Interdisciplinary Approach
Students draw parallels between civil rights movement in the 1960s and today in “Hairspray”
Ram's Head Theatrical Society explores racial integration against the backdrop of an inventive LED set.Stanford’s oldest and largest theatrical organization, the Ram’s Head Theatrical Society, explores civil rights and today’s world in its upcoming Hairspray production. Hairspray will take the spotlight in Memorial Auditorium for five performances: April 10–11 and 16–18. The theatrical society sets the scene for the production: Tracy Turnblad is a high school student in 1962…
Read More Poet, musician, scientist
Rob Jackson turns to music and poetry when he needs a mental recharge from his main research focus, which is the study of how humans are affecting the Earth.Rob Jackson occasionally picks up the guitar that sits in the corner of his office and strums it to help organize his thoughts. It also helps him get through particularly long teleconferences. “There can be 25 people on a telecon and you might speak once in an hour. So occasionally I put my phone on…
Read MoreCantor Arts Center presents solo exhibition of Jacob Lawrence’s work, “Promised Land”
Stanford students are the first scholars to study and present some of the works that have never been on public display.One of the largest collections of works by American artist Jacob Lawrence (1917–2000) in any museum belongs to the Cantor Arts Center, and it goes on view for the first time April 1. Lawrence is an acclaimed figurative painter of the 20th century and a leading voice in the artistic portrayal of the African American…
Read MoreStanford performance reimagines Doug Engelbart’s historic computer demonstration in a new multimedia work
The Demo, which will be performed at Bing Concert Hall in April, examines the life and work of tech visionary Douglas Engelbart. Several free events in March and April will complement the performance.Stanford Live’s world premiere of The Demo on April 1 and 2 at Bing Concert Hall reflects on a pivotal moment in Silicon Valley’s history with one of its most influential figures. Douglas Engelbart’s egalitarian vision for how technology could expand human intelligence set the world on its head and, ultimately, led to many of…
Read MoreHoning the art of observation, and observing art
A new medical school course brings students to the Cantor Arts Center and Anderson Collection to practice close observation of art, and then learn how to translate those skills to a clinical setting.The scene: A group of medical students huddled around the iconic Robert Frank photograph, Car Accident — U.S. 66, Between Winslow and Flagstaff, Arizona, at Stanford’s Cantor Center for the Visual Arts. Sarah Naftalis, who’s studying for a PhD in art history at Stanford, led the students through an exercise: She asked them what they…
Read MoreArchitect David Adjaye tells Stanford audience how he designs civic spaces to create community
Speaking at the annual Presidential Lecture in the Arts and Humanities, David Adjaye, the designer of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, described how he sees civic buildings as fulcrums of emotion and memory that engage with the people who use them.Architect David Adjaye is international both in his heritage and in his career. Between his childhood and his working life he has spent considerable time in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the United States. He has built houses for Kofi Annan and, pro bono, for displaced residents of New Orleans’ Ninth Ward; he also…
Read MoreHappy 2015!
Welcome to the new year!We are looking forward to everything 2015 will bring in the arts at Stanford – new exhibitions at the Cantor Arts Center, Stanford Live performances at Bing Concert Hall and beyond, engagement with the Anderson Collection at Stanford University – and of course the enormous variety of performances, events, exhibitions and programs put on by…
Read MoreStanford and Warner make music – leaders
A new collaboration between Stanford and the music industry will cultivate the next generation of leaders in the music world.
Innovation and entrepreneurial thinking are key factors that make the music business a shapeshifting industry. They are also part of the learning ethos at Stanford – and will drive the Stanford/Warner Music Group Leadership Initiative. The goal of this initiative is to identify and develop a new generation of undergraduate Stanford students from across various…
Read MoreNovember State of the Arts – Imagining the Universe
The universe has always been a platform for life’s big questions. Who are we? Where did we come from? It’s a way to explore and deepen our understanding of the universe while we learn about ourselves.“Imagining the Universe” is a collaborative campus-wide program bringing together a broad array of partners on campus and in the Bay Area.* The cosmos has long inspired our imaginations – fueling research, reflection, and creative response. There’s a lot to be learned from this vast topic. That’s why the series will host exhibitions, performances, public…
Read MoreWelcome Back!
The new school year has started – and started with a bang!On Sept. 21 the Anderson Collection at Stanford University officially opened its doors, following a week of celebratory events. Over 3,000 visitors enjoyed this amazing new campus resource during the opening weekend. And then the next day classes started – and Professor Pamela Lee’s Abstract Expressionism seminar held its first session in the Anderson Collection…
Read MoreTime Out
This is a busy time of year. There’s too much to be done in the few remaining weeks of the quarter, and everyone feels a bit rushed. So this month we’re highlighting some recent initiatives that encourage us to take time out—to engage in a focused way with the arts, and to use that experience to reconnect, refresh, and invigorate.The third annual Frost Music and Arts Festival took place on Saturday, May 17. On stage, campus-based mash-up Paper Void joined psychedelic pop band Yeasayer as opening acts for the indie group Dispatch. The festival took place in mid-quarter 2014—right in the middle of exams and papers. But the experience was an afternoon out of…
Read MoreStanford Dance Division breaks new ground with ‘Construction Site’
Guides calling themselves the "construction crew" lead a traveling audience to site-specific dances built around five campus locations.Wear sturdy shoes, bring a flashlight, prepare to step lively, bikes and skateboards optional. Not the usual set of instructions for attending a dance production, but the arts at Stanford aren’t always predictable. In a year that saw choreographer Jérôme Bel enlist untrained members of the Stanford community to perform in The Show Must Go…
Read MoreStanford inaugurates new academic arts program in Washington, D.C.
During winter quarter, the Bing Stanford in Washington Program offered its first quarter dedicated to the arts, with a new course, Art and the First Amendment: Testing the Freedom of Expression, taught by art history Professor Richard Meyer, and full-time internships in arts organizations.After meeting Kale Futterman, an arts practice major at Stanford, the chief curator of the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., entrusted her with an important task – writing short art history essays, known as “wall text,” to mount next to some of the gallery’s paintings. Futterman created wall text for artists ranging from…
Read MoreRodin’s hand sculptures diagnosed as part of exhibit
Eight of the 10 Rodin hand sculptures on display in a new exhibit have been diagnosed for malformations and diseases by a School of Medicine hand surgeon.One of the sculptures has been “repaired” using virtual surgery by the techies in the school’s Division of Clinical Anatomy. And with the help of more digital wizardry, viewers can see virtual blood and bone in the bronze hands. Inside Rodin’s Hands: Art, Technology and Surgery, which runs April 9 through Aug. 3 at Stanford’s…
Read MoreStanford lecturer and artist leads ‘drawing orchestra’ through assembly of frustrated icosahedron to strains of Vivaldi
Physics faculty members and graduate students use tetrahedra to create a less-than-perfect structure that explores the connection between shape and sound.Before the full Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra takes the stage tonight at Bing Concert Hall to perform Antonio Vivaldi’s oratorio Juditha triumphans, four of its members will participate in something completely different. Stanford design lecturer and artist Pamela Davis Kivelson will lead her Drawing Orchestra, accompanied by the PBO foursome, in a choreographed construction performance titled…
Read MoreImmersion
For a group of Stanford students last week, spring break meant plunging into the arts—in New York City.Eighteen lucky students went to museums, galleries and performances. They danced with members of the Mark Morris Dance Group, met with art experts at Christie’s, attended a rehearsal of the New York Philharmonic—and much, much more. Throughout the week, students gathered their thoughts and impressions about the trip on tumblr. The students were participating in…
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