Visual and Performing Arts News

Keweenawesomefest April 17-18, 2015

Published April 16, 2015

Keweenawesomefest is an annual two-day music festival hosted by WMTU 91.9 FM. The event takes place in the McArdle Theatre on the second floor of the Walker Arts and Humanities Center on the Michigan Tech campus.

Beginning at 7 p.m. tomorrow, the evening will feature five local DJs in a night of electronic music. On Saturday, a variety of bands will perform including: Flitch, Ladders, The Lately, Valentiger and headliner Flint Eastwood. Doors open at 6 p.m., and the concert should finish up around midnight.

Members of WMTU staff and Michigan Tech’s Visual and Performing Arts majors are in charge of creating an amazing experience with projections, fancy lighting, awesome sound and the live video and audio stream of the event on WMTU’s website.

Tickets are $3 for one night or $5 for both nights. Tickets will be available at the door or for advance purchase from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. today in the MUB Commons by the food court.

Questions can be directed to WMTU’s head of marketing at wmtu-pr@mtu.edu.

From Tech Today, by WMTU-FM.

Lisa Johnson Art Exhibit at Kerredge Gallery April 9-30, 2015

Published April 14, 2015

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Assistant Professor Lisa Johnson (VPA) will have an art show titled “Macho-maynitch … (more or less)” in the Copper Country Community Arts Center (CCCA) through the end of April.

The opening reception will be Thursday, April 9, 2015, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Kerredge Gallery at the Copper Country Community Arts Center.

From Tech Today.

Lisa Johnson is a sculptor and collaborative artist living in Hancock. She states, “My practice explores our relationships to landscape and to one another. I am particularly interested in the hidden narratives that make up our sense of personal and ecological place. My work often asks: What is the space between us? And: What does it take to cross it.” In her work she combines quilting techniques with fragile papers that she makes from plant species to create ethereal installations.

Lisa Johnson is the Director of the Artist in Residence program at Iowa Lakeside Laboratory, a biological field station in Northwest Iowa, where she links artists, scientists, and community members to address the varied ecological concerns of the region. She received her MFA from The University of Iowa in 2012 and is an Assistant Professor of Visual and Performing Arts at Michigan Tech.

The CCCA is located at 126 Quincy St., Hancock.

From CCCA Facebook.

Art installation by Lisa Johnson opens TODAY, April 9, at Community Arts Center

Lisa Johnson is a sculptor and collaborative artist living in Hancock. In her work she combines quilting techniques with fragile papers that she makes from plant species to create ethereal installations.

She states, “My practice explores our relationships to landscape and to one another. I am particularly interested in the hidden narratives that make up our sense of personal and ecological place. My work often asks: What is the space between us? And: What does it take to cross it.”

Keweenaw Youth Symphony Orchestra at Calumet Theatre

Published April 8, 2015

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Spring Symphony Concert

KYSO:Keweenaw Youth Symphony Orchestra

Wednesday, April 15, 2015, 6:00 pm
Calumet Theatre

Free Admission

KYSO and Preparatory Strings present Bach, Beethoven, Sousa and more in a Spring Symphony Concert, directed by Dr. Milton Olsson, Michigan Tech Professor Emeritus.

For over 40 years, the Copper Country Suzuki Association (CCSA) has been teaching students in the Keweenaw Peninsula music. The mission of the CCSA is to enrich the lives of people with high quality, affordable music instruction for young artists of all backgrounds.

In the fall of 2002, the CCSA established the Keweenaw Youth Symphony Orchestra (KYSO). It is comprised of the more advanced string students and students from the local public school band programs and has grown to include more than 30 young artists.

The event is made possible through the continued support of Michigan Tech and Finlandia University.

Keweenaw Symphony on Tour!

Published April 7, 2015

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The Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra concludes its 44th season with a performance comprised entirely of concert suites: short multi-movement orchestral works that tells a story. The Golden Cockerel is based on a Russian fairy tale; L’Arlésienne is the incidental music to Daudet’s “The Girl from Arles;” Water Music is music written for King George I. The KSO performs this repertoire during its inaugural concert tour of Chicago in April 2015. More information is available online.

Thursday, April 16: Crystal Theatre (Crystal Falls, MI) at 7:30 pm

Friday, April 17: Algoma Performing Arts Center (Algoma, WI) at 12:00 pm [noon]

Friday, April 17: UW Oshkosh Music Hall (Oshkosh, WI) at 7:00 pm

Saturday, April 18: Beverly Arts Center (Chicago, IL) at 1:00 pm

Questions? Contact Joel Neves jbneves@mtu.edu

From TechAlum Newsletter.

Great Lakes Showcase Community Choice Award 2015

Published April 3, 2015

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This year’s recipient of the Great Lakes Showcase Community Choice Award goes to Ray Lahikainen for his painting “Destiny.” Ray Lahikainen has won the Community Choice Award for at least the last five years.

The runner up is Daniel Bennett for “Lighthouse at Sunset.”

