�鶹��Ƶ Joins Park Arts, Bringing World-Class Programs to Historic Synagogue</h1> <article> <h1>�鶹��Ƶ Joins Park Arts, Bringing World-Class Programs to Historic Synagogue</h1> <p>eburnett — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 16:34:19 +0000</p> <span>�鶹��Ƶ Joins Park Arts, Bringing World-Class Programs to Historic Synagogue</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-04-10T12:34:19-04:00" title="Thursday, April 10, 2025 - 12:34">Thu, 04/10/2025 - 12:34</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Since the Park Synagogue congregation departed its historic Cleveland Heights campus several years ago, there has been a remarkable effort underway to restore and repurpose this important site into a center for creative arts and humanities. </p><p>�鶹��Ƶ is proud to bring its unique combination of outstanding academics and world-class music and arts education to the dynamic community that is planned for the Park Synagogue. Called “Park Arts,” this collaboration is a milestone in one of the most ambitious and historically significant reclamation projects within the nation’s Jewish community.</p><p>Developed by Sustainable Community Associates (SCA), a Cleveland-based team of �鶹��Ƶ alumni, and the nonprofit Friends of Mendelsohn, Park Arts honors architect Erich Mendelsohn’s legacy while designing an intergenerational center for artistic creation and humanities education. �鶹��Ƶ will add its newly established Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts in Integrated Arts (BA+BFA) to this creative hub. Launching in fall 2025, the combined degree program can be completed in five years: the first four on �鶹��Ƶ’s bucolic campus, followed by a fifth year set amid the rich professional arts community at Park Arts. With the first BA+BFA students scheduled to arrive at Park Arts in June 2027, this program will provide hands-on opportunities for students in Northeast Ohio’s vibrant arts scene.</p><p>“We are thrilled to forge this connection between �鶹��Ƶ and the greater Cleveland community,” says �鶹��Ƶ President Carmen Twillie Ambar. “This partnership allows us to honor one of Cleveland’s historic Jewish synagogues while our students interact with the region’s cultural institutions. Our students will gain real-world experience and contribute their talents to a city known for artistic excellence. It bridges �鶹��Ƶ’s close-knit campus with the creative energy of Cleveland and Cleveland Heights.” </p><p>�鶹��Ƶ’s BA+BFA in Integrated Arts dual degree program eventually will bring up to 50 fifth-year students to Park Arts for an immersive arts year. Students will have 24-hour access to private studios, rehearsal spaces, theaters, and production facilities, culminating in a substantial, public-facing project—a performance, exhibition, or installation—determined in collaboration with their �鶹��Ƶ faculty mentors. The program is designed with collaboration in mind: Students will work with renowned visiting artists and with Cleveland’s arts organizations through internships, commissioned works, and public programming.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Partnership will yield host site for new BA+BFA combined degree program.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2025-04-09T12:00:00Z">Wed, 04/09/2025 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Office of Communications</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2583">College of Arts and Sciences</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=4290">BA/BFA</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25436">Studio Art</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25331">Dance</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25441">Theater</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25326">Creative Writing</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25281">Musical Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25256">Cinema and Media</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-faculty field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/julia-christensen" hreflang="und">Julia Christensen</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/art" hreflang="und">Studio Art</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/dance" hreflang="und">Dance</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/theater" hreflang="und">Theater</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/cinema-studies" hreflang="und">Cinema and Media</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/creative-writing" hreflang="und">Creative Writing</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/musical-studies" hreflang="und">Musical Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Built in 1950, Park Synagogue in Cleveland Heights will be redeveloped as Park Arts. Fifth-year �鶹��Ƶ students in the new BA/BFA program will pursue their studies at the transformed space beginning in 2027.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">courtesy of SCA</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-flex-content field--type-entity-reference-revisions field--label-hidden vertical-spacing--basic field__items"> <div class="field__item"> <div id="obj-40692" class="paragraph paragraph--type--pb-el-bq paragraph--view-mode--default"> <blockquote class="blockquote--quotemark" data-text-color-red data-text-size-giant> <p>For artists, community connections are invaluable. Collaborating with Cleveland’s arts organizations, securing internships, and being immersed in a thriving cultural district will be transformative.” <em>—Julia Christensen, BA+BFA Program Director</em></p> </blockquote> </div> </div> <div class="field__item"> <div id="obj-40399" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-copy paragraph--view-mode--default o-flex--basic-copy basic-copy"> <p>The partnership with Park Arts also presents a pathway for �鶹��Ƶ to expand Jewish Studies—drawing on the congregation’s archives as well as pursuing course-based research opportunities focused on the history of Park Synagogue—and the potential for community concerts and other musical outreach. </p><p>In addition to �鶹��Ƶ, Park Arts will house a diverse collection of nonprofit and educational programs, expanding access to creative programming for the broader Cleveland community. Overall, the 28-acre Park Arts campus will contain intergenerational housing, an expanded neighborhood preschool, public walking trails and green space, and the preservation of the Mendelsohn-designed building—an applicant for National Landmark status—while simultaneously integrating sustainability initiatives such as geothermal heating and cooling.</p><p>According to Susan Ratner, former President of Park Synagogue, the donation of Park to SCA was a continuation of the congregation’s legacy. “Our goal has always been to honor Park’s history while ensuring it remains an inspiring part of Greater Cleveland’s cultural landscape. The larger vision for the restoration and �鶹��Ƶ’s presence will bring new energy, creativity, and scholarship, making Park Arts a truly unique center for artistic innovation and education. We are thrilled to be a part of it and to return each year for high holidays.”</p><p>Park Arts places �鶹��Ƶ students near some of the region’s most distinguished cultural institutions, including the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Cleveland, and Dobama Theatre, as well as Cleveland’s renowned performance venues and galleries.</p><p>“This move provides an essential bridge from student life to professional careers in the arts,” says Julia Christensen, Program Director and �鶹��Ƶ’s Eva & John Young-Hunter Professor of Integrated Media. “Park Arts offers students the opportunity to engage with the Cleveland arts community while honing their creative practice in an academic setting.”</p><p>“For artists, community connections are invaluable,” Christensen adds. “Collaborating with Cleveland’s arts organizations, securing internships, and being immersed in a thriving cultural district will be transformative. At the same time, these emerging artists will bring fresh perspectives and energy to the broader Cleveland arts scene. It’s an exciting exchange.”</p><hr><p><a href="/arts-and-sciences/ba-bfa-dual-degree-integrated-arts"><em><strong>Learn more about �鶹��Ƶ’s BA+BFA program at �鶹��Ƶ.edu.</strong></em></a></p> </div> </div> </div> </article> <article> <h1>A Cosmic Duet</h1> <p>awillia2 — Tue, 11 Mar 2025 04:05:33 +0000</p> <span>A Cosmic Duet</span> <span><span>awillia2</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-03-11T00:05:33-04:00" title="Tuesday, March 11, 2025 - 00:05">Tue, 03/11/2025 - 00:05</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">For Julia Christensen, the distinctive convergence of art and technology is explored through connections with leading aerospace engineers—and the music created by trees.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2025-03-21T12:00:00Z">Fri, 03/21/2025 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Eloise Rich ’26</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The question of obsolescence—whether a technology, artwork, product, or idea remains relevant—is crucial to the work of artists and scientists. Obsolescence is relevant for myriad reasons. For one, we are often left wondering how much time we have left, with both our technology and life itself. At the same time, contemporary scientific and artistic developments are informed by previous trends.