Each semester, Cal State San Marcos offers a wide selection of artistic, cultural and scholarly events through the Arts & Lectures Series. The mission of the series is to promote a diversity of perspectives and to support the university’s instructional goals. The series provides opportunities for students to enhance their in-class experiences, and all events are also open to the general community. Most events, except where noted, are free, but seating is limited. To ensure entrance to an event, attendees are encouraged to arrive early. The campus is located at 333 S. Twin Oaks Valley Road in San Marcos.
More information, including directions to campus, is available at www.csusm.edu/arts_lecture. The public may also call 760/750-4366. Parking is available in campus lots for a fee of $2 to $6.
January
Wednesday, January 25, Arts 111 @ 10 a.m.
Arts and Writing: Careers in the Arts
Debora Selzer, founder and director of the Playwright Project, highlights the wide variety of careers that connect writing with the arts. Topics to be covered range from critiquing a performance to developing a script.
Friday, January 27, Arts 111 @ 7:30 p.m.
Holy Dirt
A one person comedy, performed by Professor Marcos Martinez. The story is situated in Northern New Mexico during the turbulent 1970s. The play portrays a young man’s struggle to honor a life decision based upon his relationship to the land and his community, while struggling with the forces of commercialism and acculturation. Tickets are $5 in advance and $8 at the door and may be purchased at the Arts and Lectures office in Arts 304, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Tuesday, January 31, Clarke Field House 113 @ 5:30 p.m.
Art and Activism
An interdisciplinary panel will share their knowledge about community-based artwork. Community-based art focuses on activism, awareness, and dialogue through art. The panel will be led by Ethan VanThillo, executive director Media Arts Center San Diego, choreographer Pearl Ubungen, and photographer and educator Jerry Burchfield.
February
Monday, February 6, Kellogg Library during open hours
Growth and Change: Photographs by Joyce Campbell
In the latest exhibit as part of the Context: Library Series, art and science intersect in large photo murals of bacteria, fungi and algae. New Zealand artist Joyce Campbell uses methods and materials from biology, chemistry and physics to explore the emergence of complex forms and systems. On display through the end of May, during library hours. More information is available at 750-4378.
Wednesday, February 8, Arts 111 @ 6 p.m.
Matt Andersen in Concert
Matt Andersen began his music career in early 2002 with the New Brunswick band Flat Top, which has achieved substantial success and a loyal following on a regional level. Shortly thereafter, Matt decided to take an alternate path; this is where his solo career began. Matt’s sprawling blues, roots and rock musical hybrid, together with his grand, honey-tinged voice, and enigmatic showmanship has been earning him a fervent grass roots following. Tickets are $5 in advance and $8 at the door and may be purchased at the Arts and Lectures office, Arts 304, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Thursday, February 9, Arts 111 @ 6 p.m.
Black History Month Event: Poetri Where?
Tony Award-winning spoken word poet Poetri has critics all over the globe raving about his enormous humor and unique style of reciting everyday experiences in prose that touches people in an unforgettable way. Poetri was chosen as one of the first poets for the Peabody Award winning HBO series “Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam Presents”. He was then selected to co-write and star in the Broadway critically-acclaimed play based on the HBO series, which garnered him his first Tony Award.
Wednesday, February 15, Academic Hall 102 @ 6:30 p.m.
California Artists and Performers Series
“Tijuana Jews”
Throughout the early twentieth century, thousands of European Jews sailed to Mexico looking for opportunity and escaping increasing persecution at home. “Tijuana Jews” by Isaac Artenstein is a one-hour documentary and a personal exploration of this community that blended Jewish and Mexican cultures and customs in an unlikely place and time. Growing up Jewish in Mexico, director Artenstein found reactions of surprise, even disbelief, from many people north of the border: they had no idea there were Jews in Mexico, and especially in Tijuana. The city’s dark legend continues to fire up the imagination with stories of free-flowing liquor, cheap narcotics, beautiful senoritas and black velvet paintings. “Tijuana Jews” is an authentic and living testimony set against conceptions and misconceptions of this near-mythic border city. 52 min. This event is co-sponsored by the Visual and Performing Arts Department.
Thursday, February 16, Arts 240 @ 2:30 p.m.
Black History Month Event: “On the Discovery of a ‘New’ African Ritual (Language) in Cuba”
A lecture by Armin Schwegler, associate editor of the Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages, co-editor of Revista Internacional de Lingüística Iberoamericana, and professor of Spanish and Portuguese at UC Irvine. Schwegler will discuss the Cuban ritual language of Palo Monte (a religious practice somewhat akin to Santería), which has roots in African culture. The lecture offers slides of Cuba, the practitioners, and a connection to Africa.
Thursday, February 16, Arts 240 @ 4 p.m.
“Lord of another Man’s Purse: America’s Long History of Indebtedness”
A lecture by eminent economist and historian Daniel Vickers, who teaches and studies early American and maritime history at UCSD. He will explain why it is that Americans are such a nation of debtors, why this does not bother us, and why this is a problem.
