Art Np2

Professor of Art History, Dr Arthur Bourgeois, recently updated the display cases in the E-Lounge just outside the Visual Arts Gallery. The three cases now contain small exhibits of artifacts from the Akon People of Ghana, the Ibo People of Southern Nigeria, and the prehispanic, Chimu Empire of Peru. The E-Lounge also houses a semi-permanent display of Papua New Guinean artifacts, including an impressive pair of heavily decorated house posts from the Iatmul People. These selections from GSU's ethnographic collection are always available for public viewing during campus hours.

La Grande Jatte, George Seurat, 1884 I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world. — Albert Einstein "...Throughout the year art historians, museum educators, conservators, artists, and scientists spoke to teachers on wide-ranging topics, from the physics of light and color to careers in science, art, and technology...The program's overarching goal was to show science teachers that an art museum may be used as a visual library to augment and to enrich established high-school science curricula in chemistry, earth science, or physics... With primary emphasis on the theme of light and color, the sessions, conceptually integrated with Illinois State Goals and Chicago Academic Standards, revealed how the scientific method is applied to the making, conserving, and exhibiting of art." "This Web site is designed for all teachers, who are invited to make use o

Pablo Picasso, Photograph: AP, 1953 "From Lord Byron to Dylan Thomas and beyond, the famous philanderers of the art world may have had a touch of mental illness to thank for their behaviour, psychologists report today." "A survey comparing mental health and the number of sexual partners among the general population, artists and schizophrenics found that artists are more likely to share key behavioural traits with schizophrenics, and that they have on average twice as many sexual partners as the rest of the population." "Daniel Nettle, a psychologist at Newcastle University, and Helen Clegg, at the Open University in Milton Keynes, carried out the survey in the hope it would answer a question that has been puzzling scientists for some time. Schizophrenia is so debilitating that those with the condition are often socially isolated, have trouble maintaining relationships and so reproduce at a much lower rate than the general population. But cases of schizophrenia

Web Shot - Americans for the Arts Homepage "Americans for the Arts is the nation's leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America. With 45 years of service, we are dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts." Link Americans for the Arts Web Site

Self Portrait, Chuck Close One of the most lucid writers on art, Michael Kimmelman writes about Chuck Close and a survey of his prints on exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum in 2004. Savoring the Process By MICHAEL KIMMELMAN Published: Friday, January 16, 2004 "TO marvel is the beginning of knowledge, and not to marvel, the first step toward ignorance. So the Greeks said. You can test this axiom in the Chuck Close print survey now at the Metropolitan Museum." Permalink Full Text, New York Times Link Goggle Image Search, Chuck Close

Once again, the Visual Arts Gallery is hosting an exhibit of work by local and regional college and university art instructors. Faculty from the College of DuPage, Governors State University, The Illinois Institute of Art, Joliet Junior College, Kankakee Community College, Lewis University, Moraine Valley Community College, Morton College, Olivet Nazarene University, Prairie State College, Saint Xavier University, South Suburban College, Trinity College, Triton College and the University of Saint Francis have been invited to participate. This exhibit will be open for viewing from September 7-28 with a reception on Friday, September 11th from 6-9 p.m.

Needle Tower Sculpture, Kenneth Snelson (Image:flickr, kimberlyfaye) Cell biologist Don Ingber explains how a modern sculpture inspired his major breakthrough in biology. The following is not a full transcript; for full story, listen to audio. Don Ingber is a cell biologist from Harvard Medical School, Children's Hospital. One day he saw a piece of modern sculpture and -- Eureka! -- he was inspired to make a major breakthrough in biology. Link Full Story/Audio © Copyright 2009 Public Radio International. All rights reserved.

The Visual Arts Gallery at Governors State University is happy to present a group exhibition of three graduating students from July 27 - August 17. There will be a public reception on the evening of Friday, July 31, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. This exhibit will features a presentation of the final, senior projects of mixed media artists, Jennifer Lesch-Benedick, Rhiannon Sallas and Kristina Schmitt.

Venetian Schoolchildren, Todd Heisler/New York Times ArtsBeat Blog, NY Times June 4, 2009 "VENICE – The Biennale is typically an over-serious, very adult affair, but today the main pavilion inside the Giardini, the public gardens here, was packed with howling, rambunctious, sticky-fingered Venetian schoolchildren. Many of them wore bright Batman-like masks, courtesy of the Italian artist Massimo Bartolini." Permalink Full Text Link Children's Sounds

Photo, Venice Biennale Web Site La Biennale di Venezia Since 1895 "The Venice Biennale has for over a century been one of the most prestigious cultural institutions in the world. Ever since its foundation in 1895, it has been in the avant-garde, promoting new artistic trends and organising international events in contemporary arts. It is world-beating for the International Film Festival, for the International Art Exhibition and for the International Architecture Exhibition, and continues the great tradition of the Festival of Contemporary Music, the Theatre Festival, now flanked by the Festival of Contemporary Dance." - Source, Venice Biennale Web Site Link Venice Biennale Web Site Link ArtsBeat, NYTimes Commentary

