From Around the O
As summer winds down, arts events at the University of Oregon are warming up.
Kicking off Latinx Heritage Month on Sept. 5 is Fiesta Cultural, Lane County’s largest annual celebration of Latinx arts and culture. Enjoy live music, dance performances, food trucks, kid’s activities and more in downtown Eugene on Sept. 5.
Be sure to also drop by the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art and take in the Latinx-focused art exhibition “Resistance as Power: A Curatorial Response to ‘Under the Feet of Jesus,’” opening Sept. 7.
Cinema
All new and returning Ducks are invited to get acquainted with the student orientation staff Sept. 29 at the Global Scholars Hall for an as-yet-to-be-determined Movie on the Lawn event.
Art exhibitions
On view beginning Sept. 7 at the Museum of Natural and Cultural History is “Blake Little: Photographs from the Gay Rodeo,” a photography exhibit on the North America’s gay rodeo circuit between 1988 and 1992. Combining portraiture and rodeo action, the exhibit includes 41 black-and white photographs chronicling this LGBTQIA tradition while also exploring complex themes of identity and community in the West. While you’re there, be sure to check out all the resplendent exhibits and fun activities the museum has to offer.
“Resistance as Power: A Curatorial Response to ‘Under the Feet of Jesus,’” opening Sept. 7, is the museum’s fourth “Common Seeing” exhibition in conjunction with the UO’s 2019-20 Common Reading of “Under the Feet of Jesus,” a 1995 novel by Helena Maria Viramontes. The exhibition includes two special loans from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, including “Farm Workers’ Altar” by Emanuel Martinez and “Braceros” by Domingo Ulloa, which complement the themes in Viramontes’ novel and contemporary works.
Don’t miss “Art Heals: Reflections and Connections,” a special exhibition at at the art museum that features artwork made in the Alzheimer’s arts access program in collaboration with the Alzheimer’s Association Oregon and Southwest Washington chapter. The Reflections and Connections program offers free workshops to individuals living with early stages of Alzheimer’s disease and their care partners. Participants tour the museum galleries for inspiration and spend an hour in the museum’s studios creating their own art.
Artist Mohamed Murshed’s portraits of current UO students and alumni artists with their artwork is on display in the Adell McMillan Gallery in the Erb Memorial Union until Sept. 20, when Murshed, along with several of the artists depicted in his work, will return for a closing reception.
On exhibit at the Aperture Gallery in the EMU is “Border Lands 2019: A Sketchbook Journey” by Oregon artist Betty LaDuke. The sketches frame the experience of migrants, asylum seekers, individuals and families on both sides of the Arizona and Mexico borders who are desperately seeking the dream of safety and opportunity in the U.S. The exhibition continues through Sept. 11.
Cultural events
Mark your calendars for more Latinx Heritage Month-related events taking place at the art museum this fall, including Madre’s Club, a community art club for Spanish-speaking mothers and their children who want to express their creativity and improve their art skills; a visit from Mexican photographer Fernando Soto Vidal, who will discuss his photographs of ofrendas colgantes — “Day of the Dead: Hanging Altars of Coatetelco and Other Expressions from Morelos” — from indigenous communities in Morelos, México, on Oct. 30; and a variety of activities surrounding the Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead celebrationin November.
—By Sharleen Nelson, University Communications