Opening reception at the Hillstrom Museum of ArtSeptember 14, 2009 at 7–9 p.m.

Opening reception for Hillstrom Museum of Art exhibitions: Winds of Inspiration, Winds of Change; Cuadros from Pamplona Alta: Textile Pictures by Women of Peru; and FOCUS IN/ON: Birger Sandz??n's Dry Creek Bed, Kansas (all three on view September 14-November 8, 2009)

Winds of Inspiration, Winds of Change explores wind turbines, considering them aesthetically and thematically, as environmentally sensitive objects and as objects with a powerful, sublime presence. This invitational exhibition features works by faculty artists from colleges and universities across the state and local artists from St. Peter and Mankato. The exhibition is presented with assistance from the Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency.

In conjunction with Winds of Inspiration, Winds of Change, the Museum will present a free public lecture by Arthur K. Wheelock, Curator of Northern Baroque Art at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., titled "The Windmill: Its Varied Functions and Symbolic Associations in Dutch Art, ewhich will consider the proliferation of images of windmills (a precursor to the wind turbine) in Dutch art of the 17th century, allowing comparisons to be drawn with contemporary wind turbine artworks that are becoming more prevalent today as wind power is embraced as an important part of the solution to the global energy and climate crises. The lecture will be held in Wallenberg Auditorium, Nobel Hall of Science, on Sunday, November 1, 2009, 3:30-4:30 p.m.

Cuadros from Pamplona Alta: Textile Pictures by Women of Peru features textile pictures ("cuadros e sewn by groups of women and depicting their lives in a shantytown outside of Lima, Pamplona Alta, where conditions have been mostly very poor, due to economic hardship and political instability. Sales of cuadros not included in the exhibition (at the Book Mark) help support the artists by supplementing the meager incomes they are able to earn in Peru.

FOCUS IN/ON: Birger Sandz??n's Dry Creek Bed, Kansas will consider a 1912 painting by the Swedish-American artist Birger Sandz??n (1871-1954), in another of the Museum's FOCUS IN/ON projects, in which a single work from the Hillstrom Collection is analyzed in depth in collaboration with a colleague from across the curriculum. An essay co-written with James Welsh, Chair of the Department of Geology, will explore the artist and his career, and the geology of western Kansas, where the painting was made, including the important Ogalalla Aquifer. This project is presented in conjunction with the 2009 Nobel Conference on water resources. Also presented in conjunction with this FOCUS IN/ON project and the Nobel Conference will be a dance performance choreographed by Michele Rusinko of the Department of Theatre and Dance, titled Dry Spells and presented twice during the Nobel reception, October 6, at 6:15 and 6:45 p.m. Give a gift to Hillstrom Museum of Art