Dance on Film

Photo of the Week

The Department of Dance presents "Dance on Camera" this Weds, Oct 8 at 7 pm in Sullivant Hall Theatre. The film -- Water Flowing Together by Gwenolen Cates (USA, 2007, 77 minutes) -- is a feature-length documentary that chronicles the life of New York City Ballet principle dancer Jock Soto. It explores his connection to his Navajo Indian/Puerto Rican heritage and follows him through the last two years of his career. Tickets at the door, $10 general admission; $5 senior citizens, OSU faculty, staff and students with BuckID.

Notable News

Emeritus Professor Sid Chafetz (below, left) was joined by nearly 200 people at the opening of the exhibition in his honor -- Sid Chafetz: Engaging the World -- Sept 26 at the OSU Urban Arts Space (above). Chafetz, who addressed the attendees at the evening reception, has commented on his world, political issues and the timeless aspects of the human condition during his artistic career. The exhibition continues until Oct 25.

Henri Cole’s Blackbird and Wolf (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) was chosen by the Academy of American Poets to receive the 2008 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, which awards $25,000 to the most outstanding book of poetry published the previous year. According to the announcement, "Henri Cole has become one of his generation’s most assured and accomplished poets, and Blackbird and Wolf is a powerful and masterful book: powerful in the psychological directness of its self-scrutiny, and masterful in its achievement of a poetry so artful it almost seems artless."

Congrats to OSU Art Education student Katie Cahill, who is the recipient of the Ohio Art Education Association Scholarship.

Columbus art collector Ron Pizzuti, chairman and CEO of the Pizzuti Companies, will discuss "Contemporary Collecting from Local to Global" as part of the Big Picture lecture series at 2 pm Sunday, Oct 12, at the Columbus Museum of Art. The lecture is presented in conjunction with the current exhibition, Objects of Wonder from The Ohio State University. Named by ARTnews as one of "the world's top 200 collectors", Pizzuti has amassed a collection of international contemporary works from Asia, America and Europe. The Big Picture lecture series is a collaboration of the Columbus Museum of Art and the Institute for Collaborative Research and Public Humanities at Ohio State.

Authors Lawrence Connolly, Michael Arnzen, Lucy Snyder, and Gary Braunbeck (above) were on campus Sept 26 to talk about the writing life. “The Business/Life of Writing Horror & Dark Fantasy” was sponsored by the Center for the Study and Teaching of Writing.

Robert Ladislas Derr (Art) spoke about his ongoing Chance performance and video installation series at Ohio University’s 15th annual conference on Critical Geography on Saturday, Oct 4.

Art Education alumna Eleonora Redaelli (above) spent part of the summer at the International Conference for Cultural Policy Research (ICCPR) in Istanbul. She says, "It was a wonderful opportunity for professional development and personal enrichment. The level of
presentations was inspiring and the city is fantastic."

Recycled Art

The OSU Urban Arts Space hosted "The Iron Artists Challenge" on Weds, Sept 25, where four groups of artists took part in an hour-long competition to create a work of art from recycled materials, explains Liz Celeste, organizer. The teams -- including the Couchfire Collective, Franklinton Arts District, downtown Columbus and Free the Planet -- used items such as old pipes, fabric, skis, yarn and even faucet handles to create sculptures. Couchfire Collective artists -- including Anne Holman and Adam Crum, above -- were judged the winners. The event was presented as part of Welcome Week at OSU.

Notable News

Governor Ted Strickland has announced new appointments to the Ohio Arts Council Board of Directors, including Karen Bell (Arts and Culture). Bell joins three other new members, Charles McWeeny of Athens, Louisa Celebrezze of Columbus and Steven Allen of New Albany.

Exciting sights, sounds, and aromas appeared on the South Oval Sept 22 when the Foreign Language Center held its fourth annual Langfest during Ohio State's Welcome Week. Designed to showcase the more-than 30 languages offered at Ohio State, Langfest features performances, music and food that bring these languages and cultures alive.



Robert Ladislas Derr (Art) is exhibiting in the Mirror Stage, Independent Museum of Contemporary Art in Cyprus, Sept 17-28. He also has work in the 2008 Freewaves Festival HollyWould in LA Oct 9-13.

