Posted on Jan 30, 2004

Actor and playwright Mark Cryer will present his show, “99,”
on Friday, Feb. 13, at 7 p.m. in Yulman Theater.

Cryer's work (fully titled “99 Questions You've Always
Wanted to Ask an African American But Were Too Afraid for Fear They'd Break
Their Foot Off in Your A**”) explores the stereotypes that some hold about
African Americans and seeks to eliminate the line between insult and ignorance.

Cryer created the play in response to a racial incident at Hamilton College, where he is a professor, by asking
students, “What is the one question you've always wanted to ask an African
American but were too afraid to ask?”

“The campus was in an uproar so I asked them, 'How long is
our anger?,'” Cryer said after the incident. “So, as soon as I got enough
questions, I thought let's not just stand around complaining but be pro-active,”
he said.

“On any given day we all will ask or answer a hundred
questions or more,” Cryer writes about his play. “Rarely are they about race,
the 'great American secret.'  [This] play
is intended to be the beginning of a conversation, of a dialogue four hundred
years in the making. It is a dialogue that requires courage on all sides of the
race question, the courage to not only ask a question, but also the courage to
answer the questions: who are you, how should I interact with you, what are
your hopes and dreams?”

The show, sponsored by the College's Theater Department, is being staged as part of Black History Month.

Admission is free, but tickets must be picked up at the
Yulman box office before the show. The box office will be open from 3 to 5 p.m. starting Monday, Feb. 9.

For more about Mark Cryer and “99” visit his Web site at http://www.markcryersactthree.com/index.html

Posted on Jan 30, 2004

A
selection of Old Master paintings from the private collection of Seena and
Arnold Davis is on exhibit through March 14 in the Mandeville
Gallery at the Nott Memorial.

The
exhibit is a rich, visually dazzling example of high medieval art that resounds
with passion and color.

Some
45 years ago, the Davises began collecting paintings for their home. In time,
they narrowed their focus to 16th-century European Old Masters and
earlier. Currently, their collection numbers approximately 250 paintings and
drawings.

The
Davis collection also represents a rich repository of art
history, academic research, and good old-fashioned detective work. The Davises spent countless hours tracing the “provenance,
origins and attributions” of each new acquisition. They plumbed the knowledge
of art historians and museum curators here and abroad and in that process,
built an impressive library of their own.

This
particular selection of works provides a unique view of the role and attitude
toward women in Renaissance and Baroque Europe (c. 1400 to 1700). A number of
small-scale works, intended for domestic display, portray the duality of woman
as virgin/seductress. This theme fairly dominates the religious art of the
time, especially with innumerable images of the Virgin Mary.

These
works also portrayed cautionary tales or morality guides of what vices to avoid
and what virtues to emulate. The symbolism is conveyed in images (white lilies,
red roses, etc.) and colors so even the illiterate could comprehend the
message. Such artwork was also designed to encourage prayer and meditation in
the home.

Conversely,
the female nude was associated with eroticism and created almost exclusively
for an elite audience of educated men, many in the upper ranks of the church
hierarchy. However, depiction of Christ's nudity symbolized his human
vulnerability.

For
more on the show, visit: http://www.union.edu/Gallery/Current.htm

Posted on Jan 30, 2004

The College is showing recent woodcuts by
Mexican printmaker Humberto Valdez through Feb. 9 in the Arts Atrium Gallery.

Born in 1971, the Mexico
City printmaker, studied at the Visual
Arts School
in the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the main university in Mexico.
He graduated with special honors and won a scholarship to study for one year in
Spain at the Valencia
University in the School
of Visual Arts. 

Humberto has shown his work in several
one-person shows throughout Mexico and also
exhibited his work in many group shows throughout Mexico and Europe.

Recently Valdez has been
focusing on making paintings as well as relief prints, concentrating in
linoleum. Because he prefers to work in large format he uses a press to print
his work but on occasion he hand prints his pieces.

One of his biggest strengths is his skill
in drawing. For a while he taught
drawing in the School of Visual Arts but now he is
working on his own, painting and printing.

Posted on Jan 30, 2004

Frank Wicks, professor
of mechanical engineering, authored recent articles in Mechanical Engineering on the anniversary of two notable
achievements in technology. His article, “Trial by Flier,” which chronicles the
history of human flight, was the lead article in a December special supplement
to the magazine. (Wicks was a guest at the celebration of 100 years of flight
in Kitty Hawk, N.C.,
on Dec. 17, an event attended by President George W. Bush.) Wicks also wrote “Nuclear
Navy” in the January issue of the magazine about the 50th
anniversary of the launch of the Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine.

Posted on Jan 30, 2004

Donald
Rodbell,
professor of geology, has received a grant of $20,000 from the National
Geographic Society's Committee for Research and Exploration in support of his
project, “Snowline Elevations of Ice Age Paleoglaciers
in the Cordillera Huayhuash, Peru.”