Resource Theme Guides to selected programs from the Fall 2023 Visions & Voices program were created in partnership with USC Libraries faculty and staff. Look for recommended ebooks & readings pertaining to the people, performances and topics covered by these events.Visit the current season of: USC Visions and Voices Visions and Voices Theme Guides Image source: Dr. Melissa L. Miller "Hoose Library of Philosophy interior" Keith Haring: Art Is for Everybody (Theme Guide PDF) Date: Friday, August 25, 2023 at 1:15 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. Location: The Broad An Experience L.A. Event USC Libraries Contributor: Dr. Melissa L. Miller EVENT DESCRIPTION: USC students will take a guided tour of the first-ever museum exhibition in Los Angeles focusing on the art and life of Keith Haring (1958–1990). Known for his use of vibrant color, energetic linework, and iconic characters like the barking dog and the radiant baby, Haring’s body of work continues to dissolve barriers between art and life and spread joy—all while being rooted in the creative spirit and mission of his subway drawings and renowned public murals: art is for everybody. After the tour, students will have time to explore the museum on their own. Curated by Sarah Loyer, exhibition manager at The Broad, the expansive exhibition spans from the late 1970s, when Haring was a student at the School of Visual Arts in New York, through 1988, just two years before the artist died from AIDS-related illness. It features over 120 artworks and archival materials, including video, sculpture, drawing, painting, and graphic works, as well as public projects such as subway drawings and public murals. Haring’s participation in nuclear disarmament and anti-Apartheid movements are featured prominently, as well as art that addresses complex issues such as the environment, capitalism, religion, sexuality, race, and the proliferation of new technologies. Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Make Mend II: Unravel, Unwind (Theme Guide PDF) Date: Friday, September 8, 2023 at 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Location: Watt Hall (WAH), South Lawn Type: Workshop USC Libraries Contributor: Christina Snider EVENT DESCRIPTION: Carrying on the popular Make Mend series of workshops, the dean and members of the USC Roski School of Art and Design host three new events promoting mending, fabrication, and sustainability while highlighting the Wabi Sabi concept of embracing flaws and finding beauty in imperfection. USC Roski faculty, staff, and students will lead sessions on unraveling, spinning, weaving, stitching, needlework, and other techniques to renew, reuse, and repurpose textiles. 2.12 billion tons of fabric waste are dumped annually, but natural materials can be repurposed by fusing, weaving, or sewing. For the first workshop, participants are invited to bring old clothing or cloth (natural materials such as cotton, silk, or linen preferred) to be unraveled or shredded and transformed into skeins of usable textiles. The workshop will include a deconstruction circle, spinning circle, and community share area, and create inventory to be used in the second and third workshops. No experience is necessary, and light refreshments will be served. Workshop Facilitators: China Adams, assistant professor of teaching Sherin Guirguis, professor of practice, art, and design; chair of foundation Haven Lin-Kirk, dean; professor of art and design Brian O’Connell, assistant professor of teaching and design; co-chair of design Julia Paull, associate professor of teaching and art; chair of art 4D Alexis Zoto, assistant professor of teaching and design; co-chair of design This event is being held in conjunction with Green Week. For all Trojans, Green Week is your opportunity to learn more about USC’s sustainability framework, Assignment: Earth, and brush up on personal and professional actions that can help USC achieve its sustainability goals. Related Events: Make Mend II: Tools of the Trade Friday, November 17, 2023, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Watt Hall South Lawn For info, click HERE. Make Mend II: WORK + Materials Barter Fair Friday, February 23, 2024, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Watt Hall Courtyard and South Lawn For more info, click HERE. Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Organized by the USC Roski School of Art and Design. Co-sponsored by the USC Fisher Museum of Art, the USC Pacific Asia Museum, and the Office of Sustainability. What Is American: PUBLIQuartet (Theme Guide PDF) Date: Wednesday, September 13, 2023 at 7 p.m. 7 p.m.: Discussion with the Artists 8 p.m.: Concert Location: MacDonald Recital Hall (MUS 106) USC Libraries Contributor: Andrew Justice EVENT DESCRIPTION: “A perfect encapsulation of today’s trends in chamber music.”