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=4292">�鶹��Ƶ Research Review</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25436">Studio Art</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-faculty field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/julia-christensen" hreflang="und">Julia Christensen</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/art" hreflang="und">Studio Art</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Cover art from the limited edition vinyl record.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-cte-images field--type-list-string field--label-hidden field__item">Yes (Individual Images)</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Courtesy of Space Song Foundation: Tree Songs Art Center</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-flex-content field--type-entity-reference-revisions field--label-hidden vertical-spacing--basic field__items"> <div class="field__item"> <div id="obj-40687" class="paragraph paragraph--type--pb-el-bq paragraph--view-mode--default"> <blockquote class="blockquote--distinguished" data-text-size-giant> <p>Trees have power, like humans do, to regulate climate and vastly shape the world we live in.</p> </blockquote> </div> </div> <div class="field__item"> <div id="obj-40367" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-copy paragraph--view-mode--default o-flex--basic-copy basic-copy"> <p>Julia Christensen, the Eva and John Young-Hunter Professor of Integrated Media, has been working on projects related to obsolescence and technology for several years. Through a 2017 Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) Art + Tech Lab Fellowship, she connected with engineers and scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory who were also thinking about obsolescence, specifically in the context of long-term space missions. A group at the lab was working on a study to develop a potential spacecraft launch to our nearest exoplanetary neighbor, Proxima b. With the proposed technologies, this equals a 42-year journey.</p> <p>Christensen was asked to come up with an art project to be embedded on such a craft, which was slated to launch in 2069, and settled on something music-related. She first faced a “complex conceptual problem,” as she puts it. “It takes 4.2 years for any data to travel back to Earth because data travels at the speed of light. We’re looking at an 80-year timeline here for this technology.”</p> <p>And as Christensen began to think about what to record, she came back to the obsolescence of life on Earth. “Humans will come and go between now and our Proxima b mission,” she explains. “But there are species that will be here for the whole time. Some fish live for a long time; so does coral.” </p> <p>Eventually, Christensen decided to focus on something else long-lasting—trees, which she says are “potentially the most important cornerstone of our ecosystem. Trees have power, like humans do, to regulate climate and vastly shape the world we live in.” </p> <p>This idea grew into The Tree of Life, a project of a nonprofit called the Space Song Foundation that Christensen co-chairs with Steve Matousek, a longtime project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This project involves putting sensors on trees around the world that read light, water, and temperature. The numeric data gathered from these sensors is translated into frequencies that can be interpreted both visually and aurally. On a daily basis, variations in frequency arise as a result of the Earth’s natural rotation, determining whether the wired trees are facing the sun. In the long term, changes in frequency describe seasons and even global shifts in climate.</p> <p>“We are making this ongoing song of the trees around the planet,” Christensen says. “The idea is we start that song now, and when an interstellar spacecraft launches in 50 years, we can etch the sine waves produced by our trees on the side of the craft.” </p> <p>There’s precedent for this: In 1977, two phonograph records called the Voyager Golden Records launched aboard the interstellar space probes Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. These also comprise sonic representations of life on Earth, encompassing whale songs and compositions by Beethoven and Mozart, and they have staying power. As of January 2025, the Golden Records <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/voyager/where-are-voyager-1-and-voyager-2-now/" target="_blank">remain in space</a>.</p> <p> “The Tree of Life’s cosmic duet can be embedded on future interstellar spacecrafts telling a story about life on Earth,” Christensen says. “But this time, it’s from the perspective of the trees that support our terrestrial ecosystem and the technology we build. It’s like a Golden Record but of the trees, facilitated by the humans and by the technology that we build.”</p> <p>Some of the work has been released already on <a href="https://spacesong.bandcamp.com/album/tree-songs-art-center-2" target="_blank">Bandcamp</a>. All of this data will be publicly available and welcome both scientific and artistic “remixes” in addition to being part of the spacecraft.</p> <p>“For me, having these sonifications of data is really interesting from an artistic and cultural perspective,” she says. “But we’ve always wanted the project to have as much scientific integrity as it does artistic integrity, and this auditory system that we’ve built is really helpful for scientists. They’ve said when you’re parsing an immense amount of data, it’s sometimes easier to hear a shift or a change than it is to see it.”</p> <p>At its core, The Tree of Life is a meditation on scientific and artistic longevity. “A lot of the scientists that I’m working with are visionary people,” Christensen says. “We’ve realized we’re asking the same questions: Who are we? Why are we here? How long have we got? Is there anybody else out there? All the same existential questions underlie their scientific and engineering work, along with the grand artistic questions about life.”</p> </div> </div> <div class="field__item"> <div id="obj-40368" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-copy paragraph--view-mode--default o-flex--basic-copy basic-copy"> <hr> <p><em>Julia Christensen’s multidisciplinary research navigates the world between art, technology, and time. She earned an MFA in electronic music and recording media at Mills College and an MFA in integrated technology arts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and was a 2018 Guggenheim Fellow.</em></p> </div> </div> <div class="field__item"> <div class="field field--name-field-bio-card-el-biography field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> <div class="biography-card"> <figure> </figure> <div class="biography-card__content"> <h2><span>Julia Christensen</span> </h2> <ul class="item-list list--clean" style="margin-top: 0px;"> <li class="professional-title">Eva and John Young-Hunter Professor of Art</li> <li class="professional-title">Director of the BA+BFA Integrated Arts Program</li> </ul> <a class="view-more" href="/julia-christensen">View Julia Christensen’s biography</a> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field__item"> <div id="obj-40386" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-copy paragraph--view-mode--default o-flex--basic-copy basic-copy"> <h2 class="small-headline" style="margin-top: 1.25rem;">About the Image</h2> <figure class="captioned-image obj-right" data-cte style="margin-bottom: 1.75rem;"> <figcaption><em>Click the image to expand</em></figcaption> </figure>  <p>Courtesy of Space Song Foundation: Tree Songs Art Center.</p> <hr class="hr--light" style="clear: both; margin: 1.25rem 0;"> <p><a class="view-more" href="/node/488025">Return to <em>�鶹��Ƶ Research Review</em></a></p> </div> </div> <div class="field__item"> <div id="obj-40369" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-copy paragraph--view-mode--default o-flex--basic-copy basic-copy"> <p class="header-tag no-show" id="header-tag">�鶹��Ƶ Research Review</p> <style> .no-show { display: none } </style> <script> (function() { var header = document.querySelector(".story-header"); var headerTag = document.getElementById("header-tag"); header.insertBefore(headerTag, header.firstElementChild); headerTag.classList.remove("no-show"); })(); </script>  <script> (function() { var credit = document.querySelector(".top-combo__figure .figure__credit"); credit.innerText = credit.textContent.replace("Photo credit","Image credit"); })(); </script>  <style> aside .list--clean li { margin-bottom: 0.25rem; } aside ul.list--clean { margin-top: .5rem; font-family: var(--font-sans-serif); font-size: 0.875rem; } aside .basic-box { margin: .5rem 0; max-width: 240px; } aside .basic-box .small-headline { font-size: 1rem; } </style>  <style> .biography-card blockquote { display: none } .body-centered-layout blockquote { margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: -1rem; } </style> </div> </div> </div> </article> <article> <h1>�鶹��Ƶ Launches Combined BA+BFA in Integrated Arts</h1> <p>eburnett — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:02:25 +0000</p> <span>�鶹��Ƶ Launches Combined BA+BFA in Integrated Arts</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-02-21T16:02:25-05:00" title="Friday, February 21, 2025 - 16:02">Fri, 02/21/2025 - 16:02</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>For generations, �鶹��Ƶ graduates have gone on to become groundbreaking creative forces in artistic settings all over the world. </p><p>Now a new pairing of �鶹��Ƶ degree programs enables undergraduate students to establish their own paths toward interdisciplinary careers across the arts.