© Robert Adams, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco and Matthew Marks Gallery, New York

 June 7, from 5:15 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

GOCA 121 and IDEA Space

 Begin the First Friday adventure at IDEA Space from 5:15 – 6:30 p.m. with the exhibition A Place Apart: Colorado and the American West, Photographs by Robert Adams. At 5:30 p.m., curator Jessica Hunter-Larsen will give a brief introduction to the exhibition, followed by a poetry reading by acclaimed poet and Colorado College professor of English, Jane Hilberry. A performance in the gallery by musicians featured in the Colorado College Summer Music Festival will conclude the program.

Then head downtown to GOCA121 next for an artist talk with Bill Starr, featured in the exhibition DOCUMENTATION, at 7:00 pm, followed by a free concert by Colorado Springs-based musician Alex Koshak. Koshak will perform as part of GOCA and COPPeR’s joint “Free First Fridays” concert series with his newest project Charioteer from 7:30 – 9:00 p.m.. GOCA121 is located at 121 S. Tejon Street (Plaza of the Rockies), Suite 100.

A Place Apart: Colorado and the American West, Photographs by Robert Adams. For over forty years, Robert Adams’ photographs have celebrated the beauty of the American West, often focusing his attention on overlooked subjects and vistas: the quiet streets of small towns, the wide-open prairies of the eastern plains, or the unexpected junctures when wilderness and urban development meet.  Inherent in his images is the recognition of the relentless absorption and transformation of nature by human development. The exhibition will run through June 15, 2013.

DOCUMENTATION features the work of three Colorado-based photographers – Matt Chmielarczyk, Bill Starr and Andrea Wallace – and their compelling personal narratives. Artist Bill Starr has for the past 22 years captured movement in dance, theater, performance art and most recently Colorado’s indie/electronic/folk music scene through photography. Starr’s physical and social challenges from living with acute rheumatoid arthritis since the age of nine inform how he observes and translates movement into his prolific practice. Starr’s home has served as a hub and informal artist residence for dancers, musicians, artists, and creatives of all backgrounds, giving the artist opportunity to document many “moments of intensity” through his camera lens. The exhibit is on display through June 29, 2013.

Senior Art Majors Exhibition

25 April – 14 May 2013

1-7p.m. Monday through Saturday

Opening: 25 April at 4:30 in Coburn Gallery located on the main floor of the Worner Student Center.

The Senior Art Majors Exhibition is an annual group show displaying the diverse studies of 25 seniors who will be graduating with a Studio Arts degree.

Across the Colorado College campus Senior Art Majors have been showing their works individually.

It is now time to share their works as a collective.

Artists in Alphabetical Order:

Adam Dickerson

Camila Galfore,

Cynthia Taylor

Daniel Alvarado

Deborah Detchon

Denali Gillaspie

Dylan Conway

Emily Franklin

Erin Gould

Hallie Kopald

Hollis Moore

Ian Stabler

John Christie

Lacey Carter

Lila Pickus

Malcolm Perkins-Smith

Renee Wooley

Noah Gallo-Brown

Olivia Myerson

Robin Gleason

Sarah Kelsey

Sophia Schneider

Theodore Benson

Tsipora Prochovnick

This exhibit is supported by
the Colorado College Cultural Attractions Fund
and the Art Department Stillman Fund for Exhibitions

 March 25 – April 16, 2013

Coburn Gallery

Friday, March 29 from 4:30 – 6pm

Reception and Gallery Talk by Aaron Cohick, Printer of the Colorado College Press

Free and open to the public

Structured as a reading room, this hands-on exhibition features books, broadsides, posters & other ephemera from two Colorado Springs publishers of handmade books: the NewLights Press and The Press at Colorado College. The work of both presses is focused on a critical engagement with the material word. What, how, why can a printed book or poster be in the screen age? How can an engagement with the physical processes of making texts and books revitalize our perceptions of our culture and our roles in it?

The NewLights Press is an independent publisher of experimental writing and artists’ books, concentrating on where the two can and do overlap. The Press at Colorado College, founded in 1978, is a letterpress studio dedicated to printing and publishing artists’ books, broadsides, posters and other ephemera. Aaron Cohick is behind them both—he founded the NewLights Press in Baltimore in 2000, and in 2010 he became the Printer of The Press at Colorado College.

Coburn Gallery is located in the Worner Campus Center, 902 N. Cascade Avenue, on the Colorado College campus.  Gallery Hours are Monday-Saturday, 1:00 – 7:00 PM.

