Internationally Renowned Multi-Media Artists Hill, Quasha Discuss 'Singular Times' at Washington College

Chestertown, MD — The Washington College Department of Art presents "Singular Times and Other Liminal Realities," a lecture and panel discussion by intramedia artist Gary Hill and artist/poet George Quasha, at Litrenta Lecture Hall on Thursday, November 8, at 7:30 p.m. The presentation was organized by Washington College Assistant Professor of Art and intermedia artist Monika Weiss.

Gary Hill's seminal and internationally celebrated work in various media -- especially video and installation art (with a broad orientation including cybernetics, electronics, sound, language and image) -- has been exhibited at major museums around the world, including solo exhibitions at the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, Paris; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; the Guggenheim Museum SoHo, New York; the Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Basel; the Museu d'Art Contemporani, Barcelona; and the Kunstmuseum, Wolfsburg, among many other distinguished venues.

Hill has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Rockefeller and Guggenheim Foundations, and has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors, most notably the Leone d'Oro Prize for Sculpture at the Venice Biennale in 1995, a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Grant in 1998, and the Kurt Schwitters Award in 2000.

George Quasha is an artist and poet who works across mediums to explore principles in common within language, sculpture, drawing, video, sound, installation and performance.

Quasha's axial stones and axial drawings have been exhibited at the Baumgartner Gallery in Chelsea, New York, the Sought Foundation in Philadelphia, the Cotuit Center for the Arts in Cape Cod, the ZONE Chelsea Center for the Arts in Chelsea, and recently in a solo exhibition at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz. They are featured in the recently published book Axial Stones: An Art of Precarious Balance (North Atlantic Books: Berkeley, 2006). Last year, Quasha received a Guggenheim Fellowship in film and video.

Quasha also is known for his video-installation work, "Speaking Portraits (in the performative indicative)," in which he has recorded nearly 600 artists, poets and composers in 10 countries and 20 languages describing their views on art. This work has been exhibited at White Box in Chelsea, at the Snite Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame, at the Samuel Dorsky Museum, and in several other countries (France, Poland, Switzerland and India). It was recently featured in five public installations as part of the 2007 Kingston, New York, Sculpture Biennial.

Quasha's numerous written works include books of poetry, anthologies and writings on art. He has a new book on his fellow Washington College co-lecturer Gary Hill forthcoming from Ediciones Poligrafa (Barcelona).

Hill and Quasha have enjoyed a 25-year performance collaboration (video/language/sound) that continues to this day and also often includes frequent collaborator Charles Stein.

Litrenta Lecture Hall is located in the John S. Toll Science Center. Admission to "Singular Times and Other Liminal Realities" is free and open to the public.

October 27, 2007

Crime, Comedy Combine as Lonergan's 'Lobby Hero' Staged at Washington College

Chestertown, MD — The Washington College Department of Drama will present Kenneth Lonergan's "Lobby Hero" in Norman James Theatre on Friday and Saturday, November 2 and 3, at 8 p.m.

A senior thesis directed by Liz Flair, "Lobby Hero" is the story of young, hapless security guard Jeff (played by sophomore Travis Brown) and his growing ties to a murder investigation. The comedy has Jeff's supervisor William (played by senior Ben Kozlowski) testifying against his problematic brother, while an attractive new rookie cop (played by sophomore Annabelle Shore) is put on the stand against her seasoned partner Bill (played by Ben Majors).

Jeff's big mouth manages to mire him deeper in the investigation until all four characters are brought together realizing how connected they really are. Truth quickly becomes elusive with personal and social responsibilities being placed into question. Loyalties are strained and the cost of justice is unsure as the audience is left to wonder what will happen next.

Admission to "Lobby Hero" is free, but seating is limited and reservations are required; call 410/778-7835 or e-mail drama_tickets@washcoll.edu.

October 26, 2007

Rose O'Neill Literary House Launches New Series of Community Meetings

Chestertown, MD — Washington College's Rose O'Neill Literary House will hold its first-ever open community meeting on Sunday, October 28, at 6 p.m. All are invited to participate in the cultivation of an active atmosphere of networking, event planning, conversation—and above all, a love for language, stories and the creative life.

While many student, faculty and community groups use the Rose O'Neill Literary House, they rarely have an opportunity to interact. Nor is there any advisory group that shapes policies and programs at the House. The open meetings, which will be held monthly, will help instill a greater sense of interrelatedness among the various users of the facility.

