Posted on Sep 27, 2002

Joseph Telushkin, spiritual leader of the Synagogue of the
Performing Arts in Los Angeles,  and named
by Talk Magazine as one of the 50 best speakers in the United States,
will be the featured speaker for Union College Hillel on Sunday, Oct. 13, at 1
p.m. in the Reamer Campus Center Auditorium.

The subject of his presentation will be Jewish
Humor:  What the Best Jewish Jokes Say About the Jews.  This
event is free and open to the public. For more information, call Margo
Strosberg at 388-6539.

 Rabbi Telushkin will
also speak Temple Israel
in Albany on Sunday, Oct. 13, at 7 p.m. The topic for the evening lecture will
be:  9 Lies About Israel: 
A Defense of the World's Most Maligned Nation.  There will be a $10 general
admission charge.

Telushkin was ordained at Yeshiva
University in New
York and pursued graduate studies in Jewish history
at Columbia University. 
He lectures throughout the U.S.
and also serves as an associate of CLAL, the National Jewish Center for
Learning and Leadership.

He has written many books including Jewish Literacy:  The Most Important Things to Know About
the Jewish Religion, Its People and Its History, the most widely selling
book on Judaism of the past two decades, and Biblical Literacy:  The Most Important People, Events and Ideas of
the Hebrew Bible, chosen as a selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club. His
book, Words That Hurt, Words That Heal,inspired Senators Joseph Lieberman and
Connie Mack to establish a “National Speak No Evil Day” throughout the United
States.  His 1997 novel An Eye for an Eye became the basis for
four episodes of David Kelley's Emmy Award-winning ABC TV series The
Practice, and he has co-written three additional episodes of the
program.  With David Brandes, he wrote and was the associate producer of
the 1991 film, The Quarrel.  His newest book, The Golden Land:  The Story of the Jewish Migrations to America,
is scheduled to be published this September.
   The talk, arranged through the B'nai Brith Lecture Bureau, is
being underwritten by the Union College Jewish Chaplaincy Fund, the Union
College Lamont Preachers Fund, and private donors.

Posted on Sep 27, 2002

Schenectady
artist Arlene Baker will show works from her “Silk Spaces” series – “an
exploration of the aesthetics of the sublime on an intimate scale” — in an
exhibit that inaugurates the Humanities Gallery this fall at Union
College.

The show runs October 8 through
November 22. The opening reception is Thursday, Oct. 10, from 4 to 6 p.m.
The exhibit is free and open to the public.

Baker's “Silk Spaces” series
evolved a dozen years ago from earlier work in which she had explored the
interplay of colors, textures, horizons and space, first in large-scale canvas
hangings, and later in small-scale gouache-on-paper paintings.

“In this series, I restrict myself
to a uniform format — 8 inches x 20 inches unframed, 14 inches x 26 inches
framed — limiting my materials to paint, pins, paper, foam core board and
silk,” she said. “By painting with gouache, paper, pins, and transparent
overlays I create subtle interplays of color and texture that evolve into
intriguing spaces and horizons.  In my
more recent paintings I focus on the contrast between the metallic glint of the
pins and the soft texture of the veils, emphasizing the ambiguity of surfaces.
I think of these veiled paintings as explorations of the aesthetics of the
sublime on an intimate scale.”

Baker, born and raised in New
York City, studied art at the City College of New
York.  She continued her studies at the University
of Minnesota and at the University
of Iowa, where she earned her MA
and MFA degrees.  She completed her
post-graduate education at various London
art schools and later became a member of an artists' collective known as the
Barbican Arts Group.

She has taught and been an
artist-in-residence at colleges and universities in Britain
and the United States,
including Union, where she was artist in residence in
1979. She has exhibited in the Midwest (including the
Detroit Institute of Art and the University
of Iowa), London,
New York City and Upstate New York
(including the Schenectady Museum).  She returns to London
frequently to work with the Barbican Arts Group.

