Events

  • Join us for an Artist Talk with Phil Irish Jan. 30

    Artist Phil Irish


    The Department of Visual Arts is pleased to welcome Phil Irish to the MIWSFPA for an artist talk on Jan. 30.

    Irish, from Elora, Ontario, makes paintings that are both fierce and beautiful. He is known for cutting paintings into fragments, and installing those pieces to make architecturally scaled collages that engage your senses and your mind.  His new work is influenced by his time on an icebreaker in the Canadian arctic, with Canada C3, a 150-day expedition from Toronto to Victoria via the Northwest Passage that took place from June 1 to Oct. 28, 2017.

    He has shown in commercial galleries, artist-run centres, and public galleries, including the National Gallery of Canada, Art Gallery of Guelph, Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery, Whyte Museum, Lonsdale Gallery and Angell Gallery, and was twice shortlisted for the Kingston Portrait Prize.

    He holds degrees from Guelph (BA) and York (MFA) and teaches studio at Redeemer University College.

    Irish will present at 1 p.m. on Jan. 30 in room 416 of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.

    The talk is free and open to the public.

    Registration is not required, but space is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis.

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    Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Department/Centre News, Events, News

  • Brock faculty and staff to shine during next Music@Noon concert

    Percussionist Devon Fornelli will perform during the next RBC Foundation Music@Noon concert on Jan. 29 at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.


    (From The Brock News, January 25, 2019 | By: Jaquelyn Bezaire)

    A group of Brock’s own faculty and staff will bring their musical talents to the stage next week in the next instalment of the RBC Foundation Music@Noon recital series.

    Percussionist Devon Fornelli, pianist John Sherwood and guitarist Max Holten-Andersen will come together to perform on Tuesday, Jan. 29 at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines.

    Pianist John Sherwood will perform Jan. 29 during the next RBC Foundation Music@Noon concert.

    Fornelli is a percussion instructor at Brock University and has extensive experience as a soloist, orchestral percussionist and chamber instrumentalist. He has performed with the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the UBC Wind Ensemble among many others. His range of talent spans orchestral percussion, contemporary art music and drum set traditions from the big band era to the present.

    Sherwood began his career with a strong foundation in classical music and is now known as one of the top jazz pianists in Canada. He performs regularly with Peter Appleyard and has also worked with a range of other talented musicians including Moe Koffman, Guido Basso, Rob McConnell, Ed Bickert, Jake Hanna, Kenny Wheeler and Butch Miles.

    Holten-Andersen was born and raised in Argentina and is heavily influenced by South American harmonies, rhythms and techniques. He actively teaches guitar at his home studio as well as sound design and music programming at Brock, where he is also the Visual Arts Department’s Media Resource Co-ordinator.

    Thanks to the generous donation of the RBC Foundation, the three will join together on stage as part of the Music@Noon Recital Series, which takes place most Tuesdays at noon in the Recital Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.

    For more information on upcoming performances, visit the Music Department’s website.

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    Categories: Events, Faculty & Instructors, News

  • King Ubu tickets on sale now!

    Tickets for our spring mainstage presentation of King Ubu, presented by the Department of Dramatic Arts, are on sale now!

    The show runs from March 1 to 9 at the Marilyn I. Walker Theatre.


    King Ubu

    Written by Alfred Jarry
    Translated by David Edney
    Directed by David Fancy
    Set and lighting by James McCoy
    Costumes by Jo Pacinda

    Alfred Jarry wrote King Ubu in the 1890’s in large part to poke fun at the idiocy, capriciousness and vanity of political and personal power. it is almost like its author could see into the future and predict the very political climate we are living in today.

    The character of King Ubu is a complete fool who talks about poop, loves himself a lot and kills everybody around him whenever he feels like it. He is a patriarch, a racist and a megalomaniac.

