Arts: Performances / Residencies
Of John Cage and An Amplified Cactus
Composer-poet Christopher Shultis performed a remarkably moving piece
for amplified cactus in response to Fine Arts Professor Hee Sook Kim's mixed-media exhibition "Spiritual Medicine." (4:13)
Get the Flash Player to see this clip.
HHC welcomes suggestions for staging arts events, including performances, short-term (3-5 day) artist residencies, and exhibits. In particular, we seek:
- Performances and experiences that are framed by conversations with performers, artists, and critics;
- Events that allow for sustained interaction with artists in several different settings, e.g., in the classroom, at the studio, in informal conversation, over several days, or at several points during a semester;
- Programs that relate to themes raised in other current Center iniatives, such as a Faculty Humanities Seminar, Working Group, or Curriculum Development Grant.
How to Apply
Use the 
Humanities Center Grant Application Form. In addition, more details should be included with these sorts of projects. Faculty sponsors/curators are encouraged to work with the Center staff to draft proposals with the following details:
- Audience, Curriculum, Programming
- Sponsoring or curatorial faculty member(s)
- Proposed visitor with title, affiliation, & evidence of distinction
- Proposed date(s) of visit & possible alternate date(s)
- NB: HHC cannot sponsor events held on Family Weekend or Alumni Weekend
- Proposed activities during visit, e.g., concert, performance, exhibit, lecture demonstration, classroom visit, public talk
- The visitor's history with the College (Has the vistor previously been to Haverford? If so, when?)
- Discussion of how this program relates to your work and how it might enrich the cultural life on campus or the work of your colleagues
- Material Concerns
- Technical requirements (Preferred location; capacity; A/V needs? Lighting? Stage set-up? Piano? Music stands? Green room facilities?)
- Budgetary Issues
- Opportunities for co-sponsorship with other funding sources
- Provisional budget including artist's fee, travel, technical support (sound, lights, materials), publications
- Provisional publicity ideas
Deadlines: Proposals for Spring 2010 events are due via email to Associate Director Emily Cronin at ecronin@haverford.edu by Friday, October 23rd, 2009. Proposals for events that require more advance planning are also welcome: for Fall 2010, Spring 2011, and beyond.
Some questions you might consider in your proposal:
- How does your proposal relate to current or past initiatives of the HHC? Does it, for instance, build upon themes raised in a Faculty Seminar, Curriculum Development Project, Working Group, or other initiative?
- How would this event serve as a point of inquiry for a concurrent course or research project in the Humanities? With what cultural (con)texts or interpretive modes does it grapple?
- What specific connections do you envisage among different departments or disciplines as a result of this visit? Have you approached colleagues about ways to collaborate around this event?
- Will the artists be available for pre-program lectures, lecture-demonstrations, classroom visits, or other events outside the theater, concert hall, gallery, or other presentation space?
- Have you contacted colleagues in Fine Arts, Music, or an appropriate field of language, literature, or social science about how the event might relate to curriculum and programming they are considering?
- Have you checked with Nancy Merriam (in the case of performing arts events), Matthew Callinan (in the case of fine arts exhibitions at the Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery, Stokes 102, or elsewhere on campus), for advice about your project and possible schedule? NB: The Center cannot sponsor events taking place during the College's Family and Alumni Weekends.
- Will the event have an audience beyond the Haverford College community?
- Can you think of local scholars, institutions, or cultural organizations with an interest in this event? How might we contact them?
- Do the Haverford College libraries own materials that might relate to this project?
The Hurford Humanities Center's annual Performance/Arts Series is supported by a generous grant from The Leaves of Grass Foundation. Funds from Leaves of Grass are intended support visits from distinguished artists, filmmakers, public intellectuals, musicians, dancers, and others, who not only offer significant presentations, but also lead small groups of faculty and students and even community members in sustained reflection on the meaning and significance of what they do. The Center Steering Committee is particularly committed to employing Leaves of Grass resources for events that challenge the campus community to fresh thinking about art and culture.
In a typical year, the Leaves of Grass Program provides two artist residencies, which may be arranged in cooperation with other departments, programs, and centers whose interests echo and enhance the Center's mission.
