Mountain Minorities: Rai and Tamang Cultures of Nepal Exhibit

From October 1 - November 30, 2015, Paradise Valley Community College is hosting the Mountain Minorities: Rai and Tamang Cultures of Nepal. The exhibit is on loan to the college from the East-West Center in Honolulu, HI and PVCC is the first mainland host. The curator of the exhibit is Dr. Michael Schuster.

Reception Details

Dr. Schuster will be visiting the college on Tuesday, November 3rd for two presentations and a reception. We will welcome Dr. Schuster to the college on 3 NOV @ 6:30P with a reception and presentation in the Buxton Library. Dr. Schuster will also be presenting @ 12:30p in the library on that same date.

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Nepal, high in the Himalayas and the birthplace of the Buddha, is a crossroads between India and China. This small landlocked country is home to a great diversity of peoples, languages, flora, and fauna. Nepal has a population of more than 26 million people,made up of over 80 different ethnic communities. Although people often think of the Sherpas guiding trekkers and mountain climbers up to the Everest base camp, there are many lesser known communities living in the lower ranges of the mountains. These are very isolated communities who are often very poor, and have unique ritual practices, clothing,weavings, paintings, and utensils,many of which are on display. This exhibition will focus on two communities: the Tamang and the Rai peoples.

Click here to download the exhibit handout.

Click here to view a gallery of selected exhibit items. 

Fall 2015 Visual Arts Events at PVCC

The PVCC Visual Arts Department is pleased to host the following events, workshops and visiting artists during Fall of 2015. We hope to see you there!

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Friday, September 18th, 6-9pm

CHINESE CERAMIC MASTER ARTISTS EXHIBIT AND RECEPTION

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See exceptional ceramic masterpieces created by Chinese Ceramic Master Artists. Meet the artists and enjoy refreshments, live music and a silent auction to benefit the PVCC Glassblowing Program. 

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Saturday, September 19th, 5-9pm

FIRED UP! HANDS-ON CERAMIC WORKSHOP

PVCC Ceramics Studio (D Building)
 

Choose a handmade ceramic pot, apply raku glaze, and watch your piece transform before your eyes into Art. This event is from 5-9pm in the PVCC Ceramics Studio (D Building) and is $25 per person. Proceeds benefit the PVCC Glassblowing Program. 

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Friday and Saturday, October 30 & 31, 8am-4pm

VISITING ARTIST SERIES: GLASS WORKSHOP WITH ANA THIEL

PVCC Ceramics Studio (D Building)
 

Free for PVCC students, this hands-on workshop introduces participants to techniques for working with hot glass by pouring, casting and combining with other materials. Registration is limited. Reserve a spot by emailing david.bradley@paradisevalley.edu.

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Sunday, November 9th, 3-4pm

VISITING ARTIST SERIES: LECTURE WITH GLASS ARTIST ANA THIEL

Center for Performing Arts Main Stage
 

Ana Thiel is an internationally known artist who uses hot glass combined with other materials to create art. She was educated at Pilchuck Glass School, founded by Dale Chihuly, and has exhibited and taught around the world. She lives in San Miguel De Allende, Mexico. Free to the public, held at the Center for Performing Arts Main Stage.

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For more information Contact David L. Bradley, Visual Arts Faculty
Email: david.bradley@paradisevalley.edu
Phone: (602) 787-6615
Office: M-165

Art + Gender | Collective Art Project & Exhibition

PVCC students Katlynn McNab and Heidi Klotz pose in front of Kande Mickelsen's HERstory blog.

When the chance to organize a collective art project and exhibit on campus to celebrate Women’s History Month presented itself, budding curators Heidi Klotz and Katlynn McNab seized the opportunity.

Psychology faculty Caron Sada discusses the psychology of gender with the group.

Klotz and McNab became acquainted with one another this term as classmates in Dr. Caron Sada’s "Psychology and Culture" and Adria Pecora’s "Drawing" courses. Dr. Sada and Ms. Pecora entered into the spring semester eager to have their students collaborate on a creative project exploring gender for an activity of Women’s History Month, an idea that was also ignited by the enthusiasm of library faculty, Kandice Mickelsen who volunteered Buxton Library as the location and exhibition venue for the art project.

