“Visual Learning: Transforming the Liberal Arts,” concludes with a vibrant multimedia performance on Sunday, Sept. 30 at 2 p.m. in the Weitz Center for Creativity Theater. “Sound and Vision” is curated by Nikki Melville, Carleton associate professor of music (and acclaimed composer and pianist), and features a diverse group of student artists using dance, film, computer graphics, and studio art to reinterpret and broaden the sensory experience. This performance is free and open to the public.
Melville explains, “I've been collaborating over the summer with Carleton student artists in dance, film, poetry, sculpture, painting and computer science; they have worked alone and in teams to create a series of artistic responses to my program of solo piano music.”
The piano music ranges from traditional Chopin and Debussy works, through new pieces by New Zealand and US composers John Psathas, Gareth Farr and Kenneth Frazelle, to selections from the Sonatas and Interludes for prepared piano by John Cage. “I haven't seen finished products from all the students yet,” says Melville, “but I'm already blown away by their creativity and incredibly inspired range of ideas.”
Student artistic collaborators include Carleton seniors Alexandra Price (Seattle), Eliza Dennis (Newton, Mass.), Djallal Yahia (Houston), Joey Fishman (Chicago), Eli Kamin (Minneapolis), Holly French (O Fallon, Mo.), and Megan Dolezal (Minneapolis); juniors Torre Edahl (Pittsburgh), Qwill Duvall (White Bear Lake, Minn.), and Ellie Schmidt (Denver); and sophomore Kelly Banker (Harvard, Mass.), along with recent Carleton graduates Anna Swanson ’12, Abigail Han ’12, and Hannah Button-Harrison ‘12.
“Visual Learning: Transforming the Liberal Arts” is the capstone event of the Visualizing the Liberal Arts (Viz) Initiative at Carleton, funded by a grant awarded to the College by the Mellon Foundation. Thanks to this unique initiative, in only three years Carleton College now stands poised, along with other like-minded colleges and universities across the nation, to seriously explore new ways of teaching and learning in the 21st century. The significance of this innovative approach to teaching and learning will provide the framework for a series of transformative conversations and exciting presentations reflecting the growing use of visual tools in higher education.
For more information, including disability accommodations, contact Aisling Quigley at (507) 222-5487 or by email at aquigley@carleton.edu. The Weitz Center for Creativity is located at 320 North Third Street in Northfield. Enter the Perlman Teaching Museum, Weitz Center for Creativity, at Third and College Streets.