    His wife, Ma Ubu, is very much like Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth and pushes King Ubu to increasing feats of violence and narcissism. When they are not bickering or having food-fights, Ma Ubu demands King Ubu kill off their adversaries and take over the world. They spend the show chasing their enemies all over a fairy-tale-like Poland before sailing off into a sunset.

    In short: the Ubus are the ultimate reality TV show gone wrong.

    Read more about the performance.

    PERFORMANCES:
    Friday, March 1, 2019 @ 7:30 PM
    Saturday, March 2, 2019 @ 7:30 PM
    Sunday, March 3, 2019 @ 2:00 PM
    Friday, March 8, 2019 @ 11:30 AM
    Friday, March 8, 2019 @ 7:30 PM
    Saturday, March 9, 2019 @ 7:30 PM

    Tickets:
    $18 Adult
    $15 Student/Senior
    $12 Group (10+) each
    $5 EYEGO Highschool Student (with Valid ID upon ticket Pick-Up)

    General Admission seating.

    Performance location:
    The Marilyn I. Walker Theatre
    Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts – downtown campus – Brock University
    15 Artists’ Common, St. Catharines, ON

    Tickets for all performances are available online through the Box Office of the First Ontario Performing Arts Centre. by email at boxoffice@firstontariopac.ca, or in person in downtown St. Catharines at 250 St. Paul Street, St. Catharines, ON, L2R 3M2.

    Open Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Holiday and summer hours may vary).


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    Categories: Alumni, Announcements, Current Students, Department/Centre News, Events, Faculty & Instructors, News

  • Brock Encore! Series continues with hit show

    TorQ Percussion Quartet will perform as part of Brock’s Encore! Series on Friday, Jan. 25 at 7:30 p.m. in Partridge Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre. (Photo by Bo Huang)


    (From The Brock News, January 22, 2019  | By: Jaquelyn Bezaire)

    It’s going to be hard to resist the beat at Brock’s latest Encore! Series performance.

    With more than 70 instruments used in their lively show, the TorQ Percussion Quartet plans to get feet tapping and the crowd moving on Friday, Jan. 25 at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines.

    Held in Partridge Hall beginning at 7:30 p.m., the concert is the second performance of the Department of Music’s Encore! Professional Concert Series.

    TorQ is a four-piece Toronto-based ensemble that utilizes everything from marimbas and vibraphones to tom-toms, cowbells and even tin cans and garbage cans in their energetic performances.

    Music Department Chair Matthew Royal is looking forward to the unique performance and invites Brock faculty, staff and students, as well as members of the community, to attend.

    “The Music Department is delighted to welcome the accomplished percussion quartet, TorQ, back to Brock,” said Royal. “The concert promises to be entertaining, informative and chock-full of inspired musicianship.”

    Formed in 2004, TorQ features the talent of Richard Burrows, Adam Campbell, Jamie Drake and Dan Morphy. The ensemble has developed a dedicated following and has worked to make percussion music accessible to audiences of all ages.

    The group has performed across Canada and internationally, including shows at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention in San Antonio and Indianapolis, and the International Percussion Quartet Festival in Luxembourg.

    TorQ will perform a wide variety of pieces during Friday’s concert, including some composed by members of the Quartet themselves. Guests will also hear works by Canadian composers Dinuk Wijeratne and Ken Shorely.

    Tickets to the TorQ Percussion Quartet performance on Jan. 25 are available through theFirstOntario PAC website.

    For more information on upcoming performances, please visit the Department of Music’s website.

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  • Public to take (CRIT)ICAL look at student artwork during one-night exhibition

    Brock Visual Arts student Zach White decides how to display his work in the student lounge on the third floor of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts as part of the upcoming exhibition, (CRIT)ICAL, taking place Wednesday, Jan. 16 from 4 to 10 p.m.


    (From The Brock News, Monday, January 14, 2019 | By: Jaquelyn Bezaire)

    Brock Visual Arts instructor Donna Akrey always tells her students that art is made to be seen, felt and heard.

    The idea that the process of creation begs for interaction and response is what inspired an upcoming exhibition at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA).

