Nicolet College to Kick Off Arts & Enrichment Program Featuring Numerous Classes for a Variety of Interests

Dozens of different arts events and personal interest learning opportunities will be available at Nicolet College in coming months with the launch of the new Arts and Enrichment slate of events and activities.

“All of these events and activities give people the opportunity to pursue new areas of personal interest and experience a wide variety of artistic ventures that range from the performing arts to a number of different themed exhibits in the Nicolet College Art Gallery,” said Jodi Fox Engelman, manager of Professional and Continuing Education at Nicolet.

“Nicolet is here to serve everyone, and all of these non-credit offerings give individuals the opportunity to expand their knowledge and engage in unique experiences that add to the quality of life.”

Nicolet Live! Performing Arts Series

On the theater front, the Nicolet Live! Performing Arts Series will feature five different events through December that include three concerts, a TEDx presentation, and a performance by the Nicolet Players community theatre troupe.

“We’re all quite excited to get back into the theater and have these in-person events for people to experience and enjoy,” said Mike Effinger, Theatre and Events Services manager at Nicolet.

Nicolet Live! will kick off Saturday, Aug. 20, with a concert co-sponsored by WXPR Public Radio with featured duo Moors & McCumber performing at 8 p.m. in the Nicolet Theatre.

Borrowing from rock, pop, blues, folk, and world music, the two multi-instrumentalists embrace spontaneity to bring their stories and songs to life.

The evening will start at 5:30 p.m. with a pre-show cash bar cocktail reception featuring music by Stovepipe Stevens followed by opening act Jerrika Mighelle at 7 p.m. in the theatre. Tickets are $25.

Next up on Thursday, Sept. 22, the newly-formed Generation Quartet saxophone chamber ensemble will take to the Nicolet stage for a 7:30 p.m. concert. Comprised of music professors from different University of Wisconsin campuses. The quartet takes a refreshing look at the saxophone’s historic repertoire combined with a new focus on music of the present. Tickets are $10.

The theme for Nicolet’s TEDx 2022 presentation Friday, Sept. 30, will be Origin Stories: Reflections from Our Northwoods Community. Together, these reflections will blend to create a kaleidoscope of our beautifully intertwined histories, backgrounds, experiences, identities, and more. The event will run from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Nicolet Theatre and Lakeside Center Commons. Cost is $15, which includes lunch.

In early November the Nicolet Players will open the curtain for performances of The Putnam County 25th Annual Spelling Bee.

The comedy features an eclectic group of sixth-graders as they vie for the spelling championship of a lifetime. While candidly disclosing hilarious and touching stories from their home lives, the tweens spell their way through a series of (potentially made-up) words, hoping never to hear the soul-crushing, pout-inducing, life un-affirming “ding” of the bell that signals a spelling mistake. Six spellers enter; one speller leaves! At least the losers get a juice box. Performances in the Nicolet Theatre will take place Nov. 4 to 6 and Nov. 10 to 13. Sunday performances are at 2 p.m. and all others at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets for Nicolet Live! events are available at nicoletlive.com.

Community Education Classes

For those looking to broaden their creative horizons with non-credit Community Education classes, Nicolet has several classes for people to explore and develop their artistic interests.

The six-session Studio Ceramics class will run from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesdays Sept. 14 to Oct. 16 in the Ceramics Lab in room 119 at Lakeland Union High School in Minocqua.

Beginner potters will learn how to shape clay in a variety of ways including hand-building techniques and wheel throwing. Returning students will expand their abilities and take on new independent projects. Functional and sculptural aspects of clay will be explored along with firing, decorating, and glazing processes. All clay, glaze, firing, and tools included. Cost is $100.

Beginning Wheel Throwing will be held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Mondays, Oct. 3 to Nov. 21, in the Nicolet Art Studio in Tamarack Center 211 on the Nicolet Campus. Students will learn how to shape clay by throwing on the wheel to create a variety of items such as plates, bowls, and vases. Each session will start with a demonstration and then students will have the rest of the class to perfect that project. Students will make up to 15 items not to exceed 50 pounds of clay. Cost includes clay, firing, glazing, and use of available tools. $145.