</p><p>Beginning in fall 2025, students may pursue a combined dual degree that culminates in a <a href="/arts-and-sciences/ba-bfa-dual-degree-integrated-arts">Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Integrated Arts</a>. The two degrees can be completed in five years: the first four on �鶹��Ƶ’s bucolic campus, followed by a fifth year set amid the vibrant professional arts community of nearby Cleveland.</p><p>“What is most inspiring about this new BA+BFA pathway is that it emerged organically,” says <a href="/node/4921">David Kamitsuka</a>, Dean of �鶹��Ƶ’s College of Arts and Sciences. “It developed through an extraordinary, collaborative commitment among our arts faculty to design a program that is attuned to the future of the art world and attentive to the aspirations of our endlessly creative and thoughtful students.” </p><p>Students in the program complete courses in their chosen BA major, <a href="/arts-and-sciences/areas-of-study">selecting from more than 50 areas of study</a> offered by the College of Arts and Sciences. They also take 10 additional courses in the <a href="/arts-and-sciences/practicing-arts">practicing arts</a>, which may include cinema and media, creative writing, dance, musical studies, studio art, and theater.</p><p>In year five, students live and work in Cleveland, with 24-hour access to private studios, rehearsal spaces, theaters, and production facilities. This immersive arts year is dedicated to completing a substantial, public-facing project—a performance, exhibition, or installation, for example—determined in collaboration with their �鶹��Ƶ faculty mentors.</p><p>Unlike traditional BFA programs, which require selection of a single area of study, �鶹��Ƶ’s BFA in Integrated Arts invites students to shape their own path by incorporating other disciplines into their individual artistic practice. In this way, painting could be paired with politics, theater with environmental studies, creative writing with neuroscience—or any number of other combinations.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Five-year path toward two degrees includes focused work in the thriving arts world of nearby Cleveland.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2025-02-21T12:00:00Z">Fri, 02/21/2025 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Communications Staff</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2583">College of Arts and Sciences</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2556">Admissions</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=4290">BA/BFA</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25436">Studio Art</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25331">Dance</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25256">Cinema and Media</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25326">Creative Writing</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25441">Theater</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25281">Musical Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-faculty field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/julia-christensen" hreflang="und">Julia Christensen</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/david-kamitsuka" hreflang="und">David Kamitsuka</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/art" hreflang="und">Studio Art</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/theater" hreflang="und">Theater</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/dance" hreflang="und">Dance</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/creative-writing" hreflang="und">Creative Writing</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/musical-studies" hreflang="und">Musical Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/cinema-studies" hreflang="und">Cinema and Media</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Students in �鶹��Ƶ’s BA+BFA dual-degree program devote their first four years to studies on campus, followed by a fifth year of immersive arts study in Cleveland.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-flex-content field--type-entity-reference-revisions field--label-hidden vertical-spacing--basic field__items"> <div class="field__item"> <div id="obj-37735" class="paragraph paragraph--type--pb-el-bq paragraph--view-mode--default"> <blockquote class="blockquote--quotemark" data-text-color-red data-text-size-giant> <p>Our students don’t just learn to be artists; they learn to be thinkers who engage deeply with the world around them.”</p> </blockquote> </div> </div> <div class="field__item"> <div id="obj-37109" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-copy paragraph--view-mode--default o-flex--basic-copy basic-copy"> <p>The program creates an ideal bridge between students’ academic journey and their chosen professional path—and a launching pad for a new generation of increasingly vital “thinking artists.”</p><p>“This program is built on the idea that artists thrive when they have a broad intellectual foundation,” says Program Director <a href="/node/5041">Julia Christensen</a>, �鶹��Ƶ’s Eva & John Young-Hunter Professor of Integrated Media. “It’s about bridging the gap between creativity and academic exploration.</p><p>“Artists don’t usually see themselves as just a painter or just a sculptor,” Christensen says. “They draw from all kinds of disciplines and backgrounds. That’s the kind of artistry we want to foster here: Our students don’t just learn to be artists; they learn to be thinkers who engage deeply with the world around them, using their creative problem-solving skills to address complex, real-world challenges.”</p><p>Current students in their first or second year of studies in the College of Arts and Sciences are eligible to participate in the BA+BFA in Integrated Arts program, with the first year of immersive art studies in Cleveland slated for 2027-28. Current �鶹��Ƶ students interested in the program must apply by their junior year and be on track to finish the required credits and submit a portfolio for review. </p><p>New students applying for enrollment in fall 2026 will have the option to apply to the BA+BFA program as part of the first-year application process.</p><hr><p><a href="/arts-and-sciences/ba-bfa-dual-degree-integrated-arts"><strong>Learn more about the BA+BFA in Integrated Arts at oberlin.edu. </strong></a></p><p><strong>Thinking about �鶹��Ƶ? </strong><a href="mailto:college.admissions@oberlin.edu?subject=�鶹��Ƶ's%20BA%2FBFA%20program"><strong>Connect with us at college.admissions@oberlin.edu.</strong></a></p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-article-header field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">0</div> </article> <article> <h1>3 Things with Matthew Rarey</h1> <p>eburnett — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 19:44:15 +0000</p> <span>3 Things with Matthew Rarey</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2024-01-31T14:44:15-05:00" title="Wednesday, January 31, 2024 - 14:44">Wed, 01/31/2024 - 14:44</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="/node/5126">Matthew Rarey</a> researches and teaches the art history of the Black Atlantic, with a focus on connections between West Africa, Brazil, and Portugal from the 17th through 21st centuries. It’s a path he first encountered in an African art history course as an undergrad at the University of Illinois.</p> <p>“I realized African art history was asking all these formative questions—about race, gender, colonialism, diaspora, and personhood—that I felt weren’t just important to the discipline; they were important to understanding the <em>world</em>,” he says.</p> <p>Chair of �鶹��Ƶ’s <a href="/node/318461">Art History Department</a> and an associate professor of African and Black Atlantic art history, Rarey is deeply focused on curating African and Black Atlantic art histories. He co-curated the Allen Memorial Art Museum’s 2019-20 exhibition <em>Afterlives of the Black Atlantic</em>, which won an Award of Excellence from the Association of Art Museum Curators.</p> <p>Now Rarey’s work is in the spotlight again: This year, he won the College Art Association’s prestigious Charles Rufus Morey Book Award for his first book, <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/insignificant-things"><em>Insignificant Things: Amulets and the Art of Survival in the Early Black Atlantic</em></a> (Duke University Press, 2023). It traces the history of the African-associated amulets made and carried as tools of survival by enslaved people from the 17th to the 19th centuries.</p> <p>We asked Rarey to share three things about how he uses art history to tell new stories about the African diaspora. Here’s what he had to say.</p> <p><strong>1) “Western” art history is deeply entangled with Black Atlantic art history.