For students and faculty on campus this year, the silence of the carillon bells was noticeable. But now, the familiar ring of the bells—often playing such hits as The Lord of the Rings theme song, one of the most requested carillon songs—has returned.
We spoke with Joey Brink, Rockefeller's Carillonneur, about how COVID19 changed the way he, and the Carillon, were able to practice.
Read MoreAportal in the Regenstein Library. A rabbit hole to a mysterious alternate universe. Messages from the beyond—and the 1980s. This might seem like an alternate plot of Back to the Future, but you won’t find Marty McFly combing the library stacks. All of these elements were part of ECHO, the newest game launched by the University of Chicago’s Fourcast Lab.
Read MoreQuietly, an ancient chorus of cascading forms, conic figures, and gleaming orbs unfolds at the Smart Museum. The shadowy impressions of the natural world tease and vanish; gargantuan ghosts stare silently, knowingly. Vision spills through the galleries like light, stirring landscapes, birthing echoes, chasing epiphanies.
Read MoreFor University of Chicago student Zahra Nasser, this October marks the culmination of months of hard work—and the chance to see it shared not only on campus but around the world.
Read MoreWith the 2020 elections a little more than a week away, UChiVotes is ramping up its efforts to boost voter turnout on the University of Chicago campus by mobilizing students to make a voting plan, and encouraging the campus community to vote early.
Read MoreThis past Spring, when COVID-19 radically shifted the way we move—and yes, dance—through the world, TAPS Lecturer Julia Rhoads was not about to sit still. Through a collaboration with her own dance company, Lucky Plush Productions, and UChicago's Dance Program in TAPS, Virtual Dance Lab was born. During the initial onset of the crisis, Virtual Dance Lab brought free or low cost dance and movement workshops not just to the UChicago students in the TAPS Dance Program, but to the staff, faculty, and greater community, all of whom were adjusting to a life moved abruptly indoors.
Read MorePoet Rita Dove dances through genres. A former US Poet Laureate, Pulitzer Prize winner, and classically trained dancer, she has never let genre dictate her creativity, allowing herself the freedom to create where she pleases.
Read MoreFor Court Theatre executive director Angel Ysaguirre, the magic of the stage exists in the actors’ ability to connect with the audience—to see their smiles and their tears, and to hear their laughter, gasps and applause.
Read More“I'm a potter in the morning, a painter in the noon, I’m a bureaucrat in the night time, and I am a lover when the moon is bright, whoa de whoa de whoa.”
On July 31, interdisciplinary sculptor and DoVA Professor Theaster Gates delivered a performance that marked the conclusion of the Gray Center’s online exhibition, Another Idea, as well as their Gray Sound Sessions series.
Read MoreIn 2015 actor Katlyn Carlson, AB’05, got an email from her agent about an audition for a new musical. The message described high school queen bee Chloe Valentine as “self-absorbed, crass, sexy, manipulative, and hilarious in her disregard for others.” Carlson’s reaction? “Sign me up.”
She didn’t know she was embarking on a project that would make her (as best she knows) the first person from her hometown of Eureka, Missouri, to perform on Broadway.
Read More"Yes. The vaccine is incomplete. I share these books in the hopes that through study and conversation exchange occurs. Germs are swapped. Maybe we need more than one vaccine. Maybe I need your vaccine and you need mine. The thing is resistance. Resistance is the thing.”
-Human_3.0 Reading List Manifesto, Cauleen Smith
Read MoreThe Moon has long been a muse for artists, poets, and lovers. Yet, might we also find the Moon a site for temporary retreat and respite away from the cruelties of Earth? Away from COVID-19? Away from capitalism? Perhaps the Moon’s frozen terrain offers fertile ground for revolutionary ideas to sprout and new ways of being to blossom.
Read MoreAs museums across the world transfer their programming efforts onto virtual platforms, museum “goers” are finding themselves in online viewing rooms, watching video tours, and downloading coloring book pages. Some conceptual art forms do not need to undergo this transformation and are more presciently suited to this moment.
Read MoreMarissa Fenley is a PhD candidate in English and TAPS (Theater and Performance Studies), as well as an ASCI Graduate Fellow. Lee Jasperse, a PhD candidate in English Language and Literature, as well as ASCI’s Graduate Management Fellow, interviewed Marissa on what puppets teach us about intimacy, how play and silliness enter into her scholarly process, and how a lifelong engagement with puppets inspired her dissertation project.
Read MoreEach year, the Department of Creative Writing awards prizes to students for their work throughout the year. Ranging from prose to poetry, from fiction to non-fiction, this years winners span majors throughout the college as well as literary topics. See the full list of awards and winners here on the Department of Creative Writing’s website here.
Read MoreFeatured in the Gray Center’s online conceptual art exhibition, Another Idea, Chelsea A. Flowers’ work offers avenues for dialogue about race, abuse, power, and identity. With a practice encompassing installation, video, and participatory performance, Flowers presents a karaoke video and hosts a trivia night via Zoom as part of Another Idea, using comedy and gameplay to mediate empathy, cultural understanding, and critical conversations about race.
Read MoreInteractive media has proven itself to be one of the most powerful forces in today’s world. A group of artists, designers, and technicians at the University of Chicago is pushing the boundaries of how this new media can be used to build community and shape our interactions.
Read MoreSusan Hiller’s Dream Screens is among several works featured in the Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry’s Another Idea, an actual conceptual art exhibition. Jad Dahshan reflects on the pioneering artist’s virtual exhibition and the visions it creates.
Read MoreFrom soaring orchestra compositions to intimate home movie livestreams, University of Chicago scholars and artists are already exploring the arts in new ways and connecting to the public at a time when many are feeling increasingly isolated.
Read MoreThough the current public health situation has scattered UChicago students around the globe, many RSOs (Registered Student Organizations) have carried on remotely. UChicago has a vast range of artistic student activities and the dedicated members of these organizations have found innovative ways to do what they love despite necessary physical limitations. Dancers, singers, and creatives of all creeds have utilized technology to stay connected with their peers and create collaborative art.
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