    Students from the 3M90 Advanced Art Practise course have been hard at work researching and creating their individual pieces for a one-night interactive exhibition, titled (CRIT)ICAL, on Wednesday, Jan. 16 from 4 to 10 p.m.

    Comprised of paintings, drawings, sound and video, the showcase is a collection of self-directed work from third- and fourth-year students. The pieces will be on display throughout the MIWSFPA building for guests to explore.

    “I think people can expect a lot of dramatic pieces of art,” said Visual Arts student Zach White. “There are a lot of people in this class who are trying to step out of their own areas of creation into new spaces that are outside of mainstream fine arts.”

    As part of the exhibition, students are opening up their studio doors and calling on the public to react, question and critique. Surveys will be handed out to viewers in order to give an anonymous written response to the artists.

    “The feedback from the visiting public will allow the students to hear unfiltered responses from others that will allow them to perhaps hear an alternate take on their work, strengthen their proposals and be able to work on any shortcomings the work may have,” said Akrey.

    This show is being treated as a work in progress for many of the artists who are hoping to use the feedback they receive to further improve their work.

    “I’ve been in a rut with my art, so the critiques will definitely help. I’m hoping to get some inspiration and a bit of a push to help me create more,” said Visual Arts student Renz Baluyot, whose work will be displayed in the second-floor hallway.

    (CRIT)ICAL is a mid-year event that will lead students towards a final show at the MIWSFPA in April.

    For more information about upcoming exhibitions, visit the Department of Visual Arts website.

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  • Student to share journey from life-changing concussion to finding strength in art

    Brock Kinesiology student Chance Mutuku will lead students in an interactive keynote lecture about the connections between the arts, sports and mental wellness on Wednesday, Jan. 16 in the theatre at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.


    (From The Brock News, Friday, January 11, 2019 | By: Sarah Ackles)

    Chance Mutuku was well on his way to achieving a successful career as a wrestler.

    Within five years of the loss of his father and a life-changing move to Canada from the tumultuous and violent Democratic Republic of the Congo, he had earned himself a coveted spot on the Canadian Junior National Wrestling Team and a scholarship to wrestle at Brock.

    Then, a severe concussion he suffered during a training camp two years ago halted his athletic career and forced him to reevaluate everything.

    “At the time, I didn’t clue in to how life-changing that moment was going to be,” he recalled. “It was supposed to take a few days to get back into training, but the days turned to weeks, weeks to months and now, here we are two years later — and I am still in recovery.”

    Not one to shy away from adversity, Mutuku shifted gears, instead connecting his passion for the arts with his entrepreneurial spirit to engage in new projects that both aided in his recovery and set him on a new course.

    At an upcoming lecture at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA) on Wednesday, Jan. 16, he will share his inspiring story of perseverance and explore ways of bringing people from all disciplines together to promote mental wellness, enact positive change and find professional success.

    This marks the second event in the newly launched MIWSFPA Wellness Series, which offers monthly events that promote creative ways to help ease stress and promote mental well-being.

    Visual Arts Associate Professors Amy Friend and Derek Knight will also add to the discussion, and Dramatic Arts Chair Joe Norris will lead students in an interactive exercise about the ups and downs of student life.

    BioLinc and local community partners will also share career and volunteer opportunities in the arts and the health and wellness sector, and members of Brock’s Student Wellness and Accessibility Services will be on hand to discuss services they can provide to students.

    The event will conclude with a free lunch from Mahtay Café.

    Mutuku hopes the lecture will inspire students to find creative ways of healing and to think about how to apply their skills and interests in new and innovative ways.

    “I can’t say enough how amazing my experience was learning from all of these people around me, and I encourage everyone to get involved in the arts, because it connects us all and we can all benefit from it,” said Mutuku. “These projects I have been working on show me that there needs to be more collaborations between disciplines and we need to start coming together and learning from each other to bring new and great collaborative ideas to life.”

