IN THIS ISSUE: Exhibition features photography of James P. Warfield | Japan House fundraiser includes auction for vacations, dinner for six | Annual book sale is Oct. 28 | Free symposium is Nov. 5-6 | Tim Eriksen to perform Oct. 21 | Book show runs Nov. 1-12 | Annual craft sale is Nov. 5-6 | UPS Open house is Oct. 21 | Ebertfest passes go on sale Nov. 1 | Rare films featured Nov. 2-7 | Help local families in need | Four-hand duo to perform Oct. 23 | Conceptual mixed media artist featured
Temple Hoyne Buell Hall
Exhibition features photography of James P. Warfield
An exhibition in the West Gallery of Temple Hoyne Buell Hall will feature work by ACSA Distinguished Professor Emeritus James P. Warfield. The retrospective exhibit “SEVEN,” on display until Oct. 29, features “seven projects in seven retirement years.”
It includes works from “Inalterable Dreams,” a project exploring the traditional folk architecture of rural Chinese villages, first presented at the Deke Erh Art Center in Shanghai; and photos and posters from “Stone Poems: Architecture and the Land,” an exhibit first shown at the I space Gallery in Chicago and later featured at the University Museum at Southern Illinois University.
It also includes work from two recent books – “Roads Less Traveled” and “The Art of the Travel Sketch: Dancing Lessons From God.” “Roads Less Traveled” is a major visual memoir celebrating Warfields 40 years of travel and research in worldwide vernacular architecture. It opened as a one-man show last year at Kengo Kuma’s Z58 in Shanghai. “The Art of the Travel Sketch” is based upon the Flagg Hall windows on the world exhibit “Dancing Lessons From God” and Warfields teaching philosophy as developed over years of world travel and, since his retirement, leading UI student sketch trips annually to the Greek islands of Mykonos and Santorini.Japan House
Fundraiser includes auction for vacations, dinner for six
A kimono is just one of the items that will be auctioned to raise funds for Japan House, the teaching facility on the UI campus that focuses on the Japanese arts.
A round-trip ticket to Japan, dinner for six people at Nanakusa Japanese Restaurant in Milwaukee, a stay in a Colorado vacation home and a private shopping expedition at Circles Boutique in Champaign are just a few of the items that will be auctioned to raise funds for Japan House, the teaching facility on the UI campus that focuses on the Japanese arts.
The Oct. 24 fundraiser will begin with a sake tasting and bazaar from 4-5:30 p.m. at Japan House. Among the items available for purchase will be clothing, handbags and other goods created from kimonos and obis; Japanese and Asian antiques and collectibles; jewelry and handcrafted tea bowls.
The dinner and auctions will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Illinois Ballroom at the I Hotel and Conference Center, 1900 S. First St., Champaign. An Asian-themed dinner will be followed by silent and live auctions featuring more than 1,550 items, including a sencha-do (a green tea ceremony); a stay at Timber Bluff resort in Saugatuck, Mich.; a cooking lesson with chef Thad Morrow, of Bacaro restaurant in Champaign; and the opportunity to hold a private event at the UI’s new exhibition space, Figure One, in downtown Champaign.
The last auction to raise funds for Japan House was held in 2005 and raised $30,000, said Cynthia Voelkl, assistant director of Japan House.
“We have to raise funds for all programming,” Voelkl said. “We have some university funding for staffing and maintenance, but programming is provided by donations.”
A capital campaign that ended Dec. 31, 2009, raised about $4 million in pledges and gifts for the Japan House endowment. The gifts included a $1.5 million estate gift from Japan House founder Shozo Sato and his wife, Alice.
Shozo Sato, who also is a professor emeritus of art and design in the College of Fine and Applied Arts, started the university’s Japanese Arts and Cultural Program in 1964, teaching classes in ikebana (flower arranging), calligraphy and tea ceremonies in his off-campus apartment. Classes later were moved to a Victorian house located at Lincoln and California avenues in Urbana, which was razed in 1997 to construct the east campus gateway. The current facility on south Lincoln Avenue in Urbana, adjacent to the UI Arboretum, was completed in 1998.
