Writer Lucy Lippard is Next Guest at USU Visiting Artist Program

Writer Lucy Lippard will be a guest on the Utah State University campus as part of the Department of Art Visiting Artist Program Oct. 29-30. Lippard’s public lecture, “Weather Report: Art and Climate Change,” is Monday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m. in the Performance Hall (approximately 1090 E. 675 North, Logan). A question and discussion opportunity follows the lecture.

In addition to the evening public lecture, Lippard will meet with students, faculty and members of the community Tuesday morning (Oct. 30) for a seminar/discussion session. This activity takes place in the department of art Tippetts Gallery balcony (approximately 1200 E. 700 North) in the Chase Fine Arts Center at 9 a.m.

 

All events are free and open to the public.

 

Lippard is an internationally known author, curator, art critic, theorist and activist from Galisteo, N.M. She has published 20 books, including The Lure of the Local: Sense of Place in a Multicentered Society and On the Beaten Track: Tourism, Art and Place. Lippard has recently been working on a book about the Galisteo Basin, southwest of Santa Fe, dealing with community, water and the future of the region. She has written art criticism for Art in America, The Village Voice, In These Times and Z Magazine.

 

“The art historians, critics, philosophers and writers selected for the Visiting Artist Program explore the relationships between contemporary arts and philosophy, religion, literature, science, history, cultural anthropology or aesthetics,” said program director Marilyn Krannich. “By offering the perspective of an art writer, a great deal is added to the breadth of the program. The format allows these guests to talk about their current writings and the seminars allow for discussion about the lecture and other work.”

 

Lippard was born in New York City and lived in New Orleans and Charlottesville, Va. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Smith College then worked with the American Friends Service Committee in a Mexican village. Later, she completed a master’s degree in art history from the The Institute of Fine Arts at New York University.

 

“I would venture to say that places have profoundly influenced my life, probably more than people have,” she said.

 

Lippard has published books on feminism, art, politics and place and has received numerous awards from literary critics and art associations. She is the recipient of a 1968 Guggenheim Fellowship, the Frank Mather Award for Criticism from the College Art Association, and two National Endowment for the Arts grants in criticism.

 

“The art world never turned me on much,” she said. “But I liked writing about art because of the challenge; it’s almost impossible to put the visual into words.”

 

The Visiting Artist Program organizes and presents visits by nationally known artists, art critics, writers and art historians. Lectures, workshops, seminars, group discussions and possible exhibitions by the artists’ work are free and open to the public.

 

“These presentations and discussions offer a unique opportunity for the northern Utah audience to interact with artists and scholars with diverse backgrounds and ways of working,” said Marilyn Krannich, program director.

 

Other guests in this year’s program include painter Hung Liu from Mills College in California Nov. 5, sculptor James Surls Feb. 4, printmaker Karen Kunc Feb. 19 and potter Mark Hewitt March 24. These guests have been selected for their national and international reputations, the ways in which their art reflects diversity with respect to the media used, and their varied backgrounds, Krannich said.

 

The Visiting Artist Program is funded by a grant from the Marie Eccles Caine Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the Utah Humanities Council, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Utah Arts Council, with funding from the State of Utah, and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.

 

For more information about the Visiting Artist Program at USU, contact program director Marilyn Krannich, 435-797-7373.

 

 

 

Contact: Marilyn Krannich (435) 797-7373, Marilyn.krannich@usu.edu
Source: Art Department