The start of a new year brings a feeling of optimism and fresh possibilities. Make 2026 the time you view a new artist, hear a new campus musical performance or learn something that you’ve never considered.
Cinema
Grab your seat at the Filmlandia Screening Series, celebrating Oregon’s rich film heritage. From classics such as The Shining to a 13-minute skate park documentary, there will be a movie to hold your interest.
The Nordic Film Series returns this term, featuring movies from each of the five Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) on Friday nights in Lawrence Hall.
Sit back and take in Mother Nature’s artistry from breathtaking imagery by the Webb and Hubble space telescopes during Stargazer: an Immersive Relaxation Visualization, Jan. 13 and 27.
Exhibitions
Join Craft Center artists at the Jan. 13 opening reception of “I Finally Finished It.” The exhibit is on display Jan. 5 to March 12 in the Erb Memorial Union Adell McMillan Gallery.
An opening night reception Jan. 16 at the Museum of Natural and Cultural History offers light appetizers and refreshments alongside colorful portraits by Jeremy Okai Davis featuring Oregon’s early Black pioneers. The rest of the “ReEnvisioned” opening weekend will include family-friendly activities.
Contemporary art meets archive in “The Whisperers,” a new exhibit opening Jan. 17 at Ditch Projects in Springfield. Produced by the UO Center for Art Research.
Hands-on art
Put the art in cartography during the next session of GIS and Tea: Cocoa and Map Crafts, Jan. 9 in the Knight Library.
Try your hand at making a laser-cut map notebook and a key chain map of Oregon during the ArcGIS Pro and the Makerspace: Laser-Cut Map Notebook workshop series, Feb. 2, 4 and 6.
Is 2026 the year you learn a new crafty hobby? Workshops for woodworking, painting, fiber art or blacksmithing, to name a few, are open for registration through the Craft Center.
Lectures
Joamette Gil will discuss their comic anthology Mañana: Latinx Comics from the 25th Century Jan. 9 in the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art Ford Lecture Hall.
A poetry reading will be included in the Jan. 12 lecture “Considerations for Composing Poetry in Indigenous Languages” at the Many Nations Longhouse.
Learn about the world’s first internationally recognized double bass soloist in “The Legacy of Gary Karr” Jan. 14 in the Knight Library.
Discover Migrant Glyps in a storytelling talk Jan. 23 by Edgar Garcia, associate professor of English at the University of Chicago.
Hear more poetry Jan. 28 as the Creative Writing Reading Series presents Michelle Peñaloza, the author of All The Words I Can Remember Are Poems.
Music
Visiting Trotter Professor and trombonist Megumi Kanda will perform two shows Jan. 7 and 9 in Beall Concert Hall.
Album Listening Sessions are back at the Knight Library this term, starting Jan. 9. Each one focuses on a single classic album from an array of musical genres.
Musicians from the School of Music and Dance will perform at the Oregon Jazz Festival Jan. 23-24 at several venues in Eugene.
Grammy-nominated pianist Simone Dinnerstein muses on musical interconnection with “Reflections” at Beall Concert Hall Jan. 25.
The Oregon Humanities Center will host Christopher Brown and his jazz band for a lecture/performance titled “Beyond the Buzz: Finding the Signal in a Noisy World” Jan. 29 at 6 p.m. at The Shedd Institute, 285 East Broadway Street. The event will be preceded by a reception with a no-host bar. Registration is requested.
Get educated about music while you listen to the Oregon Wind Ensemble as they present their new program “Like a TedTalk” Jan. 30.
Hear an international orchestra from the comfort of the Knight Library. The Berlin Philharmonic performs two late-Romantic masterworks Jan. 30.
Find newly added shows on the School of Music and Dance events webpage.
Something extra
What, me worry? Funny fans of Mad magazine can flip through the newly donated, extensive collection in the UO Libraries Special Collections and University Archives.
—Jennifer Archer, University Communications