OSU's new Office for Arts and Culture has a just-created website -- artsandculture.osu.edu -- that promotes the arts around campus and in the community.

The OSU Community Orchestra is seeking members. This ensemble, conducted by Marshall Haddock (Music), is open to all OSU faculty, staff, students and alumni and all instruments are welcome. The orchestra rehearses once a week and includes a performance with the OSU First Year Orchestra. For information, call 292-2870.

An orchestra piece by Tom Wells (Music), Echoes from the Southern: A Ragtime Overture,
will be performed by ProMusica Chamber Orchestra Oct. 5 at 7:30 p.m. in the Southern Theater. The work was commissioned in 1998 for the grand opening of the Southern.

On Sept 21, 24 new Arts and Humanities faculty and family members were welcomed to Ohio State by Interim Dean John Roberts at a new-faculty brunch at the Blackwell Hotel ballrooms. The newcomers were introduced to colleagues and senior administrators of both colleges.

John King (English) and James Bracken (OSU Libraries) have been selected to direct a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers. Entitled “The Reformation of the Book: 1450-1650,” the seminar will explore continuity and change in the production, dissemination and reading of Western European books during the 200 years following the advent of printing with movable type.

Sid Chafetz Show Opens Downtown

The OSU Urban Arts Space in the historic Lazarus building downtown presents Sid Chafetz: Engaging the World, which opened last week and continues through Saturday, Oct. 25. Chafetz, professor emeritus, has commented on his world -- from local and national political issues to timeless aspects of the human condition -- throughout his career. A survivor of the Battle of the Bulge in WWII, a two-time Fulbright scholar, world traveler and internationally exhibited artist, Chafetz is one of the treasures of Columbus. An opening reception is scheduled for Friday, Sept 26, 5-7 pm at the OSU Urban Arts Space. (Above, Three Politicians, 1951, etching)

Notable News

Ann Hamilton (Art) has been honored with the 2008 Heinz Award in the Arts and Humanities for "a body of work that has established her as one of contemporary art's most influential voices." She is one of five recipients of the 14th annual awards recognizing the extraordinary achievements of individuals in the areas of Arts and Humanities; the Environment; the Human Condition; Public Policy; and Technology, the Economy and Employment. The Heinz Award announcement says, "A provocative visual artist, Ann Hamilton's installations around the world have woven a broad palette of media into engaging sensory environments. Her work is truly transformational, both in its visual beauty and the visceral impact it has had on the communities that have helped create and sustain it." The awards were established by Teresa Heinz in 1993 to honor the memory of her late husband, US Senator John Heinz and are administered by the Heinz Family Philanthropies. Award recipients receive a medallion and an unrestricted cash prize of up to $250,000.

Award-winning choreographer and dance professor Bebe Miller and her company premiere their latest multimedia piece Necessary Beauty at the Wexner Center Oct 1-5, the culmination of a two-year creative residency at the Wexner Center and OSU.

You're invited! Arts and Humanities faculty and staff are invited to Warhol Free Thursdays on Thurs, Sept 25, 4-8 pm at the Wexner Center for the Arts. Enjoy free admission to Andy Warhol: Other Voices, Other Rooms; a cash bar; and food from Cam's on Campus.

Theatre alums are in the news in NYC: Randy Skinner (BA, 2007) is choreographing the new Irving Berlin's White Christmas that will tour and play in New York over the holiday season, and former student Leah Hocking is featured in Billy Elliott this fall.

There are those who call themselves Buckeyes and then there are those who truly “walk the walk and talk the talk.” This is the case for Ohio State alumnus Charles William “Chuck” Thomas and his wife Donna who recently hosted a party for members of the OSU American Sign Language program in their Columbus home’s “Buckeye Room.” Also in attendance were Arts and Humanities Interim Dean John Roberts, Foreign Language Center Director Diane Birckbichler and Development Director Margo Wolanin. Longtime supporters of the university, Chuck and Donna recently extended their generosity to ASL, creating two funds that support programming, student financial aid and travel.

H. Lewis Ulman (English) and Melanie Schlosser, assistant professor for OSU Libraries, were the recipients of a Digital Humanities Start-Up Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for their project "Reliable Witnesses: Integrating Multimedia Distributed Electronic Textual Editions into Library Collections and Preservation Efforts." This award encourages innovations in the digital humanities through projects that are particularly innovative and have the potential to make a positive impact on the humanities. Working with electronic editions of materials in OSU’s Rare Books and Manuscript Library, the project will create a model for coordinating the efforts of faculty scholars, library professionals and IT support staff to develop, catalog, publish and preserve electronic texts that require ongoing support from multiple units.

