Sidney Poitier Visits Wednesday

Photo of the Week

The College of the Arts is honored to welcome Academy Award-winning actor, author and director Sidney Poitier to campus Weds, Oct 3, as a Barnett Distinguished Visiting Lecturer. Poitier, who has been a political and artistic trailblazer for more than half a century, will present a public lecture recounting the uplifting story of his life at 7:30 pm that evening in Mershon Auditorium. Tickets are $22 reserved seating; $10 students with ID, available at the Wexner Center Ticket Office, 292-3535. Poitier is well known for films such as The Blackboard Jungle, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, To Sir, With Love and In the Heat of the Night, and is the first black actor to win an Academy Award (Lilies of the Field, 1963). The native of Cat Island, The Bahamas, grew up in poverty but rose to fame in a pioneering cinematic career. He recently published a book, The Measure of a Man: a spiritual autobiography.

Last Monday, the College hosted a Movie on the Oval to welcome students back to campus, and to screen one of Sidney Poitier's movies, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. The clear, warm
evening was enjoyed by students, staff and Arts Scholars volunteers, who snacked on popcorn and smoothies -- donated by IntaJuice -- during the film. Karen Bell, dean, and Mary Hickey, Arts Alumni Society president, were on hand to chat with students. Musical entertainment before the film was provided by music students (above) Jeremy Amweg, right, and Marshall Skinner.

Notable News

The winners have been announced for the 2007 Eileen Heckart Drama for Seniors. This competition honors Eileen Heckart (1919-2001), the distinguished actress whose career was recognized with Oscar, Tony and Emmy Awards, by encouraging the creation of new plays celebrating older American performers and artists. It is sponsored by OSU's Theatre Research Institute. Winners in three categories -- 10 Minute Plays, One Act Plays and Full Length Plays -- hailed from everywhere from Toronto to Oakland, California. The list of winners can be found by clicking here.

Music alumna Maureen McKay ('03) performed the role of Caroline Gaines Sept 26 at New York City Opera's debut of the opera, Margaret Garner. The opera is the product of a collaboration with author Toni Morrison and Grammy Award-winning composer Richard Danielpour, and is based on events that inspired Morrison's novel Beloved.

What does the OSU Marching Band do on a fall Saturday when it’s not performing at an away football game? Why, it hosts a huge marching band invitational, of course! The Buckeye Invitational will welcome 30 of the finest Ohio high school marching bands to Ohio Stadium on Saturday, Oct 6, from 9 am to 5:15 pm. Audience members will have the chance to see “the pride of the Buckeyes,” the OSU Marching Band perform at the end of the festival, at 4:45 pm. TBDBITL will begin with its traditional Ramp Entrance, followed by a football halftime show featuring the music of Buddy Rich, and concluding with the greatest tradition in college band history — Script Ohio. Tickets for the festival will be sold at the door on the day of the show for $7 per person. Tickets sold at Gate 7 on the northwest side of Ohio Stadium. A, B and C decks will be open for seating on the west side of the stadium for all spectators. For information, call the OSU Marching Band office at 292-2598 or click here.

Robert Ladislas Derr (Art) will have a video installation in the 2007 Around the Coyote Fall Arts Festivel in Chicago in October. Click here for more.

Sam Short (Art Ed) has accepted the position of associate editor for the International Journal of Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability. She also will be presenting a paper at the 33rd annual meeting of the Social Theory, Politics and the Arts conference Oct 11 in New York City.

Christine Ballengee-Morris and Pat Stuhr (Art Ed) are traveling to Fairbanks, Alaska, for the Native American Art Studies Association Conference; they will give presentations for a panel Ballengee-Morris organized -- Decolonizing American Indian Arts or Mounds, Casinos and Bears, Oh My.

Back to School

Photos of the week

Welcome back to Ohio State! On the first day of classes, some College of the Arts staffers -- including student worker and music student Tricia Fairman (right) spent the morning on the Oval to hand out arts calendars and Frisbees . . . and to point new students in the right direction for their next class. Musical entertainment was provided by flute students (l-r, above) Kathy Cameron, Logan Kelly, Jenny Li and Janet Fleck.

Notable News
Movie Night is Monday! Don't forget all College of the Arts students are invited to our Movie on the Oval Monday, Sept 24. We'll be screening the Sidney Poitier film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner at 7:30 pm, preceeded by some musical entertainment from music students Jeremy Amweg and Marshall Skinner and a short of student animation from ACCAD. The fun begins on the northeast corner of the Oval around 7 pm with smoothies and popcorn. Pass the word!

Note: Tickets to An Evening with Sidney Poitier are selling now! The Academy Award-winning actor, director, author and diplomat will present a lecture Weds, Oct 3 at 7:30 pm in Mershon Auditorium. Tickets are $22 reserved seating; $10 OSU students with ID. Tickets available at the Wexner Center ticket office, 292-3535.

Karen Eliot (Dance) has a book coming out next month -- Dancing Lives: Five Female Dancers from the Ballet d'Action to Merce Cunningham (University of Illinois Press). The book examines the lives and careers of five female dancers, Giovanna Baccelli, Adele Dumilatre, Tamara Karsavina, Moira Shearer and Catherine Kerr.

