Amanda Breitbach, a Master of Fine Arts candidate in the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Department of Art and Art History, will present a lecture titled “Land/People” at 3:30 p.m. April 18 at the Great Plains Art Museum.
The talk, which is based on Breitbach’s thesis work and research, is free and open to the public. Following the lecture, audience members will be invited to view Breitbach’s thesis exhibition, which will be on display April 18-22 in the Eisentrager•Howard Gallery in Richards Hall. Admission to the gallery is free.
Growing up on a family farm and ranch in the wide-open landscape of eastern Montana fundamentally shaped the way Breitbach sees the world. The framing and interpretation of the view in each of her images was formed by her background, including a deep love and respect for land and the people who work it, as well as a critical interest in the representation and mythology of the American West.
“As a graduate fellow, I have been fortunate to be part of an interdisciplinary group of students and scholars who share a passion for the Great Plains and its people,” Breitbach said. “My goal for this work is to stimulate a conversation about responsible land use and the future of farming. While the work tells a personal story about one family farm, I think that it also speaks to broader trends in the American food system, which we are all part of as food consumers.”
Breitbach received her undergraduate degrees in photography and French from Montana State University. Prior to attending graduate school at UNL, she was a volunteer with the United States Peace Corps in west Africa and worked as a newspaper photographer and reporter.
In 2014, she won a national scholarship to become a fellow with the Joy of Giving Something Foundation/Imagining America. Her work has been exhibited at the Great Plains Art Museum, the Eisentrager•Howard Gallery and Prescott Galleries in Lincoln, as well as the Kansas Art and Design Gallery in Lawrence, Kansas; the Rourke Art Museum in Moorhead, Minnesota; and the Hite Art Institute in Louisville, Kentucky.
