March 16, 2016
Southern Illinois University Arts and Cultural Events
March 21-April 9
This bi-weekly email brings together the highlights of arts and cultural events at SIU Carbondale. From music to art, film to dance, guest lectures to workshops and theater, you will find the information here. Event information is subject to change.
HIGHLIGHTS
MARCH 23 – The Morton-Kenney Public Affairs Lecture Series brings U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to campus for an address at 7 p.m. in the Student Center Auditorium. Seating is available on a first come, first-served basis. Some recent issues in which the USDA has been involved in some way include: ongoing discussions about labeling genetically modified foods, the definition of “organic,” use of wilderness areas and lease of public lands, school lunch programs, farm subsidies, strategic plans for managing agriculture in the face of climate change, food stamps and country of origin labeling. Vilsack has emphasized strengthening the American agricultural economy by restoring vibrancy to rural communities and developing new markets for farming innovations.
MARCH 31-APRIL 3 – The Fourth Annual Big Muddy New Play Festival celebrates the work of SIU playwrights and includes a full production as well as staged readings. This year’s full play is “Wife/Worker/Whore,” by Kirsten Easton, a graduate student in the Department of Theater. The play follows a new bride, a policewoman and a call-girl who discover the power of sexuality to get ahead in the world – and the downside of that power. Segun Ojewuyi directs the play. It runs throughout the festival at the C.H. Moe Theater with performances at 7:30 p.m. except for April 3, when the performance is at 2 p.m. Prior to the Sunday show, dramaturge Brooke Oehme moderates a talk with playwright Kirsten Easton beginning at 1:30 p.m. Tickets for the play are $18, $6 for students. Get tickets at the McLeod Theater box office, by calling 618/453-6000 or online. Tickets are also available at the door beginning one hour before the show, but there is no seating once the performance begins. Here is a schedule of readings:
April 1 – 4 p.m., “The Goat Jumped over the F---ing Fence,” by David Dudley
April 1 – 7 p.m., “El Alacrán,” by J. J. Ceniceros
April 2 – 1 p.m., “Penetrate,” by Myah Gary
April 2 – 4 p.m., “Vampirates of the North Sea, Being an Account of the Confrontation Between a Small Band of English and Irish Adventurers and an Army of Undead Marauders in the Year of Our Lord 1605,” by Rory Leahy
April 2 -- 7 p.m., “My Tears for an Idiot” by Greg Aldrich
OUTSIDE THE BOX – This is a multi-event, multi-venue music festival celebrating new music in the classical and jazz traditions. Go here for more details but here is a schedule outline:
March 24 – SIU’s Wind Ensemble, Jazz Studio and Concert Choir, 7:30 p.m., Shryock Auditorium.
March 25 – Jacob Tews and Erik Rohde, 7:30 p.m., Shryock Auditorium.
March 26 – Yehudi Wyner and the Coolidge Trio, 7:30 p.m., Old Baptist Foundation Recital Hall.
March 27 – Yehudi Wyner and the Altgeld Chamber Players, 7:30 p.m., Old Baptist Foundation Recital Hall.
March 28 – Dick Kelley and Jazz Ensemble, 7:30 p.m., Old Baptist Foundation Recital Hall.
March 29 – Emerging Composers Concert, 5:30 p.m., Old Baptist Foundation Recital Hall.
March 30 – Eric Mandat recital, 7:30 p.m., Altgeld Hall, room 110.
March 31 – Jeremiah Selvey conducts the Contemporary Vocal Ensemble, 7:30 p.m., Old Baptist Foundation Recital Hall.
April 1 – BlueSHIFT Percussion Quartet, 7:30 p.m., Shryock Auditorium.
April 2 – Junghwa Lee, “Korean Piano since the 1970s,” 2 p.m., Shryock Auditorium.
April 2 – Jay Needham Radio Piano, 7:30 p.m., Shryock Auditorium.
April 3 – Nathanel Bartlett Sound Space Audio Lab, 7:30 p.m., Altgeld Hall, room 112.
Here are other select upcoming events in list form:
MARCH
22 – Artist lecture. Visiting artist Mark Burns, a ceramics and sculpture artist, will talk about art, ceramic history and pop culture beginning at 7 p.m. in the John C. Guyon Auditorium in Morris Library. Burns exhibits his work nationally and internationally. The winner of two National Endowment for the Arts Craftsman Fellowships, he is professor emeritus at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he taught ceramics for more than 30 years. The lecture is free.
22 – Lecture. The State of the American Worker, guest speaker Keona Ervin. Evin is assistant professor of African-American history at the University of Missouri. Her current project is “The Labor of Dignity: Black Women, Urban Politics and the Struggle for Economic Justice in the Gateway City.” Her talk begins at 5 p.m. in the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute building lobby.
23 – Women’s History Month event. Hilary Corna discusses “#Dare Yourself: The Art of Global Leadership,” at 7 p.m. in the Student Center Ballrooms. Corna is a speaker well-known from TEDx and appearances on ForbesWomen and NBC, and senior executive officer with Toyota Asia. As a first-generation college student raised in a single-parent home, she has a special message about leadership approaches and pragmatic tools for students.
