Past Events

As part of National Willa Cather Center's efforts to commemorate acclaimed novelist Willa Cather’s 150th year, we are pleased to announce a special virtual event series with acclaimed writer and biographer Benjamin Taylor! Join us in honoring Cather’s prolific writing career and contributions to American letters by attending one or all of these special studies focusing on a selection of Cather's most famous and beloved novels.

Learn more about the art form that inspired Willa Cather during her entire life! Author David McKay Powell will join us to talk about his recent book, Cather and Opera. This virtual event is free but requires registration. 

World-renowned opera soprano and Red Cloud native Sarah Arneson returns Friday, September 1, for a 7:30 pm performance with violinist Anne Hooper Webb.

Join us for an engaging conversation about Nebraska memoir with Sarah Fawn Montgomery and Suzanne Ohlmann, two writers with Nebraska roots who explore the world in order to learn more about their place in it. If you are interested in the same "human stories" Willa Cather illuminated in her own work, you will enjoy this free author series event!

As part of Cather’s 150th commemoration and Jaffrey’s 250th celebration, executive director Ashley Olson and Cather sculptor Littleton Alston will speak on “Willa Cather as Creator: Breaking the Mold and Carving a Place in History” on Friday, August 11 at The Amos Fortune Forum.

Join us for a production of Cinderella featuring local youth! Auditions will take place on Monday, July 31, at 10:00 a.m., and are open to students entering grades 1 through 12. The first rehearsal will begin approximately fifteen minutes after the audition and go until 2:15 p.m. While not all students will have to stay for this rehearsal, all students should bring a packed lunch and be prepared to stay until 2:15 p.m., just in case. Show Times: Friday, August 4, at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, August 5, at 2:00 p.m.

Join us for a FREE performance of an original play featuring local area children who attend the Valley Child Development Center! Established in 2015, Blixt Locally Grown provides innovative programming, education, and high quality arts experiences to communities across Nebraska. 

In 2007, photographer and Willa Cather Foundation executive director Betty Kort created forty intimate portraits of artifacts in the historic sites of Willa Cather’s home town, Red Cloud. In addition to being featured in our gallery as a part of our annual Spring Conference, the exhibition toured across the country as part of the National Endowment for the Arts "Big Read" project.

There is no better way to conclude the bright, beautiful, and lively 18th International Seminar than with a summer evening celebration against the stunning backdrop of the New York City skyline!

“The Two Greenwich Villages: Willa Cather’s New York City in a Time of Transition”

Join us at the 18th International Willa Cather Seminar for this free and engaging talk about the Greenwich Village surroundings that harbored and helped foster Cather’s life and career.