Besides graduation, June also boast plenty of art and entertainment

Commencement isn’t the only big event coming up. In addition to the arts-related activities in June, it’s Pride Month and Juneteenth.

You can commemorate the emancipation of African American slaves and celebrate African American culture at Eugene Juneteenth, or Kick off National Pride Month with an outdoor concert featuring the Soromundi Lesbian Chorus of Eugene and a picnic in the Museum of Natural and Cultural History courtyard.

Cinema

Ducks After Dark presents “The Secret World of Arrietty” June 1 outside on the Erb Memorial Union Green. Based on “The Borrowers,” a children’s fantasy novel about tiny people who live secretly in the walls and floors and borrow what they need to survive, Arrietty, a tiny teenager, forms a secret friendship with one of the “big” people. Free entry for UO community members with a valid UO ID.

The Asian Film Series on neurodiversity and mental wellness presents a screening of “Mental,” a feature-length documentary that examines the complex world of an outpatient mental health clinic in Japan, on June 1 at the Yamada language Center.

The UO Presents Student Film Club and the Department of Cinema Studies will present two free screenings at the Art House Theater on East 13th Avenue. “Repo Man,” on June 1, follows a young punk who gets caught up in the pursuit of a car with something otherworldly stashed in its trunk. Two old pals reunite for a camping trip in Oregon’s Cascade Mountains in “Old Joy” on June 8. Both screenings are free with a student ID.

Celebrations

Celebrate National Pride Month at the Museum of Natural and Cultural History on June 6 with an outdoor concert featuring the Soromundi Lesbian Chorus of Eugene and a picnic in the museum’s Glenn Starlin Native Plant Courtyard.

Commemorate African American freedom at Eugene Juneteenth on June 18 at Alton Baker Park with performances, family-friendly activities and the best of Eugene’s Black-owned businesses.

Dance

Come out to the Dougherty Dance Theatre on June 1 for the Dance Student Spotlight featuring student performers showcasing their artistic and technical dance skills.

Don’t miss Duck Jam Spring 2023, the dance department’s popular Hip Hop Finals Showcase performances on June 7.

Spring Dance Loft 2023 on June 9 will showcase a diverse array of pieces choreographed and performed by students.

Exhibitions

June 1-2 are the final days to take in “Dreaming Like a Beehive,” an exhibition sponsored by the UO Center for Art Research at the Main Space Gallery featuring the work of Portland-based artist and retired UO art professor Kate Wagle.

Celebrate the artistic works of Master of Fine Arts graduates at the MFA Art Exhibition 2023, June 1 at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. Lily Wai Brennan, Mary Evans, Anastasiya Gutnik, David Peña and William Zeng, five artists whose various practices engage a broad range of inquiry, will showcase three years of independent research and experimentation. 

Don’t miss the School of Art + Design’s annual end-of-year exhibition, Spring Storm, featuring work by graduating art, art and technology, and product design students, June 9 at Lawrence Hall.

Music

At Beall Concert Hall: The University of Oregon Symphony Orchestra will kick off the month with a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 on June 1. On June 2, the Wet Ink Concert will showcase performances of new compositions and arrangements for small and large ensembles written by UO jazz studies students. The UO Campus Orchestra and the Repertoire Singers will perform June 7. The Oregon Wind Symphony, comprising music and nonmajor wind, brass and percussion students, will perform June 8. Join the University of Oregon Chamber Choir and University Singers June 10 for an evening program of eclectic music from all periods and styles.

At the Frohnmayer Music Building: Join music technology students for Future Music Oregon on June 3. Catch School of Music and Dance students on June 9 as they perform Chamber Music on Campus, featuring mixed chamber music for strings, winds and piano by Mozart, Debussy, Gershwin, Dvořák, Barrière, Yvon and Anderson. Undergraduate, master’s and doctoral composers present a Composition 1 and 2 Performance June 10, integrating compositional studies with theory, history and contemporary performance practice. The UO Gospel Choir, under the direction of Andiel Brown, will perform June 11. Drop in June 10 for a UO Popular Music Ensembles performance.

The annual Oregon Bach Festival Opening Celebration begins June 30 at Beall Concert Hall; the festival runs through July 16. Join Jos van Veldhoven for a Hinkle Distinguished Lecture, “1723: A Festival Inspired by Bach’s Move to Leipzig,” at Berwick Hall. Later in the evening, van Veldhoven will lead the Oregon Bach Festival Period Orchestra Chorus on a Baroque-era journey in “Bach: Magnificat” at Beall Concert Hall.

Lectures

Join Joyce Cheng, associate professor of the history of art and architecture for “Kitsch, Ornament, Allegory: Hello Kitty as Commonist Art,” a noon talk June 1 via Zoom or in person in Hendricks Hall.

Cheng’s talk focuses on the Japanese cultural icon Hello Kitty as an object for the history of art but with aesthetics that both epitomizes and undermines the category of kitsch.

“The Emperor’s New Robe: The Matrix of Ritual Space in Imperial Attire” will be the focus of a June 10 lecture at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art by China historian Ana Asim, based on the contemporary Chinese photographs from the Jack and Susy Wadsworth collection, “Framing the Revolution.” Asim will provide political context of the unusual robe created for the short-lived imperial government.

Streaming resources

Commemorate Juneteenth and celebrate Black culture and art at PBS’ Juneteenth Jamboree.

Learn more about the history of Pride Month, from post-WWII groups like the Mattachine Society and Daughters of Bilitis to the Stonewall Riots and the first Gay Pride Parade.

Explore UO Libraries’ digital libraries collections highlighting the many important contributions by women, including the Doris Ulmann Photograph Collection, Guild of Women Binders: A Social Movement in Printing History and Remarkable Works by Women Authors.

The UO Channel features a variety of livestreamed events, Department of Art Visiting Artist Lecture Series videos, guest speakers and more.

—By Sharleen Nelson, University Communications