February is Black History Month and numerous events are planned, including an Ideas on Tap lecture by UO political scientist Debra Thompson titled “Return: Race, Democracy and the Boundaries of Belonging in North America.”

Arts events throughout the month include a master class on early Spanish organ music Feb. 18 and a concert Feb. 20 with Guy Govet, a specialist in Hispanic organ music and the 2020 John D. Hamilton Organ and Harpsichord Visiting Artist.

Be sure to check out Ducks After Dark for a variety of great film screenings, including “Joker,” “Knives Out,” and “Zombieland: Double Tap.” And don’t miss the UO Queer Film Festival opening Feb. 8-9.

Art

Join Pacific Northwest photographer Charles H. Jones for a reception at the Oregon Law Gallery on Feb. 13. A retired mathematician, Jones’ surreal and abstract photographs capture nature up close and personal. “Plant Abstractions,” an exhibition of his photography, will be on display at the Oregon Law Gallery through May 20. A mix of Georgia O’Keefe and Dr. Seuss, the intensive magnifications of his subject matter provide viewers a sensory experience.

A closing reception Feb. 6 will celebrate watercolor artist Mel Vincent, whose works have been on display in the Adell McMillan Gallery at the Erb Memorial Union. More than 60 years of paintings and drawings capture structures and landscapes of small-town Oregon and historic Eugene with images of country stores, post offices, mechanics garages, campus buildings and historic homes. Members of Vincent’s family will be on hand to answer questions about the artist and his work.

Catch it before it’s gone. Feb. 20 is your last chance to view “Blake Little: Photographs from the Gay Rodeo” at the Museum of Natural and Cultural History.

Music

Get out to Aasen-Hull Hall Feb. 1 for The Gr*mmy Show, a fun-filled evening of variety acts, edutainment sketches and Grammy-nominated songs hosted by School of Music and Dance professors Brian McWhorter and Toby Koenigsberg.

Mirus Trio with Wonkak Kim will perform Paul Moravec’s “Tempest Fantasy” on Feb. 3 in Beall Concert Hall. The Seoul-based trio consists of violinist Hyungi Kim, cellist Jayoung Kim and pianist Namhee Lim. Wonkak Kim is a UO assistant professor of clarinet.

On Feb. 3, guest conductor Johannes Müller- Stosch will lead the UO Symphony Orchestra as they perform “Humperdinck, Prelude to Hänsel und Gretel”; “Canfield, Concerto after Tchaiksovsky” with concerto competition winner Jessica Dodge; and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5.

Join guest artist Matt Hettwer on the trombone at The Jazz Station on Feb. 7 for a swinging performance by the UO Jazz Ensembles.

A collaboration of the Boston Camerata and the UO School of Music and Dance, the prophecies and tribulations of the Biblical hero Daniel is retold through music in the presentation of “The Play of Daniel: A Medieval Masterpiece Revisited” on Feb. 8 at Central Lutheran Church.

The UO Wind Symphony will perform Feb. 11 at Beall Concert Hall. The Oregon Wind Symphony provides wind, brass and percussion students with opportunities to showcase original band works, chamber works and selected transcription throughout the academic year. The UO Wind Ensemble will perform Feb. 12.

Don’t miss “La Tragédie De Carmen,” a condensed opera performance of Bizet’s “Carmen” performed with Orchestra Next on Feb. 14 at Aasen-Hull Hall.

“CM@B: Trio con brio Copenhagen” will perform works by Sorensen and Arensky and Beethoven’s Op. 97 Feb. 16 at Beall Concert Hall. Playing a central role in Scandinavia’s vibrant contemporary music scene, the trio —with Korean-born sisters Soo-Kyung Hong on cello and Soo-Jin Hong on violin with Danish pianist Jens Elvekjaer — are celebrating their 20th year together.

A specialist in Hispanic organ music and the 2020 John D. Hamilton Organ and Harpsichord Visiting Artist, Guy Bovet will present a master class on early Spanish organ music Feb. 18, a concert Feb. 20 and a recital of dueling harpsichords with UO faculty member Barbara Baird on Feb. 21. An internationally acclaimed concert organist, Bovet performs about 60 recitals per year around the world. His discography includes 50 records and CDs and his catalogue as a composer features more than 250 opus numbers.

French sound artist, performer, researcher and Trotter Visiting Professor Laetitia Sonami will present a sound concert Feb. 23 in Aasen-Hull Hall. Sonami is best known for her unique instrument, the elbow-length lady’s glove, which is fitted with an array of sensors tracking the slightest motion of her hand and body. Sonami, who has performed worldwide and earned substantial international renown, will also present an artist lecture Feb. 24 in Beall Concert Hall.

