Sandhills Speed and More

Stories featured in this episode include the Sandhills Open Road Challenge car race, artist Kat Wiese explores cultural identities, and preserving Minden’s Pioneer Village.

Air Date: 02/09/2022

Sandhills Speed On the second weekend of August, the community of Arnold hosts its annual Sandhills Open Road Challenge. It’s one of only three open road races in the USA. Racers from across the country compete in a variety of challenges, including the main event – a timed contest on a 55-mile winding, scenic Sandhills highway. These racers feel the need, the need for controlled speed.

Kat, Larger than Life What does it mean to be seen? What happens when a culture is marginalized? These are among the questions multimedia artist Katharen Wiese seeks to explore in her work. The former Lincoln-based artist hopes to represent the humanity and dignity of Black and multi-racial people through her imagery as she explores the intersections of race, gender, and identity. Wiese, who is Black, carves large woodcut figures, prints them and then picks up her paintbrush to merge the pieces. The result, she hopes, is a larger-than-life immersive interaction between the viewer, the work and self-reflection. Wiese’s work can be found in numerous public and private collections.

Harold Warp's Pioneer Village Pioneer Village was once Nebraska’s top tourist attraction that drew people from across the United States during the 1950s and 60s. It was an economic boon to the small town of Minden. Today, Harold Warp’s vision is on life support as local community members work to resuscitate this once popular museum.