The John M. Anderson Endowed Lecture series sponsors an outstanding program of visiting artists and scholars who lecture, give master classes and workshops, and critique student work throughout the academic year. Beginning in February, the spring 2016 schedule will feature lectures by five exceptional artists and performers, including: PowerHouse Productions, Patricia Leavy, Letha Wilson, Shinique Smith and William J. O'Brien.
PowerHouse kicks off our spring season. Founded by Gina Reichert and Mitch Cope, PowerHouse shows the power and scale on which creative individuals can influence a system to reimagine discarded spaces. Their lecture, "Art Changing the Neighborhood," will take place at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 16.
Patricia Leavy is an independent scholar and writer whose work continues to expand the boundaries of arts-based research. Leavy’s lecture, "Telling Truthful Stories Through Fiction and Visual Art: An Example of Arts-Based Research," will take place at 2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25.
Letha Wilson is a master of distorting the material boundaries of landscape, object, and image. Wilson’s lecture, "Object, Image, Landscape," will take place at 3 p.m. Tuesday, March 15.
Like the vast store of her source material, Shinique Smith uses murals, installations, sculpture, and drawings to create objects of both personal and social reflection. Smith’s lecture, "Beyond the Gesture," will take place at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 29.
Ending the spring season is William J. O'Brien. Chicago-based O'Brien, using materials regarded historically as pristine, explores with gritty irreverence the bounds of material and identity. O'Brien’s lecture, "Doing it All: Materiality and Making," will take place at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10.
Unless otherwise noted, lectures will take place in the Palmer Lipcon Auditorium, Palmer Museum of Art. Lectures are free of charge and open to the public. For complete information regarding these artists, visit https://sova.psu.edu/anderson.
The Penn State School of Visual Arts John M. Anderson Endowed Lecture Series was established in 2001 through the generous support of John M. Anderson, Penn State professor emeritus. The result of Anderson’s love of the philosophy of art and painting, his endowment contributes to the creative and intellectual life of the campus. Anderson, an Evan Pugh Research Professor of Philosophy, was a longtime faculty member and three-time department head in the Department of Philosophy and the first director of Penn State’s Institute for the Arts and Humanities.