Everything Nac

An exhibition of work by artist Juan de Dios Mora will show Jan. 26 through March 9 in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

The exhibition will feature Mora’s finely detailed block prints – some printed with a single color and others featuring multi colors, according to John Handley, director of galleries for the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art.

“Much of the work reveals the artist’s Mexican culture combined with his experience as an immigrant and American citizen living near the border,” Handley said. “Economic, social, political and cultural issues interplay in a poignant dialogue that includes tragic, humorous and absurd situations.”

Born in Yahualica, Mexico, Mora and his family immigrated to the U.S. in 1998 when he was 14. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in painting in 2009 and a Master of Fine Arts specializing in printmaking in 2011, both from the University of Texas at San Antonio. He is senior lecturer in the art department at UTSA.

Handley first met Mora when the artist was on the SFA campus giving a lecture in the print studio.

“What captured my attention when I saw his prints was the sheer beauty of his work – amazing in detail, with incredible mastery of line, depth, perspective and composition,” Handley said. “There were stunning examples of block prints, some simply printed with black ink, and some multi-colored ones, too. Only after spending time admiring the technical aspects of his work did I begin to notice the content.”

The artist will be present for the exhibition’s closing reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, March 9.

The show is sponsored in part by the SFA Friends of the Visual Arts, the Nacogdoches Junior Forum and the Texas Commission on the Arts, which is the state affiliate for the National Endowment for the Arts. Admission is free for all art exhibitions and receptions.

The Cole Art Center, SFA’s historic gallery, is located at 329 E. Main St. For information, call (936) 468-1131.

Members of Stephen F. Austin State University’s Hunger Jacks organization and volunteers collected more than 620 items during a food drive as part of the university’s Martin Luther King Day of Service on Jan. 16.

The collected food will be stored in the Food for Thought Food Pantry on the university’s campus, which provides supplemental healthy food to SFA students who are experiencing food insecurities.

Hunger Jacks is a student organization that operates the pantry and works to alleviate hunger in Nacogdoches and at SFA by working with SFA Dining Services and by raising awareness, food and funds through food drives and events.

Tamia Garrett, a SFA Houston sophomore and Hunger Jacks treasurer, helped collect donations around campus and was pleased with the drive’s success.

“It always makes me happy when we get donations to stock the pantry,” Garrett said. “I see a lot of people who need the pantry. It’s exciting when the pantry is full because people can get items they normally wouldn’t be able to.”

Thirty students participated in the food drive by collecting items from various departments on campus. The targeted food items were rice, rice sides, pasta, pasta sides, macaroni and cheese, spaghetti sauce and spices.

Joy Hammonds, Hunger Jacks adviser, served as the site coordinator for the drive and said participation in SFA’s MLK Day of Service provided a multitude of opportunities for students, including bringing awareness to hunger and food insecurities as they relate to college students and the community while stocking the pantry for the upcoming semester.

“It was an opportunity for students to get involved in a service project that impacts their peers,” Hammonds said. “This project allows the entire SFA campus to become part of a program that directly impacts our students. Whether they are volunteering, utilizing the food pantry or both, I have seen the difference Food for Thought has made.”

The Food for Thought Food Pantry is open from 3 to 6 p.m. Mondays and is located on the third floor of the Baker Pattillo Student Center, Room 3.201.

Students must bring their SFA campus ID to receive food and must check-in when collecting items. Students can visit the pantry once a week. The pantry is supported by charitable contributions and donations, and food drives occur year-round to help keep the pantry stocked.

An exhibition of works by the late Andy Warhol will open with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26, in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

The exhibition – Andy Warhol: Art Is Anything You Can Get Away With – will feature a small slice of the artist’s enormous oeuvre, in particular, his “Silver Clouds” – helium-filled silver clouds that drift in the air, according to John Handley, director of galleries at Stephen F. Austin State University.

