ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT BRIEFS

Nevada Museum of Art

How do art, science, and politics mix together to guide human evolution? The newest exhibit at the Nevada Museum of Art offers some insight.

Los Angeles-based artist Lauren Bon and the Optics Division of her Metabolic Studio have undertaken a deep exploration of how these forces impact humans and our habitats. The studio’s current initiative, focused on the Owens Valley region of eastern California to the LA River and beyond, uses art produced in collaboration with the landscape itself as a medium to engage community and effect positive social change.

The Nevada Museum of Art, Donald W. Reynolds Center for the Visual Arts, E. L. Wiegand Gallery, welcomes the latest creation to emerge from these efforts, Lauren Bon & The Optics Division Team: Transforming Inert Landscape into Agency. The exhibition draws from the extensive project archives collected by the Center for Art and Environment and will be on display through May 25.

Sponsorship is provided by the John Ben Snow Memorial Trust.

Range Holiday Shopping

Online shopping is hot these days, and RANGE magazine’s gift shop has more than 30 reasons to check out its merchandise.

The collection ranges from clothing, a cowboy-themed wall calendar, subscriptions, fine art, and books. Prices are reasonable and there are a number of specially priced holiday combos and sale items. All prices include shipping and handling. Visit www.rangemagazine.com and click on Shopping Cart for information.

RANGE is an award-winning national publication devoted to the issues that threaten the West, its people, lifestyles, lands and wildlife. RANGE was recently recognized with 20 journalism awards, including the coveted Freedom of the Press, Outstanding Journalist and Outstanding Visual Journalist awards.

For information visit www.rangemagazine.com, or call 1-800-RANGE-4-U.

Cowboy poetry

The National Cowboy Poetry Gathering is turning 30 in 2014, and the nation’s greatest celebration of the American West, its people, culture and traditions, will turn its focus to the future of the region.

Between Jan. 27 and Feb. 1, in Elko, the Gathering will present poetry, music, fine western gear, films, workshops, dances and discussions with a clear focus on encouraging the next generation and working together to ensure the sustainability of the occupational and artistic traditions of the rural West.

The theme of the 30th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering is Expressing the Rural West — Into the Future!

Through performances of poetry and music, thought-provoking films and fruitful discourse, artists and audiences of all ages will share their art and their opinions on meeting the challenges of rural life in the modern West.

In particular, the next generation of cowboy artists will present their work and discuss their brand of ranch life — with one hand on the reins and the other on the cell phone.

More than 50 poets, musicians and musical groups from the U.S. and Canada will perform on seven stages at four different venues.

The line-up includes cowboy poets Baxter Black, Paul Zarzyski, Waddie Mitchell, Yvonne Hollenbeck, Joel Nelson, Doris Daley, Pat Richardson, Randy Rieman and many others.

Music is as integral to the Gathering as poetry; the musical line-up includes Ian Tyson, Michael Martin Murphey, Riders In The Sky, Don Edwards, Dave Stamey, Jeffery Broussard & the Creole Cowboys, Caleb Klauder Country Band, Martha Scanlan and more. Scroll down for a full list of participating artists and their hometowns. Visit www.westernfolklife.org for full bios.

Special guests this year include renowned animal welfare advocate, professor and author Temple Grandin, who will deliver the keynote address, and Stephanie Davis and her Trail’s End Ranch Radio Show, broadcasting poetry, humor and wisdom from a fictitious radio station on the range. A special exhibition will celebrate the new renaissance of western artistry among young gearmakers and visual artists.

Fleischmann Planetarium

Since 1963, as the Fleischmann Atmospherium, the Planetarium has welcomed people of all ages.

Special events, lectures, fulldome planetarium shows and retro pricing through January include Friday Vintage Live Sky Tonight Star Talks from 6-7 p.m.

Join the Planetarium for a weekly, fulldome look at what’s up in the sky tonight, presented the way we used to back in the day in our vintage Skies Over Nevada series. Live Star Talks are $7 adults and $5 children ages 3-12, seniors 60 and over, and UNR faculty, staff and students; shows are free for Planetarium members.

Friday Travels-Through-Time Talks through Dec. 20 from 7-8 p.m.

Take a weekly look back at every decade since 1963, with the Planetarium’s special guest speakers past and present. The schedule includes tonight: Arthur Johnson — our director (1973-2002) and “voice of the Planetarium” — on the 1980s, the return of Halley’s Comet and our cool time capsule that accompanied the event.

Today: Tony Berendsen — expert star guide at Tahoe Star Tours — on the 1990s and the Planetarium’s place as a nexus for astronomical activity and community outreach.

Dec. 20: Dan Ruby — our director (2002-present) — on the 21st century and our vision of the future as a learning lab to connect University students and researchers with K-12 students and the community.

Friday Travels-Through-Time Talks are $7 adults and $5 children ages 3-12, seniors 60 and over, and UNR faculty, staff and students; shows are free for Planetarium members. For the full schedule of 50th anniversary events, Nov. 8, 2013-Jan. 12, 2014, visit http://www.planetarium.unr.edu/50th_Events.html