Tara Cuthbert & Stuart Solzberg have created an installation for the Bemis Center, which articulates the current phase of their ongoing conceptual project. Incorporating drawing, video, photography, sound, hand-sewn tapestries, artifacts and replicas, the installation draws inspiration from historical societies, academic research and Shamanism. As Archivists and Researchers, Cuthbert & Solzberg aim to reclaim, preserve and present artifacts relating to Source Energies.  The Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts is presenting Notations: Investigations In Source Energies, through May 17th.

Lauritzen Gardens will open a new temporary exhibit on Saturday, May 17th during its Spring into Spring Festival.  This exciting exhibition stretches the definition of traditional playhouse design.  From a tree house your grandfather built when you were small to the blanket draped over a card table that children play with today, playhouses enchant people of all ages.  The KIDSTRUCTURE exhibit features 12 structures conceived and created by local architects and contractors.  KIDSTRUCTURE will be located near the children’s garden and will be on view through October 5th.  Lauritzen Gardens is located at 1st and Bancroft Streets. 

The Louisville Art Gallery will present THE RETURN OF THROWN AND BLOWN May 17th and 18th.  A variety of events will take place in and around the Louisville Art Gallery that weekend, including an ARTflea Market, a group show and a city parade.  Events take place from 10:30 to 5:00 on Saturday the 17th and from Noon to 5:00 on Sunday the 18th. The Louisville Art Gallery is located at 230 Main Street in Louisville, Nebraska. 

The Strategic Air & Space Museum is presenting the exhibit SPACE: A Journey to our Future through May 18th.  The purpose of SPACE is to present educational elements in scenic environments that will ignite the desire for discovery, fuel the imagination and launch new dreams of future space exploration.  Highlights of the exhibit include opportunities to touch pieces of the Moon and Mars, experience a centrifuge and visit a simulated scientific base camp on the Martian surface.  The Strategic Air & Space Museum is located at Exit 426, off I-80. 

Enhance a visit to the Joslyn Art Museum with a guided public tour highlighting the permanent collection or select special exhibitions.  Upcoming tours include: Elegance of the Qing Court at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 17th and Docent Choice at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 21st and Treasures of Joslyn’s Collection at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 24th.  Guided public tours are included with museum admission.  Tour participants should meet in the atrium just before the scheduled tour time. 

The Fred Simon Gallery is presenting an exhibit of works by DAVID ALLES through May 23rd.  ALLES works in a variety of mediums, including oil paintings, sculptures, watercolors and prints.  The Fred Simon Gallery is located in the Nebraska Arts Council offices at 1004 Farnam Street. 

The Hot Shops Arts Center is presenting the 2008 Annual Bellevue University BFA Thesis Show through May 25th.   Featured artists include graduating seniors, Paige Anderson, Kristina Griffith and Magdalene Walker.  Hot Shops Arts Center is located at 1301 Nicholas Street. 

Bellevue University Art Gallery is presenting a juried exhibit, which highlights student work, through May 28th.  The 2008 Bellevue University Student Art Show is on view at the university’s gallery, 1000 Galvin Road in Bellevue. 

Lauritzen Gardens is presenting an exhibit of whimsical botanical oil paintings by international artist Timothy Martin, through June 1st.  Martin’s exhibit, FRAMING THE IMAGINATION, features a selection of his signature images, including paintings of furniture and musical instruments fashioned from nature themes.  Lauritzen Gardens is located at First and Bancroft Streets. 

The Joslyn Art Museum is presenting 250 years of splendid Chinese Art Objects in its newest exhibition:  ELEGANCE OF THE QING COURT: REFLECTIONS OF A DYNASTY THROUGH ITS ART.  The exhibition runs through June 8th.  The display features more than 200 examples of Chinese porcelain, metalwork, lacquer, textiles, ivory and jade from the Qing Dynasty.  One of the exhibit’s highlights is a rare, six-foot high, ten-foot long, carved red lacquer screen from Joslyn’s collection. 

Joslyn Art Museum is presenting a vignette exhibition from a groundbreaking video series of high-definition portraits by artist Robert Wilson.  VOOM Portraits: Robert Wilson features 23 larger than life size snow owl portraits. Each screen features a snow owl on a background of various shades of polka dots, from bright yellow and red to pink and light green.  The screens surround the viewer with owl portraits that appear traditional until they blink and move.  The installation’s soundtrack is the owls hooting.  VOOM Portraits is on display through July 6th. 

The Durham Museum invites visitors to enjoy America’s favorite pastime with its newest exhibit, BASEBALL IN OMAHA, opening May 17th.  The exhibit begins in 1869 when the first organized professional game between the Cincinnati Red Stockings and local teams played.  The series was just the beginning of the barnstorming tradition that would bring Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and others to Omaha.  The adventure continues as visitors learn about the Omaha Cardinals and the history of the College World Series.  BASEBALL IN OMAHA is on view May 17th through August 10th at the Durham Museum. 

For over 25 years, artist Therman Statom has been recreating the way people look at glass.  The artist creates site-specific installations that are simultaneously architectural, sculptural and engaging.  The Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts is presenting the artist’s latest visual experiments with large-scale installations in the solo exhibit THERMAN STATOM: NASCITA, on view through August 16th.  The Bemis is located at 12th and Leavenworth Streets. 

The Joslyn Art Museum is presenting an exhibit called KARL BODMER’S EASTERN VIEWS through August 31st.  Drawn from Joslyn’s Bodmer Collection, the exhibition features watercolors of the eastern United States painted by the young Swiss artist during the initial phase of his expedition to the upper Missouri frontier in the early 1830’s.  Bodmer’s compositions offer a fascinating window on a brash new nation, from its burgeoning cities on the eastern seaboard to its pioneer farms of Indiana and Illinois. 

The Joslyn Art Museum will present more than 80 bright, bold and bustling illustrations by Denise Fleming, award-winning children’s book author and illustrator, beginning May 17th.  In the exhibition DENISE FLEMING: PAINTING WITH PAPER, Fleming mixes watery pulp with pigments, applies them to hand-cut stencils and an image in handmade paper is born.  Fleming has written and illustrated 15 books for children.  DENISE FLEMING: PAINTING WITH PAPER is on view at the Joslyn through August 31st. 

The Durham Museum is presenting an exhibit called THE SEA BENEATH OUR FEET, through September 15th.  Did you know there is a virtual sea of water underneath most of Nebraska?  Through this exhibit, you will learn the story of the Ogallala Aquifer, which formed millions of years ago beneath the Midwest.  The display also highlights Nebraska’s other rivers, lakes and streams.  The Durham Museum is located at 801 S. 10th Street.