The University of Miami is opening new worlds in The Gallery at the Kislak Center. The exhibition is home to a collection of rare books, manuscripts, maps, photographs and artifacts.
“There are artifacts housed here which are very hard to find anywhere else in the world. This isn’t the average museum. It’s filled with adventure, meaning and mystery,” said Arthur Dunkelman, Kislak Collection curator.
Dunkelman, who has worked with the collection for more than 20 years and recently joined the University as curator within University Libraries’ Special Collections, explained how the gallery conveys the history of the Americas, hemispheric encounters, and the beginnings of global exploration. The gallery celebrates the vision, passion, and generosity of Jay I. Kislak, whose landmark gift to the University of Miami and Miami Dade College now preserves an extraordinary narrative of the Americas and its many cultures.
“There are many things here that are in a sense irreplaceable because they are unique and unobtainable today,” Dunkelman said.
Those who visit can experience one-of-a-kind artifacts, some that date back 3,200 years. The gallery also houses an edition of the Christopher Columbus letter written to Queen Isabella during his first voyage to the Americas in 1492. Students can also learn more about the history of modern mapping on a state of the art interactive mapping table.
For those interested in visiting, the Gallery at the Kislak Center will host a grand opening reception on Sept. 5 at 5 p.m.
For more information, visit https://www.library.miami.edu/kislak-center/the-gallery.html
Below are more cultural events to keep in mind, happening on campus throughout the month of September:
Jerry Herman Ring Theatre
Sept. 26 through Oct. 5
“Little Shop of Horrors”
This production opens the Ring Theatre’s 2019-20 season. Just in time to inspire you for Halloween, this gem of an American musical comedy marked one of the first collaborations between composer Alan Menken and lyricist/book writer Howard Ashman. Together they went on to write the equally successful “The Little Mermaid,” and the wildly successful “Beauty and the Beast.” Inspired by the 1960 dark comedy horror film of the same name, it tells the story of a down-on-his-luck resident of Skid Row, who is offered the girl of his dreams, fame, and success from an all-powerful carnivorous plant... but at what cost?
For more information, visit: https://ring-theatre.as.miami.edu/index.html
Lowe Art Museum
Through Sept. 9
James Prosek, Contra Naturam/Against Nature
Deeply invested in both the environment and environmental concerns, James Prosek is a contemporary artist whose creative output explores timeless aspects of humanity and the natural world while also engaging directly with the zeitgeist. These complementary threads are beautifully woven together in his exhibition, James Prosek: Contra Naturam/Against Nature, providing a critical commentary on South Florida’s rapidly changing ecosystem.
Through Sept. 15
Billie Grace Lynn, A House Divided
University of Miami Associate Professor of Sculpture Billie Grace Lynn is known for creating meticulous, thought-provoking projects and interventions that address some of contemporary culture's most pressing issues head-on. Her latest work is no exception. Featuring Lynn's sculptural interpretation of a 26-foot tall hoodie and an 18-foot mirrored kinetic obelisk, this interactive, inter-disciplinary project invites viewers to reflect on identity politics, civic engagement, civil discourse, and democracy's precarious fragility.
Thursday, Sept. 26, 7 to 9 p.m.
Myrna and Sheldon Palley Glass Artist Lecture Series: Joyce J. Scott
MacArthur “Genius” Fellow Joyce J. Scott is best known for her figurative sculpture and jewelry using free-form off-loom bead weaving techniques similar to the peyote stitch, as well as blown glass, and found objects. As an African-American, feminist artist, Scott unapologetically confronts difficult themes as diverse as her subjects. Her art leverages its impact with her wry, subversive humor, and engages hardened stereotypes that demand honest examination.
Through March 2020
ArtLab at the Lowe: Russia Unframed
Russia Unframed seeks to highlight the impact of Russia's immense cultural, ethnic, racial, and religious diversity on the arts, both within its borders and throughout the diaspora. Now in its tenth year, ArtLab @ the Lowe is an annual student-curated exhibition that provides University of Miami students with hands-on experience in the curatorial and museum fields.
For more information, visit: www.lowe.miami.edu/exhibitions/index.html
Wynwood Art Gallery
Through Sept. 26
2019 Incoming Graduate Exhibition
Reception: Sept.14, 6 to 9 p.m.
The Department of Art and Art History at the University of Miami presents the work of its 2019 incoming graduate students. The MFA program at UM is a 60 credit, three-year program resulting in a terminal degree that both prepares students to enter the professional, studio art world and qualifies them for college teaching.
For more information, visit: https://art.as.miami.edu/exhibitions/index.html
Maurice Gusman Concert Hall
Friday, Sept. 13
A Starry Night in September: Valerie Coleman and Friends
Pre-Concert discussion at 6:30 p.m., concert to follow at 7:30 p.m.
In her concert debut as assistant professor of performance, chamber music and entrepreneurship, Grammy-nominated flutist and composer Valerie Coleman will showcase an evening of poetry, visual art, and her own original chamber music. The performance includes poetry by Margaret Danner, Maya Angelou, and Langston Hughes as well as visual artwork by Sonya Clark. Musicology Professor Melvin Butler will lead a 30-minute pre-concert discussion.
Saturday, Sept. 14 at 7:30 p.m.
Gerard Schwarz’s Debut: Frost Symphony Orchestra
In his debut as Frost’s new conductor of the Frost Symphony Orchestra, Gerard Schwartz offers a varied and demanding program that includes the suite from the ballet Estancia by Alberto Ginastera, one of the greatest 20th century composers of the Americas; Samuel Jones’s Tuba Concerto, which Schwarz has called “the finest solo work for that instrument ever produced,” featuring Frost faculty tubist Aaron Tindall; and closing with Brahms’s magnificent and melodic Symphony No. 2.
Sunday, Sept. 22 at 4 p.m.
Come Sunday: Frost Wind Ensemble
Jennifer Grim, the Frost School of Music’s new flute professor, performs a program of new music including Come Sunday, a piece co-commissioned by the Frost Wind Ensemble. Written by visiting composer Omar Thomas, the two-movement piece is a tribute to the Hammond organ’s central role in black worship services. The other highlight of the program, Lontano, was once introduced by composer Michael Martin as signifying “the journey of grief, what that is, and how familiar that is to all of us.”
For more information, visit https://news.miami.edu/frost/events/index.html
Cosford Cinema
Showings this month include “The Nightingale,” “Vita & Virginia,” “John Wick: Chapter 3,” “Edie,” “The Farewell,” “Pokémon: Detective Pikachu,” “The Ground Beneath my Feet,” “Booksmart,” “After the Wedding” and “Rocketman.”
For showtimes and tickets, visit http://www.cosfordcinema.com/
