Bob Junola, of Thorton, admires a Navajo weaving at the CU Museum of Natural History. (CU Independent file/Sara Fossum)
Art and culture will be displayed across the CU campus this week as CU celebrates the fourth anniversary of Arts and Culture Week at CU.
“This week is a wonderful opportunity for students to see some excellent exhibits and events,” said Erin Frazier, community liaison for Arts and Cultures Week. Frazier said she has witnessed the annual week-long celebration since its inception four years ago.
In gratitude of the $10 arts fee that students pay, organizers say, a diverse range of programs on campus contribute to the week. The arts fee was approved by the Board of Regents in 1995 to support on-campus arts. The fee provides free or reduced cost admission for students to museums, performances and certain other events on campus.
“I’m fine with the arts fee because I feel like arts and culture deserves to be supported,” said Emelia Coppage, a sophomore environmental studies major. “But I just wish I knew what my fees are going to – I didn’t even know about it.”
Students say they like that the art fee returns something to the students.
“I like the fact that (the art and culture organizations) are giving back to us,” said Linda Mace, a sophomore mathematics major. “Besides, if we are supporting the athletic department, we should also be supporting the arts.”
Mace said she struggles to find time to attend cultural events.
“I really, really like photography and paintings, but I don’t usually get to experience them because I don’t have enough time,” Mace said. “I’d really like to be able to go to some exhibits if I could find the time.”
Fortunately, the vast amount of events during Arts and Culture Week make it likely that even the busiest of students can find a cultural event to fit their schedule.
This week, students can look forward to many events. Fortunately, the wide variety makes it easy for students to get a taste of the numerous programs that exist on the CU campus.
Every Thursday evening, director of the CU Art Museum Lisa Tamiris Becker will give a presentation that shares the museum’s permanent collections, which include over 6,000 pieces of art from around the world. Students will also be able to hear about the new state-of-the-art CU Art Museum that is slated to be finished in fall 2010.
The Flowviz Art Exhibit will be held on Saturday from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Flow Visualization is a process that makes the physics of gas and liquid flow visible. This results in beautiful images that are akin to the beauty of cream being stirred into coffee.
Engineering and Fine Arts students who participated in a flow visualization course will be showing their works during this time in Fiske Planetarium.
Students will have the chance to make some art themselves on Friday from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. This is in junction with the “Navajo Weaving: Diamonds, Dreams, Landscapes” exhibit that is currently in the CU Natural History Museum.
While the exhibit showcases textiles of the Southwest, students are provided the materials and instructions necessary to create a Navajo-style case for their cell phone or iPod.
Other opportunities this week are two films being shown by the International Film Series. At 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, there will be showings of “Laila’s Birthday” and “The Windmill Movie”.
While most International Film Series screenings are $5, these screenings are free of charge for everyone in celebration of Arts and Culture Week.
To see a schedule of Arts & Culture Week, follow this link: http://events.colorado.edu/EventList.aspx?fromdate=9/21/2009&todate=9/27/2009&display=Month&view=Summary
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Mary Rochelle at Mary.Rochelle@colorado.edu.
