February arts hightlights include music, theater, Black history

February is Black History Month, and many special events are planned on campus. A variety of film screenings include titles such as “Black Orpheus,” “Talking Black in America,” James Blue’s award-winning film “The March,” and Duck After Dark’s screening of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”

Also, visit the Knight Library’s exhibition “Archives for Black Lives: A Liberated Archives” or drop in for artist talks from African American cartoonist and author Keith Knight at the Erb Memorial Union or photographer, installation artist and cultural activist Lonnie Graham at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.

UO Libraries Resources, in partnership with the Lyllye Reynolds-Parker Black Cultural Center, offers a vast catalog of streaming music, sound recordings and video collections online. Be sure to check in at the Division of Equity and Inclusion’s website for more upcoming Black History Month activities and events.

Music

The sounds of music will echo across campus this month.

At Beall Concert Hall, the UO Wind Symphony presents a winter concert Feb. 2. Joining the wind ensemble onstage Feb. 3 is the Grammy award-winning sextet Eighth Blackbird. Associate professor of percussion Pius Cheung leads the Oregon Percussion Ensemble on Feb. 17, and on Feb. 26 ChamberMusic@Beall presents Ruckus with Emi Fergusion, a baroque band described by The New York Times as “… achingly delicate one moment, incisive and punchy the next.”

At Berwick Hall, University of California, Berkeley music professor Dan Flanagan will present a violin recital Feb. 5. On Feb. 11, a trombone quartet with special guest the Tueph Ensemble will present Low Brass Sass; support the UO Governor’s Food Drive and donate at least two canned goods to receive a complementary ticket to the concert. Vocal-instrumental group Collegium Musicum, which studies performance practices of the 17th and 18th centuries, will perform a concert using many of the instruments from the university’s period-instrument collection.

Opera Ensemble On Feb. 9, the UO Symphony Orchestra will perform Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony in the Soreng Theater at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts.

The UO Opera Ensemble will perform on campus at the Robinson Theatre in the Miller Theatre Complex Feb. 17.

Exhibitions

Special Collections & University Archives in the Knight Library announced the recent acquisition of the Brian Lanker Collection, a selection of his photography, interviews and film work. Brian Lanker, who died in 2011, was a Pulitzer-prize winning photojournalist and artist based out of Eugene, whose work covered a range of subjects, from Steve Prefontaine to advertising work for Nike and documentary photography for Life Magazine.

What compels many to leave “home”? “What We Leave Behind,” an exhibition at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, explores global mobility and causes of the contemporary diaspora.

Photo of protest in China On Feb.11 at 2 p.m., join Chief Curator of Asian Art Ann Rose Kitagawa for a gallery talk at the museum on the exhibition, “Framing the Revolution: Contemporary Chinese Photographs from the Jack and Suzy Wadsworth Collection.”

The EMU Craft Center welcomes its first visiting artist to the Erb Memorial Union’s Adell McMillan Gallery. Hannah Austin, creator of Needle OR Thread, finds inspiration for her embroidery work using vintage textiles and fabric scraps from the landscapes of the Pacific Northwest. A reception and artist talk will be held Feb. 3 in the Swindells Room.

Theater

Scene from 'The Wolves' The Hope Theatre stage transforms to an indoor soccer field somewhere in suburban America where a team of high school girls warm up, joke, train, play and tackle life’s big questions in “The Wolves,” which continues Feb. 3, 4, 10 and 11 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 5 at 2 p.m.

Workshops

Learn the art and process of storytelling at an “Intertwined Storytelling Workshop” on Feb. 16 in the performance center in the Living-Learning Center North student residence hall. Delve into the power of storytelling through activities to strengthen and prompt new stories and writing ideas at this fun event.

Cinema

Watch James Blue’s award-winning film, “The March,” featuring an introduction by University of Oregon Professor Emeritus David Frank, on Feb. 1 at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. The film chronicles the August 28, 1963, March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Discussion and a Q&A session will follow the presentation.

Scene from 'The March' Join UOPresents for a selection of films followed by discussion at the Lillis Business Complex. The first screening on Feb. 1 will be “Black Orpheus,” a 1959 romantic tragedy. Catch “The Harder They Come,” a 1972 Jamaican crime film, on Feb. 15, and on Feb. 22, “Speedy,” a 1928 comedy silent film starring Harold Lloyd in 16mm.

A four-week series of films that celebrate journalism will be shown at Allen Hall starting with "Shattered Glass" on Feb. 4, "The Post" Feb. 14, "All the President's Men" Feb. 21 and "Spotlight" Feb. 28.

Ducks After Dark film screenings continue Feb. 9 with “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” a double feature that includes “X” and “Pearl” on Feb. 23 and “The Shell with Shoes On” March 9. Free entry for UO students with a valid UO ID.

In collaboration with the Black Studies Program and Black History Month, the Department of Linguistics will host two film screenings in Room 145, Straub Hall with discussion to follow with Rachel Weissler and Shiloh Drake. On Feb. 17 “Talking Black in America” chronicles the descendants of American slaves and the impact they’ve had on American life and language. “Signing Black in America,” the first documentary about Black American Sign Language, will be shown Feb. 23.

Lectures

Photo from lesbian history exhibit Judith Raiskin and panelists Debby Martin, Linda Rose, Janice Baker and Lisa Hellemn will discuss the lesbian arts and culture scene in Eugene from the 1970s to the 1990s on Feb. 2 at the Museum of Natural and Cultural History.

Join cartoonist and author Keith Knight for “The Intersection of Art and Social Justice” Feb. 7 in the Redwood Auditorium at the EMU as he reflects on 20 artists who inspired him to use his art to address social issues. Knight is co-creator and cowriter of Hulu’s streaming series “Woke,” based on his comic strip series “The K Chronicles,” “(Th)ink” and “The Knight Life.”

Photographer, installation artist and cultural activist Lonnie Graham will present an Artist Talk on Feb. 8 at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. A visual arts professor at Pennsylvania State University, Graham will provide a visual documentation of his work and its evolution and offer insight into the “Conversation with the World” project currently on view at the museum.

On Feb. 9, the Department of Art and the Center for Art Research will present the Visiting Artist Lecture Series Edie Fake: “An Impossible Place.” Painter and visual artist, Edie Fake’s work, which examines trans identity and “queer space” through the lens of architecture and ornamentation, has been exhibited nationally and internationally.

Oregon Humanities Center Faculty Research Fellow Solmaz Mohammadzadeh Kive will present the work-in-progress talk “Before ‘Islamic Art’” on Feb. 17.

To commemorate the closing of “Archives for Black Lives: A Liberated Archive,” the Knight Library will present a two-day symposium, “A Liberated Archives Experience: Black Memory, Social Justice, Art and the Archive,” Feb. 23 and 24 in the library Browsing Room and DREAM Lab.

Feb. 23, join Elissa Auther, deputy director of curatorial affairs and William and Mildred Lasdon Chief Curator at the Museum of Arts and Design, for “Queer Maximalism,” a Visiting Artist Lecture Series presentation focusing on the solo exhibition of costume designer and performer Machine Dazzle and his body of creative work spanning art, craft, design, theater and nightlife.

Streaming resources

UO Libraries Resources, in partnership with the Lyllye Reynolds-Parker Black Cultural Center, offers a vast catalog of streaming music, sound recordings and video collections online.

Explore the UO Channel for a variety of livestreamed events, Department of Art Visiting Artist Lecture Series videos, guest speakers and more.

—By Sharleen Nelson, University Communications