</strong></p> <p>African art and artists have always been instrumental to the development of visual culture of the so-called “West.” One great example I often teach with is at �鶹��Ƶ’s Allen Memorial Art Museum: an ivory saltcellar carved around 1500 by a Sapi artist who worked in what is now Sierra Leone. It was commissioned by Portuguese traders active on the West African coast, and its design demonstrates the artist’s strategic negotiation of Sapi and Portuguese aesthetics. The traders—some of whom eventually initiated into Sapi society—later took the saltcellar to Lisbon and displayed it as a prestige object. Keep in mind that by 1550 Lisbon also had a large, diverse Black population who forged lives at all levels of Portuguese society. Categories like “African” and “European” don’t seem helpful to me in describing the saltcellar and the worlds it moved through. Rather, I’m interested in exploring how Black art and artists routinely challenge or upend efforts to categorize them by revealing the longstanding circulations of African and European visual culture in the wider Atlantic world.</p> <p><strong>2) Black Atlantic art history demands creative, ethical approaches.</strong></p> <p>Consider the amulets discussed in my book, which I think are critical to understanding Black Atlantic art history. Often made by Africans enslaved in Brazil, these small pouches had the power to protect their users from violence. Perhaps hundreds of thousands of these amulets existed in the 1700s. Today only two known examples survive—and only because they were confiscated as part of the Portuguese Inquisition by officials who declared the amulets evil and sacrilegious. How can we look to these objects to understand the lives of their makers while also reckoning with the violent histories that made them available as objects of study? To me, these questions are what makes Black Atlantic art history exciting and important: It demands we come up with innovative ways to tell ethical stories from small, fragmentary sources.</p> <p><strong>3) Contemporary artists rewrite history.</strong></p> <p>Though my book is primarily about the 1700s, I teach and write about a lot of contemporary artists. That’s because Black artists throughout the diaspora—like María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Ayana V. Jackson, Jaime Lauriano, Fabiola Jean-Louis, and Rosana Paulino, just to name a few—all engage historical documents and archival sources in their work. Their artistry reckons with, and calls out, the dominant ways history and art history have been written to obscure Africans’ lives. And often, what the archival sources obscure—and what the artists want to help us see—are the anti-racist and egalitarian worlds that enslaved people have always fought to bring into being.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">How the �鶹��Ƶ professor uses art history to tell new stories about the African diaspora.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2024-01-31T12:00:00Z">Wed, 01/31/2024 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Communications Staff</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2597">Faculty and Staff</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2378">Allen Memorial Art Museum</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2373">Awards and Honors</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25301">Art History</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25436">Studio Art</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=4821">Africana Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-faculty field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/matthew-rarey" hreflang="und">Matthew Rarey</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/art-history" hreflang="und">Art History</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/art" hreflang="und">Studio Art</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/africana-studies" hreflang="und">Africana Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">In early 2024, Matthew Rarey won the College Art Association’s Charles Rufus Morey Book Award for his first book, “Insignificant Things: Amulets and the Art of Survival in the Early Black Atlantic.”</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Tanya Rosen-Jones '97</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Paintbrush Empowerment</h1> <p>eburnett — Mon, 15 May 2023 22:56:45 +0000</p> <span>Paintbrush Empowerment</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2023-05-15T18:56:45-04:00" title="Monday, May 15, 2023 - 18:56">Mon, 05/15/2023 - 18:56</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Mufalo Mufalo speaks to his homeland with a paintbrush instead of a megaphone.</p> <p>The first-year �鶹��Ƶ student learned to paint from his late father back in their homeland of Zambia, a landlocked nation in southern Africa. Before long, Mufalo was painting at a nationally recognized art school, winning awards at festivals, participating in a national exhibition—even presenting an oil portrait to Zambia’s first president, Kenneth Kaunda. </p> <p>He has painted murals promoting public safety messages during the pandemic. He even fashioned his passion into a homegrown initiative: In 2019—<em>at age 15</em>—he founded Our Art Africa, a nonprofit that focuses on community outreach through art.</p> <p>“I started Our Art Africa to help inspire young people in my community to use art to express themselves,” Mufalo said in 2020. “Through the initiative, I provide art supplies to schools and orphanages and conduct painting workshops. In these workshops, I encourage participants to follow their own individuality.”</p> <p>Beginning this summer, Mufalo will do more of the same—this time with the support of a Projects for Peace grant secured with help from �鶹��Ƶ’s <a href="/node/4526">Office of Fellowships and Awards</a>, part of the <a href="/node/396216">Center for Engaged Liberal Arts</a>, or CELA.</p> <p>“A simple mural that highlights a social issue in a society can have more impact than a protest,” Mufalo wrote in his successful application for the highly competitive grant, which provides $10,000 for innovative community projects pursued mostly during the summer.</p> <p></p> <p>Mufalo headlined his application “African Graffiti as a Driver for Change.” He recounted the way news of his pandemic mural quickly spread on social media, and how many people photographed it. “I realized that, for some people, it was more than just about the subject; it was about bringing aesthetics into the neighborhood.”</p> <p>Mufalo dedicated his first Winter Term at �鶹��Ƶ to painting yet another mural near his hometown of Mongu, Zambia. He was encouraged to apply for the Projects for Peace grant by <a href="/node/175641">Deanna Bergdorf</a>, director of �鶹��Ƶ’s <a href="/winter-term">Office of Winter Term</a>, which is also part of CELA.</p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-right"> <figcaption>Paintings by Mufalo Mufalo</figcaption> </figure> <p>Projects for Peace grants were endowed in 2007 at Middlebury College by the late investor, artist, and activist Kathryn Wasserman Davis, who challenged recipients “to bring about a mind-set of preparing for peace instead of preparing for war.”</p> <p>Mufalo’s project will involve collaboration with other artists to paint murals in three Zambian towns: Lusaka, Mongu, and Livingstone, featuring subjects yet to be determined. He also plans to distribute more supplies. “I hope to inspire young people who want to make a difference in their communities,” he says. He expects to complete his project from June through August, finishing in time for fall semester of his sophomore year.</p> <p>Prior to attending �鶹��Ƶ, Mufalo was invited to take up high school studies at the African Leadership Academy in South Africa, many hundreds of miles from his home. His education there revolved around the school’s mission to prepare young people from throughout Africa for lives of ethical and entrepreneurial leadership.</p> <p>Although he had never left Africa before coming to �鶹��Ƶ, Mufalo met many American students at the academy, and they prepared him for life in Ohio—even the weather. “It gets a bit too cold sometimes compared to where I’m from,” he says, “but I prefer cold to hot.”</p> <p>With plans to pursue studies in both art and neuroscience, Mufalo currently takes two drawing classes, an introduction to narrative art, an introduction to Africana studies, and a neuroscience lab. In only his first year on campus, he quickly fell into a role that deftly combines his two passions: designing covers for the campus neuroscience publication <a href="https://synapsemagazine.org/"><em>The Synapse</em></a>.</p> <p>He is also a Bonner Scholar, a program of <a href="/node/4416">�鶹��Ƶ’s Bonner Center for Community-Engaged Learning, Teaching, and Research</a>. Bonner Scholars engage in community-service initiatives throughout their �鶹��Ƶ experience; Mufalo volunteers as an assistant at the Firelands Association for the Visual Arts in downtown �鶹��Ƶ.</p> <p>He credits neuroscience professor <a href="/node/50471">Chris Howard</a> and Bonner Scholars director <a href="/node/29791">Brittnei Sherrod</a> for helping him map out his future. After graduation, he hopes to pursue animation and create works with African characters.</p> <p>A self-described introvert who tends to stick to his easel, Mufalo likes �鶹��Ƶ’s small size. But he has gotten involved in numerous ways: He plays club soccer on campus and designs advertisements for African Student Association events.