COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. —Two leading Milwaukee-based artists will speak at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs March 5 and 6, and an art historian is scheduled for March 13, all part of a new lecture series.
Lisa Moline and Lane Hall, Milwaukee, whose artwork is currently part of the “PROTEST!” exhibit at the UCCS Gallery of Contemporary Art’s campus gallery, will speak at
- 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. March 5 “The Aesthetics of Politics,” Columbine Hall Room 214.
- 7 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. March 6, “PROTEST + ART: Lane Hall & Lisa Moline Artist Lecture,” Centennial Hall Auditorium, Room 203.
The events are free and open to the public. Free parking in UCCS Lot 3 will be provided for the March 6 event courtesy of the UCCS Parking Department. An artist’s reception is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. March 6 at the UCCS Galleries of Contemporary Art in Centennial Hall.
At 5 p.m. March 13 in Columbine Hall Room 132, art historian Leanne Gilbertson will present “I’m Not There: Thoughts on Contemporary Portraiture.” Her presentation will consider the status of contemporary portraiture, a genre that continues to inform contemporary interdisciplinary art practice.
All three events are part of a new series, the UCCS Visiting Artists and Critics Series. The series fosters understanding and appreciation of contemporary art through dialogue and critical conversations. Artists and scholars of national significance are invited to present public lectures and meet with UCCS undergraduate students in classes and workshop settings. The Visiting Artists and Critics Series is a collaborative program of the UCCS Galleries of Contemporary Art and the UCCS Visual Arts and Art History, part of the Visual and Performing Arts Department.
About the Artists
Moline and Hall will talk on the progression of their work during the past two decades. The artists have a long-standing creative process of collaborative artistic relationship, resulting in performative, print and media-based installations and interventions. Their work focuses on community-building, collaborative environmental activism and inventive approaches to political engagement and social justice struggles.
Founded in Milwaukee in 2011, the Overpass Light Brigade is a loose group of volunteers – activists, workers, teachers, parents, students and retirees who come together to create community action in public space using open-source, low-tech illuminated signs invented and developed by Moline and Hall. Falling somewhere between net roots activism, relational art, street theater, embodied poetry, and direct political action, members of OLB build meaningful collaborations relationships across communities.
As a result of viral dissemination and OLB’s community-focused, open-source ethos, more than 25 Light Brigade affiliates have formed across the United States and Canada. OLB has been the subject of an award winning short documentary short film, and has been featured in Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin’s upcoming “Be Visible” video series. OLB continues collaborations with such groups as Move To Amend, Planned Parenthood, March Against Monsanto, 350.org, The Sierra Club, Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort, Veterans for Peace, the Solidarity Sing Along, the Projection Action Network, and our own growing Light Brigade Network.
Leanne Gilbertson is an assistant professor of art history and director of the Northcutt Steele Gallery at Montana State University, Billings. She earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in visual and cultural studies from University of Rochester, where her studies were supported by a Jacob K. Javits fellowship and Henry Luce Foundation dissertation grant. Prior to joining the faculty at MSUB, she held teaching positions at University of Pittsburgh, Sam Houston State University, and University of Toledo. She has served as curatorial assistant at the Andy Warhol Film Project, Whitney Museum of American Art and has worked in various capacities at MASS MoCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art), and University of Iowa Museum of Art. She has been invited to present her research at a number of regional, national, and international conferences and art institutions, and her writing on contemporary art and visual culture has been published in Art Journal, InVisible Culture, Pastelegram, and Rhizomes: Cultural Studies in Emerging Studies.
About the UCCS Galleries of Contemporary Art
GOCA is a regional hub of contemporary art, culture, and conversation. GOCA invites participation by UCCS students, faculty, staff and Pikes Peak Region community members in contemporary culture creation and dialogue by curating innovative interdisciplinary contemporary art exhibits, hosting artist and expert talks, and producing meaningful events in two gallery spaces.
About the UCCS Visual and Performing Art Department
UCCS’ cross-disciplinary Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Innovation degrees in Visual and Performing Arts encourage innovative collaboration between art history, film studies, gallery and museum management, music, theatre and visual art. The degrees are structured to ensure development of depth in a primary concentration and breadth by taking courses in other disciplines. Through scholarship, performance, and instruction in studio art, film, museum studies and gallery practice, music, and theatre students engage in an investigative approach to the arts, which inspires creative practice, critical thinking, and an expansive dialogue about contemporary art.
About UCCS
The University of Colorado Colorado Springs, located on Austin Bluffs Parkway in Colorado Springs, is one of the fastest growing universities in the nation. The University offers 37 bachelor’s degrees, 19 master’s and five doctoral degrees. UCCS enrolls about 10,500 students on campus annually and another 2,000 in online programs. For more information, visit www.uccs.edu.