Great Plains Art Museum to present Catherine Meier exhibition

            The Great Plains Art Museum at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will present a new exhibition beginning Aug. 3 that will include prints, drawings and projected animations by Catherine Meier. "Open Richness" will run through Sept. 23 and the artist will be present for a First Friday reception from 5 to 7 p.m. on Sept. 7.

            Meier is a native of the Nebraska sandhills and UNL graduate who went on to earn her MFA at the University of Michigan. While attending her master's program, Meier received a Rackham research grant to travel to Mongolia, a country with a landscape very similar to the Great Plains. The expanse of landscape in Mongolia and in her previous experience as a truck driver through the Great Plains lent her a greater understanding of the way open spaces and landscapes are navigated.

            "My work is informed and inspired by my childhood in Nebraska and by working as a truck driver throughout the Great Plains," Meier said. "The simple, subtle land of this region is beautiful to me and provides me with great peace, and yet I have known anxiety from its sheer openness. I am also intrigued by how the mind will navigate space where landmarks are few and difficult to detect."

            Regarding her process, Meier said, "My animations and prints are of earth, sky and horizon -- vast, open landscape. I create my animations through graphite drawings that are drawn, erased, and redrawn to achieve history and motion. My prints are created by repeat printing woodblocks on long rolls of paper. In gallery settings, each are intended to envelope the viewer into their gentle space."

            Great Plains Art Museum curator Amber Mohr said the museum's large, open gallery will provide an ideal space for Meier's work.

            "The setting of the Great Plains Art Museum will allow Meier to work on a larger scale, and couple her animations, which are often projected in the open environment, to be shown alongside her prints and drawings," Mohr said.

            The Great Plains Art Museum, 1155 Q St., is open to the public 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1:30-5 p.m. Sundays (closed Mondays, holiday weekends and between exhibitions). There is no admission charge. For more information, telephone 402-472-6220, send e-mail, visit www.unl.edu/plains/gallery/gallery.shtml, or contact Mohr at 402-472-0599 or by email.