"Anyone with an interest in overseeing, imagining and inhabiting the House is welcome" to Sunday's meeting, said Joshua Wolf Shenk, Director of the Rose O'Neill Literary House. "The House itself is a gathering place and resource for anyone interested in creative life and especially those interested in the writing arts."

Writers on campus have a range of interests—from fiction and poetry to editing, journalism, screenwriting and publishing. The community meetings will bring these creative talents together to imagine and oversee the programs of the Rose O'Neill Literary House and to share writing and reading-related resources and opportunities.

Agenda items for the first meeting include the Literary House refurbishment, spring programs, ground rules for booking events, and more.

The contents of each meeting will be shaped largely by participants. "Come to one meeting, come to every meeting," said Shenk. "We want your input on programs, the House and your ideas for the future."

Pizza and soft drinks will be served at the inaugural meeting.

October 25, 2007

Cold War History from the Soviet Side: 'Failed Empire' Author Zubok Visits Washington College

Chestertown, MD — Washington College's Conrad Wingate Memorial Lecture Series presents "The Soviet Union: America's Worst Enemy?"—a talk by Vladislav Zubok, Associate Professor of History at Temple University, in the Litrenta Lecture Hall on Tuesday, November 6, at 5:30 p.m. A booksigning will follow.

Dr. Zubok is the author of the newly published A Failed Empire: The Soviet Union in the Cold War From Stalin to Gorbachev; he also is co-author of Anti-Americanism in Russia: From Stalin to Putin and the prize-winning Inside the Kremlin's Cold War: From Stalin to Khrushchev.

O.A. Wested, author of The Global Cold War, hailed Dr. Zubok's new book as "an excellent overview of Soviet foreign policy and a forceful explanation of why Communism collapsed, centering on Gorbachev's mistakes and misjudgments."

The first work in English to cover the entire Cold War from the Soviet side, A Failed Empireprovides a history different from those written by the Western victors.

Dr. Zubok argues that Western interpretations of the Cold War have erred by exaggerating either the Kremlin's pragmatism or its aggressiveness. Explaining the interests, aspirations, illusions, fears and misperceptions of the Kremlin leaders and Soviet elites, Dr. Zubok offers a Soviet perspective on the greatest standoff of the 20th century.

Using recently declassified Politburo records, ciphered telegrams, diaries, taped conversations and other sources, Dr. Zubok explores the origins of the superpowers' confrontation under Stalin, Khrushchev's contradictory and counterproductive attempts to ease tensions, the surprising story of Brezhnev's passion for détente, and Gorbachev's destruction of the Soviet superpower as the by-product of his hasty steps to end the Cold War and to reform the Soviet Union.

In reviewing A Failed Empire, the History Book Club enthused, "Zubok has taken on a huge challenge in attempting to narrate the entire evolution of the Cold War from the perspective of the apex of power in Moscow. He succeeds admirably. ... This is a book that can be read by the specialist and generalist alike. ... The book should reignite serious discussion about the causes of the disintegration of the Soviet Union, which is the subject of his interesting conclusion."

The Conrad M. Wingate Memorial Lecture in History is held in honor of the late Conrad Meade Wingate '23, brother of late Washington College Visitor Emeritus Phillip J. Wingate '33 and the late Carolyn Wingate Todd. He was principal of Henderson (MD) High School at the time of his death from cerebrospinal meningitis at age 27. At Washington College, he was president of the Dramatic Association, president of the Adelphia Literary Society and vice president of the Student Council in 1922-23.

Litrenta Lecture Hall is located in the John S. Toll Science Center. Admission to "The Soviet Union: America's Worst Enemy?" is free and open to the public.

October 24, 2007

Senatorial Colloquy Continues at Washington College with Sens. Bayh, Bumpers

Chestertown, MD — The Senatorial Colloquy on American History and Politics, led by former Senator Birch Bayh (D-Ind., 1963-81) and hosted by Washington College's C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, continues with a public conversation between Senator Bayh and Senator Dale Bumpers (D-Ark., 1975-99) at Washington College's Hynson Lounge, Hodson Hall, on Monday, November 5, at 5 p.m.

Senator Bayh is a senior fellow of the C.V. Starr Center. Throughout a career spanning more than half a century, he won renown as a tireless and effective champion of civil rights and education, and as a highly respected authority on the U.S. Constitution. The only person since the 18th century to write more than one successful amendment to the Constitution, he has been called "a latter-day Founding Father," as well as a master of the art of congressional leadership, often across party lines.

