Chalk it Up!

Photo of the Week

Art BFA students Sabrina Kester, sculpture, left, and Guustie Alvarado, glass, create a sidewalk mural on the Oval in front of Hopkins Hall. With their depiction of giant buckeyes, they were taking part in a Undergraduate Student Art League-sponsored sidewalk chalk art contest last Friday prior to the OSU vs UM match-up.

Notable News

Ann Hamilton (Art) is one of 50 artists in the nation awarded $50,000 each from United States Artists. The national organization provides support for artists, and last week announced $2.5 million in fellowships. Hamilton and another OSU faculty member -- poet Henri Cole -- were named 2007 fellows, and accepted their awards in Los Angeles Nov 17.

A new interactive exhibit at COSI helps teach kids (and adults) about DNA structure. The exhibit, which opened Oct 13 lets visitors learn about basic DNA structures collaboratively via the "DNA Workbench" and through creative movement in the "Action Space." The exhibit uses a rear-projection display system configured as a dynamic colorful tabletop work surface that's responsive to touch. The action space consists of a large responsive screen that displays an image of a DNA strand, which can be "pushed around" by body contours of the visitors as they move about the space. The exhibit was designed by a team of faculty, staff and grad students at OSU's Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design (ACCAD), including Vita Berezina-Blackburn, Susan Fisher, Alan Price, Norah Zuniga-Shaw, George Gantzer, Fran Kalal, Matthew Bain and Lise Worthen-Chaudhari.

Student musicians in the OSU Fifes & Drums took center field at the OSU vs Illinois football game on Nov 10 (above). The group, with Susan Powell as artistic director, Joe Krygier as drum instructor and Kathy Jones as fife instructor, were guests at the OSU Marching Band's halftime show, and were scheduled to march again during the big game up in Ann Arbor over the weekend.

Set your TiVo -- the public television program featuring compositions by alum Tadd Russo, listed in last week's Arts Blog, will air on WOSU-TV on Tues, Nov 27 . . . at 4 am.

The Greater Columbus Arts Council (GCAC) invites local artists to participate in an online survey about their needs for success and how GCAC can better help them reach their goals. The survey follows on the heels of the organization's artist roundtable discussions held this month, and is available on the GCAC website.

Cincinnati's Weston Art Gallery in the Aronoff Center for the Arts is presenting Celebration of Creativity: OAC Fellowships 1980-2005 Nov 15-Jan 13. The exhibition features a diverse selection of 18 Ohio artists working across the state who have received one or more Ohio Arts Council Fellowships in the past 25 years. One of those artists is Alan Crockett (Art). The exhibition includes painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, printmaking and site-specific installations.