Monday, February 20, Arts 111 @ 10 a.m.
Arts and Writing: Career in the Arts
Larry Reitzer, writer on many television sit-coms, including the current series “Twins,” highlights the wide variety of careers that connect writing with the arts.
Monday, February 20 through Saturday, February 25, Kellogg Library during open hours
Mobius Text
This presentation at the Kellogg Library is conceived as an extended writing performance. A length of cloth will be threaded through two typewriters and sewed together to form a mobius strip, which is a loop of paper or material with a half twist in it. Artists Alexi Morissey and Tony Allard type two separate but related streams of infinite verse onto the cloth. The text is then copied completely and bound in a book form, which can then be made available to patrons of the library. For more information please visit the projects website at www.csusm.edu/fossilmedia/mobius_project/mobius_project.html.
Thursday, February 23, Arts 111 @ 7 p.m.
Black History Month Event: Bolga Zohdoomah (“Friends of Bolga”)
This performance features contagious high-energy dance and songs from lead singer Akayaa Atule’s village in northern Ghana. The music of Bolga Zohdoomah unites diverse groups of people by way of evoking pure positive human emotion and providing insight to West-African traditional and popular culture.
Monday, February 27, Academic Hall 102 @ 3 p.m.
Intercultural Speakers Series: “Anne Frank: Choices young people made before, during, and after the Holocaust and the choices they make today”
A lecture by Cornelius Suijk, who has been the head of the Anne Frank House and was asked by Otto Frank, Anne’s father, to be the holder parts of her diary that Otto wanted published after his death. Suijk has made it his mission to not only speak to audiences about Anne Frank and her legacy, but to place the Holocaust in today’s framework and society by discussing “moving toward respect.”
Tuesday, February 28, Arts 111 @ 8 p.m.
Eveoke Dance Co.
San Diego-based Eveoke will present an evening of dances including excerpts from two acclaimed works—“Hip-Hop is Everywhere” and “Soul of a Young Girl: Dances of Anne Frank.” The performance will also include a new work created by students enrolled in the university course Choreography Workshop.
March
Sunday, March 5, California Center for the Arts, Escondido, 2 p.m.
Concert by the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra
Eighteen up-and-coming jazz musicians from the Juilliard School tour the U.S. honing their skills in big band jazz. Tickets are $15 and $20 (seniors, $12 and $17) and are available at the arts center ticket office at 340 N. Escondido Blvd. in Escondido. For more information on tickets, call (800) 988-4253 or visit www.artcenter.org.
Thursday, March 9, Arts 240 @ 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Women’s History Month Event: Lunafest
A series of short independent films by women, for women and about women. The festival is a national movement that gives 100 percent of its proceeds to breast cancer research. This year’s films are a selection of the eight best films over the past five years. For more information of the selected films please visit the Lunafest website at www.lunabar.com.
Thursday, March 9, Arts 111 @ 4 p.m.
Musical Performance by Yuval Ron Ensemble
The ensemble performs a variety of Middle Eastern ethnic and religious musical styles, including Arabic, Armenian and Turkish. The ensemble’s musical approach focuses on intercultural connections between diverse Middle Eastern music styles and the way they’ve influence each other over time and place.
Thursday, March 9, Kellogg Library 1111 @ 7:30 p.m.
Visiting Mediamaker’s Series: “The Time We Killed”
In this video by Jennifer Reeves, an agoraphobic writer's affliction is exacerbated by her inner demons, memories of September 11th and the ever looming prospect of war in Iraq. This event is co-sponsored by the Visual and Performing Arts Department.
Friday, March 10, Clarke Field House @ 6 p.m.
Women’s History Month Event: Lunafest
A series of short independent films by women, for women and about women. The festival is a national movement that gives 100 percent of its proceeds to breast cancer research. This year’s films are a selection of the eight best films over the past five years. For more information of the selected films please visit the Lunafest website at www.lunabar.com.
Saturday, March 11, California Center for the Arts, Escondido @ 1 p.m.
Family Concert by the San Diego Chamber Orchestra
The San Diego Chamber Orchestra will perform Rossini’s Overture from the “Barber of Seville” and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, Op. 58. Pianist Chu-Fang Huang will be featured, and commentary will be provided in English and Spanish. Huang began her piano study at the age of seven in her native country of China. In 1998 at the age of 15, she made her U.S. recital debut on the Prodigy Series of the La Jolla Music Society. Huang, now 23, won first prize at the prestigious Cleveland International Piano Competition in August 2005. Her performances at the Cleveland Competition will be featured on a syndicated program about the competition to be broadcast in January 2006. Tickets are $5 and are available at the arts center ticket office at 340 N. Escondido Blvd. in Escondido. For more information on tickets, call (800) 988-4253 or visit www.artcenter.org.
Saturday, March 11, California Center for the Arts, Escondido @ 2 to 4 p.m.