</p> <p>“It’s the right place for me,” he says. “�鶹��Ƶ has provided me with financial support and exposure to other opportunities as an artist.”</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Mufalo Mufalo inspires expression through art across his native Africa.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2023-05-15T12:00:00Z">Mon, 05/15/2023 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Grant Segall</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2373">Awards and Honors</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2381">Bonner Center</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2377">Arts & Humanities</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=4861">Neuroscience</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25436">Studio Art</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-faculty field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/christopher-howard" hreflang="und">Christopher Howard</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/art" hreflang="und">Studio Art</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/neuroscience" hreflang="und">Neuroscience</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">courtesy of Mufalo Mufalo</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Jamie Overstreet Earns YB Staff Award for 2023</h1> <p>eburnett — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 13:57:44 +0000</p> <span>Jamie Overstreet Earns YB Staff Award for 2023</span> <span><span>eburnett</span></span> <span><time datetime="2023-04-26T09:57:44-04:00" title="Wednesday, April 26, 2023 - 09:57">Wed, 04/26/2023 - 09:57</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><a href="/jamie-jacobs">Jamie Overstreet</a>, program coordinator of �鶹��Ƶ’s <a href="/node/318461">Art History</a> and <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/art">Studio Art</a> departments, was named the recipient of the 2023 YB Award for extraordinary service, an annual honor awarded to an �鶹��Ƶ staff member. Overstreet was honored by President Carmen Twillie Ambar at a lunch event for employees in the Root Room on April 26.</p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-right"> <figcaption>Jamie Overstreet with President Ambar (photo by John Seyfried)</figcaption> </figure> <p>An 11-year employee of �鶹��Ƶ, Overstreet coordinates the needs of approximately two dozen faculty and staff members for both departments, including maintaining the schedules for five buildings, managing budgets for all studio art courses, and scheduling and promoting some 30 visiting artists and scholars and numerous exhibitions annually.</p> <p>“Jamie is absolutely integral to the functioning of the Studio Art Department for students, staff, and faculty alike,” one nominating colleague noted.</p> <p>Additional praise for Overstreet among nominators included the following:</p> <p>“She is the most public face for one of the biggest departments on campus. She makes the art curriculum possible for �鶹��Ƶ College.”</p> <p>“I’ve truly never worked with someone who performs so many integral functions at the same time with such efficiency and kindness, and her excellence sets the tone for the department.”</p> <p>“Jamie is an absolutely incredible person. She is so organized and makes sure that everything that she is involved with runs as smoothly and simply as possible. She puts in so much extra effort in order to make events and communication accessible for everyone.”</p> <p>“I cannot say enough about the recognition that Jamie Jacobs deserves and has earned through hard work. She is inspiring to all of us and runs a tight ship so that faculty and students can work in our diverse, complex ways.”</p> <p>“In everything she does, she is both genuinely empathetic and the consummate professional. I’m pretty sure Jamie could run the world, and it would be a much better place if she did.”</p> <hr> <p>The YB Staff Award was established to honor the extraordinary service of the late Yeworkwha Belachew—“YB,” as she was affectionately known—who served �鶹��Ƶ in numerous roles for more than 35 years, most notably as ombudsperson and founder of the �鶹��Ƶ College Dialogue Center (OCDC). The center was renamed the Yeworkwha Belachew Center for Dialogue upon her retirement in 2016.</p> <p>First presented in 2016—to Belachew—the YB Award was established to recognize a non-faculty employee of the college or conservatory who demonstrates daily commitment and performance in advancing �鶹��Ƶ’s strategic goals through exemplary service.</p> <p>For more information about the YB Award and a complete list of past honorees, please visit the Department of Human Resources’ <a href="/node/72566">Awards and Recognition page</a>.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Program coordinator for studio art and art history hailed for orchestrating the success of both departments.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2023-04-26T12:00:00Z">Wed, 04/26/2023 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Office of Communications</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2373">Awards and Honors</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25436">Studio Art</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25301">Art History</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-faculty field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/jamie-jacobs" hreflang="und">Jamie Jacobs Overstreet</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/art" hreflang="und">Studio Art</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/art-history" hreflang="und">Art History</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Bryan Rubin</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Community Mural Project Highlights Aspects of �鶹��Ƶ</h1> <p>ygay — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 15:01:35 +0000</p> <span>Community Mural Project Highlights Aspects of �鶹��Ƶ</span> <span><span>ygay</span></span> <span><time datetime="2021-09-14T11:01:35-04:00" title="Tuesday, September 14, 2021 - 11:01">Tue, 09/14/2021 - 11:01</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>More than 100 town and college members picked up artists' brushes and applied their painting skills to a 32-foot mural in Carpenter Court late last month during Community Paint Day. The result is an expressive collage that the organizer of the project hopes will fill passersby with �鶹��Ƶ pride.</p> <p>“I hope [people] feel joy when they see the vibrant colors,'' says organizer Tanya Rosen-Jones ’97. “I hope they feel pride in what a special place �鶹��Ƶ is. I hope they realize there is a strong arts, sports, and music culture in this town.”</p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-right"> <figcaption>We Are �鶹��Ƶ organizer Tanya Rosen-Jones ’97. Photo credit: Courtesy of Rosen-Jones</figcaption> </figure> <p>The idea of a vivid community mural appealed to Rosen-Jones’ artistic side and small-town appreciation. After graduating from �鶹��Ƶ College with a major in <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/history" target="_blank">history</a> and concentration in <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/latin-american-studies" target="_blank">Latin American Studies</a>, she turned a passion for photography into a professional career in 1999. She returned to �鶹��Ƶ in 2008 and opened a portrait studio in the downtown area. </p> <p>With artists and community members lending a hand, and donated lemonade and water from local churches nearby, the August installation was completed in just two weeks. However, groundwork for the We Are �鶹��Ƶ Mural Project was two years in the making.</p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-left"> <figcaption>The mural design is added to the wall. Photo credit: Tanya Rosen-Jones ’97</figcaption> </figure> <p>Location of the new mural was inspired by an existing installation that had been on the back of the �鶹��Ƶ Bookstore since 1996. It depicted a sitting figure whose hands steadied a ball of light on top of its head. “I wondered about its origins,” says Rosen-Jones. “It was almost 25 years old and there was no graffiti on it. I wondered how it was still respected after so much time.”</p> <p>Her inquiries led to former associate dean Brenda Grier-Miller, who held a Summer in the City camp in the 1990s that connected middle school students to local artists for hands-on learning experiences. During a 1996 mural painting class, students came up with the concept and installed the work with the help of <a href="/nanette-yannuzzi" target="_blank">Nanette Yannuzzi</a>, professor of studio art, installation, sculpture, and book arts; and Imani Miller-Annibel ’03. </p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-left"> <figcaption>The 1996 mural design is added to the We Are �鶹��Ƶ mural. Photo credit: Tanya Rosen-Jones ’97</figcaption> </figure> <p>“I spoke with Brenda and her daughter, Imani. They were sad to see the mural go, but were excited about a new generation getting the opportunity to create something beautiful and inspirational in the space,” explains Rosen-Jones. “We compromised that any new design would include an homage to the original mural."