Tickets are $10 for the bazaar and sake tasting, $70 for the dinner and auction, or $75 for both events. Tables of eight tickets, which include the bazaar and dinner, are available for $550.
Co-sponsoring the event with Japan House are Bella Mia Boutique, Bodywork Associates, Busey Bank, John Frauenhoffer, Dr. Lee Gurga, Kamakura Japanese Steakhouse, and Cody and Marci Sokolski.
Tickets are available by calling Japan House at 217-244-9934.UI Library
Annual book sale is Oct. 28
The University Library’s annual book sale will be from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 28 in the Marshall Gallery of the main library.
Materials for sale will include books, audiovisual materials and prints. A $3 bag sale starts at 3 p.m. All proceeds help support the library’s collections.
eBlack Champaign-Urbana
Free symposium is Nov. 5-6
The eBlack Champaign-Urbana project, an initiative in the Community Informatics Lab in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, will host a free symposium Nov. 5-6 focusing on digital technology, community life and campus-community interactions.
The goals of the symposium are to make the university’s interactions with the African-American community and the Champaign-Urbana community more transparent and to inspire and sustain conversations on digital technology and community life, especially among African-Americans.
The first day will focus on campus-community interactions and will be held at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. On Nov. 6, events at the Douglas Annex, 804 N. Fifth St., Champaign, will focus on sparking dialogue on the current and planned use of digital technology by churches, social service agencies, community groups, educational agencies and heritage institutions. Each day the symposium will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with free lunch and refreshments available. Registration is requested, but not required. Participants also may attend any portion of the symposium.
More information and an online registration form are available at http://www.eBlackCU.net/symposium. For more information, contact Noah Lenstra at 217-244-8203 or 815-275-0268; e-mail nlenstr2@illinois.edu; or use the online contact form.
Spurlock Museum
Tim Eriksen to perform Oct. 21
Singer-songwriter-musician Tim Eriksen will perform at the Spurlock Museum at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 21. Eriksen plays guitar, banjo and fiddle. The concert, presented by the CU Folk and Roots Festival, will take place in the museum’s Knight Auditorium. Tickets are $10 general admission and $7 for students.
UI Press
Book show runs Nov. 1-12
The UI Press will host the annual Book, Jacket and Journal Show Nov. 1-12. Sponsored by the Association of American University Presses, the show includes nearly 100 books and jackets representing the best of university press publishing. Included is poet Michael Harper’s “Use Trouble,” designed by UI Press designer Kelly Gray.
The display is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays at the UI Press. There will be a reception from 2-3 p.m. Nov. 5. All viewings and the reception are free and open to the public.
A catalog shows each entry in full color with typographic, paper, printing and binding information, along with designers’ and judges’ comments. A limited number of catalog copies will be available for free.
The UI Press supports the mission of the university through the worldwide dissemination of significant scholarship, striving to enhance and extend the reputation of the university. For more information, visit www.press.uillinois.edu.
Assembly Hall
Annual craft sale is Nov. 5-6
Assembly Hall will host the 31st Annual Chris Cringle Craft Sale from 3-9 p.m. Nov. 5 and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov. 6. Tickets are on sale now.
The event is one of the Midwest’s largest craft shows, covering all three levels of Assembly Hall. The show features more than 150 booths displaying a variety of handcrafted items by local and area artists. This year’s raffle is for a handmade holiday quilt.
The hosts of the annual event are members of the Illinois Heartland Decorative Artists, a local chapter of the National Society of Tole and Decorative Painters. The group will offer a free coat and package check. Assembly Hall will provide a rest area and refreshment stand with sandwiches and drinks.
Admission is $5 and includes parking and an entry for door prizes. Children under 6 are free. Strollers and carts are welcome.
Tickets are available weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Assembly Hall box office. The box office opens at 8:30 on Nov. 6. For more information, call 217-333-5000.
University Primary School
Open house is Oct. 21
University Primary School will host an open house Oct. 21 at the Children’s Research Center.
