Art historian Jeff Fontana will present the next Hixson-Lied Visiting Artist and Scholar Lecture at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 31 in Richards Hall, Room 15. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Fontana is associate professor and Harry E. Smith Distinguished Teaching Professor in art history at Austin College in Sherman, Texas, where he is currently chair of art and art history. He received a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College and master’s and doctoral degrees, both in art history, at Boston University.

His research reflects his interests in issues of patronage and the intersection of artistic theory and practice. An Italian Renaissance scholar by training, he focuses on the career of the painter Federico Barocci. His interest in the interpretation of the Italian Renaissance in French and American art in the late 19th and early 20th centuries intersects with his study of drawings and drawing practice in his research on the painter, draftsman and educator George B. Bridgman.

The remaining lectures in the series are:

• Nov. 7: Kim Dickey and Simon Levin, ceramics — Dickey, professor of art at the University of Colorado Boulder, and Levin, full-time studio potter and kiln builder, are talented ceramic artists whose award-winning work has been featured in locations and publications around the globe. Their demonstrations will take place Nov. 7-10.

• Nov. 14: Lynne Avadenka, printmaking — Avadenka is an American printmaker who creates multimedia work informed by explorations of text, image and the Jewish experience. Her work is featured in the Library of Congress and the New York Public Library.

For more information on the series, send email to schoolaahd@unl.edu or call 402-472-5522.