Artist's Home and Studio Destroyed in Fire

Came across a sad headline: famous pop artist James Rosenquist lost his house and his studio filled with artworks. A brushfire swept through his California residence and a propane tank exploded in the studio, making things difficult for the firefighters. The 75 year old artist was safely evacuated, but he's got to be devastated.

Read about it here.

If you're unfamiliar with his work, take a look at this 20 second video showing his large painting 'F-111'.

Spring Senior Show, Part 2

The second exhibition of graduating art majors' work opened on Tuesday. Here's another quick video to get a taste of the excellent show. The three parts are: Casey Grier- Shades of Inequity, Sarah Reesor- Canine Casualties: Genetic Disorders and Health Problems in the Domestic Dog, and Bernardo Schirmer- Metonymy.

The Fine Arts Building's gallery is open 1-5 weekdays. Stop by and have a look! Next up will be the general student show, opening on April 23.

SU Radio

I've found a good alternative to listening to my ipod at work- Southwestern's student-run internet streaming radio station. Looks like the project was begun with a 2007 King Creativity Grant, and is run by Kaitlyn Dennis, Brooke Lyssy, Katy Siciliano, and Andrea Plybon.

Have a listen.

The Color of Dissonance

Tomorrow is the big day- a full day's symposium leading up to the premier of 'The Color of Dissonance'. This exciting original collaborative opera has long been in the works at the renovated Sarofim School of Fine Arts. It will explore the relationship between the artists Gabriele Munter and Wassily Kandinsky and the composer Arnold Schoenberg in pre World War I Europe. While the original music, singing, and dancing will no doubt be interesting, I'd say the most compelling aspect for me personally is that there will be continuous projection of images, video, and text throughout the entire performance. About 7,000 images in all!
Key minds behind the production are our own Kim Smith from Art History, Sergio Costola from Theater, and Jason Hoogerhyde from Music.

Performances will take place Friday and Saturday at 7 and Sunday at 3. Tickets are FREE to all associated with Southwestern University, and $10-$15 for the general public. Running time is approximately 100 minutes. The Box Office link is here and here is the official SU news story. Austin360.com has a good article on the opera with pictures and audio clips.

The Symposium will build up to the Friday opening. Entitled 'Making Modernism in Central Europe', here is the wide-ranging and intriguing lineup:

10:30 Welcome and Opening Remarks. Dean Paul Gaffney, Art History professor Kim Smith, and German professor Erika Berroth.

10:45 "Occultism and the Creative Unconscious in Fin-de-Siecle Germany". Corinna Treitel, department of history, Washington University.

1:30 "Munter and Kandinsky's Masquerade of Modern Love". Bibiana Obler, department of fine arts and art history, George Washington University.

2:30 "The Air of Another Planet: Kandinksy, Schoenberg, and Stefan George's Entruckung". Severine Neff, department of music, University of North Carolina.

3:30 Coffee break- free caffeine and cookies!

4:00 "Making Modernism in Central Texas". Costola, Hoogerhyde, Smith.

5:00 Wine and cheese reception.

Newest Course Blog!

Another spring course has been added to the blog list- Professor Rivera's History of Photography.
For students in this class, here is the instructional video from Atomic Learning on how to sign up for the required free Google account which will grant you access.