National Willa Cather Center News

Ask Loren Johnson’s former students what he was like as a teacher and they won’t mince words—he was tough. But they also describe in the same breath Johnson’s kindness and compassion. In fact, Johnson cared so deeply about others that he rarely shared much about his own life and passions. It wasn’t until Johnson’s death in September 2023 at the age of 79 that former students Bryan Harman and Gred Pedroza learned that their best friend had quietly bequeathed his entire estate to three separate non-profit organizations, one of them being the Willa Cather Foundation.

RED CLOUD, NE—The National Willa Cather Center celebrated the long-awaited soft opening of Hotel Garber on Friday, April 4. More than one hundred people gathered for celebratory remarks, a ribbon-cutting, open house, and self-guided tours. The occasion bookended more than eight years of planning, fundraising, and construction that helped rehabilitate an empty historic commercial building into a boutique hotel and event center.

Visual Antithesis: An Exhibition by Daniel Garringer is featured in our Red Cloud Opera House Gallery through May 10. We recently spoke with Garringer, an artist from Kearney, Nebraska, about his artistic process and inspirations. 

Our ideas about the history of Red Cloud and the lives of its citizens are greatly enriched by a number of photographers—both professional and amateur—who have documented the monumental and the mundane through the lens.

This week, the Red Cloud Opera House Gallery opens the traveling exhibit Thrift Style, a collection of materials and textiles related to the reuse of flour, sugar, and feed sacks to create clothing, quilts, and other necessities. In Cather's day, thrift was not only a personal value but a cultural movement—one that Cather experienced many times and in many forms throughout her life.

"Our sponsors represent some of the most passionate arts enthusiasts in our area. I love to see which shows they decide to sponsor each year, and how closely my predictions align with their interests." 

Irene Rich starred in Willa Cather's A Lost Lady, a film that made its Nebraska debut in Red Cloud 100 years ago today!

Modern representations of a Victorian Christmas are certainly beautiful, but for much of Webster County during Willa Cather’s childhood, holiday celebrations were more modest. A peek into the archives helped to develop our 2024 holiday tours and suggest the ways the Cathers might have observed Christmas at home and with their neighbors.

"I am grateful that this show can be shown in the town where I started my life since most of the pieces of art happened in this county. Thank you to everyone at the National Willa Cather Center for allowing me to show my art in the town where I spent so much of my growing up years" 

—Karen Thurlow