Time and the River’s Edge presents 25 years of Patty Stone’s creative work and celebrates her teaching career at Wheaton. The exhibition, displayed on campus as well as virtually, includes paintings and prints spanning the mid-1990s through 2020. Stone’s work explores the tension between nature and the built environment through mapping, collage, and the fluidity and texture of her chosen mediums.

In this talk Patty will provide greater detail about this exhibition, her artwork and her career in general.

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Jonathan Maniscalco has taught English to ESL learners in Japan, Spain, and New York City. A Massachusetts native, he is a graduate of Boston University and a stringer for the New England Review of Books. Ten Stories to Manhood is his first published book. Via Zoom, registration required.

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Join the Opening Reception in Hubs

5-7pm EST

The 2021 Wheaton Biennial is an open-call exhibition focused on new media and juried by author and curator, Legacy Russell. Presented virtually, this exhibition includes artists whose work challenges and celebrates new media. As with past Biennials, our definition is boundary-pushing and inclusive, seeking a diverse range of experimental work. View the exhibition at the Beard and Weil Galleries website.

In keeping with the new media focus of this exhibition, please join us for the opening reception in Mozilla Hubs. After choosing an avatar, you will be able to move around the space, view the artwork, and talk with other visitors. Instructions for interacting in Hubs will be at the entrance to the virtual gallery.

 

The architectural response to the concept of community has always been much broader than shelter. But, as we’ve learned to live with each other lately in new ways at the intersection of political upheaval and a post-pandemic malaise, can architecture adequately respond? This is a talk about “intentional communities” and why the choices we make in living together can enrich the values of the communities we choose. Via Zoom, registration required.

Register Here.

This semester’s festival format will be adjusted for virtual presentation and will feature five-minute plays. As always, the plays are written, directed, and acted by Wheaton students.

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Renowned musicologist Matthew Morrison discusses his recent research, which historicizes the rise of American popular music, performance, and race in the nineteenth century. His talk centers on Blacksound, which Morrison uses as a foil to demonstrate how popular entertainment, culture, and identity have been shaped by the legacy of blackface minstrelsy in and beyond the United States.

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Sumell, an award-winning multidisciplinary artist and activist, will share her work on interrogating the abuses of the American criminal justice system. Sumell will talk about her ongoing public art project, Solitary Gardens, created to protest solitary confinement and consider alternative land use. Join us to imagine a landscape without prisons as we prepare to bring a Solitary Garden to Wheaton.

Register Here.

The world knows Stacey Abrams as a political leader, founder of the nonprofit Fair Fight Action, and New York Times bestselling author. Ms. Abrams’ tireless commitment to promote nonviolent change via the ballot box recently earned her a Nobel Peace Prize nomination. Lesser known is her creative work as an award-winning author (often using the name of her alter-ego, Selena Montgomery) of eight romantic suspense novels and several non-fiction works. Following the presentation of the Otis Social Justice Award, Abrams will join Artist-in-Residence Joe Wilson, Jr. to have a conversation about the powerful and transformative roles storytellers hold in our society, and how her work as activist and author strengthen each other.

Register here.

Please note: we do expect significant interest in this event. If we reach capacity, you will be notified of your status by email. Please limit registration requests to one name per household or viewing screen.

Muhammad Muwakil and Lou Lyons front Freetown Collective, a band that defies genre, delivering eclectic music and drawing on Trinidadian tradition and life experience. They perform infectious, transformative music fused with poetry and politics, philosophical and spiritual inspiration; and social justice is central to their music and creative vision. Join us for a virtual concert followed by a Q&A with the artists.

Register Here.

California-based comic artist Yumi Sakugawa talks about her creative practice and leads a meditation workshop on making friends with creative failure and surrendering to imperfection. This event is part of Spring into Wellness week and is sponsored by the Master Class in the Visual Arts Fund, given by a Wheaton alumna within the Evelyn Danzig Haas ’39 Visiting Artists Program.

Register Here.