Campus Stories - campus life

A decidedly Stanford take on Leonard Bernstein
Campus Stories

A decidedly Stanford take on Leonard Bernstein

The Department of Music and the student-run troupe Stanford Savoyards are combining forces to present a LEONARD BERNSTEIN double feature in Dinkelspiel Auditorium: the satiric operetta Candide and the opera Trouble in Tahiti. Bernstein’s Candide, drawing inspiration from Voltaire’s novella that blends comedy, tragedy and farce, has been transposed to the Farm, using projections of images drawn from the…

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Artist Rick Lowe walking in front of row houses
Leadership

Artist Rick Lowe is Stanford Haas Center’s 2016 Distinguished Visitor

Artist and MacArthur Foundation grant recipient Rick Lowe will visit Stanford over winter quarter as this year’s Mimi and Peter E. Haas Distinguished Visitor. On Feb. 4, Lowe will deliver the Haas Center for Public Service’s Distinguished Visitor Lecture, titled “Redefining Art in the Social Context.” During his time on campus he will also lead seminars…

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Cantor Arts Center spotlights Richard Diebenkorn’s sketchbooks
Leadership

Cantor Arts Center spotlights Richard Diebenkorn’s sketchbooks

For the very first time, the complete sketchbooks of the great American artist Richard Diebenkorn are available to view. The Cantor Arts Center recently launched a new website that gives access to the museum’s collection of 29 sketchbooks by Richard Diebenkorn (1922–1993), a renowned artist celebrated as both a central figure in the Bay Area…

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Casual photo of Werner Herzog
Campus Stories

Film director Werner Herzog visits Stanford to talk about literary classic on peregrine falcons

J.A. Baker wrote The Peregrine at a precarious moment in environmental history: By the 1960s, the falcons had almost vanished entirely from the English countryside, thanks to aggressive use of pesticides. Baker’s response, an ecstatic panegyric to peregrines, stunned critics with its originality, power and beauty. The little-known 1967 masterpiece will be the subject of…

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Head photo of Adam Johnson.
Campus Stories

Adam Johnson wins National Book Award

Adam Johnson, a professor of English at Stanford and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, has received the 2015 National Book Award for fiction for his short story collection, “Fortune Smiles.” Winners of the award, which recognizes the best American literature, were announced on Wednesday at the 66th National Book Awards Benefit in New York City. The award,…

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Three people seating on stage in conversation.
Campus Stories

Filmmaker Mira Nair shares the art of portraying the complexities of South Asia

“Nothing prepared me for the extraordinary hospitality, but also the ancient and deeply modern culture that I was in front of,” MIRA NAIR recalled thinking during her first trip to Lahore, Pakistan. “And that is what led me to make a film about Pakistan.” Nair, a renowned Indian filmmaker, was speaking at a film screening…

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Front of a modern library in a desert town.
Leadership

Stanford photography instructor’s work in national spotlight

ROBERT DAWSON, instructor of photography in the Department of Art & Art History, spent 21 years photographing public libraries across the United States. Now, his photos will get a national spotlight. The Library of Congress recently announced the acquisition of Dawson’s entire archive from the project “Public Library: An American Commons.” The archive, acquired through…

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Two people sitting on stage in conversation.
Campus Stories

Anna Deavere Smith talks about the healing power of stories

On Oct. 28, hundreds gathered at Memorial Auditorium for a night of storytelling and conversation with former Stanford faculty member Anna Deavere Smith, an award-winning pioneer in the field of documentary theater. Smith is best known for her one-woman, multi-character performances, which depict people reflecting on moments of intense catastrophe. Her plays range in dramatic…

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[wpbb-if post:acf type="image" name="image" size="thumbnail" display="alt"]Color photo of woman
Campus Stories

“Comma And…”

Last winter quarter, Stanford undergraduate students in any discipline or major were invited to submit new work for the Department of Art & Art History’s second annual undergraduate juried art exhibition titled Comma And… . After much discussion and deliberation, a jury whittled down the selections and made their final recommendations of 27 works from 20 students….

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Side view of Anderson Collection building as seen from the Cantor Arts Center
Campus Stories

Stanford’s Anderson Collection building wins prestigious architecture award

The Anderson Collection at Stanford University has won a 2015 Award of Excellence, the highest level of honor, from the American Institute of Architects, New York State (AIANY). Designed by RICHARD OLCOTT/Ennead Architects, the building housing the collection is located in the heart of Stanford’s arts district. The Anderson Collection at Stanford University celebrates its first anniversary…

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Group of choral singers
Campus Stories

Recording produced at Bing Concert Hall makes first step toward Grammy nomination

The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences announced that the recording of Joseph Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass (Nelsonmesse) and Symphony No. 102 performed by the St. Lawrence String Quartet, Stanford Chamber Strings and Stanford Chamber Chorale in Bing Concert Hall has qualified for the first-round ballot in four Grammy categories: Best Choral Performance, Best Chamber Music/Small…

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Atrium of art and art history building at Stanford
Campus Stories

New home of the Stanford Department of Art & Art History is an adventure

“Wow” is an apt way to describe the student and community response to the new home of the Department of Art & Art History in Stanford’s arts district. The McMurtry Building was completed over the summer, opening for instruction and art-making on the first day of the fall term. Since then, students have explored 100,000…

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Art history building on the Stanford Campus
Campus Stories

Stanford’s newest building spotlights art and art history

On Oct. 6, Stanford Board of Trustees Chair Steven Denning formally accepted the McMurtry Building for theDepartment of Art & Art History. It is the first new building to open this academic year. The building dedication was one of several celebratory events on Tuesday.   The McMurtry Building at Stanford University, the new home of the Department…

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Iwan Baan
Campus Stories

Welcome back!

The big news this year is the opening of the McMurtry Building for the Department of Art & Art History! This incredible new home for all the department’s programs marks the third new facility in our arts district following Bing Concert Hall (2013) and the Anderson Collection at Stanford University (2014). The first exhibition in…

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Obituary: John Henry Merryman
Campus Stories

Obituary: John Henry Merryman

It’s often said that the faculty makes a school. In the case of John Henry Merryman, one individual’s influence on Stanford went well beyond the classroom and the launch of a new field of law to the very art on the walls and sculptures on the grounds. An internationally renowned expert on art and cultural…

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From Stanford’s Braun Music Hall to the Big Apple
Campus Stories

From Stanford’s Braun Music Hall to the Big Apple

“Surreal and wonderful” is how Stanford alumnus LOUIS LAGALANTE described presenting the opening number from his original musical Mirror Image at the New York Musical Theater Festival this summer. Mirror Image, with music and lyrics by Lagalante, premiered at Stanford in March 2015 as Lagalante’s senior capstone project in music composition. The story follows three…

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