Catch the Delgani String Quartet on Feb. 25. “The state’s finest chamber ensemble,” according to Oregon Arts Watch, the Delgani String Quartet is made up of graduate-level student composers at the UO and performs both classical and contemporary music.

Cinema

Throughout the month, Ducks After Dark will present a variety of great films in the EMU Redwood Room at 8:15. Free activities and snacks with your UO student ID. Catch the Oscar-nominated film “Joker” starring Joaquin Phoenix on Feb. 6. Return to a simpler time of fast cars and burger joints for “Grease” on Feb. 13; catch the all-star cast in the whodunit murder mystery “Knives Out” Feb. 20; and finally on Feb. 27 it’s zombies round two with Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin in “Zombieland: Double Tap.”

Marking its 27th year, the UO Queer Film Festival opens Feb. 8-9 with feature films, receptions and a keynote speaker.

On Feb. 12 at 5 p.m., drop in for a screening of “Loving Vincent” at Movie Night at the Museum  with the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art Student Member Advisory Council. This lush, 2017 experimental animated film about the life of painter Vincent van Gogh chronicles the artist’s last days. Created by a team of more than 100 painters, each of the film’s 65,000 frames is an oil painting on canvas, using the same technique as Van Gogh.

Dance

On Feb. 22 at 7:30 p.m., the UO School of Music and Dance and Eugene Ballet present “Interplay,” a collaborative contemporary dance experience featuring choreographers and dancers from professional and university companies. Sponsored by the Oregon Bach Festival, the performance will feature live music by American pianist Lara Downes and include work by six choreographers from both organizations.

Theater

Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” opens at the Robinson Theatre on Feb. 28. This contemporary translation of the 1879 play explores early feminism and a married couple’s complicated relationship.

Lectures

Join a discussion about the Roger Shimomura exhibition “By Looking Back, We Look Forward” with English professor Tara Fickle and chief curator Anne Rose Kitagawa. Shimomura’s art reflects his family’s World War II experience in a Japanese-American internment camp.

Join UO assistant professor of Spanish Mayra Bottaro on Feb. 19 for “Luminous Voices: Xul Solar, Orphism and the Aesthetics of New Media,” a lecture focusing on the artistic work and vision of Argentine artist Xul Solarand how it engages early 20th century discourses on abstract art, new technology and linguistic explorations.

Imparting his vast scholarly knowledge on the art world, camp aesthetics and their natural correlation to ancient human sacrifice is Portland’s premier drag clown Carla Rossi, aka professor emeritus at the Institute of Metaphysical and Digestive Clown Research, aka Anthony Hudson. Join the professor at 6 p.m. Feb. 20 at the Museum of Natural and Cultural History. Admission is free for UO ID cardholders.

Widely exhibited in the United States, Peregrine Honig’s art explores contemporary social issues such as class and gender struggles, child abuse and civil rights. Honig will present “Satire and Fairy Tale in Contemporary Art Projects” to UO students in professor Dorothee Ostmeier’s class “Magic, Uncanny, Surrealist and Cynical Tales” at 2 p.m. Feb. 20 at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. Honig’s print portfolio “Father Gander (2006-06)” will be on view in the lecture hall.

The Department of Art Visiting Artist Lecture Series presents “Julia Haft-Candell: Building a Visual Vocabulary” at 4 p.m. Feb. 20 in Lawrence Hall. Drawing influence from Philip Guston, Audre Lorde, Louise Bourgeois and Eva Hesse, Haft-Candell’s work uses humor and sensibilities of the handmade to critique systems of power and absurdities of existence.

Michael Najjar, theater arts professor and 2019-20 faculty research fellow will speak on “Middle Eastern American Theatre: A Polycultural Mosaic” on Feb. 21 in Room 159 Prince Lucien Campbell Hall.

On Feb. 27, join Steve Zissou for his lecture “Piscinéma, from Man Ray to The Life Aquatic” in the Knight Library Browsing room.

Crafts

Looking for an artistic distraction? Make the EMU your destination every Friday this month between 12:30 and 3 p.m. for Freebie Fridays. Make buttons Feb. 7, create block printed cards Feb. 14, marbled paper Feb. 21 and macramé hanging baskets Feb. 28.

Pub talks

On Feb. 5, UO history professor Steven Beda will talk on “Beyond the Spotted Owl: The History of Timber Workers and Environmentalism in the Pacific Northwest” at the Ax Billy Grill and Sports Bar at the Downtown Athletic Club at 6 p.m. All Quack Chat pub talks are free and open to the public.

Join UO political scientist Debra Thompson for “Return: Race, Democracy and the Boundaries of Belonging in North America” at Ideas on Tap, the Museum of Natural and Cultural History’s monthly pub talk at the Viking Braggot Co. Southtowne. Thompson will explore how time and geography influenced understanding of race, home, belonging, diaspora and democracy.

—By Sharleen Nelson, University Communications