Star City Blog

Professional Practices Workshop Offered by the Lux

LUX Center for the Arts and Nebraska Wesleyan University presents: Professional Practices Workshop: Surviving in the Digital Age.  This workshop will be held Saturday, November 7 and 21. 9:30 am – 12:30 pm in Lucas Hall on the Nebraska Wesleyan University Campus. 

Tuition is $50, $45 for LUX members. Students must bring their own digital camera and up to five pieces of artwork.  Call 402.466.8692 for more information.

Enjoy 'Spooktacular' at the Pioneers Park Nature Center Oct. 29-30

By Becky Seth

Each year, Pioneers Park Nature Center offers a fun, family-oriented Halloween event. This year’s theme is Bats & Spiders & Owls, Oh My!  Meet some live animals, such as owls, snakes and turtles, before setting off with a costumed character down the Spooktacular trail.

On your journey, you’ll encounter magical critters, including bats mice, sunflowers, grasshoppers and other surprising visitors.  Enjoy popcorn and cider when you end up at a campfire and sing-along with Mike Mennard, a local musician who sings about everything from Nebraska animals to pirates and moldy pizza! 

UPDATED: Blog Talk Live: Musician's Round Table

This Tuesday September 29th on Blog Talk Live we'll have a discussion with Lincoln musicians / music promoters Josh Hoyer, Ember Schrag, Jeremy Buckley, Jeremy 'Dub' Wardlaw, and possibly others about the state of the music scene in Lincoln.  We'll follow up on the advice given by Andy Frankel in last week's program about how to build the music scene in one's own community.  Lincoln already has a very active music scene, and proof of that claim is all around us.  Take, for instance, the "Lincoln Calling" music event that will usher in a slew of musical performances in Lincoln beginning on Wednesday, September 30th.  Still, there's huge potential to develop the music scene even further.  In this show we'll get ideas from musicians, and from listeners.

Tune in to Blog Talk Live on KZUM 89.3 FM, Tuesday evenings at 6pm.

Audio from this show is provided below in two parts:

Btl_musicians_roundtable_p1 26:49

Btl_musicians_roundtable_p2 29:10

UNL Faculty Jazz Ensemble Play at the Sheldon Sept. 29 at 7:30 p.m.

Tuesday evening music programming begins at Sheldon Museum of Art next week.

The faculty jazz ensemble at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln School of Music will present a featured concert on Tuesday, September 29, 7:30 p.m. in Ethel S. Abbott Auditorium. This program will feature works by Kenny Dorham, Bruce Gertz, J.J. Johnson and others.

The UNL Jazz Faculty Ensemble is made up of professors from the UNL School of Music and includes Paul Haar, Darryl White, Rusty White, Peter Bouffard, Tom Larson and Graduate Teaching Assistant Brandon Holloman.

The Tuesday music programming is a new partnership between the Museum and the School of Music. Sheldon's Tuesday programs this fall also include lectures, dance and film screenings. Please visit the Sheldon Schedule for a complete list of fall events and exhibitions.

Tuesday evenings this fall at Sheldon are free and the public is invited.

LUX Center for the Arts presents [kuh-nek-tiv] October 2-31

LUX Center for the Arts presents, [kuh-nek-tiv], October 2 -31.  An opening reception will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, October 2.  Participating artists are Lipscomb University professor and studio artist, Jason Briggs, from Watertown, Tennessee; Doane College instructor and studio artist, Jess Starkel from Lincoln, Nebraska; and University of Nebraska-Kearney professor and studio artist, Victoria Goro-Rapoport from Kearney, Nebraska.

This exhibition is in conjunction with the conference, Art of Fine Craft 2009: [kuh-nek-tiv], October 1 - 2.  This biennial conference provides an opportunity for students, educators, artists, and collectors to learn about emerging and historical craft traditions through exhibitions, demonstrations, and lectures. 

2009 Lincoln Arts Festival This Weekend!

The winds of creativity have it Lincoln. Get Carried Away By “buy” Art at the Lincoln Arts Festival!  

Brought to you by the Lincoln Arts Council and the help of over 75 volunteers, the Lincoln Arts Festival will celebrate its 9th year on September 26th and 27th at SouthPointe Pavilions Shopping Center.

The festival will feature close to 100 artists this year – many returning favorites as well as some amazing new talent. Here’s a few highlights:

Jun Kaneko to Give Lecture Tuesday, September 22 at the Sheldon

Internationally recognized for his large ceramic sculptures, Jun Kaneko will speak about his work on Tuesday, September 22, in Ethel S. Abbott Auditorium. His lecture will begin at 6 p.m. A reception, beginning at 5:30 p.m., precedes the talk.

Play's the Thing: The Paintings and Objects of Jun Kaneko, which is on view at Sheldon Museum of Art through October 11, presents the artist's sculptures in context with his aesthetic explorations in other media. The exhibition includes paintings, drawings, prints, and opera set and costume designs.

To view images of some of the artworks in the exhibition, please click: Play's the Thing Slide Show.

To watch a short video, produced by NET Television, about Jun Kaneko please click: Arts in Nebraska, Monumental Minimalist.

For more information about the artist and his work, please click Jun Kaneko web site.

This exhibition is made possible with support from the Hixson-Lied Endowment and the Wake Charitable Foundation.

Admission to the Museum and to the lecture is free and the public is invited.

UPDATED: Blog Talk Live: Interview with Andy Frankel

Tonight (Sept. 22) on Blog Talk Live our guest will be Andy Frankel, an event promoter who spent 20 years in the music industry developing African recording artists all over the world and doing record production.

In 1989 Andy started Rakumi Arts, a Seattle-based non-profit organization that promotes the arts and culture of Africa.  He also maintains a record label called IndigiDisc which has issued recordings of world-reknowned artists such as Lágbájá and King Sunny Adé.

Andy will join us over the phone from Philadelphia to share his thoughts on how to build a music scene in one's own community, and how to use it as a springboard to launch into the music business.

Blog Talk Live airs every Tuesday from 6-7pm on KZUM 89.3 FM, and via live streaming at kzum.org.

The audio for this program is provided in two parts below:

Andy Frankel, Part 1 28:06

Andy Frankel, Part 2 27:12

Attention Dancers! Lincoln Midwest Ballet Company to Hold 2009 Nutcracker Ballet Auditions

Lincoln Midwest Ballet Company and Artistic Director Shari True have announced the auditions for the 2009 Nutcracker Ballet.  The production is celebrating it 25th Anniversary season and has become a Lincoln holiday tradition. 

This year’s performances will be held at the Lied Center for Performing Arts on Saturday, December 19, 2009, at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, December 20, 2009, at 2:00 p.m.

Featured Business: Porridge Papers

By Hanna Day-Woodruff

Lincolnites with a penchant for locally-made, hand-fashioned, environmentally responsible products take heart--we have a thriving, small business in our midst, one that is worthy of your patronage.

Travel down South between 14th and 15th Streets and look to the north--you will see a freshly painted olive green and black brick facade jumping out from the ruddy red of its neighbors.  Porridge Papers, Lincoln's own letterpress and paper mill, is ready to be noticed.