© Robert Adams, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco and Matthew Marks Gallery, New York

IDEA Space

April 22 – June 15, 2013

(Closed May 15 – 22)

Special Preview Reception: Tuesday, April 16 4:30 — 6pm

Featuring gallery talks by the exhibition’s student curators.

For over forty years, Robert Adams’ photographs have celebrated the beauty of the American West, often focusing his attention on often overlooked subjects and vistas: the quiet streets of small towns, the wide-open prairies of the eastern plains, or the unexpected junctures when wilderness and urban development meet.  Inherent in his images is the recognition of the relentless absorption and transformation of nature by human development.

Born in New Jersey in 1937, Adams spent his childhood in Denver. He studied English literature at the University of Redlands and went on earn his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California in 1965. Adams returned to Colorado to teach English at Colorado College in 1962 while working on his dissertation.  He began his study of photography as a hobby, although it quickly a consuming passion, and by 1970, he left the College to become full-time photographer.

Adams’ photographs are held in several major museum collections, including the Denver Art Museum, The National Gallery, Yale University, and the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. A major retrospective exhibition, The Place We Live, organized by Yale University, is currently on tour, with venues in the United States, Canada, and Europe.

Exhibition Hours:

From April 22-May 14, 2013: Monday-Saturday, 1-7 p.m.

From May 23-June 15: Tuesday-Saturday, 1-7 p.m.

4pm Monday 25 February 2013

Free and open to the public

sponsored by the Colorado College Cultural Attractions Fund

Reda, a young French-Moroccan guy and his old father drive from the south of France to Mecca in order for the father to do his pilgrimage. At first distant, they gradually learn to know each other.

The film will be introduced by Peter Wright, Assistant Professor of Religion.

Audience members are invited to participate in a discussion following the film.

February 4 – 8

“What’s So Funny ? Humor, Faith, and Politics.”

Highlighting the vital role the arts play within the liberal arts, the annual Cornerstone Arts Week focuses on a theme, posed as a question, that is examined through exhibitions, performances, films, lectures, and special events. Cornerstone Arts Week 2013 explores the ways in which the arts create bridges between cultures, belief systems, and yes – even political parties

Tuesday, February 5, 2013, 7pm

God, That’s Funny!: Religion, Humor, Politics, Identity

Edith Kinney Gaylord Cornerstone Arts Center

Richard F. Celeste South Theater

Free and open to the public

Reception to follow at IDEA Space

Sponsored by the Colorado College Cultural Attractions Fund

“How can I believe in God,” writes Woody Allen, “when just last week I got my tongue caught in the roller of an electric typewriter?” It’s a good question and also a good joke; it also reminds us that joking about religion is one of the most necessary, most fertile, and most tendentious things a writer can do. Join us for a panel discussion that boldly goes where polite conversation is told not to stray, into the realms of religion, politics, and humor. What kind of humor does the subject of religion provoke? Why is God something that we’re told not to joke about? Why is it so hard to resist laughing at religion?  What kinds of exchanges, what kinds of connections are made possible across religions when we use the bridge that humor provides?

These and other questions will be the subject of a panel discussion featuring three hilarious writers from diverse religious and cultural backgrounds who use humor to address potentially divisive subjects. Firoozeh Dumas, author of Laughing without an Accent and Funny in Farsi; Jonathan Goldstein, host of NPR’s Wiretap and author of Ladies and Gentlemen: The Bible; and Steven Hayward, Colorado College Professor of English and author of Don’t Be Afraid and The Secret Mitzvah of Lucio Burke.

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February 4 – 8, 2013

“What’s So Funny ? Humor, Faith, and Politics.”

Highlighting the vital role the arts play within the liberal arts, the annual Cornerstone Arts Week focuses on a theme, posed as a question, that is examined through exhibitions, performances, films, lectures, and special events. Cornerstone Arts Week 2013 explores the ways in which the arts create bridges between cultures, belief systems, and yes – even political parties.

Friday, February 8, 7pm

Tribal Fusion: Arabic Dance in the Digital World

Edith Kinney Gaylord Cornerstone Arts Center

Richard F. Celeste South Theater

Free and open to the public

Donna Mejia is a choreographer, lecturer, teacher, administrator, and performer specializing in contemporary dance, traditions of the Arab/African Diaspora, and new fusion traditions in world electronica. She lectures and teaches for colleges, private organizations and dance festivals internationally such as Jacob’s Pillow, and the Bates Dance Festival.

