Category Archives: Exhibits

“Fantasticks” Creators Talk at FAL

The Fine Arts Library at The University of Texas at Austin will host an intimate conversation with the creators of the world’s longest-running musical, “The Fantasticks.”

“What Starts Here: A Conversation with Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt” will take place in the Roberts Reading Room in the Fine Arts Library at 3 p.m. on Thursday, October 14. Department of Theatre & Dance faculty Holly Williams will moderate.

Following the event will be a reception for the exhibition In a Major Key: Artifacts from 50 years of The Fantasticks, which features photos, playbills, manuscripts and other ephemera related to the various productions of “The Fantasticks” from the personal collection of Harvey Schmidt.

The exhibition – coordinated by Cathy Henderson of the Harry Ransom Center – is on display in the Roberts Reading Room at the Fine Arts Library through the end of the Fall semester.

The conversation with Schmidt and Jones is associated with the Department of Theatre & Dance’s 50th Anniversary production of “The Fantasticks” which features two performances on October 15 & 16, as well as a gala dinner and panel discussions.

Benson Featured in ¡Ahora Sí!

The Benson Latin American Collection has received a feature profile in the latest edition of the Austin American Statesman’s Spanish language weekly, ¡Ahora Sí!

Timing is everything: the Benson opens its exhibition Frente a Frente: The Mexican People in Independence and Revolution, 1810 & 1910, this evening.

¡Viva El Payaso! Win Tickets to Operación Clown: Cállate

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Just in time to celebrate the opening their new exhibit Frente a Frente: The Mexican People in Independence and Revolution, 1810 & 1910, the Benson Latin American Collection is holding a contest apropos of the anniversaries it is commemorating.

As part of our ongoing promotion of Texas Performing Arts 2010-2011 season, the current contest is for two tickets to Operación Clown: Cállate (Shut Up!), for either the Wednesday, September 15, show in Spanish, or the Thursday, September 16 English version.

From the TPA website:

Operación Clown is renowned for their innovative use of masks, puppets, and cabaret theatre based on theatrical clown technique.

This internationally celebrated theatrical group will bring the acclaimed piece Cállate to the McCullough stage. Narrated with an explosive mixture of melodrama and irreverent humor, this love story set at the time of the Mexican Revolution combines drama, comedy, wrestling and images inspired by the Golden Age of Mexican cinema to fuel a cast of characters based on stereotypes of the period.

For your chance to win, visit the Operación Clown Trivia Question page and fill out a brief questionnaire.

Entries must be received by 3pm on Monday, September 13. One winner will be chosen randomly from the correct responses and announced on Facebook and via email on Monday, September 13 before 5pm.

And regardless whether you win or not (but especially if you do), join your friends at the Benson Latin American Collection in Sid Richardson Hall from 5-7pm on Thursday the 16 for the opening reception for Frente a Frente for a first taste of the exhibit and delicious food from El Naranjo.

¡Feliz Aniversario, México! Celebrating 200 Years of Mexican History

The Benson Latin American Collection will open an exhibition commemorating the dual anniversaries of Mexico’s Independence and Revolution next Thursday, September 16.

Frente a Frente: The Mexican People in Independence and Revolution, 1810 & 1910 features rare books, prints, photographs and manuscripts from the Collection related to Mexican Independence from Spain and the Mexican Revolution. 2010 marks the bicentennial of Mexico’s Independence and the centenary of the Revolution.

Preeminent Mexico historian Dr. Miguel Soto of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) worked with Benson staff to curate the exhibition.

An opening reception will take place from 5-7pm on Thursday, September 16 with food and drink provided by El Naranjo. If you would like to attend, please RSVP to emcquade@austin.utexas.edu or call 512-495-4363.

Frente a Frente will be on display through mid-March, 2011, and can be viewed weekdays, Monday through Friday, 9am- 5pm, and Saturday, 1-5pm.

¡Viva México!

A Dubious Anniversary

It’s hard to believe it has already been five years since Hurricane Katrina nearly leveled the Big Easy.

Next Tuesday (8/31), the Libraries will host a novel event to mark the occasion of the fifth anniversary and reflect on the costliest natural disaster in American history.

The interactive program and exhibit – Hurricane Katrina: 5 Years Later – will take place in the Map Collection on the first floor of the PCL, and will feature relevant Libraries resources like maps, books and video along with presentations by both faculty and experts familiar with the past and current state of the affected areas.

Speakers scheduled to participate include, Dr. Robert Gilbert, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering; Joyce Shaw, Head Librarian, Gunter Library, Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, University of Southern Mississippi (via Skype); Mr. Troy Kimmel, Jr., Department of Geography; and Dr. James McClelland, Marine Science Institute and Environmental Science Institute (via Skype).

The event is free and open to the public, and takes place from 11:30am-1:30pm, so please drop by, have some New Orleans-style café au lait and join in the discussion.

Architecture and Planning Exhibit Celebrates Mexico 2010

In recognition of the dual celebration of the bicentennial of Mexico’s Independence and centenary of the Mexican Revolution – both occurring in 2010 – the Architecture and Planning Library at The University of Texas at Austin is hosting “Maya Architecture: Selections from the George F. and Geraldine Andrews Collection.”

The exhibition highlights materials from an exhaustive and fully documented visual record of architecture of the lowland Maya area that is part of the Library’s collection.

In the late 1950s, University of Oregon architecture professor George Andrews and his wife Geraldine visited the Yucatán for the first time, and for the next forty years they devoted their professional lives to the study and documentation of Maya architecture.

The couple’s extended research produced a remarkable collection that includes an architectural data bank representing 850 buildings at 240 archaeological sites in the lowland Maya area.

The Andrews Collection was donated to the university by the couple in 2000.

The exhibition captures a small portion of George and Geraldine Andrews’ effort to document and reconstruct the art and architecture of the ancient lowland Maya. Samples from the collection reveal aspects of Andrews’ scholarship, collecting and creative talents by featuring a selection of buildings, monuments, graffiti and the resulting work conducted in the archives.

Meghan Rubenstein, an art history Ph.D. student, assisted Donna Coates and Beth Dodd of the Alexander Architectural Archive in the curation of the Andrews exhibition.

The exhibit will be on display in the Architecture and Planning Library reading room in Battle Hall through September 2010.

For a first hand perspective on the production of the exhibit, head over to the Architecture & Planning Library’s blog, APLHighlights.