On Sunday, August 16 the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park will host a special event juxtaposing music, commentary, and art to offer alternative interpretative experiences to works in the park. "Our House (Divided)” is a multi-facetted program, which will touch on history, memory, division, and change, and promises to be both moving and uplifting. It includes music performed by Red Riding Hood , a string quartet comprised of Erica Lessie on cello, Jennifer Lowe and Elise Dalleska on violin, and Nora Williams on viola. In the presence of Bruce Nauman's House Divided singer, Marshall Titus , will perform vocal selections accompanied by Red Riding Hood, and recite Abraham Lincoln’s 1858 “ House Divided ” speech, one of the inspirations for Nauman's sculpture. Magda Brown , a survivor of the Birkenau concentration camp, will provide commentary on her experiences during World War II and subsequent life in the United States. More information on this unique event can be found on th

Governors State University graduate student, Joyce Speechley will present "Eternal Spaces: Studies in Movement and Value," an exhibition of her recent "fumage" drawings in GSU's Gallery 1516 from August 1 through August 11, with an artist's closing reception on August 11th from 6-9 p.m. Speechley's drawings incorporate graphite, graphite powder, and fumage, a technique created by the artist employing flame and smoke on canvas. Her work focuses on the correlation of atmospheric moisture and the changing light of day within a landscape, incorporating the reflections of diffused sunlight from the surrounding environment. Speechley's drawings place the viewer within the landscape, allowing them to become one with nature and experience a moment of complete silence and solitude. Born on the west side of Chicago, Speechley found her passion for the arts early in life. She received a Bachelors of Fine Arts from Northern Illinois University and is current

If you have something to exhibit, find a Grand Rapid’s Michigan venue, pay your fees, arrange to ship and hang your work, you are eligible to win the $250,000 grand prize or other cash awards. Winners are selected by popular vote made by those attending the venues. It is an international competition. "At ArtPrize, any artist—from established to emerging—has the chance to show work (in Grand Rapids, Michigan, US). Any visitor can vote. The vote will determine who wins the largest art prize in the world. We also took the unusual step to allow people in the city to open a venue and choose the artists to show in their space. There is not one official curator or jury for the competition." - ArtPrize Web Site Top prize: $250,000 Link ArtPrize Web Site Link ArtPrize YouTube

Sinful Serenity, an exhibition of paintings and drawings by Elizabeth Farnesi, will be on display from July 13th to July 23rd in the Visual Arts Gallery. An artist's opening reception will be held on Tuesday, July 14th, from 6 to 9 p.m., in the gallery. Farnesi’s Catholic upbringing made her particularly aware of the presence of the Seven Deadly Sins in life. Although it wasn’t until she personally experienced the sins first hand that she began to look for prime examples of vanity, lust, greed, anger, envy, sloth, and gluttony in everyday life. The constant bombardment of media, pop culture, high end fashion and corrupt role models numbs the public to the sins. Each sin intertwined into one another has seemingly become mainstream, accepted, and forgotten. Farnesi’s images are a look at human behavior and how she believes an over indulgence of one sin can lead to another sin which, in turn, can result in the destruction of one’s self. This series of work is her journey and expl

Wholly Sheets, an exhibition of the mixed media collages and photography of Michael Costanza, will be on display in the Visual Arts Gallery from June 27 through July 9, 2009. An opening reception will be held on June 27 from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. The everyday experience produces a physical pile of papers and materials which Costanza uses when creating his work. Gluing layers of receipts, envelopes, classified ads, etc. on found wood and windows directly relates to the idea of the everyday experience told in piles. In addition to this collage work, Costanza also captures the everyday with photographic documents. These photos are used as source material informing the direction of his collage work. Employing techniques such as collage, décollage, digital painting/transfer printing, photography, lithography, drawing and painting, Costanza is constantly shifting the act of creating to match events and influences of any particular day. Wholly Sheeets is an interpretation of the world seen as

Picturing America, Webshot "Great art speaks powerfully, inspires fresh thinking, and connects us to our past." "Picturing America, an exciting new initiative from the National Endowment for the Humanities, brings masterpieces of American art into classrooms and libraries nationwide. Through this innovative program, students and citizens will gain a deeper appreciation of our country's histor and character through the study and understanding of its art." - Picturing America Homepage Link Picturing America - NEH Web Site

Neighbors, Charles Sheeler, 1951 'If the arts are ever going to be a really important part of Americans' lives, they can't be seen as a frill, an add-on, something to do in one's spare time. They have to be integrated with everyday life. That's one reason I like "Picturing America," the National Endowment for the Humanities program I wrote about here and here, and that's why I like a new program of the Philadelphia Museum of Art -- "Adventures in Modern Art." ' - Real Clear Arts, Judith H. Dobrzynski on Culture, ArtsJournal.com Weblog Permalink Making Art Central Through "Adventures in Modern Art," by Judith H. Dobrzynski Link "Adventures in Modern Art," Exhibition, Philadelphia Museum of Art