</p> <p>Rosen-Jones also received an education on the process of grant writing and discretionary funding by Darren Hamm, former director of the �鶹��Ƶ Center for the Arts, which served as the project’s fiscal sponsor. She consulted with middle school art teachers about the artistic process. And a mural committee (made up of representatives from the college, conservatory, local artists, and community members) assisted with making edits and decisions about designs before they were submitted to the public. </p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-right"> <figcaption>Community members paint sections of the We are �鶹��Ƶ mural. Photo credit: Tanya Rosen-Jones ’97</figcaption> </figure> <p>“I wanted the mural to feel community-owned, so it involved three important steps,” explains Rosen-Jones. That included �鶹��Ƶ High School student participation, a community-wide vote, and a Community Paint Day.</p> <p>After receiving a grant from the �鶹��Ƶ Schools Endowment Fund in 2019, �鶹��Ƶ High School students were asked to express, “What Makes �鶹��Ƶ Special?” during a three-day workshop and all-school assembly. </p> <p>Although planning was halted because of the pandemic, community support grew once it was determined that the project could safely continue. Local groups and churches helped spread the word about Community Paint Day, and nearly 700 votes were cast to choose the design during an in-person vote at the �鶹��Ƶ Public Library.</p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-left"> <figcaption>Professional mural artists work near the roofline in Carpenter Court. Photo credit: John Seyfried</figcaption> </figure> <p>By early August a platform lift that stretched nearly 32 feet high was placed behind the �鶹��Ƶ Bookstore on Carpenter Court. A sketch of the winning mural design that spans 27 feet was added to the building by professional mural artists Martha Ferrazza, Isaiah Williams, and Jared Mitchell. Days later, the artists, chosen by Rosen-Jones, filled in the shapes closest to the roofline with vibrant pops of color. The lower portions of the wall were brought to life with a Community Paint Day. </p> <p>“�鶹��Ƶ truly is a special place,” says Rosen-Jones, reflecting on the project after its completion. “[�鶹��Ƶ] is small enough so that we celebrate our victories together and we suffer our losses together. It is the kind of place where you can make a positive difference in people’s lives.”</p> <p>Visit the �鶹��Ƶ College Flickr page to see more <a href="https://flic.kr/s/aHsmWxGdXY" target="_blank">Community Paint Day photos</a>.</p> <p><br> </p> <p> </p> <p><br> </p> <p><br> </p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2021-09-14T12:00:00Z">Tue, 09/14/2021 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Yvonne Gay</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2572">Downtown �鶹��Ƶ</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2385">Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25436">Studio Art</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25381">History</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25276">Latin American Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/art" hreflang="und">Studio Art</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/history" hreflang="und">History</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/latin-american-studies" hreflang="und">Latin American Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">We Are �鶹��Ƶ mural is located on the back of the �鶹��Ƶ Bookstore.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Tanya Rosen-Jones '97</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Upgrade Available: A Conversation with Julia Christensen, Associate Professor of Integrated Media</h1> <p>anagy — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 20:48:54 +0000</p> <span>Upgrade Available: A Conversation with Julia Christensen, Associate Professor of Integrated Media</span> <span><span>anagy</span></span> <span><time datetime="2020-10-27T16:48:54-04:00" title="Tuesday, October 27, 2020 - 16:48">Tue, 10/27/2020 - 16:48</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Since 2013, Christensen has been investigating narratives surrounding upgrade culture and how obsolescence impacts our experience of time. The resulting artwork and writing examines how the perceived need to endlessly upgrade electronics and recordable media to remain relevant affects our sense of time on many levels: in our daily lives, over our lifetimes, as institutional time, and lastly, in our perception of a space-time continuum.</p> <p>Christensen’s more recent work with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) led her to a collaboration with scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she is helping envision long-term space mission concepts that defy our current measure of technological obsolescence. At JPL’s Innovation Foundry, she has collaborated on a project to develop a communication device that harnesses the electric currents in live trees. The <em>Tree of Life</em> mission has a 200-year operational lifespan and has been likened to a reimagining of the <a href="https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/golden-record/">Voyager Golden Record</a>, the Carl Sagan-curated record intended to communicate the diversity of life and culture of our planet to extraterrestrials. </p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-left"> <figcaption>Associate Professor of Integrated Media Julia Christensen<br> Photo by Tanya Rosen-Jones</figcaption> </figure> <p>The book <em>Upgrade Available</em> features Christensen’s essays interspersed with her artworks and transcripts of conversations with artists, scholars, and experts from different fields. In this conversation, she shares the thought processes and the journey that took her from an e-waste facility in India to designing artwork that can tell the story of life on Earth for future interstellar spacecrafts. She also explains why it may or may not be possible for our global society to transcend obsolescence.</p> <p><strong>Q. The impetus for <em>Upgrade Available</em> started with your exploration of an electronic waste site in India. How did your collaborations lead you to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL)? </strong></p> <p>I started making this artwork investigating our complex relationships with electronics. This work led me to think about how upgrade culture relates to our personal and institutional archives and memories. Through my research I was introduced to scientists and engineers at JPL who are thinking about upgrade culture, too—but for them, it’s within the context of long-term space missions. How can we design a spacecraft that can travel light years away and still remain relevant in 50 or 100 years?</p> <p>The scientists at JPL invited me to design an artwork concept that would be embedded on this spacecraft concept that is meant to travel to Proxima b in the Alpha Centauri star system. The idea is that the spacecraft will leave Earth in 2069. It’s 4.2 light years away from Earth, so it would arrive in the year 2111. We have to begin to develop technology now that would operate 40 years from now, and then would send data back 40 years beyond that.</p> <p><strong>Q. What does the <em>Tree of Life</em> project aim to accomplish?</strong></p> <p>The Tree of Life is a piece that generates the artwork that will be embedded on the future spacecraft. There are inherent issues of representation and all of these things about creating an artwork that tells a story about life on Earth. The question was, ‘Who else can tell us about life on Earth that would be longer and more encompassing than a story from a human being?’ I landed on the idea of harnessing the song of a series of trees to inscribe on a future spacecraft. What’s premiering in the show at ArtCenter right now is a series of trees with sensors on them that sense data related to light, water, and environment. Those data sets are being translated via a custom software into a song. The song of the trees is happening in real time in the gallery.</p> <p>The idea is that over the course of the next 50 years, we will collect songs of the trees on Earth, and we’ll be able to inscribe them like a “Golden Record” on the side of these spacecrafts so they can be received by our as-of-yet-unknown cosmic neighbors. \</p> <p>The second part of the Tree of Life is that one of the JPL telecommunications scientists found that you can harness the dielectric properties of trees and turn it into an actual antenna. This led us to ask if we can take the trees that are singing, and turn them into an antenna that is singing to a spacecraft. And can we actually design a spacecraft that can last as long as we need for the Proxmia b mission? This led to the design of a small CubeSat spacecraft that is conceptualized to last 200 years. So the trees are also antennas, and they are to be singing to a 200-year spacecraft. And that song is recorded, as well. </p> <p>We wanted to design a project that had as much scientific integrity as well as artistic integrity. We didn’t want to design a spacecraft that just had some art slapped on the side or vice versa. From the beginning, we’ve wanted to grow this as a multidisciplinary art and science project. The scientific aim is to grow these long-term data sets that will tell us information that we wouldn’t get from a short-term experiment. Another exciting discovery is that when data is exhibited as sound; you can detect patterns that you wouldn’t see in numbers or even a drawing of the data because our ears experience the data in a different way. </p> <figure class="captioned-image"> <figcaption>A prototype of a signing tree, from the Tree of Life installation. Courtesy of Julia Christensen</figcaption> </figure> <p><strong>Q. What is on display in your exhibition at ArtCenter? </strong></p> <p>In the exhibition, there are three bodies of photographs. The photographs are of obsolete technology in three different contexts. There are 12 photographs of the e-waste processing center in India. There are 12 photographs of institutional and personal archives—old VHS tapes, old boxes of DVDS. And there are 12 more photographs of pieces of obsolete technology embedded in a building, such as old ports and plugs. All of these are displayed next to each other. It’s all outdated technology, but it’s the context that makes the value of the trash different.