Visions of the Prairie
Red Cloud Opera House
413 North Webster Street
Red Cloud, NE 68970
United States
Scott Kirby's drawings and watercolor paintings are inspired by the American Great Plains. Referred to as an “accidental artist” by Sandpoint Magazine, Kirby began making art at the age of forty. Although the attempts to capture these mostly imagined visions are quite intentional, the origins of Kirby's transition from music to art was, in a way, “accidental,” or unexpected, and his scenes are rooted in a long relationship with the towns and landscapes of the American grasslands. Scott Kirby has made his living as a musician for his entire professional life and has had no formal training or professional background in visual art.
For several years, Kirby has combined his art and music in a multi-media program called "Main Street Souvenirs,” which he'll perform in the Red Cloud Opera House on April 3, 2026. His original paintings and original musical compositions will be highlighted in this presentation, and it includes chapters about local history, including the National Willa Cather Center.
Programming at the National Willa Cather Center's Red Cloud Opera House is made possible with the support of the Baldwin Foundation, Nebraska Arts Council, and Nebraska Cultural Endowment.
About the Music
A native of Ohio, Scott Kirby began his study of music at age six and continued formal piano instruction for seventeen years. He worked under Robert Howat of Wittenberg University of Ohio, and Sylvia Zaremba at the Ohio State University. After obtaining an English degree from Ohio State University, Kirby moved to New Orleans and began his professional music career as a street performer. In the next four years, he recorded the complete rags of Scott Joplin and made his debut at all of the major ragtime festivals in the United States, as well as festivals in Belgium, France, Norway, New Zealand, and Hungary.
Kirby has served as Musical Director of the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Sedalia, Missouri, and the Rocky Mountain Ragtime and American Music Festival in Boulder, Colorado. His appearances include a segment on CBS News Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. Kirby has made twenty-five recordings and has composed over 150 original works for piano. In 2004, Kirby’s artistic passion grew to include to visual art, mostly focused on the American Great Plains. These works, together with new musical compositions, set the groundwork for his multi-media project “Main Street Souvenirs.” He currently lives in Boulder, Colorado.