Earth Day Print Shop

Members of the SPC participated in Lincoln's Earth Day celebration on Saturday, April 18, 2015 with our Earth Day Print Shop.

Our team presented information about the production of T-shirts, including water use and environmental impact along with a sustainable alternative. We brought along a large selection of donated used shirts for printing on and decorated those with Earth Day themed designs by UNL art students/faculty and other environmentally involved artist/activists. Participants were invited to choose a shirt for printing, and our master printer, Joyce Bingeman, screen printed designs on the spot. The event was free to participants. 

Thank you to all the wonderful people who helped us pull it off! This was our first team printing event, and we look forward to doing more in the future. 

* all photographs by Amanda Breitbach

Slow Art Day

The founders of International Slow Art Day believe that when people look slowly at a piece of art they make discoveries, the most important of which is that they can see and experience art without an “expert” (or expertise).

Members of the UNL Social Practice Coalition became aware of the event and its mission through interdisciplinary artist Sarah Berkeley  (http://www.sarahberkeley.com).

As a group, we decided to contact several museums and artists in Lincoln to help facilitate and coordinate Slow Art Day events.

As a result, we were able to assist with and promote five different events at three host institutions: the Sheldon Museum of Art, the Great Plains Art Museum, and the Elder Gallery at Nebraska Wesleyan University. 

About 70 participants joined art professionals, students, and volunteers to look slowly at a variety of artworks, including abstract expressionist paintings and outdoor sculptures, quilts from the Civil War period, and contemporary video and participatory sculpture. 

One participant said he valued the chance to spend more time with the art, "as if it were something that you loved to do or like choosing to spend time with someone that you love." Another person said that it was like taking a deep breath in an otherwise busy life.

* photos courtesy of Erin Poor, Sheldon Museum of Art

Real Food Film Festival

The UNL Social Practice Coalition hosted our second public event on Friday, March 6, 2015, screening a series of short films about sustainable food and farming.
Meadowlark Coffee & Espresso graciously allowed us to use their space, which helped us attract a diverse audience. We had a great turnout, including natural science professionals, farmers, and local food advocates as well as art students and faculty.
Following the screening of the films, we had a conversation about image making, the media, and message communication that was interesting and thought provoking. We also started thinking about the potential of film to communicate to broad audiences and possible venues for showing locally made films in Lincoln.

People's State of the Union

Just now posting a record of our People's State of the Union discussion on Jan. 29, 2015


This event was part of a national effort coordinated by the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, in their own words an "action network of artists and cultural workers mobilizing creativity in the service of social justice."

UNL SPC members Joyce Bingeman and Amanda Breitbach met leaders of the USDAC at the Imagining America conference in Atlanta in the fall. We were excited about their ideas and methods and decided to participate in their People's State of the Union project, an opportunity for national reflection and goal setting about the state of our nation and neighborhoods.

We hosted our local event at the Bennett-Martin Public Library, and we had a really interesting turnout of people and perspectives. Participants were asked to share their response to the prompt, "Describe an experience that showed you something new or important about the state of our union." Each participants story was recorded, and those stories and photographs from the event were submitted to the online national collection. Stories from all over the U.S. were compiled into the 2015 Poetic Address to the Nation, performed and broadcast live on February 1, 2015.

Locally, we made some exciting new connections, with a community action group called WeMidwest and also with a representative of SP CE Commons, a community space that hosts events including writer and artist groups, as well as with some really wonderful, hopeful people.

We were surprised when the group asked for our next event - they did not want to stop! At their request, we're planning to continue the conversation through email and social media, and we may collaborate with the other groups to host another community imagining kind of exercise.