Sada’s students from “Psychology of Gender” and Pecora’s students from “Drawing” volunteered to participate in this extra-curricular project rooted in performance, specifically in conversation. Pecora has previously taught a course in “Gallery Operations” in which students have curated exhibitions on campus. She introduced the curatorial team to a type of art called “social practice” and to curatorial projects incorporating “relational aesthetics” that revolve around conversation. Klotz and McNab learned about the curators Nicolas Bourriaud and Hans-Ulrich Obrist and artists such as Rirkrit Tiravanija and the late Allan Kaprow (the creator of “happenings”).

Katlynn McNab and Heidi Klotz discuss social practice and relational aesthetics with Art faculty, Adria Pecora.

Pecora commented, “The idea of disrupting the regulated quietude of a library with a passionate discourse seemed suited to an artwork exploring gender.”

Moreover, the library’s new media lounge (a circular sofa with built in media station) suggested a more social role for the library, one in which exhibits might be rendered interactive by incorporating viewer feedback via messaging.

Library faculty Kande Mickelsen at blogging stations. 

Mickelsen had been orchestrating a library guide entitled “HERstory” to function as an informational hub for Women’s History Month events. After meeting with Klotz and McNab, Mickelsen helped arrange for the guide to also serve as a blog site for the artwork featuring audio and video excerpts of the conversation. Sada’s students brainstormed thought-provoking questions to guide discussion. Pecora’s students brought or created images that resonated of gender and posted them on an idea board in the space.

Artistic inspiration came in the form of a lecture exploring “How gender roles affect relationships”, presented earlier in the week by Counseling faculty, Donna Mosher. The art students also drew enthusiasm from a visit by PVCC alumni curators, Collin Pressler (Exhibitions Manager, School of the Art Institute of Chicago) and Eric Heimbecker (Manager, Corporate Social Responsibility Group) from whom they learned more about curatorial practice and socially engaged work beyond the studio.

Counseling faculty Donna Mosher

PVCC alumni Collin Pressler and Eric Heimbecker visit Katlynn McNab, Heidi Klotz and PVCC art students in the painting and drawing studio to discuss their work with curating and social engaged projects. 

The conversation lives online and awaits your thoughts. Please tag #pvccfinearts.

HERstory library blog: paradisevalley.libguides.com/HERstory

Twitter and Instagram: #artandgenderchatroom

Student Spotlight: Jo Van Loo, Fabric Artist

Jo VanLoo is a fabric artist, specifically working in the medium of quilting for eighteen years. Her quilts have been exhibited in national shows, and are currently showing in the Center for Performing Arts Gallery.

From Jo's blog:

Some of my quilts emphasize aesthetics and craft; others meaning and relationships, and others make socio-political statements. Some speak to all three.

Tomb of the Unknown Quilter

I love the inter-mingling passion, storytelling and, tactile nature of fabric arts. Using commercial and hand dyed fabrics I am able to express my feelings using a variety of manipulations and methods. 

Ceiling View. Inspired by Jo's trip to Hagai Sophia in Instabul, 2011.

Because I was a teacher for more than thirty years, I love to share my passion for quilting with others through quilting classes. I have taught quilt making in Canada, the United States, Uganda, Haiti, and Nicaragua. Through teaching the art and craft of quilting, I have become a learner of culture, of values, of life. 

Las Cocinaras

View Jo's complete gallery, blog and shop at her website: www.jomamavl.com

Grass Roots Effort: ART 113 Color Installation

As artists, we must engage with our world. For this project students were asked to select a public issue that is important to them; it may be women’s issues, the environment, global warming, health care, a particular disease or disability, the homeless, politics, war. Within their theme, they were asked to make a series of mini "lawn" flags that were then displayed near classroom J141. Their set of 4 flags revolved around the central theme of their choosing.

Installation created by students in Ann Morton's ART 113 Color class.