Are you a student artist who has been working on a project this year? Do you enjoy hearing friends talk about their art? Student Engagement Arts and Media and Wellness are hosting lunch-time chats on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting on April 2. Join on Zoom to listen and learn about the Duke arts community from Duke artists.
If you are interested in hosting a talk, please email Francesqa Santos (francesqa.santos@duke.edu).
Listen and learn with Sarah Neff, current arts and media student development coordinator and Duke Divinity School and UNC Grad ’19, about improvisation and collaboration with questions and conversation to follow.
Listen and learn with Iliana Sun, MFA EDA ’20. Iliana is a biologist-artist telling stories using the camera. Her work focuses on advocating a scientific, objective, and behavioral understanding of the animals without romanticism and strives to tell stories through multiple perspectives and unveil the layers beneath those stories. Join us for a chat with questions and conversation to follow.
Listen and learn with Michael Betts II, MFA EDA ’20, and incoming courses director for the Center for Documentary Studies. Michael is a sound designer, podcaster, audio installation and exhibition curator, editor, and community activist who is “passionately fascinated by the story of the world around him.” Join us for a chat with questions and conversation to follow.
Listen and learn with Durham native Moriah LeFebvre, MFA EDA ’21, a mixed media artist. Moriah works in a range of media to explore various themes, including transience, identity, interpersonal connection, and home. Her artistic process often involves layering acrylic paint and a variety of materials to create a rich sense of texture and raised relief. Join us for a talk about Moriah’s Hometown (Inherited) exhibit currently on display at the Brodhead Center at Duke as well as a preview of new work and in-progress work in the series!
Listen and learn with Sujal Manohar ’20, double-major in Neuroscience and Visual Arts. Sujal doesn’t view her interests as mutually exclusive. She is especially interested in using the arts to better understand health conditions. This year, Sujal conducted several interviews with the Duke community about mental health experiences and created artwork based on these conversations for her Visual Arts Honors Thesis. Join us for a chat with questions and conversation to follow.
Listen and learn with Ashleigh Smith, a senior majoring in Art History with a concentration in Museum Theory and Practice. As a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow, Ashleigh has been researching contemporary black women’s self-portraiture for the last two years. Her research has culminated in her senior honors thesis entitled “A Self-Defined Sex-Being: Self-Portraiture as Black Feminist Fantasy for the Purpose of Black Feminist Liberation” and an online art exhibition through the Nasher Museum of Art entitled Dreams of Defiance: Black Feminist Fantasy and the Direct Gaze. Originally intended for the Academic Focus Gallery in the Nasher, Ashleigh has diligently reconfigured the project through an online interface due to COVID-19. Join us for a chat with questions and conversation to follow.
Listen and learn with artist Mao Wei, MFA EDA ’20. Her artwork creates realms that explore mediation and representation in the real world and critique the functions of various media production approaches through photography, sculpture, installation, and mixed media. These artificially include her reflections on virtual reality, dream, and uncertainty. Join us for a chat with questions and conversation to follow.
Listen and learn with Zaire McPhearson, MFA EDA ’20. Zaire is a multidisciplinary artist who works across various mediums and platforms. Her strong upbringing in the church led her to the exploration of African American entities through religion and faith. In her thesis titled A Fall From Grace, Zaire explores a multi-layered story of black women who fell victim to a cult during the early 1970s through the early 2000s. The group known as “The Prayer Band” would control their lives for over two decades. Join us for an extraordinary chat with questions and conversation to follow.