Advanced Ceramics will run from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays Oct. 5 to Nov. 23 in the Nicolet Art Studio in Tamarack Center 211 on the Nicolet Campus. Personal growth and creativity will be the focus in this independent working environment of intermediate ceramists. Students will have a hands-on experience working with clay and designing their own pottery. The cost includes 150 pounds of clay or 25 items, firing, glazing, and use of available tools. $165.

Working with a variety of materials, those in the Mosaic Art class will meet from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays Oct. 24 to Nov. 14 in the Nicolet Art Studio in Tamarack Center 211 on the Nicolet Campus.

Developing artists will learn the skills needed to create an art mosaic project and will be shown various substrates (surfaces) and tesserae (tiles, glass, broken dishes, beads, etc.) to complete their own projects such as picture frames, mirrors, and holiday décor. $100.

Let the light shine through with the Stained Glass class which will run for six sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Oct. 25 to Nov. 10, in Tamarack Center room 213 on the Nicolet Campus. Students will learn how to cut, fit, and solder stained glass using lead foil techniques. This course is open to students of all skill levels, including beginners. $100, includes all supplies.

To register for Community Education classes, visit nicoletce.tix.com or call the college at (715) 365-4544.

In partnership with ArtStart, Nicolet will also be holding the School of the Arts Thursday, Sept. 15, through Sunday, Sept. 18. This four-day event features numerous arts-based workshops and coincides with the Project North festival, which will have numerous musical performances as well as the EcoVillage, a hub for sustainable practices and environmentally-friendly education.

For more information about Project North and to purchase tickets, visit projectnorth.org.

Nicolet College Art Exhibitions

The Nicolet College Art Gallery will feature a diverse selection of exhibitions featuring work by top artists from the Northwoods and beyond.

The Fiber F(r)iends Exhibition runs through Oct. 1 and features the works of a group of regional fiber artists who have been meeting for a decade to share their ideas, pieces and friendship. The innovative exhibit will include pieces from member artists Colleen Ansbaugh, Jan Dietrich, Pat Gaska, Lynn Gilles, Rene Iannarelli, Arlene Lueck, Emmy Nitzel, Helen Tumas, and Gale Willcox, as they responded to a number of artistic challenges inspired by art and poetry, various materials, and working in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright.

The Ken Juon Exhibition: Essays and Portraits will run from Oct. 10 to Nov. 23 and will include an Opening Reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 13 in the Nicolet Art Gallery.

Employing humorous, curious, sometimes ambiguous, and even mysterious statements to invite the viewer to engage with the ideas, Juon uses words as the primary medium on his painted wooden panels. He uses them in the way other artists use paint, pencil, plaster, or stone as a medium. Individual words, as well as simple, declarative phrases or sentences, are used to introduce his topics.

Following Juon’s installation will be the Art of Automotive Exhibition from Dec. 12 through Jan. 28, with an Opening Reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 15, in the Nicolet Art Gallery.

Introducing the first in a series of exhibitions highlighting the intersection of Nicolet’s occupational programs and the creative arts, The Art of Automotive will bring together an eclectic group of artists’ creations on the subject of vehicles, as a nod to the Automotive Technician programs at Nicolet College.

Leading into spring the college will feature the popular Wisconsin Regional Art Exhibition (WRAP) from Feb. 6 to April 1, with an Opening Reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Feb. 9 in the gallery.

WRAP exhibits and workshops began in 1940 as an outreach program of UW-Madison, to encourage the creative growth of Wisconsin non-professional artists from rural areas. Now administered by the Association of Wisconsin Artists, WRAP exhibits and workshops are held throughout the year in over twenty-five locations all around the state. To submit artwork, register online at wiscartists.wildapricot.org or contact (715) 365-4544 for more information.

The Nicolet College Art Gallery is in the Northwoods Center on the Rhinelander Campus and is open Monday through Thursday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Fridays from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.