Liz Langdon: Making the Political Personal, an exhibition of ceramic and sculptural works, begins Monday, June 29. 2009 at The Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts in Nebraska City and continues through Thursday, August 13.

Langdon uses a variety of ceramic materials including traditional clay, vintage plates, found ceramic objects, and glass to create works that address social, religious and personal issues in a humorous or satirical way.

Her newest work is a series of house forms that express various versions of security. Using primarily hand-built clay houses appropriated from her high school student artists, Langdon has transformed them into unique icons signifying home, comfort, and security that allude to the variety of home environments that her diverse population of students come from.

Liz Langdon is an artist and an art educator. She has been a secondary art teacher in Omaha for the past ten years and was in charge of classroom education at Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha previous to that. Recently she was awarded the 2009-2010 Priddy Fellowship in Arts Leadership, which will enable her to begin work this fall on a doctoral degree in art education at the University of North Texas. Langdon has shown extensively in the Omaha and Lincoln area and has public art at the Rose Theatre, Children’s Museum, Children’s Hospital, NP Dodge Park, and Hilton Hotel at the Qwest Center, all in Omaha.

The public is invited to meet the artist at a reception on Saturday, July 18, from 1 – 3 p.m. The artist’s works are available for purchase, and guests at the Saturday reception will be treated to the Center’s homemade ice cream as well as a 2 p.m. brief performance by Earl Bates titled Will Rogers in the 21st Century.

Bates is a performance artist and musician who has worked in Omaha for many years. He has appeared in numerous television commercials and in plays at the Omaha Community Playhouse and Rose Children’s Theatre. He’s hosted a local talk show and the Acoustic Jam Series, and was the creative drama teacher at the Nebraska School for the Deaf.

The Kimmel Harding Nelson gallery is located at 801 3rd Corso in Nebraska City and is open Monday through Thursday from noon to 4 p.m. Appointments at other times are encouraged; please call. Both the exhibit and the reception are free, handicapped accessible, and open to the public. For more information, call 402-874-9600 or visit www.khncenterforthearts.org.