Monday morning arts news, June 14

EVENTS

Tuesday, June 15 through Friday, June 18

• Gregg Museum: Visit your museum! Galleries open 10am-5pm.

Thursday, June 17

• Virtual Orientation and Information Session: Arts NC State outreach and engagement manager Amy Sawyers-Williams, joined by students and staff from the six visual and performing arts programs at NC State, will lead a Zoom information session for new students. 12pm.

• Gregg Museum: Virtual Guided Tour. The staff at the Gregg will lead a virtual tour of Andy Nasisse’s Animate Earth – Adventures in Mimetolithia. In the deserts of the Southwest, Nasisse photographs amazing landforms that resemble ghosts, ancient statues or remnants of lost civilizations. In his studio, he makes ceramics that straddle the boundary between accidental and intentional, creating figures that seem to emerge from the clay on their own. All the while he engages with what is probably the most basic impulse of the human imagination:  the tendency to “see things in things” through his heightened sense of pareidolia. Registration required. 4pm.

CHECK. IT. OUT.

• In April, theatre director, filmmaker and actor Andy Señor Jr. was the final spring guest on University Theatre’s Strictly Speaking series (see the archived video). Señor made his professional debut in the Tony Award-winning musical Rent as Angel, playing the role on the stages of Broadway, London and tours. In 2014, he was selected to direct a production of Rent in Havana, the country’s first Broadway musical produced by an American company in more than 50 years. It meant traveling to his exiled parents’ homeland over their objection. On Tuesday, June 15, HBO will release Andy Señor’s new documentary – Revolution Rent – that shares the powerful story of his experience in Cuba. (Executive producer name-drop: Neil Patrick Harris.)

• Rich Holly’s latest “Our Life in the Arts” blog post takes on a topic that many artists are hesitant to discuss: Money.

• Congratulations to Betsy Buford, a recipient of the 2021 Raleigh Medal of Arts awarded in a virtual ceremony on June 8. In 1985, Henry Bowers recruited Buford to serve as the first chair of the NC State Theatre Endowment Board, where she laid the groundwork for the establishment of a vital endowment fund that supports NC State LIVE and University Theatre. She was the second recipient of Arts NC State’s Bowers Medal of Arts in 2001 (Henry Bowers was the first in 2000). You can view the ceremony and find the event program at https://raleighnc.gov/medal-arts.

• Pause to enjoy new pieces performed by the NC State orchestras this spring. Now available on the Music YouTube channel: 1) Two miniatures, “Webbings” and “Circles” by pianist/composer Nahre Sol, featuring animation by Ben Levin, performed by the Raleigh Civic Symphony. 2) “Freedom” by Afghan composer/pianist/poet/visual artist Milad Yousufi, performed by Raleigh Civic Chamber Orchestra.

• Only four summer crafts classes have space remaining: Intermediate Sewing, Put a Lid On It, Wood Spirit Carving, and Watercolor Sunflowers. Claim your spot ASAP! (Scroll down when you click on the links.)

IN THE NEWS

• Technician: College of Design’s Art2Wear fashion show goes virtual due to COVID-19. NOTE: If you missed the Art2Wear 2021 premiere on Friday night, you can still see the video on YouTube. The 20th annual show was directed by Tess Colavecchio, a May graduate who was a student ambassador at the Gregg Museum and a member of the Friends of the Gregg board of directors. Adrienne McKenzie, University Theatre costume technician and a guest lecturer in Art + Design, served as faculty advisor.

Are you connected with the arts programs on social media? Link to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for all at go.ncsu.edu/getsocial.