Morlan Gallery

Lexington, Ky.— Transylvania University’s Morlan Gallery presents “The Places We Live,” an exhibition of artists working in social engagement from Feb. 21 through March 29. Six social intervention artists from across the U.S. will activate local and regional spaces while exhibiting tangible art objects from those programmed interventions. The artists include Meredith Knapp Brickell, Wes Janz and Sean Starowitz of Indianapolis; Maria Lind Blevins of Morehead, Ky.; Mark Menjivar of San Antonio, Texas; and Michael Strand of Fargo, N.D. Social practice artists embrace a variety of methods to engage with community, both directly and indirectly. Brickell is one the artists who decided to work directly with the Lexington community. Over the last six months, she has travelled frequently to meet with a group of girls from the Northside neighborhood. This group of 7-11 year-olds—called Busy Bees—has ventured into neighborhoods with cameras and notepads to document communities. The project, titled “Sidewalk Stories,” also has been facilitated by neighborhood resident Felice Salmon. It will culminate in a Busy Bee-created fanzine, which will be on display in the Morlan Gallery as part of a larger in-gallery installation documenting the project. A variety of other social interventions will be included in “The Places We Live”—including Menjivar’s “My Sadness Goes On and On…,” a listening station of collected sad songs submitted to him from contributors around the world. Also, Janz’s installation, “Crazy for Cages,” examines the U.S. prison industrial complex. Morlan Gallery, located in Transylvania’s

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Renowned Kentucky author Silas House will give the keynote address and receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree during Transylvania University’s Academic Convocation on Friday. House, who wrote the national best-selling novel, “A Parchment of Leaves,” will help the campus kick off the academic year at the 3:30 p.m. ceremony in Haggin Auditorium. A book signing and reception will follow. “The Academic Convocation is a very special occasion at Transylvania,” said Laura Bryan, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the university. “This ceremony marks the celebration of a new academic year and gives us an opportunity to focus and reflect on the journey before us. We come together as a community to invigorate our mission and values of a liberal education. Silas House exemplifies our values as an writer, teacher and activist.” House is a champion of the Appalachian region he calls home. In addition to writing five novels, with a sixth to be released this year, he is an environmental activist, columnist and music journalist. His fiction highlights the natural world, working class characters and the plight of rural living. A National Book Award Finalist, House also has written three plays and a collection of oral histories he co-authored with Jason Howard. His many recognitions include the Award for Special Achievement from the Fellowship of Southern Writers, E.B. White Award, Nautilus Award, Appalachian Writer of the Year, Chaffin Prize for Literature, Appalachian Book of the

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University welcomed two prominent Spanish artists and poets to campus last week for their North American debut. Alexandra Domínguez and Juan Carlos Mestre visited classes at Transylvania and two public schools: Bryan Station High School and the School of the Creative and Performing Arts. They also gave a free, public reading of their work on Thursday, Nov. 12, at 7:30 p.m. in Transylvania’s Carrick Theater. Following the reading, a reception in Morlan Gallery featured “Swept Up in Whispers,” a colorful exhibition of their art books, etchings and paintings. Additionally on Nov. 12, the married couple gave an Art Talk at 12:30 p.m. in Morlan Gallery. This event also was free and open to the public. Domínguez and Mestre —who have presented together only once before—have exhibited their works throughout Europe and in South America. Domínguez, who was awarded the Gran Premio Nacional Salón Sur de Pintura in Chile, studied art at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid and Real Academia de Bellas Artes de Sant Jordi in Barcelona. Her poetry collections—including “The Conquest of Air”—also have won awards. Mestre is among Spain’s most acclaimed contemporary poets, winning recognitions such as Premio Adonáis and the National Poetry, National Literary Critics and Jaime Gild de Biedma awards. Though his principal medium is poetry, he is a self-trained artist, working especially with ink and watercolors and as a printmaker. ‘Swept Up in Whispers’ This exhibition is

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