24 – Art talk. The Critical Forum: C4, a Registered Student Organization of sculpture students that promotes cooperation, collaboration and critical exchange, welcomes Cobden artist Mel Watkin at 7 p.m. in the John C. Guyon Auditorium at Morris Library. Watkin’s solo or two-person exhibition venues include the Missouri Botanical Garden and several other art galleries in St. Louis, the Illinois State Museum in Chicago and Hyde Park Center in Chicago.
25 – Communications Day. An outreach from the Department of Communication Studies to area high schools, with activities 1-3 p.m. in the John C. Guyon Auditorium in Morris Library.
25 – Women’s History Month event. Film screening. “Suffragette,” a 2015 release starring Carey Mulligan, Ann-Marie Duff and Helena Bonham Carter, this is a story about foot soldiers in the early feminist movement. Showings in the Student Center Auditorium at 7 and 9:30 p.m.
30 – Women’s History Month event. Film screening. “Dark Girls,” a 2011 release starring Stephanie A. Soren Baker and Joni Bonvill, this documentary examines biases about skin color, particularly dark skin, within and without black American culture.
31 – Foreign Language Day. This annual event draws approximately 1,200 high school students to campus in celebration of learning about other cultures through foreign language study. The event runs from about 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Student Center. High school students compete in Scholar Bowl, or attend cultural presentations. A new event this year is dramatic interpretation: students may present a poem, or speech or story fragment in French, German, Latin or Spanish by reciting, interpreting or acting with small props. For more details, contact Karen Sweiger-Veil at kveil@siu.edu.
31 – Lecture. Nicholas J. Johnson, professor of law at Fordham University School of Law, discusses “Reclaiming the Heroes and Lessons of the Black Tradition of Arms,” as the Gene and Katy Simonds Lectureship in Democracy. The lecture begins at 5 p.m. in the Lesar Law School Auditorium. Johnson’s areas of expertise include contracts, environmental law and gun control/gun rights. He is the author of “Negroes and the Gun: The Black Tradition of Arms,” and “Firearms Law and the Second Amendment: Regulation, Rights and Policy.” He is a frequent presence in major media outlets including the New York Times, the Washington Post, Huffington Post, the Christian Science Monitor, ABC News and MSNBC.
31-April 2 -- Performance. “4 Films,” written and directed by Jason Hedrick, is a showcase of cinema and live performance featuring experimental film, with examples from Man Ray, Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali, Maya Deren and Stan Brakhage. Mature themes. Performances begin at 8 p.m. at the Kleinau Theater (Communications Building). Tickets are $7, $5 for students with student I.D. Call 618/453-5618 for tickets in advance.
APRIL
1 – Conference. Women, Gender and Sexuality Cross Disciplinary Conference, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. in the Student Center, Wabash and Vermillion Lounge. Contact Quiana Jenkins for more information, qjenkins@siu.edu.
4 -- Art show and competition. The annual Rickert-Ziebold competition for graduating seniors returns to the Surplus Gallery in the Glove Factory. Seniors selected for the honor of competing have one day to install their art in assigned places in the gallery for faculty judges, who announce the winner at 11 a.m. on April 4. It’s always an exciting moment. The Rickert-Ziebold Trust Award is a prestigious award augmented by a cash prize. Typically the award is divided among two or three winners, but single winners are not unprecedented. The exhibit remains open through April 9, with a reception from 5:30-7:30 p.m. on April 8.
4 – Edible Book Festival. This fun event challenges creative and crafty book lovers to make edible sculptures representing favorite or well-known literary works, often with a pun-ish twist. The event is 3-5 p.m. in Morris Library, the first floor rotunda.
4 – Roxana Rivera Memorial Poetry Contest Award Ceremony, 5 p.m. in the University Museum Auditorium, featuring a reading from Sarah McCartt-Jackson, alumna and poet and this year’s contest judge, as well as readings from contest winners.
4-5 – Research forums. The Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Forum on April 4 and the Graduate Student Creative Activity and Research Forum on April 5 highlight some of the most exciting new student research taking place at SIU. The forums are at the Student Center with oral presentations and posters, with awards and honors for top presentations. The events last the day. For a list of winners after the event, contact Lori Foster, lafoster@siu.edu.
5 – Concert. The Southern Illinois Symphony presents Stars of Altgeld at 7:30 p.m. at Shryock Auditorium. The Stars of Altgeld highlights School of Music soloists.
6 – Drama Daze. High school students from the region participate in a day of theater workshops and performances. For details, contact Susan Patrick Benson at susanpb@siu.edu.
6 – SIU Energy Day. This inaugural event brings featured speakers, panel discussions and a research exposition as part of SIU’s Advanced Coal and Energy Research Center’s mission as an energy research leader. Keynote speakers are Peter B. Littlewood, director of Argonne National Laboratory, speaking at 10 a.m., and Christopher Smith, assistant secretary for fossil energy at the U. S. Department of Energy, speaking at 1 p.m. All activities are at the Student Center.
8 – Southern Illinois Art Education Conference. This event brings art teachers to several sites on campus (Student Center, Allyn Building and University Museum) for a day of art education techniques, ideas and projects for art teachers.