Senator Bumpers represented Arkansas from 1975 until 1999, and has been acclaimed as one of the Senate's most eloquent orators in recent times. Less than three weeks after he retired from the Senate, he was called back to deliver the closing argument in defense of his friend President Bill Clinton, in only the second presidential impeachment trial in the history of the country. "Mr. Bumpers summoned forth the dignity of an earlier form of public discussion, the kind prized by the Founding Fathers," wrote one commentator in the New York Times.

The 2007 Senatorial Colloquy will continue with Senator Bayh and Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) in Hynson Lounge on Monday, November 12, at 5 p.m.

Founded in 1782 under the personal patronage of George Washington, Washington College has hosted numerous national leaders throughout its long history—beginning with the institution's namesake himself, who attended the 1784 Commencement.

Later visitors included Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and George H.W. Bush. The College's alumni have included several members of the U.S. Senate.

The 2007 Senatorial Colloquy is part of Washington College's celebration of its 225th anniversary year, and it draws inspiration from the institution's founders, who believed that the future of American democracy depended on education, civil discourse, and an informed understanding of history.

Admission to the Colloquy sessions is free and open to the public; admission will be on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information on attending, please call the C.V. Starr Center at

410/810-7161. For more background on the Senatorial Colloquy and the participating Senators, please visit the Center's website at http://starrcenter.washcoll.edu.

October 24, 2007

Guitar Virtuoso Alex de Grassi to Perform at Washington College

Chestertown, MD — The Washington College Concert Series continues its 2007-2008 season with a performance by Grammy-nominated guitarist Alex de Grassi at the Norman James Theatre on Saturday, October 27, at 8 p.m.

Often cited as one of the world's top finger-style steel-string guitarists, Alex de Grassi brings a unique voice to the art of acoustic guitar with his evocative compositions and arrangements, a richly layered sound and sheer virtuosity. The Wall Street Journal has called his playing "flawless" and Billboard hails his "intricate finger-picking technique with an uncanny gift for melodic invention."

De Grassi's trademark is an ability to create a highly orchestrated sound in his solo guitar music. His playing weaves together melody, counter-melody, bass, harmony, rhythm and cross-rhythms, creating a canvas of sound unheard of in a solo guitar performance.

His career has drawn acclaim for numerous recordings released by Windham Hill, RCA Novus, Tropo Records, 33rd Street and other labels, as well as for his live performances as a soloist and within ensemble settings. He has toured extensively on the concert circuit, performing in Europe, Japan and throughout North America, including such venues as Carnegie Hall, the Interlochen Festival, the Montreux Jazz Festival and the Belfast International Festival.

De Grassi was the subject for a PBS concert/television show, "Alex de Grassi: The Artist's Profile."

Now in its 56th season, the Washington College Concert Series will continue with performances by the flute/piano due "2" on February 2, 2008; the Cambodian Classics Ensemble on March 2, 2008; and harpist Elizabeth Hainen on April 26, 2008. Single tickets can be purchased at the door, $15 for adults and $5 for youth and students. Season tickets are available. For more ticket information and a 2007-2008 season brochure, call 410/778-7839.

October 19, 2007

Beauty in the Wood: Von Voss Presents 'Tree-Talk'

Chestertown, MD — Vicco von Voss '91 returns to Washington College to present "Tree-Talk: The Scientific and Spiritual Understanding of Trees" at Litrenta Lecture Hall on Thursday, October 18, at 7:30 p.m.

"Tree Talk" is being presented as part of the McLain Lecture Series in Environmental Studies.

Vicco von Voss was a double major at Washington College, completing majors in both art and chemistry. He has used his combined scientific and artistic abilities well. After graduation from Washington College he apprenticed with cabinetmaker Heinrich Meyerfeldt in Hamburg, Germany. Von Voss is the recipient of several awards, among them being a Niche Award finalist, an honorary Top Graduate award in Germany, and the Lynette Nielson Award acknowledging excellence in Art from Washington College.

He also is the author of several articles in regional publications; most recently, he penned a main feature in the October 2007 issue of Chesapeake Life magazine.

Von Voss said he believes that a tree is an "ever-changing and organic being," and he uses this concept in creating masterpieces of functional furniture that "serve to celebrate the beauty of the wood and also give the tree a second life."

Litrenta Lecture Hall is in the John S. Toll Science Center. Admission to "Tree-Talk" is free and open to the public.

October 16, 2007