The school serves preschool, kindergarten and first-grade children in a project-based curriculum. Children must be 3 years old on or before July 1 for the preschool classroom and turn 5 before Sept. 1 to be considered for kindergarten enrollment.
Visitors may observe the preschool classroom from 8:30 a.m. until noon and the combined kindergarten-first grade class from 8:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. Applications for the 2011-12 academic year will be available in January. For more information, contact Ali Lewis, the school’s director, at 217-333-3996 or alilewis@illinois.edu.
Roger Ebert’s Film Festival
2011 festival passes go on sale Nov. 1
Festival passes will go on sale Nov. 1 for the 13th annual Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, or “Ebertfest,” to be April 27 to May 1 at the Virginia Theater in Champaign, and on the Urbana campus.
The festival will feature films selected by Ebert that he believes have been overlooked by audiences, critics or distributors.
The passes, which cover all 12 screenings during the five-day event, are $135. They can be purchased starting Nov. 1 through TicketWeb, by way of the festival website (www.ebertfest.com), or at the Bresnan Meeting Center, 706 Kenwood Road, Champaign (217-398-2550). (The theater box office, where tickets traditionally have been available, will be closed for renovations.)
Tickets for individual films will be available April 4. Admission is $13 ($11 for students and seniors).
A thousand festival passes will be available. Last year’s passes sold out within about two months after going on sale, according to Mary Susan Britt, festival associate director.
Ebert, a 1964 Illinois journalism graduate, adjunct professor and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, will again host the event, along with his wife, Chaz Hammelsmith Ebert.
The lineup of films, along with additional information on film-associated guests and other festival events, will be announced several weeks before the festival. Updates on the festival, an event of Illinois’ College of Media, will be posted on the festival website.
Sponsors and volunteers for the festival also are being sought. Those interested should get in touch with Britt at 217-244-0552, or e-mail marsue@illinois.edu.
Asian film festival
Rare films featured Nov. 2-7
Eight rarely seen documentary and feature films, including two by Tibetan directors, will be screened on the UI campus and the Art Theater in downtown Champaign Nov. 2-7. “Asian Film Festival 2010: Visualizing Tibet” includes “Kundun,” a poetic Martin Scorsese film about the Dalai Lama’s early life.
The festival includes films by Tibetan, Chinese and American directors that portray Tibetan history, culture and a way of life that may well be the last frontier against an ever-encroaching globalization.
Among the other festival films is the story of a monk’s quest through breathtaking landscapes and remote traditional Tibetan villages, a 1960’s Chinese propaganda film reflecting Chinese attitudes at the time toward the Tibetan people, the mythic 11th-century story of Tibet’s greatest yogi and saint, and a new documentary, “Summer Pasture” introduced by the filmmaker.
All the films are free and open to the public except “Kundun” (Nov. 4), which will be screened at the Art Theater, 126 W. Church St., Champaign. The rest of the films will be shown at the Spurlock Museum.
Guests will introduce the films and lead post-screening discussions. For a complete list of films and guest commentators, visit the festival website at www.aems.illinois.edu.
The Asian Film Festival, started in 2003, is presented by the Asian Educational Media Service, the Spurlock Museum and the Illinois/Indiana East Asia National Resource Center Consortium.
Illini Union Office of Volunteer Programs
Help local families in need
The Illini Union Office of Volunteer Programs will host its fourth annual Thanksgiving Basket Drive. With the a growing need for assistance during the holidays, the office hopes to provide Thanksgiving dinners to needy families. To meet this goal, the office will accept donations of Thanksgiving baskets from Oct. 22 through Nov. 17.
A Thanksgiving basket consists of a laundry basket filled with all of the necessary items for a family to have a full Thanksgiving dinner.
Those wanting to contribute may work individually, in pairs or in a group. A team leader should contact the office at ovp@illinois.edu or 217-333-7424 with the number of baskets they would like to donate. Participation information will be sent to the team leader, including a list of items to include in the basket. Baskets can be dropped off at OVP anytime during the drive.
