.

Les Ballets jazz de Montreal, modern jazz-ballet. March 21.

Ballet d'Afrique Noire, The Mandinka Epic. West African song/dance. March 23.

Beaux Arts Trio with Menahem Pressler, chamber concert. Kimball Hall. March 27.

Fiddler on the Roof, Broadway musical presented by NU College of Fine and Performing Arts. April 6-9.

Lang Lang, piano. Carson Theater. April 11.

Gregory Hines, singer/dancer. April 29.

BEAUSOLEIL AVEC MICHAEL DOUCET

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Statewide Joins Burwell Fox Hunt

Experience the pageantry of a traditional English fox hunt when Statewide, the Nebraska ETV Network's weekly magazine series, rides with the hounds in a "Perspectives" segment airing at 8:30 p.m. May 14. The series, which repeats at 7 p.m. Saturdays, includes up-to-the-minute news reports from across the state and other features of interest. Statewide is also seen at 3 p.m. May 16 on EduCable.

Statewide correspondent Bill Kelly introduces viewers to members of the North Hills Riding Club and guests at a fox hunt staged recently near Burwell. About 40 riders from across the country donned traditional riding coats, pants and boots to follow trained hounds in a cross-country pursuit. The only thing missing from the two-day event was the fox. "In the Sand Hills, they pursue coyotes rather than foxes," Kelly explains. "But that's OK. The riders will tell you that the real thrill is the ride itself."

Welsch Topic Is Kearney's Museum of Nebraska Art

Hear about the Museum of Nebraska Art, one of Nebraska's most important cultural assets, when one of its founders, University of Nebraska at Kearney art professor Gary Zaruba, appears on Roger Welsch & at 8:30 p.m. May 14 on the statewide Nebraska ETV Network. This Roger Welsch & is seen at 4 p.m. May 30 and 11:30 p.m. June 2 on EduCable.

ETV Airs Western Swing from Lied

From western swing to folk-rock to innovative contemporary country, you've got the best seats in the house for some very special headliners when Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock and the Texas Playboys at the Lied Center airs at 9 p.m. May 14 on the statewide Nebraska ETV Network's Nebraska Showcase series. The one-hour program was taped in April at the Lied Center for the Performing Arts in Lincoln.

The program repeats at 1 p.m. May 15; 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. May 17 and 8 p.m. May 18 on EduCable.

The concert starts off with a spirited performance by the Texas Playboys. Western swing is back and no one plays it better than this group made up of a collection of Texas Playboys from the various eras of the legendary band's career. Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys virtually invented western swing in the 1930s from a combination of square dance, big band swing, blues, Mexican mariachi, country and hot jazz played mostly on string instruments, and the music has been going strong ever since. The excitement still comes through on such numbers as "Milk Cow Blues," "Miss Molly" and "Tater Pie."

Next on stage is folk-rock singer-songwriter Butch Hancock, called by many "the best songwriter in America." A boyhood friend of Jimmie Dale Gilmore's in Lubbock, Texas, the two formed the near-legendary group The Flatlanders with Joe Ely in 1970 before going on to solo careers. His solo selections include "Dry Land Farm," "Own and Own" and "You Could've Walked Around the World."

Gilmore's music blends traditional and contemporary country music and folk, with a voice and vocal style that's been called a cross between Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan. The Seattle Times called his music, "Equal parts country and karma, Gilmore's songs manage to be both down-home and far-out at the same time." His eighth album, Braver New World, earned him a Grammy nomination and his best reviews yet for his evocative songs and unique style. He keeps the audience riveted with solos on "And I'll Run," "Howlin' at Midnight" and "Down by the Banks (of the Colorado)" before being joined onstage by Butch Hancock.

Together Gilmore and Hancock finish off the evening with "My Mind's Got A Mind of Its Own," "If I Was A Bluebird" and "West Texas Waltz."

New Public Affairs Series Premieres on EduCable

National Desk, a provocative public affairs series examining issues on the minds of young Americans, premieres at 4:30 p.m. May 9 on EduCable, the cable television service of Nebraska Educational Telecommunications.

Reporters/hosts on the hour-long programs include journalists and political commentators Fred Barnes, Morton Kondracke and Mara Liasson, broadcaster Larry Elder and former comic and political satirist David Steinberg.

Ritalin. Prozac. Discipline. On the first program, "Can Boys Still Be Boys?", Fred Barnes looks at trends in social engineering and the consequences of meddling with Mother Nature. National Public Radio's White House correspondent Mara Liasson speaks with politicians and members of the press to explore how politics has become a "full-contact" sport and what role the media has played in this development in "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Sleaze: Media and Politics," airing on May 16.

In "The Nanny State," broadcast May 23, broadcaster Larry Elder takes a humorous look at what he sees as the government's increasing intrusion into everyday life.