Another wonderful opening for our new exhibition, Voices! I love openings. So many people, so much food, music, and conversations going around. I hope that if you didn't get a chance to go to the opening that you will visit the exhibit soon! (hint: it counts as a cultural event for art history courses!) 

 I would like to congratulate the Exhibition course that curated the show. While monitoring this past weekend, I've heard so many great comments from visitors! I think it is a great opportunity that the Department of Art History gives students who are interested in going into museum work. Again, Congrats for all the hard work you have put in. I know many people are very excited for the student-led tours, and hopefully I will get to monitor during one of them. 

Please join us on Tuesday and Thursday for two great events. The first being "Negotiating the Politics of Display and Representation: A Discussions about Images, Text, and the Gaze on Black Womanhood" by Shauna Morgan Kirlew, a pre-doctoral fellow from the Department of English, at 4pm. The second event is "Scattered Villages: Traces of the Ancestor in African American Literature and Film" by Shauna Morgan Kirlew.

I hope you will be able to attend events or at least stop by to see this wonderful student curated show!

 Hey guys!

IC View has posted a video about the Handwerker on youtube. Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW2jvMMz210 . It is a great video about our Thursdays at the Handwerker events featuring the writing departments and the opportunity it gives both student and faculty to present their work. 

           On September 29th, the Handwerker Gallery along with Professor Jeremy Long and Lin Price from the Department of Art hosted an open live drawing session. This allowed students and visitors to attend a live drawing session with a model. The event consisted of two 45 minute poses. What I loved about this event is how it broke down the barrier of viewing artworks and creating artworks in a gallery. When most people visit a gallery, their visit consists of observing and appreciating another person's artwork. If they are to draw at the gallery, it is to emulate an artist's style or subject instead of creating their own work. This drawing session allowed for visitors to do more than just observe, they created art themselves. Following with the theme of the exhibition, "The Figure", they drew their inspiration from a model. This event brought together students from different levels of artistic expression and techniques. It was great to see the gallery full of enthusiastic students practicing their drawing skills around the wonderful works of the exhibition. I hope everybody has a chance to see the the exhibit! It comes down in just a few days!

             On September 15^th, the Department of Writing had the first open reading night of the semester at the Handwerker Gallery. The theme of this reading was “Specters of the Past”, which focuses on the notions of loss and the past. This Thursday at the Handwerker event featured readings from Professor Nick Kowalczy and Liam Curley (’12).  Both gave evocative and compelling non-fiction readings about ghost towns and images of the past that have affected their lives. An open reading followed them where many students shared their writings from prose to poetry. Overall, the reading was a great success. It was amazing to see many students from all departments show up for the readings. I hope that future readings will be as successful!

            For every exhibit, the gallery hosts an opening reception for all to come. Even with the horrible weather, typical Ithaca, we had over a 100 people show up! It is always so exciting to see people enthusiastic about a new exhibit. As a monitor in the gallery, the majority of the time when people visit the gallery it is one of quiet contemplation or observation of the works around them but during an opening there is this vivacity that only exists during opening nights. The air vibrates with the excitement of a new exhibit and conversation. Faculty, students, and even artists (our own Professor Long has a piece in this show!) are busy with conversation. Jazz music sets the mood and the free food brings in the wandering students from the rain.

            This exhibit brings to mind the idea of the figure and its many interpretations. From classically drawn and realistic portrayals of the figure to abstract expression of the human body, the exhibit explores many ways one can illustrate the figure. This exhibit is filled with so many great artists that truly give inspiration. As an art student, I find this exhibit to be very educational. We sit in drawing classes and draw from a live model, we do fast sketches of these people to study shape and form but its rare to finish these drawings. This exhibit shows the end result that us as students rarely get to. It is also great to have artwork from our professors up in the gallery!

The exhibit will be open from September 8^th till October 16^th. Come check it out! We will also be hosting many events from different departments on campus. Look out for the posters around campus for these events or click on the events tab on Handwerker website.