BRUNCH & LEARN: ARCTIC PASSAGES
FREDERIC CHURCH’S ICEBERGS AND NINETEENTH-CENTURY
POLAR EXPEDITION
The acclaimed nineteenth-century American painter Frederic Church traveled to the Arctic in 1859 in search of new artistic material. This talk and gallery discussion will consider his journey, the canvases that resulted, and the broader cultural fascination with the polar north
during this period. In addition to our adult audience, we are encouraging any interested college, high school, or home school students to attend. Presented by Jennifer Raab, Associate Professor in the Department of the History of Art at Yale University.
Pre-registration required by 7/23/18.
The Fairfield University Art Museum will host a panel discussion titled Gun Violence in Connecticut: Realities and Paths Forward on Wednesday, September 12 at 5 p.m. in the Wien Experimental Theatre in the Quick Center for the Arts.
Panelists include:
- Bret Peterkin, Statewide coordinator, DOJ Project Longevity
- Reverend Anthony Bennett, Co-Chair, Congregations Organized for a New Connecticut (CONECT)
- Jeremy Stein, Executive Director, Connecticut Against Gun Violence
Presented in conjunction with the exhibition#UNLOAD: Guns in the Hands of Artists.
Image (detail) © Generic Art Solutions, courtesy of Jonathan Ferrara Gallery
The Fairfield University Art Museum will host a panel discussion titled Gun Violence in Connecticut: Realities and Paths Forward on Wednesday, September 12 at 5 p.m. in the Wien Experimental Theatre in the Quick Center for the Arts.
Panelists include:
- Brent Peterkin, Statewide coordinator, DOJ Project Longevity
- Matt McDermott, Executive Director, Congregations Organized for a New Connecticut (CONECT)
- Jeremy Stein, Executive Director, Connecticut Against Gun Violence
Presented in conjunction with the exhibition #UNLOAD: Guns in the Hands of Artists.
Image (detail) © Generic Art Solutions, courtesy of Jonathan Ferrara Gallery
Dr. Christopher B. Steiner, Lucy C. McDannel ’22 Professor of Art History and Anthropology at Connecticut College and Guest Curator of the exhibition Liberia 1931-33: The Collections of Alfred J. Tulk will present a lecture entitled African Art in Transiton Thursday, September 13 at 5:00 p.m. in the Diffley Board Room. The lecture will be immediately followed by the exhibition opening from 6-7:30 p.m. in the Bellarmine Hall Galleries. The exhibition runs from September 14 through December 14, 2018.
Image: Bead Necklace with Brass (Gio, Liberia). Brass, glass, fiber, copper, and iron. Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard University
The Fairfield University Art Museum will host a panel discussion moderated by Rep. Jim Himes titled Gun Violence as Public Health Crisis on Thursday, September 20 at 6 p.m. in the Oak Room of the Barone Campus Center at Fairfield University.
Panelists include:
- Dr. Patrick Kelley, Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Egan School of Nursing and Founder, Forum on Global Violence Prevention, National Academies of Science
- U.S. Senator Chris Murphy [to be confirmed]
- LaToya Cantrell, Mayor-elect of New Orleans [to be confirmed]
Presented in conjunction with the exhibition#UNLOAD: Guns in the Hands of Artists.
Image (detail) © Ron Bechet, courtesy of Jonathan Ferrara Gallery
The Fairfield University Art Museum will host a panel discussion moderated by Congressman Jim Himes titled Gun Violence as Public Health Crisis on Thursday, September 20 at 6 p.m. in the Oak Room of the Barone Campus Center at Fairfield University.
Panelists include:
- Dr. Patrick Kelley, Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Egan School of Nursing and Founder, Forum on Global Violence Prevention, National Academies of Science
- Dr. Bradley Stolbach, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, The University of Chicago and Clinical Director, Healing Hurt People – Chicago
Presented in conjunction with the exhibition #UNLOAD: Guns in the Hands of Artists.
PARKING INFO:
Parking is available in the Kelley Parking Garage. If you enter campus through the gates at 1073 North Benson Road, the parking garage will be on the right before you reach the traffic circle. Barone Campus Center is next to the gym across the street from the parking garage.
Parking is also available in front of Bellarmine Hall.
View the campus map at www.fairfield.edu/directions/campusmap/ .
Image (detail) © Ron Bechet, courtesy of Jonathan Ferrara Gallery
Artist Bradley McCallum will present a gallery talk in conjunction with the exhibition #UNLOAD: Guns in the Hands of Artists on Wednesday, September 25, at 5:00 p.m. in the Walsh Gallery in the Quick Center for the Arts.
Artist’s Statement:
In this live pour, I intend to link performance and object, and to bridge my 1996 work The Manhole Cover Projectwhich cast 228 utility covers from 11,194 guns that were confiscated by Connecticut law enforcement to New Orleans’s current effort in transforming weapons into art. During the performance, I smelted guns taken from the streets of New Orleans, along with gun shell casings, and pour the iron-infused brass into a sand-cast impression lifted from the pattern that was used in The Manhole Cover Project. Part alchemy, part historical reference, this transformation and symbolic tracing of a past work aims to remind us that the national conversation around gun violence and ownership has not changed. The object fabricated in this performance fused the present with the past — the metal disc made from the impression of the manhole-cover pattern was penetrated with firearms taken from the streets of New Orleans, to create a touchstone that aims to contribute to the civic discourse concerning gun ownership that is active in this local community.
The epidemic of gun violence that shaped the urban cities in the 1990s and was a focus of my work for a decade is still active. The mothers who have lost children to gun violence twenty years ago are joined each year in small and large cities alike. Our national policies have not changed, and even the most reasonable efforts to enact gun legislation face huge obstacles. Our national attention focuses only momentarily when major tragic acts of violence are in the headlines, but for the thousands of families who have lost loved ones to gun violence and incarceration each year, the impact of this public health crisis continues to be felt. As artists we can contribute to this essential discourse and to contribute to long-overdue change.
Image: Bradley McCallum, Smelting: A Gun Legacy, 1996-2014. Smelted decommissioned guns. 23 x 23 inches. © Bradley McCallum. Photo by Neil Alexander, Courtesy of Jonathan Ferrara Gallery.
Dr. Ive Covaci, Adjunct Professor of Art History, Fairfield University, will present a gallery talk titled Mizusashi: Japanese Water Jars from the Carol and Jeffrey Horvitz Collection on the exhibition of the same name in the Bellarmine Hall Galleries on Wednesday, September 26 at noon.
Image (detail): KIyomizu Rokubei VI, Water Jar with Kokisai (Artist’s Glaze), Decorated with Ebinegusa (Clanthe Orchids), ca. 1978. Glazed stoneware with over-glaze gold and silver decoration, lacquer lid. 6 3/8 x 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches. © Kiyomizu Rokubei Family. Image: Richard Goodbody
Each event in our Art in Focus series offers an opportunity for an hour of close looking and informal discussion around a single work of art, led by Curator of Education Michelle DiMarzo. On September 27, we’ll be looking at this 16th century French enamel plaque of Saint Jerome. This object is a recent addition to the Fairfield University Art Museum collection.
Join us for the opportunity to engage deeply with this work of art in a relaxed atmosphere. Reserve your seat now!
Image (detail): Saint Jerome, French, Limoges, 16th century, Painted enamel on copper. Fairfield University Art Museum, Gift of Douglas and Alice Hyland (2017.34.01).