Everything Nac

“The Devil You Say! The Saintly, and Not So Saintly, in Folk Art,” an exhibition that explores folk art and its relationship to religious and cultural traditions, will open with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

The exhibition, curated by Michael T. Ricker, features a variety of works, including paintings, printed matter, bottles with wooden sculpture inside and sculpture in various media, including pottery, wood, metal, shell, straw work, coconuts, bone, stone and cast iron.

“Although some of the work is quite serious in nature, there are also examples that are playful and poke fun with a sense of humor,” said John Handley, director of art galleries for Stephen F. Austin State University. “Many items in this exhibition are rarely displayed outside of private collections, including early examples that date from the late 18th and 19th centuries.

“All works can be understood to some degree as religious in nature, from depictions of the crucifixion and saints to those of mythical devils and characters,” he added.

In the introduction to the catalogue for the exhibition, Handley explains that for centuries “people have been fascinated with the depiction of holy individuals, as well as monsters and devils, pitting the longing for piety and morality against a pantheon of temptations and evildoers.”

Handley goes on to write: “Christian icons as early as the 7th century show little devils pulling saints from a ladder as they strive to ascend heavenward. Such notable artists as Hieronymus Bosch and Michelangelo devised nightmarish scenes of hell where the condemned are in a state of constant torment, while in other scenes the saintly live on in bliss. ‘The Devil You Say!’ explores this rich iconography through the world of folk art, most of which was made by unknown craftsmen.”

“The Devil You Say! The Saintly, and Not So Saintly, in Folk Art” will show in Reavley Gallery through Jan. 16. Opening the same night are two other exhibitions, including “The Tenderness of Egocentrism: Drawings by Manuel Miranda” in the Reception Gallery and “25 Veinticinco: Mexican-American Prints from UT San Antonio” in Ledbetter Gallery, both of which run through Jan. 2.

The exhibitions are free and open to the public. They are sponsored in part by the SFA Friends of the Visual Arts and the Nacogdoches Junior Forum.

The Cole Art Center is located at 329 E. Main St. For additional information, call (936) 468-1131.

The pen and ink drawings of Mexican artist Manuel Miranda will be featured in an exhibition that opens Saturday, Oct. 24, in the Reception Gallery in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

“The Tenderness of Egocentrism: Drawings by Manuel Miranda” opens with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Joseph M. Bravo curated the show.

“These pen and ink drawings reflect a discrete body of work within the artist’s oeuvre,” writes Bravo. “These artworks represent a series of archetypal characters that are a satire of the follies of the human condition. Dancers, butterfly catchers, jugglers, performers and other eccentrics are examined as an exploration of the diversity of the human experience and the fracturing of caricatured identities that imply the risk of madness.

“The figures are both the observers and the observed, self aware yet delusional, conflicted in their identities and their relationships to each other,” Bravo continues. “They examine the dualistic nature of humanity and its inherent contradictions between egocentrism and social engagement. They function as an emotional X-ray rendered in an intuitive style that reflects the immediacy of unfiltered gesture produced through noncognitive automatism.”

“The Tenderness of Egocentrism: Drawings by Manuel Miranda” shows through Jan. 2. Opening the same night are two other exhibitions. “The Devil You Say! The Saintly, and Not So Saintly, in Folk Art” will show in Reavley Gallery through Jan. 16, and “25 Veinticinco: Mexican-American Prints from UT San Antonio” will show in Ledbetter Gallery through Jan. 2.

The exhibitions are free and open to the public. They are sponsored in part by the SFA Friends of the Visual Arts and the Nacogdoches Junior Forum.

The Cole Art Center is located at 329 E. Main St. For additional information, call (936) 468-1131.

Two faculty members in the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music will perform when the InterHarmony International Music Festival opens the fourth of its New York Concert Series Friday, Oct. 16, in Carnegie Hall.

Dr. Jennifer Dalmas, associate professor of violin and viola, and her husband, Dr. Evgeni Raychev, cello instructor, will perform in the program “Between Worlds” at 8 p.m. Friday in the Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, New York.

The InterHarmony International Music Festival has been bringing together students, teachers and soloists from around the globe for almost two decades. For the opening night of the IIMF’s fourth annual concert series, Music Director Misha Quint presents a program that celebrates music’s role as a universal ambassador.

Dalmas and Raychev will present Maurice Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Cello, described as one of the great examples of the duo form. A conversational drama develops between the low and high voice, in which the roles of lead and accompaniment intertwine seamlessly. “They discuss polyphonically, disagree sharply, even as to the key, seduce and reject each other, moving imperceptibly but inexorably towards reconciliation in the final chord,” according to the program notes. The duo will also perform Mark O’Connor’s “F.C’s Jig.” “F.C.” stands for “Fiddle Concerto,” as the melody of this duet is taken from O’Connor’s well-known work.

The program also features Quint performing Dimitri Shostakovich’s Sonata in d minor for Violoncello and Piano, Op.40; violinist Yeon-Su Kim and Inga Kroll performing a selection of 10 of Luciano Berio’s Duetti per due violini; and pianist Washington Garcia performing Alberto Ginastera’s Piano Sonata No.1, Op.22.

A member of the SFA music faculty since 2003, Dalmas has performed with the Tallahassee, Jacksonville, and New World symphonies, the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra and the Apollo Ensemble. She has served as concertmaster for the Orchestra of the Pines and performed with other regional symphonies. An avid chamber music player, she has been a member of both the Alazan Piano Trio and East Texas Baroque. She and Raychev perform together as the Hachidori Duo.

Also a member of the SFA music faculty since 2003, Raychev is the founder of the Piney Woods Camerata, Piney Woods Youth Orchestra and a founding member of the Alazan Piano Trio. His newest endeavor is the foundation of the Cello Club in the fall of 2014, where cello enthusiasts of all ages are prepared online to gather together for a concert at SFA.

Stephen F. Austin State University’s SFA Gardens, in partnership with the SFA student chapter of the National Association for Interpretation, will host Nacogdoches Naturally Outdoor Adventures Day from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct. 17, at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center, located at 2900 Raguet St. in Nacogdoches.

The family-friendly event is designed to engage participants in the outdoors, and it includes a range of outdoor activities for SFA students and community members of all ages. Activities include outdoor cooking demonstrations, nature and tree identification hikes led by SFA graduate students, geocaching, and much more.

The outdoor event is free and open to the public.

For more information, call (936) 468-5586 or email Kerry Lemon, SFA Gardens’ assistant education coordinator and Nacogdoches Naturally project director, at lemonkb@sfasu.edu.