    The event will take place in the Marilyn I. Walker Theatre, located at 15 Artists’ Common in downtown St. Catharines, on Wednesday, Jan. 16 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

    The event is free, but registration is required at miwsfpa-wellness-series.eventbrite.ca. Brock students must also RSVP through ExperienceBU to receive credit for the Campus-Wide Co-Curriculum. A copy of your ticket and/or Brock card (if applicable) will be required at the door for admittance.

    Students can take the STC Route 316/416 bus from main campus to the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts stop, located near the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.

    There will be event staff stationed on Brock’s main campus and downtown to guide students to the School.

    All students, staff and faculty are welcome.

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    Categories: Current Students, Events, Faculty & Instructors, News

  • Free recital series returns with an international twist

    Pianist Karin Di Bella will perform Tuesday, Jan. 8 as part of the Music@Noon Recital Series at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.


    (From The Brock News, Friday, January 4, 2019 | By: Jaquelyn Bezaire)

    The RBC Foundation Music@Noon Recital Series returns next week with a concert blending Canadian and Maltese influences.

    On Tuesday, Jan. 8, Brock Associate Professor Karin Di Bella will be joined by Maltese-Canadian flautist Rebecca Hall in The Recital Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.

    Hall holds a Doctorate of Music from the University of Malta and has performed with the Malta Philharmonic and the Cosmos Wind Ensemble.

    Hall and Di Bella first connected over their shared interest in Canadian composer Jack Behrens, whom Di Bella has been researching during her sabbatical leave this year.

    Di Bella said that connecting with Hall has been extremely beneficial to her research, given they each approach Behrens’ repertoire from different perspectives.

    “She knows everything that I don’t know,” said Di Bella. “When the two of us get together, it’s really fun to talk about what we know about Jack because we know it from different sides of his output and can learn from each other.”

    Di Bella recently had the opportunity to travel to Malta in October to give a performance with Hall at the University of Malta, featuring highlighted works by both Canadian and Maltese composers. Di Bella also gave a lecture-recital at the university, where she performed her research on Behrens.

    “Meeting in person is so important when you’re doing work like this,” she explained. “Being able to work through ideas together is really valuable because there’s only so much you can do over the phone or email and it also gets the wheels turning about future projects.”

    Di Bella is looking forward to sharing the work of Behrens with a new audience at the upcoming recital.

    “What’s interesting about Jack’s pieces is that even though they’re more modern in style, they’re still really accessible,” explained Di Bella, “He may not be a composer that most people think to go to, to learn repertoire from, but I think his pieces are great and people always like them when they hear them.”

    Di Bella is also looking forward to sharing the stage with her Maltese colleague once more, and encourages everyone to attend.

    The Music@Noon recital series is generously sponsored by the RBC Foundation and takes place most Tuesdays at noon during the academic year in The Recital Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre. This is a free event that is open to the public.

    For more information on upcoming performances, please visit the Brock University Music page.

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  • Brock grad returns to MIWSFPA for first solo exhibition

    Brock alumna Kylie Haveron (BA ’18) is hosting her first solo exhibition, Not Dark Yet, at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA) beginning Wednesday, Jan. 9.


    (From The Brock News, Thursday, January 3, 2019 | By: Sarah Ackles)

    As Martin Luther King Jr. once famously said: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.”

    His message encapsulates the inspiration behind the first solo exhibition of Brock alumna Kylie Haveron (BA ’18), opening at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA) this month.

    Running from Jan. 9 to 26, Not Dark Yet reflects on the dichotomy between lightness and darkness and the struggles we face in our daily lives.

    The exhibition is on at the VISA Gallery and Student Exhibition Space at the MIWSFPA, with an opening reception on Thursday, Jan. 10.

    “I look at how we believe day can bring a purpose, a connection and sense of certainty, while nightfall can bring anxiety as it signals the end of the opportunity for the day and a sense of waiting for the light of the next day to bring us answers,” Haveron explained.