According to information found at www.warhol.org, “‘Silver Clouds’ continually surprises viewers’ expectations and is the result of a collaboration between artist Andy Warhol and engineer Billy Klüver. Exhibited in 1966 at the Leo Castelli Gallery, ‘Silver Clouds’ created an ethereal, joyful atmosphere, and challenged traditional expectations of art by mingling with and touching the viewer. Klüver’s knowledge of technology helped bring Warhol’s vision to life. The engineer recalls that their original plan was to somehow make floating light bulbs, but that when his research group at Bell Labs showed Warhol a sample of the material scotchpak – a metalized plastic film made by 3M that could be heat-sealed – he is reported to have said, ‘Let’s make clouds.’ The clouds, filled with helium and oxygen, floated through the gallery on air currents, bumping into each other and into viewers in the space.”

“The premiere of ‘Silver Clouds’ at the Castelli Gallery was accompanied by Warhol’s now iconic wallpaper, in this case, his silkscreen pink cow heads on yellow background,” Handley said. “For the exhibition at the Cole, a portion of this original presentation will be recreated.”

The exhibition will also include three of his large screen prints and several of his Polaroid photos.

An American artist who was a leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol’s works explore the relationship between artistic expression, celebrity culture and advertisement that flourished by the 1960s.

“To this day, Warhol’s influence on American art is studied and analyzed by art historians,” Handley said.

Warhol first worked as a commercial illustrator for magazine and other publications. He later became a renowned, often misunderstood and sometimes controversial artist, Handley said. He worked in many types of media, including drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, silkscreen, sculpture, film and music.

“His studio, know as The Factory, was a well-known gathering place that attracted both distinguished intellectuals and those on the fringe of society,” Handley explained.

This exhibition is made possible by the The Andy Warhol Museum, The Andy Warhol Foundation and Texas Christian University. It is sponsored in part by the SFA Friends of the Visual Arts, Nacogdoches Junior Forum and the Texas Commission on the Arts, which is the state affiliate the National Endowment of the Arts.

The Cole Art Center, SFA’s historic gallery, is located at 329 E. Main St. For more information, call (936) 468-1131.

The School of Theatre at Stephen F. Austin State University will join hundreds of other theatre communities across the nation – from Broadway to regional theaters to high schools and colleges and community theaters – on Thursday, Jan. 19, by participating in The Ghostlight Project.

Inspired by the tradition of leaving a “ghost light” on in a darkened theatre, artists and communities will make or renew a pledge to stand for and protect the values of inclusion, participation and compassion for everyone – regardless of race, class, religion, country of origin, immigration status, (dis)ability, gender identity or sexual orientation, according to information at theghostlightproject.com.

Gathering at 5:30 p.m. on and around the veranda of Griffith Fine Arts Building on the SFA campus, participants will join in a collective, simultaneous action, literally and figuratively bringing light to the darkness, according to Dr. Rick Jones, professor of theatre and interim director of the SFA School of Theatre.

Jones explains that, “This is about respecting and valuing those who are different from us in terms of demographic profile, but it’s also about extending that same concern for those who disagree with us philosophically or politically.

“As theatre people, we understand that you don’t have to be a monarchist to appreciate Racine, or a Communist to appreciate Brecht, or a Hindu to appreciate Kalidasa,” he said. “But sometimes it’s harder to translate that into our everyday lives.”

The public, especially but not exclusively members of the arts community, is invited to attend. Attendees should bring a light that can be readily turned on and off – a cell phone flashlight, regular flashlight, glow stick, etc. Promptly at 5:30, all will light their lights together in a show of solidarity, Jones said.

As of Jan. 13, 42 states had indicated on the project’s Facebook page that theatre communities within those states had partner groups planning to participate.

The national project aims to create brave spaces that will serve as lights in the coming years, and to activate a network of people across the country working to support vulnerable communities.

Visit theghostlightproject.com for more information. Locally, contact the School of Theatre at (936) 468-4003.