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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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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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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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Campus Stories

Visitor Center debuts campus tour showcasing Stanford’s excellence in the humanities and arts

The Stanford campus is widely recognizable for its palm-lined avenues and the warm California tones of its iconic sandstone architecture. If you visit the campus, however, chances are good that you will come across another common Stanford sight: small crowds of people led by students skillfully walking backward and talking. The students are giving campus…

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Campus Stories

Stanford Repertory Theater presents the wide range of Noël Coward

Rush Rehm, theater professor and artistic director of Stanford Repertory Theater, admits to being something of a Noël Coward neophyte before organizing this summer’s SRT festival, Noël Coward: Art, Style, and Decadence. In Rehm’s thorough reading, listening and seeing all things Coward to prepare for the festival, he discovered to his great delight and amazement…

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Yuto Watanabe
Campus Stories

Spark! Grants: A Year in Photos 2014-15

From a rock band record release to Steve Reich, from Much Ado About Nothing to original, student-written musical theater, this year’s Spark! grant supported creative diversity across Stanford campus. These student groups, individuals, undergraduates, and graduates enliven the campus with their artistic endeavors. 2014-2015 Projects: SImps Workshops The Long Way Around The Benevolent Institution Proof…

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Campus Stories

Stanford art and art history faculty, staff making plans for the McMurtry Building

Stanford’s art and art history faculty and staff are spending the summer moving to the arts district. The McMurtry Building, the new home for the Department of Art & Art History, will welcome students the first day of the fall term and be formally dedicated Oct. 6. The Art & Architecture Library opens in early…

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(Photo: Linda A. Cicero / University Communications)
Campus Stories

Congratulations 2014-15 graduates!

Go forward and remember the words of your Baccalaureate speaker and civil rights leader Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. who said that the world was calling out for you to realize your talents – not just for your own gain – but also to lift up those in whose shoes, but for the grace of God,…

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Photoshopped image of one of the Burghers of Calais in Memorial Court holding an iPhone.
Campus Stories

Burghers can’t get cell coverage in Memorial Court

Now we know why Rodin’s Burghers of Calais are really upset. They apparently can’t get a cell signal. That became clear Friday morning to passersby in Memorial Court, where Rodin’s impressive bronze work is on display. But something new had been added: The sculptures were holding white iPhones in their oversized hands. The work honors…

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Campus Stories

Pianos everywhere

Have you played a piano recently? If you are on the Stanford campus, there is no excuse not to be practicing your Chopin or plunking out Chopsticks year-round, because there are more than 200 acoustic pianos on campus and more than half of them are found outside of the classroom, ready to be played. Stanford…

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Campus Stories

Miwok, Stanford’s monumental outdoor sculpture by di Suvero, moves to a new home

Moving art can get complicated very quickly. Frames aren’t always stable, wires fray, pastels and old paint don’t like movement. Sculptural elements become loose or detached, doorways and halls that were adequately high and wide when moving a piece in are inexplicably smaller when moving out. Large-scale outdoor sculpture often takes complicated to a whole…

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