Welcome spring with several events this month that center around Earth Day, a celebration first held on April 22, 1970, in support for environmental protection.
The Museum of Natural and Cultural History will host an afternoon of walks and talks. Be sure to also check out their exhibition “Climate change, Dynamic Landscapes and Evolution.” Join your peers and make a positive change for the environment at the annual UO Earth Day of Service. And experience the devastating toll wildfires took on Oregon forests in 2020 through “Ghost Forest,” an art exhibition accompanied by UO sound artist Jon Bellona’s haunting sound installation “Wildfire.”
Exhibitions
Ukrainian filmmaker, illustrator and multimedia artist Sashko Danylenko will present his illustrated series, “The Superheroes Among Us: Art and Ukrainian Resistance,” April 23 at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. Danylenko’s work features incredible acts of resistance by ordinary Ukrainians against Russian aggression. His manifesto reads: “Destroy the enemy with fire, words, pixels, letters, musical notes, laughter and magic.”
To learn more about Ukrainian culture, visit “Amplifying Ukrainian Voices,” a Tiny Galleries exhibition at the Knight Library curated by Iryna Stavynska.
Starting April 24, “Ghost Forest,” an exhibition by Sarah Grew, will be on display in the LaVerne Krause Gallery at Lawrence Hall. Following the 2020 wildfires in Oregon, Grew collected black coals from the fires to create carbon prints of recorded images of the forest. Accompanying the exhibition will be the powerful environmental sound installation “Wildfire,” which plays back a wave of fire sounds at the speeds of actual wildfires, created by Jon Belona, a UO sound artist and instructor of audio production in the School of Music and Dance.
Celebrations
On April 22, the Museum of Natural and Cultural History will honor the achievements of the environmental movement and the importance of ongoing stewardship at an afternoon of special Walk & Talks for the Earth Day celebration at the museum. You can also join your peers and make a positive change for the environment April 22 at the Earth Day of Service: Grow Resilience event.
UO Hui 'O Hawai'i presents their 48th annual Lūau: Kū Kakou, We Stand Together as One on April 29 at McArthur Court. The event will feature authentic Hawaiian food, traditional Hawaiian and Polynesian dances, and other fun activities centered on Hawaiian culture.
Lectures
Inspired to take up weaving by her grandmother, Tetyana Bondarchuk-Horner mastered the art form to reconnect with her Ukrainian heritage. Join her at the Museum of Natural and Cultural History Galleria on April 8 and learn about traditional and modern woven and embroidered decorative cloths and try your hand at the loom.
On April 15 at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Ukrainian artist Marina Malyarenko will discuss the art of Petrykyivka, a traditional art form used to decorate houses and household goods. Malyarenko creates paintings using symbols that reflect unity, community and tradition as acts of resistance to forces that suppress Ukrainian culture.
Join Annelise Heinz and storytellers Kate Conley, Jane Gibbons, Connie Newman and Kate Thompson April 13 in the Museum of Natural and Cultural History’s Galleria for “Printed with Purpose: Women’s Presses and Print Shops.” Learn how Eugene’s lesbian community defied invisibility by providing outlets for women’s and lesbian movements.
Join artist Naama Tsabar April 13 at Lawrence Hall for a Visiting Artist Lecture Series Artist Talk. Tsabar fuses elements from sculpture, music, performance and architecture into her interactive works. She will discuss interactivity within the exhibition realm, the conception and the use of various performative elements in her work, and a feminist approach to performance and community. On April 20, the artist series presents Jim Drain’s talk on “Making Time: Craft-Based Sculpture.” Drain adds knitting to his sculpture as a stand-in for the body. Lectures are livestreamed and archived on YouTube.
Music & dance
A reprise of “Next Movement,” a collaboration between Orchestra Next and DanceAbility that premiered last summer, will be presented April 7 at Dougherty Dance Theater in the Gerlinger Annex. Orchestra Next is a training orchestra and resident orchestra for the Eugene Ballet Company. DanceAbility uses improvisational dance to promote artistic expression and exploration between people with and without disabilities.
At Beall Concert Hall:
Each year students in the School of Music and Dance showcase their work as musical soloists in the UO Student Concerto and Aria competition. Come out April 7 for this highly competitive program. On April 14, the Northwest Percussion Festival will open with Gene Koshinski, Casey Cangelosi, Eriko Daimo and Piue Cheung premiering “Dai Dai” by Dai Fujikura for solo marimba and three percussionists. ChamberMusic@Beall presents Trio Medieval. Following sold-out shows in Portland, the Scandinavian folk vocal trio will perform April 23. The Oregon Composers Forum with Delgani String Quartet will perform new music April 18. The Oregon Wind Ensemble, comprising wind, brass and percussion students, will perform April 26.
An Opera Highlight Performance of the University Opera Ensemble will perform at the Frohnmayer Music Building on April 27.
On April 18, the Erb Memorial Union ballroom will host BE Self with Joe Kye, a musician, storyteller and community organizer for immigrant communities.
Cinema
Coinciding with Earth Day, join the Net Impact Graduate Chapter on April 18 at Lillis Business Complex for “Film Night: “Before the Flood,” a National Geographic-sponsored documentary film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, who traveled to five continents to gain a deeper understanding of climate change and its impact.
—By Sharleen Nelson, University Communications