She taught at Colorado College for 10 years and was Director of the Colorado College International Summer Dance Festival for the last half of her term. For twelve years she served as managing director of the award-winning Harambee African Dance Ensemble of CU-Boulder. Donna was Guest Artist in Residence with the Smith College Dance Department for three years and received a full teaching fellowship for her MFA studies.  In 2011, she received the Selma Jeanne Cohen Endowed Lecture In International Dance Scholarship Honor by the Fulbright Association.

Donna is the founder and director of The Sovereign Project: a nonprofit arts collective dedicated to a reverent connection to the body by addressing social repression, distortion, sedentary lifestyle and acts of violence.

Her presentation for Cornerstone Arts Week will include performance and commentary on tribal fusion dance.

Sponsored by the Cultural Attractions Fund and the Theater and Dance Department

Monday, January 21, 2013, 11:15am

Armstrong Hall

Born in Saudi Arabia to Syrian parents and raised in the Washington, D.C., area, hip-hop artist Omar Offendum uses his lyrical talents to bridge his Middle Eastern roots to his Western upbringing. Offendum began his rap career as one-half of the N.O.M.A.D.S., an Arab/African-American hip-hop duo. In 2010, he released his first solo album, “SyrianamericanA” a potent mix of noir-soaked ’90s rap sounds laced with Islamic poetry and antiquated clips from Western documentaries on Syria.That Offendum has gained fans during the Arab Spring is no coincidence. Profoundly interested in social justice, Offendum feels he must use his music to create awareness. His songs, which are often political, resonate with Arab youths, many of whom have embraced one of America’s most popular forms of protest music: hip-hop. #Jan25, a song dedicated to the protestors who filled Tahrir Square in Cairo during the uprisings quickly went viral. Of the current Syrian conflict Offendum says, “A year and a half after [the protests], it’s a bloodbath…But at the same time, it’s an amazing time to be Syrian — people are saying things that you haven’t heard there in 50 years.”

Omar Offendum has been featured on several major news outlets and toured globally, helped raise thousands of dollars for various humanitarian relief organizations, and lectured at a number of prestigious academic institutions, including Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Columbia, American University of Beirut, and  NYU-Abu Dhabi. Sponsored by the Cultural Attractions Fund & the President’s Circle.Watch Omar Offendum’s recent videos here

February 4 – 8, 2013

“What’s So Funny ? Humor, Faith, and Politics.”

Highlighting the vital role the arts play within the liberal arts, the annual Cornerstone Arts Week focuses on a theme, posed as a question, that is examined through exhibitions, performances, films, lectures, and special events. Cornerstone Arts Week 2013 explores the ways in which the arts create bridges between cultures, belief systems, and yes – even political parties.

Colliding Currents?

Exploring the Boundaries of Humor, Faith and Politics

Wednesday, February 6, 7 pm

Richard F. Celeste Theater

Edith Kinney Gaylord Cornerstone Arts Center

825 N. Cascade Avenue, Colorado Springs, CO 80903

Admission:

General Public: $10

CC ID: $5

Tickets available at Worner Center, 902 N. Cascade Avenue beginning January 28

Cornerstone Arts Week Keynote presenter Maz Jobrani is best known as a founding member of the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour, which featured some of the top Middle Eastern-American comics in the world. The Axis of Evil Comedy Central Special premiered in 2007 as the first show on American TV with an all Middle Eastern/American cast. The DVD was also released in 2007. The tour started in the US and later went to the Middle East in the fall of 2007, selling out 27 shows in Dubai, Beirut, Cairo, Kuwait and Amman (where they performed in front of the King and Queen of Jordan.) Maz followed up his Axis of Evil Tour with his own solo international tour titled “Maz Jobrani; Brown and Friendly.” Maz was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he caught the acting bug after portraying the lead in his eighth grade production of “Li’l Abner.” He studied theater throughout high school, and then went on to earn a BA in Political Science and Italian at UC Berkeley. In the fall of 1994, while beginning a Ph.D. program in Political Science at UCLA, he visited the university’s prestigious theater program – and was immediately hooked back on acting. This led to him dropping out of the Ph.D. program to pursue his childhood passion. Maz has done standup on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” “Lopez Tonight,” “The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn,“ Comedy Central’s “Premium Blend,” and England’s Paramount 2 Network. He is also a recurring panelist on NPR’s “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me,” and has his own podcast with 2 other comedians called “Minivan Men.” His sketch comedy performances at the ACME Theater in Los Angeles were hailed as “devilishly funny” and “extraordinary” by LA Weekly.