Past Performances/Residencies Contract All | Expand All
2009-10
-
The film explores the struggle of the people of the Narmada Valley against the big dams that threaten to submerge their lands and displace them from their homes, traditions and cultures.Learn more>
2008-09
-
Celebrating African American, Latin American and Native American traditions in concert music. This concert series is sponsored by the Guest Artist Series, the John B. Hurford ’60 Humanities Center, the Distinguished Visitors' Office, and the Native American Fund, in cooperation with the Arboretum Society, the Magill Library Special Collections, and the performance course Music 207: Topics in Piano. -
In the early eighteenth century, voluntary associations were enshrined at the heart of British public life. The philanthropy and sociability of these organizations underpinned a self-proclaimed “age of benevolence” - how may we account for this moral valorization of civil society in Britain? Presented by The Library, Hurford Humanities Center, and the Office of Alumni Relations. -
A fresh perspective on Benjamin Franklin, who died as president of the abolitionist society without ever freeing one of his own slaves. Sponsored by the Center for Peace and Global Citizenship, the Hurford Humanities Center, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Office of Quaker Affairs, and the Women’s Center. -
The John B. Hurford '60 Humanities Center presents “An Evening with Madame F”, a musical drama by Claudia Stevens, visiting scholar/artist at the College of William and Mary. The performance will take place November 9, at 3 p.m. in Marshall Auditorium of Roberts Hall.
2007-08
Classical Manipuri Dances of India, a dance residency with Padmashri Darshana Jhaveri & Group. A classical Manipuri dancer, research scholar, and teacher, Darshana led an array of master classes and demonstrations; her troupe featured Pankhuri Agrawal '06, who has studied extensively at Jhaveri's school in India.
V.S. Narasimhan. violinist and Composer-in-Residence, offered workshops on South Indian classical music and led a student string quartet in a performance of his recent and highly original "fusions" of South Indian and Western classical music.
"Foreigner," a one-woman play written and performed by Anisa George, depicted how faith, identity and culture clash, as she reenacted her upbringing and solo journey to Islamic Iran in search of her Bahá'i roots.
Composer-poet Christopher Shultis performed a remarkably moving piece for amplified cactus in response to Fine Arts Professor Hee Sook Kim's mixed-media exhibition "Spiritual Medicine."
Poet Roger Nonair-Agard came to campus in conjunction with the College's Women's Center for a reading of his work as part of Black History Month.
2006-07
Tempesta di Mare
October 29 – Tempesta Di Mare Residency Concert:
"Heroes, Lovers and Villains", soprano Michael Maniaci sings arias for Handel's leading men, Roberts Hall, Marshall Auditorium, 3 p.m.
April 1 – Tempesta Di Mare Residency Concert: "Hoshanna!: Hebrew Music of the High Baroque," second of two concerts, with Chamber Singers of HC and BMC
"The Flying Words Project"
The Humanities Center funded the bringing Deaf poets "The Flying Words Project" to Haverford as the closing event for the College's "Representing Disability: Theory, Policy, Practice" conference.
"Dead Genius Productions—"It or Her"
HHC sponsored a production of "It or Her" by alumni theater group Dead Genius Productions as part of a weekend long residency (including a rigorous two-day workshop held in the GIAC's new multi-purpose room).
Japanese Music Series
February 3 - A hands-on Taiko (big drum) Workshop with Stuart Paton Sensei of the Burlington Taiko Group from Vermont.
February 15 - James Nyoraku Schlefer and Ensemble East.
"Tales of a Few Cities," Drawings and Sketchbooks by Barry Nemett at Haverford College.
The exhibit consisted primarily of large-scale, multi-paneled drawings derived from places where the artist has lived – in the U.S., France, and Italy. Although the images are a result of direct observation, many of these drawings bring together locations from each of the countries to form a unified, seemingly realistic, yet altogether invented landscape. Also including some of his sketchbooks in the exhibit, Nemett served as artist-in-residence with the Haverford Fine Arts Department on September 18th and 19th and November 28th and 29th. The residency included several artist talks, a Philadelphia art tour, and a landscape workshop and advanced critique session with Fine Arts students.
