Today is the deadline to register and pre-pay for the first of three “Get-on-the-Bus” trips scheduled this fall by the NIU Art Musuem.
Art lovers who want to meet other art lovers, keep up with the art world, see innovative historical exhibits and travel without the hassle of traffic, tolls and parking are encouraged to participate: Staff at the museum schedule the trip and make the itinerary and arrangements.
All trips depart from the NIU School of Art parking lot.
The first trip takes place Friday, Sept. 5, to Chicago. Travelers will see where Kurt Perschke’s RedBall Project is on display and then head to River North (for galleries and shopping at Paper Merchant and Pearl Paint) and the West Loop for more gallery openings.
The bus departs at 2 p.m. and returns at 10 p.m. The cost is $12 for NIU Art Museum members, $15 for students and seniors age 65 and older and $18 for others. Meal costs are not included.
Prepayment and registration deadline is today.
Other trips are scheduled Saturday, Oct. 18, to Pilsen Open Studios and Friday, Nov. 7, to SOFA Chicago.
To register for these trips, stop by the museum on the first floor of Altgeld Hall, call (815) 753-1936 or e-mail darntzen@niu.edu or jburke2@niu.edu. More information about the museum and its programming can be found online at www.niu.edu/artmuseum. Payment may be made with cash, a check made out to NIU or a major credit card. Payment must be made in advance to
guarantee a seat on the bus.
Dates and prices of bus trips are subject to change, and trips are frequently added throughout the year. Check the Web site for the most updated information.
The DeKalb Festival Chorus invites vocalists to join for this season’s exciting performance of Daniel Pinkham’s Christmas cantata, “Sinfonia Sacra” (Dec. 7), as well as the Holiday Concert (Dec. 14) and Haydn’s “Theresienmesse” in the spring.
The holiday program takes shape around the beloved story by Dylan Thomas, “A Child’s Christmas in Wales.” Robert Dean Ludden has been secured as the dramatic reader.
Rehearsals are held from 7 to 9 p.m. Mondays in Room 171 of the NIU Music Building. Auditions are required; e-mail the director at festivalchorus@gmail.com to arrange a brief audition.
Rehearsals begin Monday, Sept. 8. Come before 7 p.m. to register. Adult membership costs $30. Full-time student membership is $15.
For more information, visit www.dekalbfestivalchorus.org or call (630) 453-8006.
A trio of NIU alumnae shares its passion for creative expression in a collaborative art exhibition, “Patterns of the Mind,” on display at the DeKalb Area Women’s Center during September.
While Linda Tillis (M.A. ’73, Ph.D. ’88), Diane Johns (M.S. Ed. ’06) and Jana Mirs (B.G.S. ’94, M.F.A. ’00) have known each other for years, this is the first time they have teamed up for a show. The exhibition features more than 60 wall-hung pieces, each one a tribute to the design process. Most are intimate pieces, spotlighting a detail on which the artist focused at that particular moment in time.
Tillis, an NIU retiree following 23 years of service as associate director of Student Housing and Dining, uses quilt-like patterns as a framework to embrace her expressions with color, design and objects of day-to-day experiences or fancies. She constructs her own patterns and has recently become particularly drawn to a “fractured” quilt pattern, which is featured in many of the pieces on display.
Johns, who currently serves as a thesis and dissertation adviser in NIU’s Graduate School, is using the show’s theme to delve into the world of the subconscious. In her latest series of quilts, she depicts several of the marvelous and magical elements which thread their way through her dreams. She uses color, printed pattern, the quilting stitch and other surface design to explore powerful images such as the tornado.
Mirs’ personal research into the concept of “home” – coupled with her intuitive use of design, color, scale and relationships – has resulted in a series of art quilts depicting fantastical houses and their environments. These are constructed from a variety of whimsical prints and sometimes populated by surprising creatures.
All three artists share a zeal for intense examination and artistic expression. Each juxtaposes geometric shapes and design imagery to make the familiar appear unfamiliar – and vice versa. All together, their patterns of the mind are worth navigating.
The public is invited to view the exhibit from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursdays, from 7 to 9 p.m. Fridays, from 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 21, or by appointment. An artists’ reception will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 14, and will include musical entertainment provided by violinist Ann Montzka and cellist Linc Smelser at 5 p.m. followed by a performance of the Bread & Roses Women’s Chorus at 6 p.m.
The DAWC is located at 1021 State Street in DeKalb. Parking is available in the paved lot off of Eleventh Street, one-half block south of the building. The handicapped-accessible lift can be reached from the alley north of the building. For further information, or to arrange a group showing, call Anna Marie Coveny, gallery director, at (815) 758-1351 or (815) 761-1735.
Hazel Domangue, recruiter for the Peace Corps, will come to campus Thursday, Sept. 18, and Friday, Sept. 19.
Domangue will attend the Study Abroad Fair from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 18, in the Duke Ellington Ballroom of the Holmes Student Center.
From 5 to 7 p.m. that evening, she will host a general information meeting in Room 306 of the student center. This important session is one of the first steps in learning more about the process of joining the Peace Corps. Handouts are available; questions are encouraged.
On-campus interviews take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19, in the Career Center (Room 260) of the Campus Life Building. Applications must be submitted and appointment must be scheduled by Friday, Sept. 12.
Contact Domangue at (312) 353-5224 or hdomangue@peacecorps.gov for more information.
Malaquias Montoya, one of the nation’s top Chicano artists, will visit DeKalb for the opening reception of an exhibition of his artworks.
The reception for Montoya will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 17, at the Nehring Gallery, 111 S. Second St., DeKalb. The exhibit will run through Oct. 15.