    Haveron’s exhibition consists of a combination of drawings, sculpture and installations that explore the way that physical lightness and darkness can impact the lightness and darkness we experience within ourselves.

    She said the timing of the show is ideal, as the lack of sunlight during the winter months can trigger symptoms of depression in some individuals, often known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

    While many of her pieces are gritty and gloomy, the Brock grad hopes her work will inspire viewers to “let the light into their lives.”

    “Although I look at how extended periods of darkness can make us feel the darkness inside of us, I do have some pieces that give us ways to find the light,” she said. “We must not let the darkness determine our fate and our life, because the light can bring opportunity to have better outcomes.”

    Haveron is also looking forward to returning to her alma mater to showcase her first professional exhibition.

    “Hosting a solo show is a good learning experience and I’m happy I get to do it at Brock, where I have a lot of friends and am part of a supportive community,” she said.

    Not Dark Yet runs from Jan. 9 to 26 in the VISA Art Gallery and Student Exhibition Space at the MIWSFPA. The gallery is open to the public Tuesdays to Saturdays from 1 to 5 p.m.

    An opening reception, also in the gallery, will be held Thursday, Jan. 10, from 5 to 8 p.m.

    This event is free and open to the community.

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  • Lecturer uses theatre to tackle social justice issues

    Director David Psalmon will travel to the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts from Mexico as the next presenter in the Walker Cultural Leader Series on Jan. 10 at 7 p.m.


    (From The Brock News, Wednesday, January 2, 2019 | By: Sarah Ackles)

    A night at the theatre can elicit fits of laughter and bring audiences to tears, but can it also serve as a tool for promoting social and political change?

    In a week of workshops and talks hosted at Brock this month, international director David Psalmon will blur the lines between actor and spectator as he explores unique performance-based problem-solving solutions to social justice issues.

    Born in France, Psalmon currently resides in Mexico where he is the director, producer, editor and founder of the multi-awarded theatre company Teatro sin Paredes (Theatre Without Walls).

    Brock Associate Professor David Fancy said Psalmon’s years of experience teaching and directingperformances around the world will make him a “rich addition to this year’s Walker Cultural Leaders Series at Brock.”

    “Psalmon is a real self-starter who moved from France to Mexico 15 years ago and now runs one of the largest theatre companies in the country,” said Fancy. “He is committed to theatre as a means of vibrant social engagement, and always takes the broadest possible view when undertaking his theatre productions.”

    Psalmon’s Theatre Without Walls project has been utilizing Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressedmethodology since 2001, with the audience and actors working together to perform scenes that tackle a diverse array of social issues such as gender violence, discrimination and racism, and workplace violence. In these workshops, the actors present a problem that needs to be solved and then work collaboratively with the audience to improvise and alter the scene to act out potential scenarios that could address the problem at hand.

    Psalmon will discuss this methodology and his experience working for theatre companies worldwide at a public lecture on Thursday, Jan. 10 at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts. He will also spend two days leading immersive workshops for Brock Dramatic Arts students, where he will explore collaborative theatre-making practices that Fancy said will be extremely beneficial to students honing their craft.

    “Psalmon’s theatre company runs on a collective basis — meaning all members of the company create their theatre productions collaboratively — and allowing our Brock students to see the success of his power-sharing collaborative model will inspire them to create theatre in new ways,” Fancy said.

    The Walker Cultural Leaders Series brings leading artists, performers, practitioners and academics to Brock’s MIWSFPA.

    The sessions, which are generously funded by Marilyn I. Walker, celebrate professional achievement, artistic endeavour and the indelible role of culture in society.

    All of the events are free and open to both students and the broader community. The series offers unique opportunities for the public to experience the work of leading international artists and students to work closely with experts in their fields.

