Arts

Union College Drama will perform the two-act play The Boys Next Door,
opening Feb. 22, 2007.

Written by Tom Griffin, the play follows the ups and downs of four young
men, each in his own way challenged by mental illness. Living in a
neighborhood group home, the four interact with each other, with their
somewhat overwhelmed social worker and with the “normal” world that
surrounds them. As we witness the mishaps and triumphs of their everyday
living—poignant, aggravating, joyous and often funny—we are able to see
past each peculiar exterior to the human being within.

The play will be directed by Anthony Gilmore, a 2002 graduate of Union
College who has directed several theatrical productions at Union
including The Miracle Worker in 2004.

The Boys Next Door will be performed in Woods Auditorium on the campus
of Union College, 3800 South 48th Street. Enter the campus from Bancroft
Ave. Parking is free. Admission for the play is $8 for adults and $5 for
students and senior citizens. Performances times are as follows:

Tickets can be purchased at the door. For information on purchasing
tickets in advance, call 402-486-2523. Click
here to read what the Lincoln Journal-Star had to say about The
Boys Next Door.

Band students from 11 Seventh-day Adventist high schools in the Midwest
will gather Feb. 2–3 on the Union College campus for the annual
Mid-America Union Music Festival. The Lincoln community is invited to
come and enjoy fun classical pieces presented by the high school and
college performers Feb. 2 at 7:30 p.m. in the College View Church and
Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. in the Union College gymnasium. The 160 visiting
performers will be joined by the Union College Wind Symphony in both
performances.

“Any time you get 225 instruments together, you know it’s going to be
pure dynamite,” said Rudy Dennis, professor of music. “These students
will never forget this experience.”

The students will rehearse during two and half days to learn and master
classical pieces such as “Sabre Dance” by Khachaturian and “Island Jam
No. 7,” which was composed last year and features the percussion section.

“The concert will include band classics combined with island jazz and
music that flies like the wind,” Dennis said. “There is something for
everyone.”

Concert locations: College View Church (4801 Prescott Ave.) and the
Union College gymnasium (enter the campus from Prescott Ave).

From the spring flowers and butterflies of "I'll Fly Away" to the "Autumn Woods" Joy Frame shares the beauty of the seasons in her watercolor paintings currently on display in the Union College McClelland Art Gallery until Jan. 26.

Frame became serious about watercolor painting about 16 years ago. "I'm intrigued by the beautiful blending of colors, the movement and to some extent unpredictability of the paint on the paper," Frame writes in her artist statement. "I love this elusive medium."

LINCOLN—Images from the Union College photography class will be on display Dec. 3–22 in the McClelland Art Gallery.

"I have some very talented students in this class," said Bruce Forbes, associate professor of Art and Graphic Design. "The photos I've seen make me excited. I expect this to be an extremely varied show."

Union College Festival of Lessons and Carols
The first concert
will begin Friday, Dec. 8 at 7:30 p.m. and will feature the Unionaires,
Union College Vocal Octet and Chamber Chorale. Diverse selections from
the carols and anthems of John Rutter will be interspersed with Biblical
texts from the four Gospels telling the the age-old story of Christ's
birth. Everyone is welcome at this free concert in the College View
Seventh-day Adventist Church (4801 Prescott Ave).

Union College Wind Symphony
Come out to the Union College
gymnasium for a free Christmas band concert, Sat., Dec. 9 at 7:30 p.m.
To find the gymnasium, enter the campus from Prescott Ave.

For more information about either concert, call 402.486.2553.

"This exhibit combines two things that I've enjoyed for a long time, but never put together: bicycling and photography," says Bruce Forbes, Union College associate professor of art and graphic design who is displaying photographs in Union College's McClelland Art Gallery until Dec. 3.

The exhibit presents 24 color photos taken this summer while Forbes participated in the Bicycle Ride Across Nebraska (BRAN) with 600 participants and the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) with 10,000 registered bicyclists.

When Dr. Joe Allison, chair of the Division of Human Development at
Union College, was first contacted by a producer of the ABC show “Wife
Swap,” he thought it was a joke. His wife, Cindy, wasn’t joking when she
told him her opinion: “We’re not doing it!” He assured her after a bit
of teasing that the reality show producers were not interested in their
marriage.

What New York-based RDF Media hoped to find was a small-school
environment for Cody Mink, an 11-year-old boy who stars with his parents
in the Rhinestone Ropers, a traveling cowboy-style show. According to
the producers, the “swapped” mother in this episode wanted Cody to have
a classroom experience to contrast with his home school education. The
Rhinestone Ropers’ September schedule included several performances in
Lincoln where the Minks were accompanied by the “Wife Swap” filming crew.

The production company’s research for a small-school setting in Lincoln
led them to the phone number for George Stone Elementary School, a
one-room, two-teacher school on the campus of Union College. Allison is
the principal of the 25-student elementary school, which also serves as
a learning lab for Union College education majors.

“Of course, we notified parents of the unusual request and allowed them
to choose if their child participated,” Allison said. “ The students who
were involved had a fun time meeting Cody and seeing the
behind-the-scenes process that leads to a television show.”

In contrast to the show’s provocative name, in a letter to parents from
a producer, “Wife Swap” was described as “a family reality show that
introduces two families from very different backgrounds and allows the
mother figures to trade places and learn how other families live.”

“The request from the producers was to provide a classroom setting where
a visiting student would feel comfortable,” Allison said. “Welcoming
Cody was a natural fit for us.”

In addition to interacting with Cody in a school setting, including
class time and recess, Cody invited some of the George Stone kids over
to play a few days later.

“He was a really sweet and talented kid,” said Jackie Simpson, lower
grades teacher at George Stone and mother of two of the students who
played with Cody. “At first we were all a bit overwhelmed by being a
part of a television show, but in the end, it was just fun to get to
know Cody.”

Allison says that the school has no guarantee how the footage taken on
the Union College campus will be used or if it will be used at all. With
or without the television coverage, he says Union College’s George Stone
School is getting noticed.

“Superintendents from across the country seek out Union College
graduates because they have experience with the multi-grade classroom
setting,” Allison said. “The onsite opportunity to develop teaching
skills makes Union’s education program unique.”

Union College welcomes the Children of the World international
children’s choir on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 10:30 a.m. in the College View
Seventh-day Adventist Church.

The choir consists of 15-20 international children, many of them
orphaned, who perform with costumes and choreography to raise money for
other orphans around the world. The Children of the World have appeared
on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and performed at events for presidents
and royalty.

“They’re just little kids, but they’re so expressive and so well trained
as a choir,” said Rich Carlson, vice president of spiritual life at
Union College. “They have such a spirit about them.” Carlson invited the
choir do a short performance at the college in the midst of other
performances in the Lincoln area and invites the community to the
inspiring program.

Parking is available in the College View Seventh-day Adventist Church
parking lot, located on the corner of South 48th Street and Prescott
Avenue. For more information, contact Jacque Smith at 402.486.2538. For
more information about the Children of the World choir, visit www.worldhelp.net

Union College presents Christian folk artist Andrew Peterson in concert
at the College View Seventh-day Adventist Church (4801 Prescott Ave.)
Friday, Oct. 27, 2006. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; the concert begins at
7:30 p.m. The concert is free to the public and a free will offering
will be collected to support Peterson's ministry.

Peterson has recorded seven albums and his music has been reviewed by
USA Today and Christianity Today, among others. He is known for his
down-to-earth style and vivid observations.

For more information on the artist, visit
http://www.andrew-peterson.com/. Questions about the event can be
directed to the Union College Campus Ministries at 402.486.2508.