Open Studios

Our artists frequently open their studios to visitors. Short readings, musical presentations or visual presentations are sometimes scheduled amid informal visits with the artists. Our next open studio event will be held Thursday, September 2, 2010 from 4:30-6 p.m. to meet our current resident artists, view their work in progress, and learn about their creative process.

Gallery Receptions

Reception for Construct, an exhibition of drawings and mixed media sculptures by artist, Mary Day will be Saturday, September 18 from 2 - 4 p.m. The exhibition is open for viewing beginning Monday, August 23 through Thursday, October 14, 2010. This reception coincides with Nebraska City's annual AppleJack Festival, September 17-19, 2010.

Gallery hours & information.

Community Outreach

Continuing Education Partnership with SCC

Southeast Community College regularly holds art classes in the educational facilities at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts as part of their Continuing Education program. More information is available at the SCC website or by contacting the area coordinator, Cindy Meyer, at cmeyer@southeast.edu. Students must register and pay tuition fees through SCC. Classes for the Fall 2010 session include:

Stained Glass in a Day: A one-day workshop teaches students the step-by-step process of making a stained glass window using the copper foil method. Students learn to cut glass, fit pieces properly, foil and solder. Various finishing techniques are covered. Tuition is $90. All materials and use of tools are provided. Finished piece is approximately 12 x 14 inches. Class is scheduled for Saturday, October 9 from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts. Course #: ACSX-9315

Beginners Quilting & Beyond: Students learn basic quilting techniques: pattern selection, rotary cutting, fabric choices, stitching, pressing, etc. and are then guided through the finishing the project. The last two classes will cover advanced patterns and techniques along with an exploration of art quilts. Class time will be spent on instruction and demonstration; students work on their individual projects at home. Students can choose a project that suits their interests. Choices may include a baby quilt, a table runner or a special comfort quilt. Tuition is $50 with an additional $5 fee for an instruction packet with patterns paid directly to the instructor. The instructor, Pat Friedli, is an experienced quilter and is the assistant director at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts. Class is scheduled for Thursday evenings, October 28 - December 2 (no class November 25) from 6 - 8:30 p.m. Course #: ACSX-9626

Bob Ross Painting: Mountain Summit: A class designed for painters of all abilities, including beginners. Come and enjoy a relaxing time painting. It is an excellent stress reliever and offers a wonderful sense of accomplishment. The objective for this class will be to capture the beauty of a distant mountain overlooking a lake surrounded by bushes and trees. The instructor, Donald Belik, is a certified Bob Ross instructor. Tuition fee is $30 plus an additional $20 materials fee paid directly to the instructor. Brushes, easel, pallet, paints and a canvas will be provided. Class is scheduled for Saturday, December 4 from 9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts. Course #: ACSX-1625

KHN hosts Hot Wax/Cool Art Workshop with Margaret Berry
On Saturday, August 7, 2010, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts welcomed Margaret Berry, an international-known encaustics artist for an all day workshop in the art of encaustic painting. The workshop filled to capacity with students from all over the state, with folks coming from Hastings, Omaha, Lincoln, and Lawrence (KS) to take part.

2010 Summer Camps for Youth a Creative Success
Wow - what a fabulous week of fun and creativity at KHN! For one week, July 26-30, 2010, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts welcomed Katy Bovick and her students for an art camp for youth sponsored by Partners for Otoe County and the Nebraska Arts Council. During the camp, students entering 1st through 6th grade tackled a variety of arts-based projects. Their finished pieces included Matisse-inspired self-portraits, African-style metal masks, pastel drawings of animal eyes, and a final group project based on the work of artist, Wassily Kandinsky. Students also had the chance to meet KHN Resident Artist, Aaron Fine, and tour the exhibition currently on display in the gallery. An art show was held on the last day of the camp to give students a chance to show off their creations to family and friends. Thank you to all our partners that help make these opportunities possible for area youth. Enjoy more images from camp activities on the KHN Facebook Page.

Resident Activities

Matt Dehamers was a visual artist-in-residence during the spring of 2006. A mural by Michael Dehaemers (KHN visual art resident 2006) was recently installed at the Regis Jesuit High School in Denver, Colorado. The mural relates to aspects of the school's history and movement throughout the last century from New Mexico to Southern Colorado to its current location in Aurora, Colorado. It also speaks to the life of St. John Francis Regis for which the school is name who worked with people in small medieval communities throughout the French Alps. Some of the imagery draws a relationship between the geography of Rocky Mountains and French Alps.

Another mural by Dehaemers, commissioned for the I-44 Welcome Center in Joplin, was also dedicated in May 2010 by The Missouri Department of Transportation to kick off Missouri Tourism month. Dehaemers says, “I enjoyed hearing all the stories the welcome center staff had about people coming through reacting to the mural including a group of Tibetan Monks who stopped to pose for a couple of pictures in front of it.”

Matt has also been awarded a public art commission to create a public art piece for the KCATA at the Troost Corridor (due to be completed by September 2010) in Kansas City, Missouri. The concept of this public art piece is a large scale kinetic sculpture that will move in relationship to arriving and departing buses. Matt’s work will soon be seen on the Creighton University Campus in Omaha, Nebraska. He is creating a multi-dimensional installation that will involve people from the Creighton campus and Omaha community. The project deals specifically with issues surrounding the world water crisis and will be installed at the Lied Arts Center.

Joan Waltemath (visual artist-in-residence 2007) Named Director of MICA's Hoffberger School of Painting. Abstract painter and longtime educator, Joan Waltemath, has been selected as the second permanent director of the Hoffberger School of Painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). The M.F.A. program is noted for producing generations of painters who have had an impact in the art world.

"I am honored to step into my new role as director of the Hoffberger School of Painting at MICA," Waltemath said. "It is a challenge not only to uphold the important place the College has held in American culture for nearly two centtures now but also a unique opportunity to focus on painting at a time of multiformity in the arts and to help shape its future."

Walthemath, who has been an educator since the early 1990's, has taught for more than a decade at the I.S. Chanin School of Architecture of the Cooper Union in New York and in the visual arts department at Princeton University in New Jersey. She has also served as the editor-at-large of the Brooklyn Rail, a critical publication of arts, politics, and Culuter, for nearly 10 years. She studied at the University of Nebraska from 1971-73 and received a B.F.A. at the Rhode Island School of Design in 1976 and an M.F.A. from Hunter College at the City University of New York in 1993. As an artist, Waltemath has exhibited extensively throughout the United States and internationally, Including solo show s in New York; Basal, Switzerland; London; Brussels; and Bonn, Germandy. Her work is in many noted public collections and she has received grants from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation. Waltemath was a resident artist at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts for 8 weeks in the fall of 2007.