-
Happy Birthday, Anne Lamott!
“Can we skip the introduction?” is how writer Anne Lamott begins her conversation at the 2024 Writer’s Symposium by the Sea. “We’ve already lost a lot of time. We’re losing more second by second.” Time might have been on her mind, given that she turned 70 just days before her fourth appearance at the Writer’s […]
-
My Reality is Different: Understanding Nalini Malani’s Visionary Art
In the realm of contemporary art, few names resonate as profoundly as Nalini Malani, the 2023 Kyoto Prize Laureate in Arts and Philosophy. As a pioneer among India’s first generation of video artists, Malani has continuously broken barriers with her dynamic use of various mediums, including theater videos, mixed media installations, and notably, her digital […]
-
Jake Blount: Exploring the Power of Music, Afrofuturism, and Social Change
In a recent presentation that beautifully blended art, history, and activism, musician and scholar Jake Blount unveiled music’s profound capacity to envision a brighter future. With narrative and insight, Blount shared his creative process, underscoring the interplay between tradition and innovation, the transformative power of Afrofuturism, and the art of reimagining music for contemporary issues. […]
-
Walking on Poetry
Kahnop is a Kumeyaay word meaning to tell a story. That’s exactly what the Stuart Collection at UC San Diego’s newest public art installation does. The 800-foot-long basalt stone pathway serves as a threshold from the new Blue Line trolley station to the campus. The sea of words beneath your feet is composed of 1,300 […]
-
Look Around – Art is Everywhere!
The diverse cultural landscape that is the San Diego region – located on the U.S.-Mexico border and the Pacific Rim – offers residents and visitors alike a rich tapestry of language, history, food, and tradition unlike any place in the world. This richness is also apparent in a diverse art scene that spans large cultural […]
-
Indian Classical Music with Zakir Hussain, 2022 Kyoto Prize Winner
Grammy award-winning tabla musician Zakir Hussain is the 2022 Kyoto Prize Laureate in Arts and Philosophy. Dr. Hussain has opened new possibilities beyond the framework of traditional Indian music in collaboration with artists of other diverse genres worldwide. His performance innovations include a unique method of creating melodies on the tabla, originally regarded as a […]
-
Artist William Wegman: Of Canine Muses and Scenic Overlooks
In the early 1970s a young Los Angeles-based artist named William Wegman brought home the first of what would be many Weimaraners and named him Man Ray, after the Surrealist artist and filmmaker who was one of his formative influences. Wegman considered his dog a companion, but Man Ray aspired to be more. Wegman, an […]
-
A Fascination with Trees
When Terry Allen left Lubbock, Texas to pursue his youthful ambitions it’s doubtful he could have foreseen his status nearly six decades later as a legendary painter, conceptual artist, composer, and musician. Terry’s work is unusually diverse but certain themes are common: the mysteries of love, surviving loss, and the consequences of violence are just […]
-
Pivotal Events
In the early hours of April 20, 1989, 28-year-old jogger Trisha Meili was assaulted and left for dead in Central Park. The ensuing media frenzy instigated a public outcry for swift justice. Within days of the attack five African-American teenagers implicated themselves, after hours of psychological pressure and aggressive interrogation. The teens were tried as […]
-
The Dr. Seuss You Never Knew
The 2019 edition of UC San Diego Geisel Library’s “Dinner in the Library” series celebrates new acquisitions from the estate of Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel, most of which have never before been exhibited publicly. The Library’s Special Collections already houses over 20,000 items related to Geisel, including sketches, paintings, cartoons, letters, and manuscripts, and these […]