Montoya’s works, titled “Globalization & War: The Aftermath,” depict the consequences of power and conflict. The artist’s 23 paintings and prints facilitate the understanding of the destruction, displacement and loss of culture brought on by man-made conflict. Each piece illustrates the human spirit in its most vulnerable state: fighting between obliteration and survival.
Montoya is a leading figure in the West Coast political Chicano graphic arts movement, a political and socially conscious movement. His works are in the collections of the Smithsonian, the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum in Chicago, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and more than a dozen other museums, libraries and universities.
“Malaquias Montoya is among the most prominent living Chicano artists,” says Emily Prieto, director of the NIU Latino Resource Center, the organizing sponsor of the event.
“His work is extremely powerful because the edgy imagery evokes many emotions in his audience, and all of the pieces are tied to social protest messages,” Prieto says. “Looking at his art pieces compels a person to do something to positively impact humanity.”
Other sponsors of the exhibit include the NIU Student Association, College of Visual and Performing Arts, Center for Black Studies, Center for Latino and Latin American Studies, Campus Activities Board, International Programs and Unity in Diversity.
More information on Montoya is available online at www.malaquiasmontoya.com.
The NIU Women’s Golf team will host its annual Huskie Golf Day Friday, Sept. 26, at Whisper Creek Golf Club in Huntley. Foursomes will be paired with NIU women golfers.
Check in takes place at noon with tee times from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Cost is $125 per player. A cocktail hour, awards and raffle follow play.
Registration deadline is Sunday, Sept. 19. Contact Women’s Golf Assistant Coach Ashley Anast at (815) 753-6668 or aanast@niu.edu.
All letters of nomination for the 2009 Presidential Teaching Professorships should be submitted to Vice Provost Earl “Gip” Seaver, Office of the Provost, Altgeld Hall 215, no later than Monday, Sept. 29.
Following receipt of a letter of nomination, the selection committee will invite each nominated faculty member to prepare materials in accordance with the published procedure. Only full professors with tenure and at least six years service at NIU are eligible for the award.
The Presidential Teaching Professorships were established in 1990 to recognize those outstanding teachers who have demonstrated over time that they:
The procedure calls for a rigorous and thorough portfolio review including contacting former students. The 2009 recipients will be announced next spring.
As the new semester gets under way, the NIUConnect/MyNIU team reminds faculty and instructors that the new student information system is up and running for Fall 2008. All faculty and instructors assigned to a Fall 2008 course now have access to view their class rosters via the faculty self-service page in MyNIU.
Learn more about the Self-Service Faculty Center by attending one of the MyNIU Faculty Center open labs being held in Room 100 of Altgeld Hall from 8 a.m. to noon Wednesday, Sept. 3, and from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 4. Faculty are invited to come and go in an informal lab setting; stay for a few minutes or longer to become familiar with the MyNIU Faculty Center pages.
A user guide for faculty self-service can be found at http://www.niu.edu/myniutraining, or call the ITS Helpdesk at (815) 753-8100 for additional assistance.
An outstanding undergraduate senior from each of the four-year degree-granting institutions of higher learning in Illinois is chosen annually to receive the Lincoln Academy Student Laureate Award. The University Scholarships Committee is requesting assistance in identifying the student graduating during 2008-2009 (August 2008, December 2008 or May 2009), who will be NIU’s recipient of this year’s award.
Lincoln Student Laureates are honored for their overall excellence in both curricular and co-curricular activities. The NIU Student Laureate should have a grade point average of 3.5 or higher and should have demonstrated leadership in extracurricular activities.
The person selected will represent the university at one of the most distinguished gatherings in the state, a special ceremony held in late October or early November in the House of Representatives of the Illinois State Capitol. Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich (or his designee), president of the academy, will present each Student Laureate with a Lincoln Academy Medallion and a check for $150. The ceremony will be followed by a luncheon. Nominator(s) of the recipient also will be asked to represent the university at this event.
Please be selective in your nomination: The person selected from NIU to receive this award should be the university’s most outstanding undergraduate senior student.
The nomination form and any supplementary pages should be returned to the Office of Scholarship Coordination/Scholarship Services, 245K Swen Parson Hall, by noon Friday, Sept. 12, for the nomination to be considered by the selection committee.
The NIU Community School of the Arts’ popular Art Express is free to children of staff, faculty and students. This class begins Saturday, Sept. 13, and runs for five weeks. The class is scheduled for 1 to 3 p.m.
This innovative and hands-on program encourages creative thinking in children ages 4 to 12. Teachers are students in an advanced art education class working under School of Art faculty supervision.
More information and a registration form are available online at www.niu.edu/extprograms or by calling (815) 753-1450. Students and employees of NIU should indicate their status at the top of the form. Although the tuition fee of $30 is waived for children of NIU staff, faculty and students, a $15 program registration fee and the form should be sent to the NIU Community School of the Arts in Room 132 of the Music Building.
The NIU Alumni Association has launched a new membership program. Open to alumni and friends, the program is an excellent way to show support for, and pride in, NIU. Members enjoy many benefits on campus and in the community.
Membership opportunities are available at two levels: Cardinal & Black and Legacy. Visit myniu.com for more information.
NIU’s Alumni Association has several exciting travel destinations coming up.
Celebrate the winter holiday season with a Hawaiian Escape. Warm trade winds and a traditional Hawaiian “Aloha!” await guests on this three-island touring itinerary. The islands of Maui, Hawaii and Oahu offer a vast diversity of landscapes, natural beauty and attractions.
Travelers also are invited to discover the jewels of Northern Ireland next spring. Don’t miss out on the charm and the zest that encompasses the Emerald Isle. Northern Ireland brings back the joy of touring with breathtaking Irish landscapes, historical forts and palaces, famous coastlines and ancient accounts that mingle myth and legend.
Visit myniu.com for more information about these travel destinations.