Barry's Arts Blog (News, Advice and Opinion for the Arts Administrator) recently published a listing of the "Top 25 Most Powerful People in the Nonprofit Arts." Number 18? Ohio State's Margaret Wyszmirski, (Art Education) who tied with Rand Corp's Kevin McCarthy, and was recognized for her research, which is "rigorous, academic and sets the standard for inquiry into the measurable aspects of arts evaluation and research.

The OSU Percussion Ensemble was named a winner in the 2008 Percussive Arts Society International Percussion Ensemble Competition......and will play a showcase concert at the convention in Austin, Texas, in November.

Bob the Dog...and More August Fun

Photo of the Week

Meet Bob! Bob is top dog in photographer Tony Medoza's home
. . . and the subject of the faculty member's upcoming book, Bob, to be released in early 2009. (Mendoza earlier published a popular book Ernie, detailing life with his cat.) Bob and Mendoza will make a special appearance at a "Dog Days of August" event at the OSU Urban Arts Space on Weds, Aug 27, 11:30 am to 1:30 pm. You can meet Bob and learn some tips from Mendoza about snapping great photos of your favorite pets. They will be joined by canine friends from the Franklin County Animal Shelter in a dog adoption event. More details below.

Notable News
Welcome to the Arts and Humanities Blog! We will begin weekly updates of the blog when the academic year begins, with photos and news about the activities, events and accomplishments of faculty, staff, students and alumni in the College of the Arts and the College of Humanities. This is a late-summer update of the blog -- which has been in existence for two years in the Arts -- to let you know about some August events. Feel free to send Arts news to Victoria at osuarts@osu.edu or Humanities news to Melissa at soave.2@osu.edu. Each week starting Sept 22, we'll update the info and send you an email with a link to the blog. Your feedback is welcome!

Dog Days of August. The OSU Urban Arts Space, 50 W. Town St in the historic Lazarus building is "going to the dogs" this month. In addition to the Aug 27 event (see photo above) with Bob, a noon-1 pm program on Weds, Aug 20, features a reading by Michael Rosen from Why We Love the Dogs We Love. The author reads from a new collection of heartfelt essays by well-known writers. Bring a photo of your dog and Rosen will draw a quick portrait of your companion in a copy of the book with purchase. For more information, call the OSU Urban Arts Space at 292-8861.

Downtown a Hub of Activity on Aug 28. In what is taking shape as a late-summer mini-festival in downtown Columbus, Thurs, Aug 28 boasts an array of arts and cultural events! the OSU Urban Arts Space presents Art Builds Bridges from 4 to 8 pm. The evening includes a community dialogue 4-6 pm, When Art Builds Bridges: Art, Environment and Community focusing on the place of art and river ecology in civic identity and featuring artists, educators, arts and water advocates and co-curators Rick Livingston and Prudence Gill. A wine-tasting of organic wines (6-8 pm), informal gallery tours (6 and 6:15 pm) and tours of the building's "green" rooftop garden (7 and 7:30 pm) are also planned. Later that evening the Wexner Center for the Arts takes its Wex Drive-in Outdoor Film Fest downtown with a free, open-air screening at dusk of the film The Talk of the Town (1942) with Cary Grant and Jean Arthur. For questions, call the Urban Arts Space at 292-8861 or the Wexner Center at 292-3535.

Mary Jo Bole (Art) opens Through the Hourglass, an exhibition of her work at Olin Art Gallery, Kenyon College in Gambier, Aug 28. An artist talk with Bole is scheduled at 7:30 pm on Thurs, Sept 11, in Olin Auditorium with a reception following in the gallery. The exhibition -- which includes Good Bye Victorians (cast iron, with nickel and chrome plating), left -- continues until Sept 27. Photo by Jeffrey Machtig.