Events:
September 18, opening reception
September 19, talk: Barry Nemett's work in relation to literature, poetry, and film
November 29, talk: "Storytelling Without Words: How Paintings Speak"
"Printmaker-in-Residence: Tomie Arai"
Arai's exhibit of mixed media prints in Stokes 102 examined issues of cultural identity, exploring what she calls "the role that memory plays in the retelling of a collective past." Utilizing autobiography, family stories and photographs, historical material and oral histories, Arai "constructs narratives and pages of 'living' history…to establish a personal sense of place and continuity." Her residency at Haverford—hosted by Fine Arts Professor Hee Sook Kim—included an Artist Talk, two critiques, and a printmaking workshop.
Events:
Opening reception, April 17
Workshop, Solar plate imaging, April 16
Critiques, April 16 & 18
Artist talk, April 18
2005-06
The Humanities Center funded the bringing of playwright, actress, and performance artist Sarah Jones to Haverford to stage a preview of her Tony Award-winning performance in "Bridge and Tunnel" (opened in January 2006) as the kick off event for a three-day Unity Fest. Her performance was followed by a question and answer session and dinner with students and members of the Unity Fest Committee in the Dining Center.
Ustad Mahwash and Ensemble Kaboul brought to Haverford the rich musical tradition of Radio Kaboul, the state radio that flourished in Afghanistan before the arrival of the Soviets and the Taliban. Ensemble Kaboul features singer Ustad Farida Mahwash, who is recognized as the greatest female singer of Afghanistan. Also supported by the Kessinger Family Fund for Asian Performing Arts and the Leaves of Grass Fund.
Japanese Music series:
A hands-on Taiko (big drum) Workshop with Stuart Paton Sensei of the Burlington Taiko Group from Vermont, Marshall Auditorium, Roberts Hall.
James Nyoraku Schlefer and Ensemble East, performed a mix of traditional and contemporary pieces for shakuhachi (bamboo flute), shamisen (Japanese banjo) and koto (Japanese zither) in MacCrate Recital Hall, Union. Called "A Master of the Shakuhachi" by The New York Times, James Nyoraku Schlefer is a leading performer and teacher of shakuhachi in New York City.
2004-05
Flying Words Project
A collaborative performance using mime, body and sign language, and voice, featuring Peter Cook, a poet and storyteller who is deaf and signs, and Kenny Lerner, a professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, who is Peter Cook's hearing voice. The performance was in conjunction with a Tri-Co conference, "Signs and Voices: Language, Arts, and Identity from Deaf to Hearing," Faculty Sponsor: Kristin Lindgren, Visiting Lecturer in the Writing Program
Four Horizons Quartet
An afternoon of chamber music featuring Olivier Messiaen's "Quartet for the End of Time," Ingrid Arauco's "Fantasy-Quartet," and Erwin Schulhoff's "Duo for Violin and Cello, Marshall Auditorium, performed by Charles Abramovic (piano), Allison Herz (clarinet), Karen Bentley Pollock (violin), and Michal Schmidt (cello). The program featured a pre-concert talk by Jerry Levinson, who is Professor of Music at Swarthmore College and a leading American pupil of Messiaen's, about "Quartet for the End of Time." The piece was composed during the winter of 1940-41, when the composer was a prisoner of war at Gorlitz in Poland. The work was written for performance by the composer and three fellow musician inmates and its premier took place in the camp. Faculty Sponsor: Richard Freedman, Professor of Music
Printmaker in Residence Series
Faculty Sponsor: Hee Sook Kim, Assistant Professor of Fine Arts
October 4-9, Kelly Reemtsen, California based print maker
October 5, 4:30 p.m., Artist Talk, Chase Auditorium: "Lifestyle in the 50s, 60s and 70s"
November 16-21, Gloria Escobar, Columbia-born print maker
November 17, 1:30 p.m., Book Binding Demonstration, Arnecliffe Studio and at 4:30 p.m., Artist Talk, Chase Auditorium: "From the Parts to the Whole"
February 21-26, Jackie Battenfield, artist, curator, arts administrator, teacher
February 22, 4:30 p.m., Artist Talk, Sharpless Auditorium: "Day Burn," about the artist's prints and paintings, and their interactive relationships
March 28-April 2, Lisa Makie, New York based printmaker and painter
March 30, 1:15 p.m., Xerox Printmaking Demonstration, Arnecliffe Studio
March 29, 4:30 p.m., Artist Talk, Chase Auditorium: "From Book to Installation"