Visit the Great Lakes Showcase for more Awards 2015.

Kathy Kosins, Renowned Jazz Vocalist, Presents a Jazz Vocal Master Class Friday, March 27, 2015

Published March 26, 2015

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Visiting Jazz vocalist Kathy Kosins will be giving a jazz vocal master class on Friday, March 27, from 4-5PM on the Rozsa Stage. She will work with three local vocalists, and demonstrate a variety of helpful information. This event is free and open to the public. She will be accompanied by members of the Michigan Tech Jazz Lab Band.

Ms. Kosins will perform in concert the following evening. Michigan Technological University’s Jazz Studies program presents the Don Keranen Jazz Memorial Jazz Concert with Special Guest Kathy Kosins at the Rozsa Center on Saturday, March 28, 2015, at 6:00 PM. Please note this time changed due to a possible Portage Lift Bridge Closure.

Kathy Kosins is an American singer specializing in jazz and R&B; she has shared the stage with many jazz greats, and most recently she performed with contemporary jazz legend Herbie Hancock. She is also an ASCAP award winning songwriter and modern abstractionist painter. Kosins has recorded several CDs under her own name and was first known as a singer of soul, rock, and pop singer having worked extensively with the bands Was (Not Was), Slingshot and recording artist Michael Henderson. In more recent years she has become an internationally known jazz singer; as a multi-media artist she also incorporates her painting into those live presentations. For more details: http://www.kathykosins.com/bio.php

Tickets are $13.00 for adults, $5 for youth (17 and under), and free for Michigan Tech Students with the Experience Tech fee. To purchase tickets, call (906) 487-2073, go online at rozsa.mtu.edu , or visit Ticketing Operations at Michigan Tech’s Student Development Complex (SDC), 600 MacInnes Drive, in Houghton. SDC box office hours are 8:00 AM – 9:00 PM, Monday-Friday, and 8:00 AM – 7:00 PM Saturday and 12:00 noon – 8:00 PM on Sunday. Please note the Rozsa Box Office is closed during regular business hours, and will only open two hours prior to show times.

For more details, please contact Michael Christianson, 906-487-2825, mchristi@mtu.edu.

Art in the Field: Reimagining environmental experiences as art, science and community

Published March 25, 2015

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Biological Sciences Seminar Friday

by Department of Biological Sciences

Lisa Johnson, assistant professor in Visual and Performing Arts, will present “Art in the Field: Reimagining environmental experiences as art, science and community” on Friday, March 27, 2015, at 4 p.m. in Dow 642.

Johnson will present selections of her work, the work of artists from the Lakeside Laboratory and hold a conversation about open collaboration in this talk.

For more information, visit the biological sciences website.

From Tech Today.

Undergraduate Research Expo 2015

Published March 23, 2015

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Undergraduate Research Expo at the Rosza Lobby

by Michigan Tech Honors Institute

The Undergraduate Research Expo was held Friday, March 20, 2015, from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Rozsa Lobby. Thirty undergraduates from twelve different departments and schools were represented this year. Their presentations and posters were evaluated by Tech faculty and staff, and everyone was invited to attend. The posters were displayed in the lobby until noon on Saturday, to coincide with Preview Day.

The Undergraduate Research Expo is sponsored by the Vice President of Research Office, and prizes are sponsored by the Provost’s Office.

From Tech Today.

Paul Kirby, Capturing the Soundscapes of Abbaye Peninsula

The Texture of Water for World Water Day

Published March 18, 2015

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Michigan Tech Celebrates World Water Day

Water is a natural resource none of us can live without. Every year, in recognition of this vital resource and the challenges it presents to people all over the world, Michigan Tech celebrates World Water Day. This year a week of activities are scheduled from March 19-24, in observance of World Water Day on March 22.

The World Water Day events at Michigan Tech are sponsored by the Michigan Tech Center for Water and Society, the Great Lakes Research Center, Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative, Keweenaw Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Keweenaw Land Trust and Michigan Tech Department of Visual and Performing Arts.

World Water Day will include the Art Exhibition:

“The Texture of Water”

Jamie Allen (painting), Tom Rudd (sculpture), Paul Rose (photography)

Introduction to the Art Exhibit
Monday, March 23 in GLRC 201 at 3:30 pm
Exhibit will run March 20 – April 24, 2015
Building Hours: 8 am – 8 pm, M-F

View the Poster

Awards Announced for Great Lakes Showcase 2015

Published March 2, 2015

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Awards for Best in Show, 2D, 3D, and Honorable Mention were revealed during the reception of the Great Lakes Showcase (GLS) on February 26, 2015, in the Rozsa Gallery. Award results are posted on the GLS website.

The showcase coordinator Sarah Fayen Scarlett was interviewed by Ashley Kirklen of TV6 and FOX UP.

The showcase continues until March 31, 2015, in the Rozsa Gallery. The gallery is open from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm on weekdays. The public is welcome to vote on the final award, that of Community Choice.