'Art Farm @ Sheldon' exhibition to open Jan. 4

"Art Farm @ Sheldon," opening Jan. 4 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, is a collaborative project with Jeff Day, an associate professor of architecture at UNL, and UNL architecture students.

The exhibition, on view through April 27, concerns the complex interrelationship of art, landscape and architecture in a rural context. It focuses on design proposals for the development of Art Farm, a nonprofit art residency program situated on a 40-acre working farm near Marquette.

Work in the exhibition includes architectural models, renderings, diagrams and drawings as well as works created by artists associated with Art Farm, including Janet Williams, Amanda Thatch, Sibylle Muff, Ayako Aramaki and others.

In addition, in Sheldon's Great Hall the exhibition features installation of an old farm building from Art Farm that has been repurposed as a video lounge with a modern interior. The exhibition demonstrates alternatives to the predominant land uses found in the Great Plains and it asks the question, can art form the basis of a post-agricultural landscape?

A public symposium and gallery talks are planned during the show. These events will focus on contemporary art practice and the importance of residencies to many artists, rural economics and the problems faced by shrinking farm communities, the mutual relationship between art, architecture and landscape as "ways of working the land," land art as a particular mode of practice, and sustainable development.

Sheldon events scheduled in connection with "Art Farm @ Sheldon" are:

* Tuesday, Jan. 22, 5:30-7:30 p.m. -- Lecture by Day about the exhibition and Art Farm.

* Friday, Feb. 1, 5-7 p.m. -- First Friday opening reception for "Art Farm @ Sheldon."

* Friday, Feb. 29, 6-8 p.m. -- Potter Belmar Labs presents sound/image art performance.

* Saturday, March 1, 2 p.m. -- A panel discussion titled "Art/Landscape/Architecture."

For more information about Art Farm, visit its Web site, www.artfarmnebraska.org.

Burket Graf Memorial Funds to the Nebraska Art Association, the dedicated support group for the Sheldon, help sponsor this exhibition.

The museum, 12th and R streets on the UNL City Campus, is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. For information or to arrange a tour, call (402) 472-2461. Additional information is available on the Sheldon Web site, www.sheldon.unl.edu.

CONTACT: Tom White, Public Relations Manager, Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, (402) 472-1197