Take a break from the heat during the holiday weekend for First Friday at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Three of campus’ iconic museums will host First Friday events July 5.
Admission is free at each location during First Friday, and these events are open to the public.
Sheldon Museum of Art
Sheldon Museum of Art, 451 N. 12th St., will welcome First Friday visitors from 4-7 p.m. The exhibitions currently on view are taking their final bow — they end July 7. These include:
“(In)Credible: Exploring Trust and Misperceptions” — In a time of extensive information, misinformation, disinformation, and declining trust in experts and institutions, how do we sort through the vastness to determine what is or is not trustworthy?
“Unprecedented: Art in Times of Crisis” — This exhibition explores art produced in response to global or internal events experienced during periods of plight, and are artists’ expressions of humanity’s ability to weather times of uncertainty and upheaval.
“Sheldon in Focus: The New York School” — Beginning in the 1940s, in the drafty lofts and studio apartments in Lower Manhattan, a group of artists experimented with painting and sculpture, resulting in a new American art movement.
Learn more about the Sheldon and the exhibitions, including the outdoor sculpture collection.
Great Plains Art Museum
The Great Plains Art Museum, 1155 Q St., will be open until 7 p.m., with light refreshments served from 5-7 p.m. The museum currently has the following exhibitions on view:
“Charles W. Guildner: Selections from the Collection” — Guildner’s black-and-white images document farms, ranches, and small communities of the rural heartland. This selection highlights his “Lives of Tradition” series and includes many recent acquisitions.
“Recent Acquisitions 2024” — This exhibition brings together a selection of artworks that have been added to the Great Plains Art Museum’s collection in the past two years. It showcases the diverse media and subject matter found in the permanent collection, and includes works not previously displayed.
“Ix’? broge waxonyit? ke/ki (Every Life is Sacred)” — Recent textile work by Mih? Xege, Faded Woman (Tamara Faw Faw), a Jiwere-Nut’achi (Otoe-Missouria) artist. These pieces bring attention to issues affecting Indigenous people in both the United States and Canada.
“(Re)Connected: Elizabeth Rubendall Artist-in-Residence Angela Two Stars” — The Great Plains Art Museum’s 2024 Elizabeth Rubendall Artist in Residence is Angela Two Stars, a multidisciplinary visual artist, public artist, and curator. “(Re)Connected” addresses issues that have caused the traumas endured by Native women, but also highlights their strength, beauty, and resilience, as well as their roles as leaders, caretakers, life-givers, and protectors of all their relations.
International Quilt Museum
The International Quilt Museum, 1523 N. 33rd St., is showcasing a special collection during First Friday, 4-7 p.m., with one-of-a-kind banners recently created for the Lincoln Arts Festival held in June. The banners are on display in the Reception Hall through July 11.
Refreshments will be served and family activities are planned. A read aloud of the book, “The World Needs Who You Are Made to Be,” will be at 4:30, 5:30 and 6:30 p.m., with an accompanying art project.
Current exhibitions are:
“Feed Sacks: An American Fairy Tale” — The term “feed sack” is a catch-all for cloth bags that stored dry goods. The use and re-use of these bags ramped up in the early 20th century and took off during World War II, continuing through the 1960s. Thrifty quilters, seamstresses, home sewists and children re-used the cloth to create quilts, clothes, bedding, decor and accessories that exemplify the era.
“Second Chances: Upcycled Modern Quilts” — Inspired by concurrent exhibition, “Feed Sacks,” Lincoln Modern Quilt Guild members created new versions of vintage quilts from repurposed or reclaimed materials.
“Best of Show: Nebraska State Fair Quilts” — The Nebraska State Fair has celebrated quilting since 1909 with various categories and its top award, Best of Show. Lincoln quilter Bonnie Kucera put together this exhibition of the State Fair’s Best of Show quilts from the last three decades.
“Rebound, Renew, Reimagine: The Manhattan Quilters Guild” — The artists of the Manhattan Quilters Guild present new work that celebrates a return to pre-Covid life. The guild created this project to celebrate rebounding from the restrictions that limited personal contact and renewing activities which were not possible during the pandemic.
“Option Expedition by Victoria Findlay Wolfe” — Victoria Findlay Wolfe takes basic shapes of patchwork — square, circle, triangle, parallelogram — and breaks down design principles of space, balance, scale, line, shape, color, emphasis, contrast, value, repetition, movement, texture, and unity to look at the bold, beautiful choices available. By changing the way they look at each of those design elements, artists can train themselves to see differently in their own creative process. Findlay Wolfe hopes that this exploration will be inspire other artists to ponder their own journey while viewing her work.
“Sue Spargo: A Journey in Quilting” — The unique imagery in this collection reflects the multi-cultural background of the artist and her childhood memories from Africa. Spargo grew up in South Africa, then moved to south England, and eventually lived in four states in the U.S.
Explore the International Quilt Museum’s exhibitions and collections online.