Opening for Shifting Baselines
Cal State San Marcos faculty members Judit Hersko, installation artist, and Victoria Fabry, biological oceanographer, biologist collaborate on this exhibition exploring the effects of ocean acidification due to the absorption of atmospheric CO2 by the oceans. The exhibition borrows its title from a web page that was launched in 2003 by a group of marine biologists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in collaboration with ocean conservationists, underwater cinematographers, and Hollywood filmmakers in an attempt to inform the public about the gradual degradation of the ocean environment. Marine biologists are finding that many calcifying organisms show reduced calcification rates in response to ocean acidification. By the year 2100, some ocean regions are expected to have surface seawater that is corrosive to these organisms — much sooner than previously thought. Although the ecological impacts are uncertain, it is likely that the biodiversity will be adversely affected unless the ocean acidification process is slowed and reversed. This exhibit runs through July 2, 2006.
“Shifting Baselines” will be on exhibit in conjunction with “Through the Looking Glass: New Work by Therman Statom.” Mixing viewer interactive site-specific installations composed of bridges, towers, and mazes with the collection of painterly large scale plans for these works, Statom's exhibition will also feature the end result of the Center's first artist residency since 2002. Working with students at San Pasqual Academy, Statom will guide students through the creation of a unique sculptural element to be included in this exhibition.
Faculty, staff and students are welcome to attend the opening for free; light refreshments will be served. General admission is $3 to $5. The museum is open Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sundays, noon to 4 p.m. More information about both exhibits is available at www.artcenter.org.
Monday, March 13, Arts 111 @ 2:30 p.m.
Intercultural Speakers Series: Langston Hughes’s Ask your Mama: Twelve Moods for Jazz., Featuring the McCurdy/Wright Consort
This multimedia concert is Langston Hughes's homage in verse and music to the struggle for artistic and social freedom at home and abroad at the beginning of the 1960s. It is a twelve-part epic poem which Hughes scored with musical cues drawn from blues and Dixieland, gospel songs, boogie woogie, bebop and progressive jazz, Latin “cha cha” and Afro-Cuban mambo music, German lieder, Jewish liturgy, West Indian calypso, and African drumming—a creative masterwork left unperformed at his death.
Tuesday, March 14, Arts 240 @ 6 p.m.
Women’s History Month Event: Mediamaker’s Series
“Period: The End of Menstruation?”
This film by Giovanni Chesler addresses a trend in birth control that allows females to stop their periods for months and years at a time. Utilizing methods of direct cinema, cinema verite, and poetic construction, Chesler highlights health practitioners, cultural critics, and a variety of women from around the country who fall on different sides of the menstrual suppression debate. Co-sponsored by Women’s Studies and the Visual and Performing Arts Department.
Friday and Saturday, March 17, 18, 24, and 25, Arts 111 @ 8 p.m.
“The Dining Room,” By A.R. Gurney:
A. R. Gurney’s play, “The Dining Room,” takes place in the dining room of a typical household. The actors change roles, personalities, and ages throughout the play, and the scenes coalesce into a story of compassionate humor and abundant humanity. Tickets are $5 for students, and $10 for the public. Tickets may be purchased at the Arts and Lectures office in Arts 304, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday, March 20, Arts 111 @ 10 a.m.
Arts and Writing: Career in the Arts
Anne Marie Welsh, theater critic for the San Diego Union Tribune, highlights the wide variety of careers that connect writing with the arts. Topics to be covered range from critiquing a performance to developing a script.
Tuesday, March 21, Academic Hall 102 @ 11:30 a.m.
Women’s History Month Event: "Through Many Eyes: The 21st Century Role of Women in Religion and Society”
A panel of representatives from various faith communities (Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Unitarian-Universalist) will discuss women's contributions and leadership within different religions.
April
Tuesday, April 4, Arts 111 @ 7 p.m.
LowerLeft: The Satellite Project
New works by internationally acclaimed dance and performance makers: Body Cartography Project (video), Lionel Popkin (postmodern dance), Nina Martin (multimedia), and Keith Hennessy (performance).
Wednesday, April 5, Arts 111 @ 6 p.m.
Sarakasi
This authentic African circus is a fusion of cultures from Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia performed with authentic music and costumes. It is a high energy show featuring fast pyramids, limbo, acrobatics, tumbling, contortion, chair balancing, ring jumping and more, all set to African musical beats.
Friday and Saturday, April 28 and 29, Arts 111 @ 7 p.m.
OffCenter
The university’s annual spring dance concert, OffCenter, presents new dance and performance works by students. This year features a range of styles including, postmodern dance, Indian dance, and more.
May
Tuesday, May 2, Arts 111 @ 6 p.m.
Javanese Wayang (Shadow Puppet Play)
Wayang is a theatrical presentation of stories from Hindu mythology performed by a puppeteer behind a backlit screen. The performance includes storytelling, sound effects, and singing and is accompanied by Javanese gamelan orchestra, an elaborated ensemble of gongs and other percussion and string instruments. This performance is co-sponsored by the SDSU World Music Program.
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