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STANFORD ARTS | 2019-2020

In April 2020, Vice President for the Arts Harry Elam delivered his final presentation to the Stanford Faculty Senate before assuming the presidency of Occidental College. He said that the arts had informed his work, his scholarship and life at Stanford and that in his various roles he sought to make the arts “inescapable” for…

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Stanford Department of Art and Art History presents Out of the Dark: Works by Xiaoze Xie

Out of the Dark is an online showcase of Xiaoze Xie’s recent paintings from The Library Series, the video Transience, and Forbidden Memories (Scrutiny and Objects of Evidence), a research-based project focusing on the history of banned books in China. Virtually displayed to scale in multiple spaces in the McMurtry Building, Xie’s recent work employs a variety of mediums, including painting, installation, photography,…

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Stanford’s makerspaces are adapting to the pandemic

Even faced with complete closure due to health and safety guidelines, Stanford’s makerspaces have found innovative ways to continue serving their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In normal circumstances, the many makerspaces of Stanford University offer tools, resources, supplies, workshops and personal assistance to campus creatives producing art, engineering, textiles and science. But the same personal instruction and shared resources that make Stanford’s makerspaces so practical are, unfortunately, also problematic during the coronavirus pandemic. Aparna Sharma, operations manager at the Robin Li and…

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Keeping the Gaieties tradition alive, despite COVID-19

While there may not be a “bearial” of Cal’s mascot Oski at The Claw, or a train whistle blowing in White Plaza every hour for 121 hours before the Big Game this year, there will be three evening performances of Gaieties, plus two matinees.

With the exception of a handful of lost years between 1968 and 1976, Ram’s Head Theatrical Society’s annual Gaieties production – performed before Stanford’s Big Game against Cal – has been a Stanford tradition since 1911. While this year presented unprecedented challenges to the diaspora theater company working primarily with videotelephony, 17 cast members and 29 company…

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Testimony and Grace: Latest Stanford Live film speaks to a pivotal moment in U.S. history

A stellar group of Bay Area artists and collaborators speak to contemporary issues.

In Stanford Live’s latest film, Kronos Quartet: Testimony, filmed in Bing Concert Hall earlier this month, Ethio-American singer-songwriter Meklit Hadero delivers a stunning performance of the contemporary folk song “The President Sang Amazing Grace.” Written by Zoe Mulford, “The President Sang Amazing Grace” is about the killing of nine people at the Emanuel A.M.E. Church in…

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Artists on the Future at Stanford

First conversation features Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Thelma Golden.

Stanford Office of the Vice President for the Arts presents the second season of “Artists on the Future: The Komal Shah and Gaurav Garg Artist Conversation Series.” The first conversation features visual artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Thelma Golden, director and chief curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York. The free webinar takes…

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To instruct, entertain and persuade: political art at the Cantor

Stanford curator explains the history of art and politics in the context of current affairs.

As the 2020 presidential election approaches, artists across the nation – including Deborah Kass, Richard Serra, Stephanie Syjuco, Carrie Mae Weems and others represented in the Cantor Arts Center’s permanent collection – are creating new works to protest, comment on U.S. politics and inspire people to vote. Elizabeth Kathleen Mitchell, the Burton and Deedee McMurtry Curator and…

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Louise Glück, part of Creative Writing Program, wins Nobel Prize

Poets, including Stanford Stegner Fellows who have had the opportunity to work with her, noted Glück’s immense generosity of spirit to other poets.

U.S. poet LOUISE GLÜCK, a visiting professor in Stanford’s Creative Writing Program, has been awarded the Nobel Prize in literature. The Nobel committee noted her “unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal.”U.S. poet Louise Glück, a visiting professor in Stanford’s Creative Writing Program, has been awarded the Nobel Prize in literature. (Image Credit:…

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Stanford-developed software enables musicians isolated by the coronavirus pandemic to jam together again in real-time

A longstanding software program for online music playing has been optimized for slower, home-based internet connections.

Along with many other forms of human interaction, live musical collaboration has been upended by the COVID-19 pandemic. Widespread quarantining and social distancing essentially suspended performances that require precise timing among multiple players – everything from classical symphonies and choir ensembles to jazz quartets and rock bands. And playing together online through teleconferencing platforms such…

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Stanford Live opens the fall season with an original documentary featuring the St. Lawrence String Quartet

The first event is a documentary about rehearsing during quarantine and performing in an empty hall with cameras instead of a live audience.

On Sept. 27, Stanford Live will kick off its season in the usual way: Executive Director Chris Lorway will welcome the audience and then take a seat to enjoy the performance. Except, this year, instead of gathering in Bing Concert Hall, the audience will be in their homes tuning in to a digital event, settling…

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And now, a word from the Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band

The Drum Major of the LSJUMB wakes up to find that he is late to a very important meeting with the Band. Fortunately, the LSJUMB's musicians were able to keep themselves busy at home during quarantine.

One of the many nice things about working on the Stanford main campus is knowing that the Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band (LSJUMB) might show up anytime and anywhere to rock out to the delight of faculty, staff and fellow students. And, chances are, they are all dressed funny. If you’ve been wondering what the Band…

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Visiting Artist Fund in Honor of Roberta Bowman Denning call for proposals: 2020-21 Virtual Visiting Artists

All academic departments and programs at Stanford are invited to submit proposals; proposals that include two or more departments and/or programs working in collaboration are encouraged.

The Office of the Vice President for the Arts invites proposals for the Visiting Artist Fund in Honor of Roberta Bowman Denning, to support virtual visiting artists for the winter, spring, or summer quarters in 2021. All academic departments and programs at Stanford are invited to submit proposals; proposals that include two or more departments…

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Cantor Center curator named to National Gallery of Art fellowship

The Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts (CASVA), an internationally renowned research institution that convenes scholars from around the globe at the National Gallery of Art, announced that Cantor Arts Center Associate Curator of European Art PATRICK CROWLEY will be among its 2020-21 academic year appointments. Crowley, who specializes in classical antiquity, will serve as CASVA’s spring…

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Cantor lights celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment

To commemorate this year’s 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, the Cantor Arts Center was washed aglow in purple and gold, the official colors of the suffrage movement, for the night of Aug. 25. The 19th Amendment granted millions of women the right to vote. The special light show harked back to “Forward into Light,”…

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Stanford Humanities Center 2020-2021 Fellows

Thirty-three fellows are named, including scholars of art history, the classics, comparative literature, dance and music.

The Humanities Center offers residential fellowships for the academic year to Stanford and non-Stanford scholars at different career stages, giving them the opportunity to pursue their work in a supportive intellectual community.

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Stanford professor sees Hagia Sophia as a “time tunnel” linking Ottomans to the Roman Empire

Stanford history professor says conquest narratives don’t fully explain Hagia Sophia’s lasting legacy.

With the conversion last month of the architecturally stunning Hagia Sophia in Istanbul into a working mosque, Turkish President Recep Erdoğan fulfilled a long-held hope of many Turkish Muslims and of his own political party. Built as a cathedral, Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey, has also been a mosque and a museum and is now…

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