    David Psalmon presents: Towards a Contemporary Political Theatre
    Public lecture, Thursday, Jan. 10 at 7 p.m.
    Marilyn I. Walker Theatre, MIWSFPA

    Workshop for Dramatic Arts students:
    Saturday, Jan. 12 and Sunday, Jan. 13
    11 a.m. to 4 p.m., MIWSFPA

    Learn more about the Walker Cultural Leaders Series on the MIWSFPA Website.

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    Categories: Current Students, Events, News, Walker Cultural Leader Series

  • Community voices expressed through Brock art exhibitions

    Curt Richard, a student in VISA 3M90, surveys the exhibition that he and 52 other students have completed over the course of the semester. Manifestos in a Room is a collaboration between students in French, Visual Arts, and Studies in Art and Culture. It will be on display at Rodman Hall Art Centre until Dec. 30.


    (From The Brock News, Friday, Dec. 7, 2018 | By: Alison Innes)

    Two Brock art exhibitions now on display are working to celebrate and amplify community voices.

    Manifestos in a Room and Sauti za Afrika/African Voices/Voix Africaines were each created to engage with Northern Oracle, an exhibition by Heather Hart currently being featured at Rodman Hall Art Centre.

    Through the exhibition, which includes an indoor rooftop installation, Hart asks visitors what they want to say to the world and advises them to shout it from the rooftop.

    Reflecting on Northern Oracle, 53 students in Visual Arts, Studies in Arts and Culture, and French came together to create their own statements, whether poetic, absurd or political. The expressions — in both English and French — were used to create Manifestos in a Room, on display in Rodman Hall’s Studio Gallery.

    Students worked throughout the fall semester to bring the exhibition, curated by Associate Professor Catherine Parayre and instructor Donna Akrey, to life.

    Jean Ntakirutimana, Chair of the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures, demonstrates the talking drum used to send messages over long distances in Cameroon. With careful training, a person could use the different tones produced by the drum to send messages. The drum is just one of the items on display in Sauti za Afrika/ African Voices/ Voix Africaines, an exhibition celebrating voices of Niagara’s African diaspora community.

    “It really helps to collaborate in one’s art practice,” said Akrey, whose art students were involved in the project.

    “We also did an assembly line production to create some of the work, which was fun and rewarding. I was impressed with how the 3M90 students embraced this project and made sense of it for the viewing public.”

    For the participating French students, the exhibition was a “great opportunity to practice writing constraints for fun,” said Parayre. “Students produced facetious manifestos, writing eloquently on a light-hearted topic. It allowed all of us to put our creative forces together and share a common space.”

    The exhibition includes a visual component as well as a three-minute audio track created by the students.

    Over at Brock’s main campus, the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures (MLLC) is hosting Sauti za Afrika/African Voices/Voix Africaines, an exhibition meant to amplify the voices of the African diaspora in Niagara. Featuring 12 different languages, the exhibition combines modern writing with ancient traditions of communication.

    The display features instruments and figurines used for communication, such as a conch shell, similar to the one used to call for revolution in Haiti, and miniature replicas of Burundi drums used by royalty to communicate with their people.

    Also included is an intricately carved cow horn used to call people to come and hear the chief speak in certain regions of Africa, said Department Chair and Associate Professor Jean Ntakirutimana.

    Ntakirutimana worked with members of Niagara’s African diaspora and Sofifran (Solidarité des femmes et familles immigrantes francophones du Niagara) to collect people’s hopes, dreams and concerns to include in the display. Members have also loaned their personal objects for the exhibition.

    The display is a precursor to an event by the same name coming up in February. Co-hosted by Sofifran, MLLC and Studies in Arts and Culture, the event will be held at Rodman Hall and will also engage with Northern Oracle.

    Sauti za Afrika/African Voices/Voix Africaines is a part of the Museum in the Hallway project, curated by Parayre. Located in the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures (Mackenzie Chown A-block), the project features rotating monthly displays.

    Both African Voices and Manifestos in A Room will be on display until the end of December. Northern Oracle will be at Rodman Hall until March 3.

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    Categories: Current Students, Events, Faculty & Instructors, News