Past Events

For our second holiday season, throughout December we will be offering guided holiday tours on Saturdays, beginning with December 7, which is also Willa Cather’s birthday! This year’s tour will specifically focus on the many seasonal winter and Christmas details described in My Ántonia—at the very same places that inspired locations in Cather's most beloved novel! 

We look forward to welcoming Karen Thurlow to the Red Cloud Opera House gallery for our final exhibition of the year! Born in Red Cloud and raised in rural Webster County, Karen is a graduate of Bladen High School. With this exhibit, she recreates Webster County memories based on family photographs and local buildings, rendered in her distinctive impressionistic style and vibrant color palette.

Students through 12th grade can attend this program for free! Please call 402-746-2653 to reserve free student tickets.

We hope you'll join us in Taos, New Mexico, for a 3-day, 3-night excursion, November 14–17, 2024! We’ll explore the beautiful mountain town and the best of its historic and arts offerings, while learning about Cather’s time in New Mexico. We’ll discuss and share from Cather’s Death Comes for the Archbishop and The Professor’s House, as well as a host of selected outside readings, in addition to touring the Father Martinez Hacienda and Taos Pueblo, the Fechin House and the Millicent Rogers museum and more.

Once again this fall, we journey to Santa Fe to explore one of Cather's favorite cities. Our tour guide, Garrett Peck, will lead us on a 2.5 hour Death Comes for the Archbishop walking tour, retracing Cather's steps through Santa Fe in 1925 and 1926.

We'll gather at the Plaza opposite La Fonda, the hotel where Cather and her partner Edith Lewis stayed during their visits. We'll read from Cather's letters, interviews, and articles, in addition to seeing historic Santa Fe.

Rachel Olsen, director of education and engagement, will present, “Willa Cather Writes the Immigrant Experience in Rural Nebraska,” on Wednesday, November 6 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in Wilson Auditorium (814 N. Turner Avenue) at Hastings College. The event is free and open to the public.

The talk, hosted by the Hastings College Department of Languages and Literatures, will examine the immigrant experience in rural Nebraska through the lens of Cather’s distinct portrayals of foreign-born individuals and the varying degrees to which communities welcomed or excluded them.

Centered around Staff sergeant Clarence Williams' personal letters home, Not Too Far Distant honors the experience of the American soldier and reminds us that we all have the power – and the responsibility – to help create a brighter future.

Centered around Staff sergeant Clarence Williams' personal letters home, Not Too Far Distant honors the experience of the American soldier and reminds us that we all have the power – and the responsibility – to help create a brighter future.

An all-inclusive fee of $175 includes round-trip transportation, lunch and dinner, guided tours of historic sites, access to permanent exhibits, and viewing of special collections in the archive.

We’re excited to be hosting our second writers cohort in Red Cloud for their two-week intensive residency in October. You won’t want to miss the sharing of their work-in-progress with readings and conversation from our panel of five writers! This event is free and open to all.

Meet The Writers