Your Ticket: Studio K to host First Friday art opening | Entertainment

The gallery’s May show will feature two- and three-dimensional works from Beth Gardner, Alissa Harris and Lib Martinich.

Martinich has been working with clay for 20 years, and is mainly wheel-thrown. She describes her style as “a combination of the Pacific Northwest and the Midwest,” using lots of blues and greens and some earth tones.

She grew up in Montana, but now lives in York. She holds a studio art degree from Concordia College in Moorehead, Minne. “I bought myself a wheel and an electric kiln,” she said, “and I have been working with clay since then.”

Since she was very young, Harris says her natural gift for drawing and painting has provided an outlet for her creative nature. She is an exploratory artist with a bachelor of arts degree in studio art who “loves to celebrate the simple and positive moments in life inspiring others to do the same, to step into a different realm where interpretation is personal and playfulness is key.”

The Kearney resident says a majority of her pieces are acrylic works that invite viewers to “explore and linger in nature, ponder esoteric themes, admire powerful figures and examine mystical symbols.”

Gardner is a self-taught Nebraska artist. Her medium is mostly acrylic with an occasional watercolor. “Art is a very personal experience,” she said. “It’s not necessarily the artists experience but their own.“

She says her inspiration frequently comes from color. “Sometimes it’s a white, beige or black day and sometimes it’s a color-filled day. That’s the exciting process of abstract art. You just never know what the end product will be.”

The exhibit featuring the work of these three artists will remain on display through the end of May. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, call 308-381-4001.

HASTINGS — The work of four senior art majors make up the second thesis show this year in the Hastings College Jackson Dinsdale Art Center.

The exhibition runs through May 13 in both JDAC galleries, which are open from 9 a.m. through 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. A public lecture and reception is planned for 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, May 8, in the Wilson Center Auditorium.

This exhibition features work from Sophia Carlson, a studio art major from Dannebrog; Christian Hessler, a studio art and computer science double major from Hastings; Zach Hole, a studio art major from Wichita, Kan.; and Karsen Sears, a studio art major from Westcliffe, Colo.

Carlson’s work, “Short Stories,” features a series of three video shorts that explore the “adventures and domestic obligations of a group of private detectives, fashion models, mercenaries and a pyromaniac coexisting within a laissez fare society recovering from a stalemate war against a tyrannical regime.”

Hessler uses glass and fiber optic cable for his project “Exulansis.” He said the project explores concepts of communication and network. “By allowing the audience to step into this immersive experience, it allows them a chance to explore a causal relationship between myself and the work,” he said.

“Flight” by Hole is an abstract representation balancing art and engineering to create large-scale sculptures from wood and aluminum, while paying homage to his family’s history in the field of aviation.

Sears said she is a maker, and her project, titled “Blaze,” is grounded in timber sculpture and the intentional act of burning, which she based on intuition. “In stating this I’m not saying my work speaks for itself. But rather, I am unable to adequately do so myself. This leaves me with a burning passion to keep making in hopes that someday I will be able to do so,” she said.

The art center is located at 700 E. 12th St. in Hastings.

“Father Stu” is showing this weekend at the Grand Theatre, 316 W. Third St. Showtimes are 7:15 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

When an injury ends his amateur boxing career, Stuart Long moves to Los Angeles to find money and fame. While scraping by as a supermarket clerk, he meets Carmen, a Sunday school teacher who seems immune to his bad-boy charm. Determined to win her over, the longtime agnostic starts going to church to impress her. However, a motorcycle accident leaves him wondering if he can use his second chance to help others, leading to the surprising realization that he’s meant to be a Catholic priest.

The movie is rated R for language throughout.

Admission is $5 for adults, and $4 for children and seniors. For more information, call 308-381-2667 or visit grandmovietheatre.com.

Your Ticket briefs are published every Thursday in The Independent. To submit arts and entertainment announcements, submit to Terri Hahn at [email protected] at least two weeks prior to the event. No information will be accepted over the phone. There is no charge for publication, but announcements must follow newspaper style and policy.