</p> <p>There is a series of 15 drawings that were all derived from 35mm slides from people who are deceased that I bought off ebay. Family members didn’t know what to do with these slides and sold them off. So I bought them, and I made these drawings to memorialize them with ink and paper.</p> <p>There are some sculptural objects. The antenna prototype is on display, as well as the <em>Tree of Life</em> (there are three live trees singing), and my burnouts installation, which is a series of iphones and ipads that display images of retired constellations in the night sky.</p> <p><strong>Q: In your book, you talk about the impacts of upgrading and discarding. What does relentless upgrading mean for us in our daily lives? Why should we be concerned?</strong></p> <p>The book is a personal narrative that starts with me at an electronic waste facility and ends with me at JPL designing spacecraft that can transcend obsolescence. </p> <p>When I first visited an e-waste processing center in India, I was floored by what I saw. It’s hard to describe the immensity. It became clear to me that our relationship to our ubiquitous devices is in no way connected to the global aggregate in our mind. There’s no way to conceptualize what an iPhone times 10 million looks like. It made me question the human end of this. What is it about our relationship to technology that perpetuates this unsustainable cycle?</p> <p>Planned obsolescence and capitalism is the driver of all of this. My questions became, what is it that capitalism is able to exploit that is perpetuating this? The book looks at how we store our memories, how our memories are changing, and how we share and save our pictures; how institutions like LACMA store a cultural narrative over decades; and future-reaching scientific research and how we ask questions about the future using technology that we know won’t be relevant. </p> <figure class="captioned-image"> <figcaption>"Burnouts" uses iPads and iPhones to display retired constellations.<br> Courtesy of Julia Christensen.</figcaption> </figure> <p><strong>Q. Your book includes conversations with various experts on the topic of obsolescence. From your vantage point, do you think it’s possible to completely transcend technological obsolescence?</strong></p> <p>That is partly what has been so exciting about my work at JPL. We have been harnessing rigorous interdisciplinary scientific and creative thought to do just that. It turns out, yes, we can design technology that lasts for hundreds of years. It’s a matter of whether or not we as a global society decide to. Obsolescence really is a choice. I can’t imagine that the market forces that perpetuate obsolescence would want to embrace long-lasting technology, but we’re reaching a critical juncture where something has to happen. </p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2020-10-27T12:00:00Z">Tue, 10/27/2020 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Amanda Nagy</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Upgrade Available is a major umbrella project by Associate Professor of Integrated Media <a href="/julia-christensen">Julia Christensen</a>. It includes a series of artworks, and now a book by the same name, published last spring by Dancing Foxes Press. An exhibition of Christensen’s photographs, drawings, and electronic installation—an interdisciplinary collaboration with scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory—opened in September at <a href="http://www.artcenter.edu/about/exhibitions/julia-christensen-upgrade-available.html">ArtCenter College of Design</a> in Pasadena, California, and is on view through December 20.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2363">Academics & Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25436">Studio Art</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-faculty field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/julia-christensen" hreflang="und">Julia Christensen</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/art" hreflang="und">Studio Art</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Julia Christensen's e-waste photography on display at ArtCenter College of Design.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Courtesy of Julia Christensen</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-flex-content field--type-entity-reference-revisions field--label-hidden vertical-spacing--basic field__items"> <div class="field__item"> <div class="field field--name-field-bio-card-el-biography field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> <div class="biography-card"> <figure> </figure> <div class="biography-card__content"> <h2><span>Julia Christensen</span> </h2> <ul class="item-list list--clean" style="margin-top: 0px;"> <li class="professional-title">Eva and John Young-Hunter Professor of Art</li> <li class="professional-title">Director of the BA+BFA Integrated Arts Program</li> </ul> <a class="view-more" href="/julia-christensen">View Julia Christensen’s biography</a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article> <article> <h1>The Allen Memorial Art Museum Reopens</h1> <p>ygay — Tue, 01 Sep 2020 20:18:20 +0000</p> <span>The Allen Memorial Art Museum Reopens</span> <span><span>ygay</span></span> <span><time datetime="2020-09-01T16:18:20-04:00" title="Tuesday, September 1, 2020 - 16:18">Tue, 09/01/2020 - 16:18</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>After a welcome by John G. W. Cowles Director Andria Derstine and Assistant Curator of Academic Programs Hannah Kinney, a group of about seven new faculty members were given guided <a href="https://flic.kr/s/aHsmQgdF94" target="_blank">tours of the galleries</a> by curators of the <a href="https://amam.oberlin.edu" target="_blank">Allen Memorial Art Museum</a>, including stops by new exhibits. </p> <p>College faculty and staff who wish to visit the museum may do so by appointment now through September 4. The museum will hold regular hours—10 a.m. to 5 p.m.—from Tuesday to Friday starting on September 8. The galleries will be open to students, faculty, and staff who are holders of �鶹��Ƶ College ID cards and participants in the college’s COVID-19 testing program. Masks and social distancing are required at all times.</p> <p>Derstine and Kinney touch on some of the questions that visitors may have, from safety protocols to the use of the space for classes. </p> <hr> <p><strong>With the reopening of the museum, some people may be wondering what they can expect when they return to the space—what protocols are in place. Can you tell us some of these changes?</strong></p> <p><strong>DERSTINE</strong>: At the AMAM, we have implemented a variety of new safety protocols. These include:</p> <ul> <li>Entrance only for students, faculty, and staff who are current holders of �鶹��Ƶ College ID cards, and who are participating in the college’s COVID-19 testing program.</li> <li>Checking IDs and recording names upon entry, in case of contact-tracing needs.</li> <li>Copious signage throughout the museum regarding the requirement for masks and social distancing.</li> <li>Hand sanitizing stations throughout the museum, and spray/wipes to clean lockers and portable stools, if those are used.</li> <li>One-way stairs.</li> <li>Gallery capacity limits to enable visitors to maintain a 6-foot distance from others. These range from seven in our smallest space (each side of the Stern Gallery, and the Nord and Willard-Newell galleries) to 32 (which includes both the King Sculpture Court and the four sides of its surrounding ambulatory).</li> </ul> <p><strong>Visitors may wonder if they are still able to explore the space as they did before the pandemic. Can you speak to that?</strong></p> <p><strong>DERSTINE</strong>: Although we have many new safety protocols in place, our hope is that visitors will be able to experience the close connection to works on view that they did before. All of the galleries will be open and visitors should feel free to explore and enjoy them as they did before. We simply ask visitors to remain masked at all times, and to be aware of their social distance from others, as well as our gallery capacity limits. Should the limit be reached, visitors should move to another gallery until others have moved on.</p> <p> </p> <figure class="captioned-image"> <figcaption>A new small exhibit in the AMAM asks the question: How can Museum Labels be Antiracists? Photo credit: Dale Preston ’83</figcaption> </figure> <p><strong>What new exhibits should visitors expect?