—The Washington Post The GRAMMY-nominated PUBLIQuartet will perform their latest album, What Is American, preceded by a conversation with USC Vice Provost for the Arts Josh Kun. Founded in 2010, the acclaimed New York City–based chamber music ensemble has received countless awards and accolades for its innovative programs, which range from 20th-century masterworks to newly commissioned pieces. PUBLIQuartet's reimagined classical works feature open-form improvisations that expand the techniques and aesthetic of the traditional string quartet. What Is American features creative and biting chamber improvisations on Oliver Wendell Holmes and Alice Coltrane, Vijay Iyer and Roscoe Mitchell, Tina Turner and Fats Waller, among others. According to the quartet, the concert program and album explore “the resonance between contemporary, blues, jazz, free, and rock-inflected music—all of which trace their roots back to the Black and Indigenous music that inspired Dvořák’s American String Quartet. Interrogating these traditions of our nation’s complex history, PUBLIQuartet attempts to connect the dots, illuminating the past, present, and future of American concert music.” Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Organized by the USC Thornton School of Music. Hip Hop 50: Celebrating Hip Hop Dance Scholarship (Theme Guide PDF) Date: Wednesday, September 20, 2023 at 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Location: Glorya Kaufman International Dance Center Type: Workshop, Performance, Diversity, Conversation USC Libraries Contributor: Javier Garibay EVENT DESCRIPTION: August 1973 is acknowledged as the critical moment of the emergence of Hip Hop, as innovated by Black and Brown youth in New York City. To celebrate Hip Hop’s 50th anniversary and dance in Hip Hop as a global phenomenon, the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, home to one of the nation’s largest contingents of faculty in higher education with Hip Hop dance expertise, will host a dynamic festival of panels, workshops, and dancing. “Celebrating Hip Hop Dance Scholarship” is the first of three parts. Schedule: 5–6 p.m.: A musical essay by DJ Lynnée Denise, 2022 Sterling Brown Visiting Professor at Williams College and founder of “DJ Scholarship,” who has re-positioned the role of the DJ from party purveyor to archivist, cultural custodian, and information specialist. 6–7 p.m.: Reception with food and drink. 7–8:30 p.m.: Hip Hop scholarship panel celebrating the publication of the Oxford Handbook of Hip Hop Dance Studies with editors Imani Kai Johnson and Mary Fogarty in conversation with USC Kaufman professors E. Moncell Durden and Naomi Bragin. 8:30–10 p.m.: Hip Hop dance workshops open to all (registration and liability waiver required). Related events: Celebrating Kinetic Innovation: A Birthday Party for Hip Hop Saturday, September 30 People’s Street Plaza, Leimert Park 3341 W. 43rd Place, Los Angeles, CA 90008 Get info HERE Celebrating Collaboration & Community Wednesday, October 4 Glorya Kaufman International Dance Center RSVP beginning Friday, September 1 at 9 a.m. Get info HERE Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Organized by artistic lead and curator d. Sabela grimes (Dance). Co-sponsored by the Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs and La CASA. This Is Not a True Story (Theme Guide PDF) Date: Friday, September 22, 2023 at 7 p.m. to 10:45 p.m. Location: Los Angeles Theatre Center Presented by Artists at Play and Latino Theatre Company An Experience L.A. Event USC Libraries Contributor: Javier Garibay EVENT DESCRIPTION: In partnership with the Latino Theater Company, Asian American theatre producing collective Artists at Play presents the world premiere of This Is Not a True Story, written by Preston Choi and directed by Reena Dutt. Discover what it takes to control your own narrative as Cio Cio from Madame Butterfly and Kim from Miss Saigon each find themselves locked in a time loop of their respective stories that (spoiler alert!) always end in suicide. How do they fight against the plots that they’re forced to repeat for eternity? And what would happen if a contemporary character joined their ranks? From the perspectives of the characters themselves, This Is Not a True Story humorously challenges the harmful representations and stereotypes that Asian women have suffered for generations. The play will be followed by a conversation with the artists and members of the creative team. Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Art, Activism, and Reproductive Rights: Creative Workshops, Panel, and March (Theme Guide PDF) Date: Saturday, September 30, 2023 at 1 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Location: Various Locations, University Park Campus Type: Workshop, Performance, Diversity USC Libraries Contributor: Ariana Varela EVENT DESCRIPTION: In the wake of recent laws that bar or limit access to safe and legal abortions and reproductive health services, a full day of activities will explore the potential for art to produce social and political change. The inspiring and empowering event will include creative workshops in animation, silkscreen and poster-making, DIY zines, choreography, drumming, and activist architecture; a public reading of Lisa Loomer’s Roe; a panel of artists discussing the relationship between art, activism, and creating change; and a march of solidarity and support of bodily autonomy and reproductive rights that will feature many of the items created in the workshops. Everyone is welcome and snacks will be provided. Along with a presentation by Dutch medical doctor, artist, and activist Rebecca Gomperts on Friday, October 27, this event is part of a series that serves as a call to action to promote bodily autonomy and reproductive rights through arts, activism, and dialogue. Schedule (subject to change): 1–2:45 p.m.: CREATIVE WORKSHOPS—SESSION I Radical Botanicals: Phytogram Image-Making Workshop Holly Willis, Chair of the Media Arts + Practice Division in USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, will lead a workshop drawing together ancient knowledge of the power of herbs for reproductive health with a cameraless filmmaking/photography technique. Our Bodies, Our Battleground: Animation and Projection Workshop Led by USC School of Cinematic Arts professor Lisa Mann and experimental animator Ruth Hayes, participants will create text + image animations using the ancient printmaking technique of frottage, or rubbing, and then project them onto USC architecture. DIY Design: Zine-Making Workshop Derek Christian Quezada Meneses, rare books librarian at the USC Libraries’ Department of Special Collections, will guide you through the process of creating your own zine, using a variety of mediums and techniques inspired by the rich history of independent activist publications. Public Reading of Roe Anita Dashiell-Sparks, Vice Chair of Performance, Associate Dean of DEI, and professor in USC's School of Dramatic Arts, hosts a reading of Lisa Loomer’s award-winning play about lawyer Sarah Weddington and plaintiff Norma McCorvey (“Jane Roe”) in the years following the historic Roe v. Wade decision. 3–4:45 p.m.: CREATIVE WORKSHOPS—SESSION II DIY Political Poster-Making Workshop USC Roski professor Sherin Guirguis and representatives from Self Help Graphics & Art will assist participants in creating handmade stencils to silkscreen as posters with vibrant inks. Empowering Rhythms: Drumming for Reproductive Rights Anindo Marshall of the USC Kaufman School of Dance will introduce participants to the concept of the drum circle while teaching basic rhythms steeped in African drumming practice. Participants will learn to drum in preparation for a post-panel march through the USC campus that settles into a drum circle and rally at Tommy Trojan/Hahn Plaza. Our Bodies Claiming the Space: Choreography Workshop USC Kaufman School of Dance professor Alison D’Amato and participants will create and perform a choreographic score as protest, investigating relationships between choreography, agency, and authority while paying homage to Lawrence and Ana Halprin’s RSVP Cycles. No dance experience necessary. Exploring Access to Reproductive Justice Syracuse University School of Architecture professor Lori Brown and Esther Margulies of the USC School of Architecture will lead exercises in creating access to reproductive health services through design. 5–7:30 p.m.: WHAT CAN BE DONE?—PANEL DISCUSSION, MARCH, AND RALLY An informative and empowering conversation will feature the diverse perspectives of practitioners in dance, visual arts, architecture, and theatre, who will share their strategies of intervention or exploration in relation to political and cultural structures around reproductive rights. Panelists will explore how different art forms provide different opportunities, as well as the different issues represented by artists and their communities. Panelists will include Paula Cizmar (USC School of Dramatic Arts, Institute for Theatre and Social Change), Nao Bustamante (USC Roski School of Art and Design), Lori Brown (co-founder of ArchiteXX/Syracuse Architecture), Marjani Forté-Saunders (USC Kaufman School of Dance), and Phung Huynh (Los Angeles Valley College). The panel will be followed by a march through the USC campus, culminating in a drum circle and rally at Tommy Trojan, where the art created throughout the day will be shown, projected, performed, and used as a call to action. Related Event: Rebecca Gomperts Discusses Art, Activism, and Reproductive Rights Friday, October 27, 2023, at 5:30 p.m. Ray Stark Family Theatre, SCA 108 For more info, click HERE. Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Organized by Patrick Corbin (Dance), Anita Dashiell-Sparks (Dramatic Arts), Sherin Guirguis and Amelia Jones (Art and Design), Evan Hughes and Lisa Mann (Cinematic Arts), and Esther Margulies (Architecture). Co-sponsored by the USC interArts Council.