The Humanities gallery is on the
second floor of the south end of the Humanities
Building, opposite the entrance of
Memorial Chapel. Gallery hours are weekdays 2
to 5 p.m. For more information, call
388-8045.

Posted on Sep 27, 2002

The Master Dancers of Bali, featuring eight of the Indonesian island's most celebrated dancers and musicians, will perform on Tuesday, Oct. 8, at 8 p.m. in Union College's Yulman Theater.

Cost
is $5, free to members of the Union community. For more information, call the
box office at 388-6545.

The
troupe will be on campus for two days, doing a number of lectures and
demonstrations on Monday, Oct. 7, and Tuesday, Oct. 8, which are free and open
to the public. (A complete listing of workshops appears below.)

Under
the direction of Mr. I Gusti Raka
Pinji Tisna, the Master
Dancers of Bali capture the magic of
their island with a program of five traditional dances and selected Balinese
operas, all with gloriously colorful costumes and live traditional Balinese
music.

Master
Dancers of Bali is an eight-performer
troupe of some of the island's most accomplished and highly regarded dance
masters, who will perform together for the first time outside of Bali. The performers range
in age from 30 to 80, and span three generations within the same family. Ms. Ni
Ketut Cenik, 80, is the
most experienced traditional Balinese dancer performing. She has been awarded the highest honors in the performing arts by the
local Balinese government as well as by the Ministry of Culture of Indonesia.

“(In
the West) we require our dancers to retire when they can no longer do the
technical feats of their youth,” said Gail George, who is organizing the
group's visit at Union. “In Bali, as elsewhere in the
East, they not only value, but revere, their older master performers. Ms. Ni Ketut Cenik is a wonder to
behold.”

For a listing of workshops and discussions, see the on-line press release.

The
program is supported by the Henry Luce Foundation, Unitas,
East Asian Studies, Performing Arts Department, Minerva Committee, Dean of
Students Office, and the Anthropology Department at Union College.

Posted on Sep 27, 2002

Through Oct. 13
Mandeville Gallery, Nott Memorial
“Unionania! Union College Souvenirs and Memorabilia,” an exhibition of Union College souvenirs from the 19th
and 20th centuries, from postcards to dance cards, from plates and eggcups to
hats and pins. For information, call ext.6004 or visit: www.union.edu/gallery

Through Oct. 6
Arts Atrium Gallery, Arts Building
Sculpture by Anthony Cafritz
Exhibit features three sculptures by Cafritz: “Frozen Spit,” “So Long to Hong
Kong,” and “Mother.” For information, call ext. 2232.

Upcoming:
Oct. 8 through Nov. 22
Humanities Gallery
“Silk Spaces,” a series of works by Schenectady
artist Arlene Baker, which the artist calls “an exploration of the aesthetics
of the sublime on an intimate scale.” Opening reception is Thursday, Oct. 10,
from 4 to 6 p.m.

Oct. 14 through Dec. 8
Arts Atrium Gallery, Arts Building
“Impressions from Nature's Notebook,” works by painter Stephen Tyson.

Oct. 20 through Dec. 22
Mandeville Gallery, Nott Memorial
“Reaching for the Stars – The Story of
the Dudley Observatory,” an exhibit with lectures, a film series and
nights observing the skies.

Posted on Sep 27, 2002

Schenectady
artist Arlene Baker will show works from her “Silk Spaces” series – “an
exploration of the aesthetics of the sublime on an intimate scale” — in an
exhibit that inaugurates the Humanities Gallery this fall at Union
College.

The show runs October 8 through
November 22. The opening reception is Thursday, Oct. 10, from 4 to 6 p.m.
The exhibit is free and open to the public.

Baker's “Silk Spaces” series
evolved a dozen years ago from earlier work in which she had explored the
interplay of colors, textures, horizons and space, first in large-scale canvas
hangings, and later in small-scale gouache-on-paper paintings.

For more information, call
388-8045.