</strong></p> <p><strong>DERSTINE</strong>: The curators have organized several brand-new exhibitions for this fall, and we have also extended some exhibitions that were on view last March to enable more visitors to see them. </p> <p>New exhibitions include <em>Do It Again: Repetition as Artistic Strategy, 1945 to Now</em>, which takes as subject repetition, in many different forms, in modern and contemporary art; and <em>Topographies of Representation</em>, which, in a year with a presidential election, the census, and the centenary of women’s suffrage, examines ways of looking at American representative democracy through works by four women artists. </p> <p>Exhibitions that have been extended since the spring include <em>Ukiyo-e Prints</em> from the Mary Ainsworth Collection, which highlights more than 100 Japanese prints that were part of an important bequest from an �鶹��Ƶ alumna of the Class of 1889; <em>The Enchantment of the Everyday: East Asian Decorative Arts from the Permanent Collection</em>, which showcases works in lacquer, jade, glass, ivory and other media; and <em>Monkeys, Apes, and Mr. Freer</em>, which presents three Japanese paintings that were among more than 100 Asian works donated to the AMAM in 1912 by important collector Charles Lang Freer. Additionally, the museum’s installation of African works, which was originally conceived by students in a 2016 art department seminar, has been modified, and includes several recent acquisitions.</p> <p><strong>Why do you think your space is important to visit, particularly during these times?</strong></p> <p><strong>DERSTINE</strong>: The staff and I know from our own experiences, but also from comments by many visitors, that in addition to fostering education, relaxation, and enjoyment, art can provide comfort and solace in times of stress. For many people, getting out of normal routines and into a new space can promote creativity and a more positive outlook. Art is thought-provoking and can help create conversation and community, as well as illuminate—and perhaps provide new perspectives on—important current issues. Our hope is that members of the college community will want to visit the museum not only because of its importance to a broad range of courses in the curriculum, but also simply to take a break, get into a new environment, and perhaps learn something new.</p> <p><strong>I understand classes will have the opportunity to use the sace this year. How will they be able to use it? </strong></p> <p><strong>KINNEY</strong>: Even though social distancing has required us to make some adjustments, this year the AMAM’s Office of Academic Programs is continuing to provide interactive learning experiences that prioritize close looking, critical analysis, and creative thinking for all �鶹��Ƶ students. As in years past, we will collaborate with faculty members to design museum visits that respond directly to the needs of their course. We will offer in-person, remote, and hybrid visits. In all cases, direct engagement with the AMAM’s collection will be central. In the galleries, we will use worksheets and VoiceThread to guide independent and small-group looking. On Zoom, discussions will be focused on high-quality images explored in intimate detail through the presentation platform Prezi. In many cases, content and questions first encountered on digital platforms will be enhanced by viewing sessions in the museum’s galleries and Print Study Room. As we’ve adapted our teaching to the challenges we face this academic year, we’ve concentrated on taking advantage of each platform’s affordances and using them to enhance one another. Throughout the constant reconfiguring and rethinking, we have been guided by our dedication to introducing students to the unique opportunities provided by having a rich museum collection, such as the AMAM’s, on campus.</p> <p><strong>What do you enjoy about the museum?</strong></p> <p><strong>DERSTINE</strong>: One of the things I enjoy most about the AMAM is that it is an encyclopedic museum—that means, it has art from virtually all of the world’s cultures. Our collection spans 6,000 years and six continents, and includes works in all media, from the ancient Near East to today. I also enjoy how connected we are with our audiences, even in this challenging time of COVID-19. I encourage everyone to visit us online, as our education department has devised a number of public programs that will roll out each month via videos or webinars. We want to stay connected with the college and local communities through art—even if we need to be a bit farther apart than usual.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2020-09-01T12:00:00Z">Tue, 09/01/2020 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Yvonne Gay</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2378">Allen Memorial Art Museum</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2385">Community</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2377">Arts & Humanities</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25301">Art History</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25436">Studio Art</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/art" hreflang="und">Studio Art</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Faculty members explore the Willard-Newell Gallery in the Allen Memorial Art Museum.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Dale Preston ’83</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> <article> <h1>Brian Tom ’20 Wins AICUO Grand Award For Visual Arts</h1> <p>anagy — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 18:10:42 +0000</p> <span>Brian Tom ’20 Wins AICUO Grand Award For Visual Arts</span> <span><span>anagy</span></span> <span><time datetime="2020-04-28T14:10:42-04:00" title="Tuesday, April 28, 2020 - 14:10">Tue, 04/28/2020 - 14:10</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Studio art and psychology double major <a href="http://www.aicuoartaward.com/aicuoEVAs20/portfolio.aspx?pID=297">Brian Tom ’20</a> won the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio (AICUO) Grand Award for Excellence in the Visual Arts for his 10-piece sculpture submission, <em>The Rest In Pieces</em>, which examines human responses to death through irony and humor.</p> <p>The AICUO Excellence in Visual Arts award is an annual competition which accepts studio art portfolio submissions from these <a href="http://www.aicuo.edu/AboutOhioColleges.aspx">private colleges and universities</a> <span aria-hidden="true" class="fa fa-external-link"></span> across Ohio. After being judged in a blind jury pool made up of various professors, curators, and artists, the six finalists are narrowed down and a grand award winner is chosen. In the 12-year history of the AICUO awards program, an �鶹��Ƶ College studio art major has won the grand prize seven times, and been represented among the finalists every year.</p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-left"> <figcaption>Tadp(old), sculpture by Brian Tom</figcaption> </figure> <p>This year, Tom’s set of 10 sculptures featuring iconic imagery such as human faces and animals—which he describes as humorous “one-liners”—was selected as the Grand Award winner. Drawing from personal experiences and observations of loss, Tom explores through his art what happens after someone passes away.</p> <p>“The one overarching theme that I saw was the irony of permanence. Death is a permanent loss, but as a way to respond to that, we try to create permanence,” says Tom, who cites sculpture as his preferred medium for these ideas because of its stand-alone abilities.</p> <figure class="captioned-image obj-left"> <figcaption>Why So Blue, sculpture by Brian Tom.</figcaption> </figure> <p>According to Tom, “when you’re making [sculpture], you can create a character that is out of context of the real world,” which allows for more imaginative exploration.</p> <p>For Tom, winning the grand award is special for many reasons: “I’ve never won anything before, so it was exciting to see that all of the work that I’ve done for the past four years as well as the support that I’ve gotten from all of my professors, friends, and family have culminated into something that not only I’m proud of, but that other people can see as well.”</p> <p>The award also comes with a cash grant, which Tom plans to use for artistic materials and as motivation for post-graduation projects. Tom most recently created clothing in a fashion project inspired by a research trip to Los Angeles, where he studied Asian-American culture.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2020-04-29T12:00:00Z">Wed, 04/29/2020 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Kyra McConnell ’22</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2373">Awards and Honors</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2363">Academics & Research</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2377">Arts & Humanities</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25436">Studio Art</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/art" hreflang="und">Studio Art</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/psychology" hreflang="und">Psychology</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Brian Tom '20 is this year’s winner of the AICUO Excellence in Visual Arts Grand Award.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Vu Nguyen ’21</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> </article> </main></body></html>