Taking the Studio Outside

Photo of the Week

A group of graduate and undergraduate dance students took their rehearsal outdoors last week for Bebe Miller's piece PatchPath, a site-specific work Miller created with her new repertory class. It was then performed last Friday outside of Page and Sullivant Halls and the Wexner Center, with live music by Terrence Karn, Ed Luna and Michael Wall. In the photo above are, left to right, dancers Vickie DeRenzo, Katie Brock, James Graham, Joanna Reed, Bernice Lee, musician Terrence Karn, Caitlin Ewing, Alix Keil and Romina Delosantos.

Message from the Dean:

To all of our College of the Arts students who graduate this weekend: Please let me extend warm congratulations to you from the college, and wish you much happiness and success as you begin your life journey. It has been a pleasure watching you on our stages and in our concert halls, viewing your work in studios and galleries, and reading about your research and scholarly work. I know we will continue to hear about you as you make your way out in the world, and I hope you always fondly remember your time with us at Ohio State as time well spent. As of Sunday, you will join the ranks of our illustrious alumni and we look forward to keeping in touch with you and welcoming your involvement in our Arts Alumni Society. As new alums, please be sure to let us know where you are heading next. It has been a joy having you in our college and I wish you all the best.
Karen A. Bell, Dean

Notable News

The Department of Design presents its annual student exhibition Tuesday, June 3, through Friday, June 13, at the OSU Urban Arts Space in the historic Lazarus building. The exhibition will showcase the thesis projects of more than 50 graduating senior students in the areas of industrial, interior space and communication design. Two special events are planned -- professionals night, June 3, 5-8 pm; and an opening reception, June 4, 5-8 pm. During the same time, the OSU Urban Arts Space upper gallery will host works in the Department of Art bachelor of fine art (BFA) exhibition. For more details about the BFA show, click here.

OSU art undergraduate student Rachel Widomski was seriously injured recently by a hit-and-run driver outside of Haiku restaurant – where she was a waitress – in the Short North. This weekend the Short North Arts District is dedicating Gallery Hop weekend to Rachel. Find out more about activities to support her and her family here.

HALOS for New York City (above) is a temporary public art project by Michael Mercil (Art) for the Battery Park City Authority. The installation uses beams of reflected sunlight from three computer-controlled heliostats (large mirrors) mounted on a residential tower to reveal a visual play of words on the pavement below. Inspired in part by the Sun-Down Poem of Walt Whitman, HALOS tracks the daily movement of light and shadow across lower Manhattan to slowly unscramble six three-word phrases -- WATCH & SEE; LEAP & SHOUT; SELF & SUN; TABLE & BOOK; KISS & TELL; OVER & OUT.

Meanwhile, Mercil (left) can occasionally be found on the Oval at Ohio State where he is Reading the Daily News as a public service of the Department of Art, Living Culture Initiative. For 365 times, he will read from all sections of the given day’s edition of the Columbus Dispatch. The newspaper is then stamped and added to the Living Culture Initiative archives.

Damian Bowerman (Theatre) is part of the cast of Catco’s The Foursome, which opened in Columbus over the weekend. The production – revolving around four old buddies who get together during a college reunion for a game of golf – was reviewed on Sunday by Columbus Dispatch theatre critic Michael Grossberg, who called it a “well-staged and well-timed season finale” that opened to “ample laughter.” He also says, “As golf-neophyte Donnie, Damian Bowerman may have the most amusing but least-complex role. Yet his easygoing, emotionally centered approach to the happily married father of five makes the character interesting and welcome.” Other OSU theatre alums involved in the show are costume designer Mary Yaw McMullen, lighting designer Ryan Osborn, director Jon Putnam and stage manager Allison Walker.

MusicWeb International recently reviewed American Fantasies: Arnold Schoenberg and American Music – which includes Fantasy for violin and piano by Donald Harris (Music). Of Harris’s piece, the reviewer says, “This is a thoroughly enjoyable piece that deserves to be in the repertoire and is an excellent introduction to the composer’s style." Read the review here.

Alumna Martha Michael (Art Education) announces the opening of her new gallery – Suite C Gallery – at 4601 N High St in Columbus on June 7 and 8.

Robert Ladislas Derr (Art) will perform Chance: Earlville, a psychogeographical walk performance wearing four video cameras through the streets of Earlville, NY, with his journey determined by the viewers' dice rolls. The resulting 4-channel video will be exhibited in a solo exhibition at the Earlville Opera House Gallery through July 26.