University Art Museum Reaches Out to Community with Art and Culture Talks
 |
From left, artist Matthew Higgs and archaeologist Peter Lacovara are among the guest speakers at the Art and Culture Talks. |
Key issues in contemporary art and culture are the focus of provocative lectures, debates, and seminars this spring at the Marjorie L. and Ronald E. Brandon Art and Culture Talks at the University Art Museum. From an expert on the Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza to artists who use the environment as a theme in their work, the series offers intellectual depth and excitement.
"The series offers students, faculty, and members of the community the opportunity to engage with some of the most dynamic voices in contemporary culture, " said University Art Museum Director Janet Riker. "Over the years it has brought to the region pre-eminent critics, curators and artists, including Roberta Smith, Vito Acconci, Robert Storr, and Peter Saul, as well as some of the most talented emerging artists working today. It�s quite an amazing list. I am always happy to hear audience response to the lectures, and often have people tell me that they remember speakers they heard here years ago. That�s when you know your programming has had an impact!�
Monday, February 23
7 p.m. Talk by artist and curator Matthew Higgs, who will discuss his approach to the practice of art as an artist, curator, and writer, with an emphasis on running New York's oldest alternative space, White Columns. Since 2004, Higgs has been the director and chief curator at White Columns. Higgs will be the juror of the 2009 Artists of the Mohawk-Hudson Region exhibition to be held at the University Art Museum June 25 through Aug. 8.
Monday, March 2
7 p.m. "Digging in the Shadow of the Pyramids: Recent Discoveries at Giza," lecture by Peter Lacovara, curator and archaeologist. Lacovara, a lecturer in the Art Department, will talk about his and his colleagues' fieldwork at the Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza, as well as the significance of these sites throughout the history of Egyptian archaeology.
 |
The Art and Culture Talk series is made possible by a generous gift from alumna Marjorie L. Brandon '82. |
Friday, March 27
6 p.m. Sound/poetry performance by composer and conductor Petr Kotik. Kotik is a renowned Czech-born American composer and conductor whose sound/poetry program will include works by the Be Blank Consort and a revisioning of "Empty Words" by John Cage, the 20th century musical pioneer.
Monday, April 6
7 p.m. �Responsive Art: Working in the Environment,� panel discussion with artists Amy Lipton, Jason Middlebrook, and Frances Richard on the juncture between responsiveness and responsibility in site-specific works.
The Art and Culture Talks program was created and developed by the University Art Museum. The Art and Culture Talk series is made possible by a generous gift from alumna Marjorie L. Brandon '82. ACT is one of the museum's most significant outreach programs. All events are free and open to the public, and held at the museum. Parking will be provided in Visitor Lot #1, courtesy of the Provost's Office. For more information, go to: https://www.albany.edu/museum/act/act2009.html .
For more news, subscribe to UAlbany's RSS headline feeds
