Celebrate all month long at events sure to warm your spirit.

Music recitals and concerts dominate the season, everything from jazz to classical to a capella. However, many other opportunities for holiday entertainment can be found, including the Fall Dance Loft presented by the School of Music and Dance or the ninth annual UO Hip Hop Jam, featuring an impressive lineup of popular emcees.

Art-based events on tap this month include the annual Critical Art Show, which turns the media and its messages against itself, and the Division of Graduate Studies’ Student Film Festival.

Events

Throughout the month, the Museum of Natural and Cultural History will host Holiday Nights at the Museum. On Dec. 8, the museum store will feature Oregon authors, including Marli Miller, an author of books on Oregon geology, and Bill Sullivan’s popular trail guides. Come out Dec. 15 and meet local artists Erika Beyer and Ian Petersen and learn what it’s like to turn science into artwork.

Dance

The UO School of Music and Dance presents the Fall Dance Loft, featuring a diverse showcase of pieces choreographed and performed by students on Dec. 2 at Dougherty Dance Theatre.

Art

Curated by 20 first-year students in the Remixing Media, Critiquing Culture freshman interest group, the sixth annual UO Critical Art Show returns with art that borrows from society to critique it and created by students, faculty members and the community. The free event takes place Dec. 1 in the Global Scholars Hall lobby.

Exhibitions

Through Dec. 8, the “Stories from Everyday” exhibition will be on display in Lawrence Hall. Students from the Relief in Printmaking class gathered a collection of real stories documenting the mental health struggles of friends, families and peers and carved them onto wood blocks.

Don’t miss the “Drawing Connections: Raymond Saunders with Laura Vandenburgh” exhibition at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art before it ends Dec. 18.

UO Libraries’ Special Collections and University Archives opened “Reclamation,” an exhibition featuring two contemporary Native photographers. Through their photography, Zig Jackson and Pamela Peters aim to dismantle popular mythology around Native culture and to reaffirm the sovereignty of Indigenous identity, land and traditions. Jackson, also called Rising Buffalo, grew up on Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota; Peters is a Diné multimedia artist and documentarian from the Navajo Reservation.

Music

Kicking off the month with lively music and dance is the ninth annual UO Hip Hop Jam, to be held Dec. 1 at Global Scholars Hall. This year’s event promises to be popping with a stacked lineup of emcees including ePP, Spinitch, Justice Gbada, Sotae, Kunu and Andrew Kai, plus live canvas graffiti-style painting by Tasko.

At Beall Concert Hall: M.M. Recital: Rongrong Chen, Composition on Dec. 2. The University Singers and UO Chamber Choir will share the stage for a joyful holiday concert Dec. 3. On Dec. 4 the UO Gospel Choir will perform at 5 p.m., and at 7:30 the Trombone Choir takes the stage.

Don’t miss the “A Capella Winter Showcase” Dec. 2, a holiday tradition bringing the UO’s three a capella groups — Mind the Gap, Divisi and On the Rocks — together to perform in the Erb Memorial Union ballroom. Jazz Combos performs Dec. 3 at the Frohnmayer Music building.

Cinema

The Division of Graduate Studies is hosting a gradCONNECT event, “Grad Student Film Festival,” Dec. 2 at the EMU. The event will feature short audiovisual creations made by UO graduate students. A Q&A session with the filmmakers will follow the presentation.

Streaming resources

Experience the holiday season inside where it’s warm and cozy. Warm your toes virtually with five hours of The Duck posing in front of a crackling fire or visit eventbrite’s online holiday events site and choose from a host of free and pay events.

Explore the UO Channel for a variety of live-streamed events, Department of Art Visiting Artist Lecture Series videos, guest speakers and more.

—By Sharleen Nelson, University Communications