Stars of Fall 2023
Don't miss these dynamic public arts events!
by MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson
Dickinson performers, artists and writers will present an array of compelling performances and exhibitions this fall. These are some of the dynamic public arts events in store.
Women in the spotlight: theatre, dance and music
Placing women’s issues in the spotlight, the theatre & dance department presents a classic work centering on the infamous Salem witch trials. The Mermaid Players will perform Arthur Miller’s The Crucible Oct. 27-29.
The Dance Theatre Group continues the feminist theme as it reimagines Judy Chicago’s seminal piece in The Dinner Party: A Dance Concert, Nov. 17-19.
Through its Nov. 19 concert, Women at the Fore, the Dickinson Orchestra uplifts works by women composers. The concert includes a solo performance by Contributing Faculty of Music Kimberly Buchar-Nolet.
More music notes
Imani Winds visits campus for a music residency that kicks off with a November concert celebrating composers of color. The music department is also presenting guest-artist concerts by flutist Mimi Stillman and pianist Charles Abramovic and the Prometheus Ukrainian Male Chorus of Philadelphia.
Songs of the stage and screen burst to life during the College Choir’s fall performances. Faculty talents shine on Oct. 6 (Hannah Koby, organ) and Nov. 3 (Faculty Jazz). You’ll also want to mark your calendars now for the annual fall concerts by the Jazz Ensemble (Nov. 17), chamber-music program (Nov. 28 and 30) and College Choir (Dec. 2 and 3).
Like competition shows? Performance-studies students will vie to perform as featured artist in the spring 2024 orchestra concert. This year’s Concerto Competition is on Dec. 6.
Good times in Goodyear
You’re invited to get your hands dirty in Goodyear for Conversations Over Clay, an informal demonstration and workshop by artists Kevin Snipes of Philadelphia and Peter Morgan of Carlisle. Bowls created will be donated to the Carlisle Empty Bowls event to fight hunger.
The 2023 Sylvia J. Smith '73 Artist-in-Residence presents work exploring his identity and experiences as a Black queer man. Warith Taha’s exhibition opens Oct. 11. His lecture is on Oct. 25.
Contemporary artist Lynne Marinelli Ghenov’s exhibition reveals recent works created by using found vintage, rub-on decorations as a drawing tool on photo paper. Ukrainian translator and artist Veronika Yadukha serves a residency funded by the Mellon Foundation this fall. Her works will be shown Nov. 1 to Dec. 1. And senior-year studio-art majors will reveal their capstone works-in-progress on Nov. 15.
Writerly stars
Literary Dickinsonians shine bright on campus this fall. Fresh from leading an Alumni Global Adventure trip to Scotland, Professor Emeritus Thomas Reed returns to campus for an Oct. 11 reading.
Star English-department alum John Kneisley ’16 gives a poetry reading on Oct. 19. His recent works have appeared in North American Review, Quarterly West, EcoTheo Collective, Bellevue Literary Review and ellipsis.
A book with a celestial title also infuses the fall literary offerings. On Sept. 12, author Kim van Alkemade discusses the World War II-era events that inspired her novel Counting Lost Stars.
Double the impact
The Trout Gallery, under its new director, Shannon Egan, offers two double openings this fall. The Sept. 1 opening celebrated Perspectives: The Trout Gallery at 40 and Power and Politics: Recent Acquisitions in Photography. After taking in works curated by friends of the Trout Gallery and new, contemporary photographs in the Trout’s permanent collection, gallery-goers enjoyed pizza and refreshments on Britton Plaza.
The double-reception for Souvenirs of Ruin: Piranesi and the Birth of Western Tourism and for Disruptive: Unruly Texts, Provocative Pictures showcases works by Italian artist, archaeologist and architect Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-78) and prints, sculpture, photographs and drawings by contemporary American artist Suzanne McClelland.
See all the upcoming public arts events at Dickinson's Calendar of Arts!
TAKE THE NEXT STEPS
Published August 30, 2023