Photography grad student Herb Vincent Peterson was invited as a visiting artist and lecturer at the 75th year Sylvia Plath Symposium at the University of Oxford in London. He will be installing an interactive video installation and performing at the Oxford Art Museum in conjunction with the symposium; the show runs Oct 27-Nov 24. Click here for more.

Tim Gerber (Music) has been named the 2007 Distinguished Alumnus in Music Education at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. The Music Education Association of Oberlin purchased and dedicated a commemorative brick in his honor at the National Association for Music Education "walk of fame" in Reston, VA. The award was presented earlier this month in Oberlin, where Gerber gave a talk on the state of music education in America.

Robert Ladislas Derr (Art) will exhibit one of his videos in Pixilerations Sept 28-Oct 13 at Sol Koffler Gallery in Providence, RI. Over the summer, Derr performed Chance: Cincinnati for the Weston Art Gallery's Summer Party at the Aronoff Center for the Arts, and exhibited in the One Minute Film & Video Festival in Switzerland and OUTVIDEO Festival in Russia.

Ann Hamilton (Art) lectured at San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art in conjunction with her re-installation of the museum's recent acquisition of indigo blue, currently on exhibit in the permanent collection galleries there. While in California, Hamilton worked in residence at Gemini GEL in LA, where she and author Joan Simon from the Whitney Museum were part of the Hammer Conversations, an ongoing series that pairs creative thinkers from a range of disciplines for engaging discussions on culture, science and the arts.

Guess Who's Coming to Campus?

Come say hello to new and returning students! All College of the Arts students are invited to an Outdoor Movie on the Oval! Hosted by the College of the Arts and Arts Alumni Society, the event will feature the film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner on Mon, Sept 24, on the northeast corner of the Oval. Entertainment starts at 7 pm; the movie starts at 7:30 pm. Free smoothies and popcorn for the first 300 people! The event is free; just bring a blanket if you wish, to sit on the grass. Rain site is Hughes Auditorium.

The 1967 Academy Award-winning movie stars Hollywood favorites Sidney Poitier, Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. It's being shown as a prequel to Sidney Poitier's visit to Ohio State. He will be on campus on Oct 3 as a Barnett Distinguished Visiting Lecturer. Poitier will visit with Theatre students in the afternoon that day, and will present a public lecture in Mershon Auditorium at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $22 reserved seats; $10 OSU students with ID. For tickets, call the Wexner Center ticket office at 292-3535.

Brian Windsor (ACCAD) has won the Jim Henson Award for Innovation for his research in using motion capture technology to create computer-generated puppets. Windsor, who is manager of ACCAD's motion capture studio, creates real-time digital puppets that can be manipulated with a common game pad. His research was presented at the Puppeteers of America National Festival in Minnesota in July. Click here.

Mary Hickey, Arts Alumni Society president, holds the rapt attention of new OSU President E. Gordon Gee at the Sept. 8 Arts and Sciences Annual Alumni Tailgate Party. Gee stopped by and mingled with the crowd at the annual get-together. This year's event, held on the Oval side of Derby Hall, attracted more than 900 alumni from the five Arts and Sciences colleges, and included tailgate food, fun and entertainment from the cheerleaders, Alumni Men's Glee Club, Men's Glee Club and Buckeye Brass Band. The always-popular silent auction raised funds for student scholarships, and auctioned off such popular items as an authentic drum major baton, donated by alumnus John Gray; an authentic marching band hat, donated by Jon Woods; a signed Troy Smith jersey, donated by Mary Hickey; and much, much more! More news and photos from the tailgate party will be posted on our website (arts.osu.edu) soon. For information about the Arts Alumni Society, contact Victoria at osuarts@osu.edu.

Alan Crockett (Art) has four paintings in a group exhibition, "Mapping the Terrain, New Directions in Abstract Painting," at the Southeastern Louisiana Contemporary Art Center. The show opened Sept 13. A catalogue featuring the artists is being produced. Crockett also will give an artist's talk Oct 4 and will make studio visits with painting students there.

Ann Hamilton's (Art) eight story Tower, installed on the Oliver Ranch in California, is featured on Spark's website. Click here to view it.

Marc Ainger (Music) and Norah Zuniga-Shaw (Dance) were featured in the International Computer Music Conference 2007 in Copenhagen last month with the interactive movement and sound system they created call Murmur. They worked with some of the word's best circus artists to create a new work specific to the location. Murmur was developed in the EMMA Lab at ACCAD with Matt Lewis (ACCAD) and premiered in Columbus at the NEO Gallery last February. The performance and workshops are the culmination of Zuniga-Shaw's Arts and Humanities Seed Grant research in locative media and interactive performance.

Steven Gutierrez, an MFA candidate in Art & Technology, served as the 2006 Lancaster Arts Festival artist in residence. This summer, his work was on display at the 2007 Lancaster Festival. His installation, Bitter-sweet, investigates and reflects on the economic choices ewe make in our daily lives and their resulting impact on the environment.

Philip von Raabe, professor emeritus in Art, has an exhibition -- Prints -- at the OSU Faculty Club through Oct 26. The solo show includes mixed-media monoprints.