The Office of Volunteer Programs is coordinating with several local community non-profit agencies to make sure that this pressing need in the community is met and that families in need receive a Thanksgiving meal. For more information, contact OVP by phone, e-mail or stop by the office in 288 Illini Union. Information also is online: http://union.illinois.edu/ovp/.
Mahler symphonic works
Four-hand duo to perform Oct. 23
Music lovers in Central Illinois will have the rare opportunity of hearing selections from the symphonic works of Gustav Mahler performed on the piano during a free concert on the UI campus. The Oct. 23 performance and lecture are in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Mahler’s birth.
Marialena Fernandes and Ranko Markovic will perform a program titled “Mahler at the Piano.” The concert in Urbana kicks off the pianists’ recital tour, which includes lectures and performances in New York, Montreal and Ottawa before wrapping up in Los Angeles.
The recital and lecture, free and open to the public, will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Smith Memorial Hall. The lecture is supported by the Lorado Taft Lectureship on Art Fund/College of Fine and Applied Arts.
Fernandes, who is in residence at the UI for six weeks, also has organized a musical matinee on campus that will bring together student vocalists and instrumentalists from an array of genres, including jazz, chamber music and world music. The matinee performance, free and open to the public, will be 11:30-2 p.m. on Nov. 3 at Levis Faculty Center.
Mahler composed only one piano quartet, preferring to concentrate on orchestral compositions.
Born in Mumbai, India, Fernandes is a professor of chamber music at – and an alumnus of – the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, where she earned a diploma in piano performance with unanimous distinctions. Before she joined the university’s faculty in 1991, she was a professor of piano at the Joseph Haydn Conservatory in Eisenstadt, Austria.
Markovic, who was born in Zagreb, Croatia, is the artistic director of the Vienna Conservatory. A graduate of the University Mozarteum in Salzburg, he completed his studies at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, the Liszt Academy in Budapest and in London. His recent lectures, master classes and performances have included institutions such as the Musikverein, Vienna; the Philharmony Hall in St. Petersburg and the Shanghai Conservatory.
The Oct. 23 program will include Zemlinsky’s transcriptions of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” Overture and Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 Scherzo; Alfredo Casella’s transcriptions of Mahler’s Symphony No. 7 “Nachtmusik I” and “Nachtmusik II,” and of “Pagine di Guerra,” Op. 25; as well as Mahler’s transcription of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 3.
Krannert Art Museum
Conceptual mixed media artist featured
On Oct. 29, Krannert Art Museum and Kinkead Pavilion will debut “The Strange Life of Objects: The Art of Annette Lemieux,” a mid-career retrospective of work by the conceptual mixed media artist. A public reception to celebrate the exhibition opening – which will begin with a gallery conversation with Lemieux – will take place from 6-8 p.m. Oct. 28. The exhibition will be on view at the museum through Jan. 2, 2011.
In recent years, Krannert Art Museum organized monographic exhibitions of the work of Louise Bourgeois, Bill Traylor and William Edmondson, Hedda Sterne and Howard Finster. The Lemieux retrospective extends this commitment to present the work of visionaries whose artistic practices challenge formulaic readings of art history, said Kathleen Harleman, the director of the art museum.
The exhibition provides the first critical overview of the artist’s dynamic and varied career. Lemieux first attracted attention on the emerging global art scene in the 1980s. Since then she has continued to produce work that grows in depth and resonance, proving herself to be an artist of lasting significance. Her commitment to content over material motivates her to work with an ever-expanding range of media.
For the exhibition, work from the past 25 years was selected according to chronological and thematic developments in Lemieux’s practice, tracing themes such as the relationship between personal memory and cultural history, content and medium, and text as image.
The exhibition was organized by independent curators Lelia Amalfitano and Judith Hoos Fox, who conceived and contributed to the exhibition’s catalog.
The museum, a unit of the College of Fine and Applied Arts , is open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursday, and 2-5 p.m. Sunday. The museum closes on Thursdays at 5 p.m. on university holidays. Admission is free; suggested donation is $3.
