The CFA is pleased to announce a robust season of visual and performing arts programs for 2021-2022 that includes both virtual and live, in-person events, including intriguing art exhibitions, artist’s lectures, and virtual and live receptions in the Freedman Gallery; compelling live theatrical performances by the Domino Players; live and virtual concerts in a variety of musical genres, and exciting in-person fashion shows, including our first-ever show for New York Fashion Week!
Help us be sustainable and download a digital version of the season catalog. Start saving dates in your calendar and plan to join us for our award-winning arts programs!
Presently, we are requiring masks be worn at all indoor events on campus, and that guests adhere to a 3-foot social distancing requirement. As federal, state, and local mandates change, the College will adjust its policies regarding safety protocols related to the pandemic. For the most up to date information, please follow our social media channels and check the College website for updates.
Three New Exhibitions Open at the Freedman Gallery
“Stacey Steers: Edge of Alchemy” is now on display and will run through Sunday, October 3, in the Freedman Gallery’s Foyer Gallery. “Edge of Alchemy” is Stacey Steers’ third film in a trilogy examining women’s inner worlds. Completed in 2017, the 19-minute, animated film draws from Surrealist principles and techniques to create a contemporary narrative driven by female characters. Utilizing eight handmade works on paper for each second of film, Steers constructed more than 10,000 collages over five years to create her intricate 19-minute composition. Steers incorporates fragments of nineteenth century engravings and illustrations, as well as images from silent films, cutting and pasting, and adding hand-colored accents to create individual collages that she shoots with a 33 mm camera and then scans in 4K. Adopting clips of popular silent-film actors Mary Pickford and Janet Gaynor to construct the leading performances in her experimental narrative, Steers places two women as the primary drivers of action and plot in this reimagining of the Frankenstein story. A free, printed, keepsake trifold with critical essay by guest curator Honor Wilkinson is available onsite.
“Natural Selections: Paintings from Kristen T. Woodward’s Fall 2020 Sabbatical” is installed in the Project Space of the Freedman Gallery and will be on view through Sunday, October 3. This selection of more than thirty encaustic paintings from Woodward’s sabbatical abstractly explores human and animal relationships, as well as heirloom variety apples. The apples present as simple still life paintings, but according to the artist, are also reflections of human selectivity and choice. A free, keepsake trifold with critical essay by art history professor Newton A. Perrin is available in the gallery. Plan to join us for these exciting events:
- Artist’s Lecture, Thur., Sept. 2, 4 p.m., Klein Lecture Hall
- Reception, Thur., Sept. 2, 5-7 p.m., Freedman Gallery
- Homecoming Reception & Virtual Tour, Sun., Sept. 26, 2-3 p.m., Freedman Gallery & Facebook Live
“Blurring Boundaries: The Women of American Abstract Artists, 1936-Present” is open and will be on view through Sunday, December 5, in the Freedman Gallery’s Main Gallery. This important comprehensive exhibition comes to Reading as the only Pennsylvania host venue in the middle of its national tour, and features 54 stunning works by 50 intergenerational artists who have perfected the hierarchy of distilled form, immaculate line, and pure color. Artists in the exhibition include Perle Fine, Esphyr Slobodkina, Alice Trumbull Mason, Katinka Mann, Alice Adams, Merrill Wagner, Claire Seidel, and Lee Krasner, among others. The exhibition was organized by The Clara M. Eagle Gallery, Murray State University, Murray, KY and the Ewing Gallery, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN and is toured by International Arts & Artists, Washington, DC. The exhibition was curated by Rebecca DiGiovanna. A free, digital catalogue is available online at the link below. Join us for these important activities:
- Panel Discussion, Thur., Sept. 16, 4 p.m., Klein Lecture Hall
- Reception, Thur., Sept. 16, 5-7 p.m., Freedman Gallery
- Homecoming Reception & Virtual Tour, Sun., Sept. 26, 2-3 p.m., Freedman Gallery & Facebook Live
- Abstract Ornament Drop-In Workshop, Tues., Nov. 23, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
The gallery is open Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday, 1-4 p.m. We are closed on Monday and Saturday and during regularly scheduled College breaks or closures announced due to extreme weather conditions.
Enjoy the Blurring Boundaries Free Digital Catalogue
The Domino Players Kick-off the Season with Kintsugi, a Pandemic Project
“Kintsugi, a Pandemic Project” produced by Jeffrey Lentz ‘85 will kick-off the Domino Players’ main-stage theatrical season. The performance is a devised series that runs Thursday through Saturday, September 16-18, 8 p.m., and Sunday, September 19, 2 p.m., in the Wachovia Theatre.
Kintsugi is the Japanese art of mending broken pottery with liquid gold to illuminate the beauty of its imperfections rather than to conceal its flaws. As we restore the pieces of our shattered lives after the global pandemic, the Domino Players ask you to join them for an evening of live, short works inspired by the potent metaphor of Kintsugi that highlight the resiliency that binds us together while reflecting on the social inequities that continue to pull us apart. Online ticket sales will be available after September 9 at the link below.
- Talkback & Reception, Thur., Sept. 16, follows show
- Albright Improv Show, Fri., Sept. 17, follows show, Roop Hall
Get Tickets Online After Sept. 9
Events for Students Interested in Music and Fashion
You don’t have to be a music student to make music at Albright. If you are interested in choral music, consider joining one of Albright’s two a cappella choirs, Leo Chorum and Roaring Lions, or Lion Chorale, which performs with musical accompaniment. For more information, contact professor Jordan M. Shomper.
If you play an instrument, you might consider joining one of five ensembles: the Commercial Music Ensemble, Jazz Combos, the Rap Collective, Albright String Chamber Orchestra & Sunday Sinfonia, or the Lion Records Studio Band. For details on each, contact professor Mark Lomanno.
If you are interested in private voice lesson or learning how to play the piano or guitar, contact professor Tamara L. Black.
Calling all fashionistas — join us today, Tuesday, April 17, 4 p.m., in the CFA Mezzanine for a Fashion Welcome Reception. Meet your fashion professors and fellow students, enjoy free food and beverages, and learn more about upcoming fashion events this year, including the first-ever Albright fashion show at New York Fashion Week happening September 11!
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