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Fragments of Desire: Cather and the Arts

Hosted by the Willa Cather Foundation and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Cather Project

"It had come all the way; when men lived in caves, it was there. A vanished race; but along the trails, in the stream, under the spreading cactus, there still glittered in the sun the bits of their frail clay vessels, fragments of their desire."

About the exhibition: An excerpt from Cather's 1915 novel The Song of the Lark serves as a textual basis for a series of drawings that explore the subjects of collaboration, identity, and ambition through the physical imposition of translucent drawings on hand-rendered text.

Born in Grand Island, Nebraska in 1887, Grant Reynard began his young artistic career in his father’smusic store singing and playing the piano. 

Reynard went on to become one of the most prolific illustrators of his time with his work appearing in The Saturday Evening Post, Redbook, Ladies’ Home Journal, Harper’s Bazaar, McCall’s, and Scribner’s Magazine, just to name a few. 

To celebrate the publication centenary of Willa Cather’s novel The Song of the Lark, the Willa Cather Foundation has invited artists from across Nebraska or with Nebraska ties to participate in an exhibition entitled The Growth of an Artist: Commemorating 100 Years of The Song of the Lark. Artists participating will create works in various mediums inspired by many themes present in the novel’s text and their work will be on display during the 60th annual Willa Cather Spring Conference, which will center on Cather’s use of the arts in The Song of the Lark. 

We are thrilled to bring the first staged reading of this new musical from the writing team of Becky Boesen and David von Kampen. CATHERLAND tells the story of Susan, an emerging writer living the life of her dreams, complete with an adoring husband and an almost-finished first novel. When tragedy strikes, and the trajectory of her life changes, she must decide how to move forward. Searching for answers, she flees to Red Cloud, Nebraska, the childhood home of novelist Willa Cather.

We invite you to attend an artist's reception honoring photographer Jorn Olsen, who has captured the essence of Nebraska's plains with his stunning work. Olsen will also be signing copies of his award-winning book entitled Across a Wide Horizon.

View the work of some of Nebraska’s best contemporary artists as the Association of Nebraska Art Clubs (ANAC) brings its award-winning pieces to the Red Cloud Opera House. This exhibition, themed A Splash of Gold, showcases the incredible artistic talent from throughout the state.

Join us prior to the Red Cloud community Easter Egg Hunt to enjoy a free family-friendly concert and lunch.

Music from The String Beans is a fun mix of rock, country, blues, pop, polka and even a little rap! String Beans songs are all about the stuff kids love — dinosaurs, sports, animals, food, cartoons and just having fun. Some of the songs are even educational and teach youngsters all about things like astronomy, nature, language and Nebraska history.

Red Cloud’s homegrown band is returning to the Opera House stage for a second time. Last year’s performance was a sell-out and we cannot wait to hear the new music that the group has been preparing. This show will include a variety of music from the late 1960’s to today, including country, rock, alternative and a touch of blues.