For this installment of our “Artists as Researchers” series, we profile Brittany J. Green, a Ph.D. student in music composition and the current director of the Duke New Music Ensemble. She worked with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to record her latest orchestral work, “Against/Sharp,” which explores the relationship between music and Black feminist theory; it will premiere online in January 2022.

Morgan Biele '23 shares a piece she wrote for Duke Medical Ethics Journal, an undergraduate-led publication that features students' voices in blogs and articles that center ethics in dialogue with medicine. “I’m extremely passionate about how art depicts health and well-being, and in turn how health and well-being inform art,” Biele shares.

Students in Shambhavi Kaul's "Expanded Cinema" course created immersive, large-scale installations in the Rubenstein Arts Center in Fall 2021. Their work demonstrates the value of designated spaces for instructional arts learning, experimentation, and practice.

Support NC artists this season! Use our guide to find where to buy art by local artists in Durham (or online). 

For the 2021-22 Doing Good grant cycle, Duke Arts is partnering with the Office of Durham and Community Affairs to support community-led art projects that have a positive impact on Duke’s fourteen partner neighborhoods.

Professor of music Scott Lindroth, whose new work ”T120” will premiere this Saturday, Oct 9 in Baldwin Auditorium, shares his thoughts on music-making during the pandemic and the long-awaited return to live, in-person performances. “I think it's heightened emotions for all of us in the performing arts to be able to be back on stage again, realizing how special that ritual is,” he shares.

This summer, Lizzy Kramer '22 worked with Durham-born artist John Felix Arnold III on one of his recent installations, “Reimagining Cerberus,” which calls attention to the human impact on climate change. We invited Kramer to share her reflections on the experience, including her belief in the ability of art to pose questions and challenge perceptions.

Three Duke alumnae share how they split their time at Duke between rigorous science courses and a steadfast passion for dance. “When I got to college, it wasn’t really a question of whether or not I would continue to dance as I pursued a career in medicine,” Gabby Cooper '20 said. “It was how I could make both of them work.”

Over the course of the Spring 2021 semester, visiting artist Carl Pope worked with students to bring “The Bad Air Smelled of Roses” (2004—), his ongoing installation about the presence and function of Blackness in society, to Duke's campus. This silk screen and wheat paste iteration is on view at the Rubix until December 1.

We showcase the work of this year’s graduating cohort in the MFA in Experimental and Documentary Arts program in this special series of interviews. Fellow artists, MFA EDA alumni, faculty, and mentors interviewed each graduating student about their thesis exhibitions, which are on view at Duke, in Durham, and online May 7 through June 5.

Jayne Yu Wang's “The Unfinished Utopia” is an installation of a fictional city, Fangchuan, at the border of China, Russia, and North Korea. Following a foreign flaneur’s diary, viewers will have the opportunity to explore the city through audio, photography, architectural design, Instagram posts, and ordinary objects in this city.

A Bass Connections team has created an art installation on view in the lobby of the Rubenstein Arts Center. “This project is emblematic of the integrative and synthetic thinking that society needs to tackle the wicked challenges of climate change and sea level,” says Betsy Albright, assistant professor at the Nicholas School.

On March 27, a group of Duke students painted a portrait of their friend, Raj Mehta, a member of the Class of 2022 who passed away in 2020, on the Campus Drive free expression tunnel. We share a statement from Shivam Patel ’22, Raj’s former roommate, about this painted tribute.

Duke Arts invites returning alumni—and anyone!—to enjoy these offerings from across our vibrant arts community. This year, there is arts every day of Reunions Week!

The Enviro-Art Gallery is an annual showcase of artwork that aims to bring awareness to environmental issues through visual media. Featuring a monthlong virtual gallery of over 600 works and 15 speaker sessions from April 5 to 10, students Cameron Oglesby and Isabel Wood share how this year's showcase has expanded in spite of the pandemic.

On April 15, 17 and 18, Duke Theater Studies will present its spring mainstage production, Medea. Directed by senior María Zurita Ontiveros and set designed by senior Ash Jeffers, Medea is the first mainstage Theater Studies has produced with students at its helm. The show will be performed in person and live streamed to virtual audiences.

A new book co-edited by Miguel Rojas Sotelo, adjunct professor and event coordinator at the Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies at Duke, is the first to put Sergio Sánchez Santamaría in context. On March 24, a panel conversation featuring the artist, celebrates the first edition release.

Lockdown poses many hurdles for artists, but it has not stopped Duke student filmmakers from making new work. In times of uncertainty, trust, working at smaller scales, and being true to yourself are essential.

Big Night In for the Arts, broadcast live on WRAL-TV on March 11, will raise funds to support the COVID relief work of four local arts councils. Duke Arts and Duke’s Office of Durham and Community Affairs are event sponsors. Join the performance and consider supporting our regional cultural ecosystem.

Multy Oliver ‘21 began interning with the Hayti Heritage Center last summer and loved the experience so much she continues to support programs remotely. In honor of the upcoming Hayti Heritage Film Festival, we invited Oliver to share her experience with one of Durham's leading arts non profit organizations.

Emma Steadman '22, co-founder and president of Runway of Dreams at Duke, shares the story of the club's founding and partnership with NCSU textile design students in advance of "Coming Together, Creating Change," a virtual adaptive runway show premiering Thu, Feb 11.

La Colombe Contemporary Glasswork is a homegrown fused glass studio born out of the pandemic. We catch up with Alex Sanchez Bressler '18, formerly arts administration fellow for Duke Arts, to learn about this family business.

Clay Sanders, who received a PhD in civil engineering from Duke in 2020, currently has a painting depicting a dance rehearsal on display in the Rubenstein Arts Center. He shares how making art has helped his career as an engineer and provided him with an outlet during difficult times.

Courtney Liu '13, MFA in Dance '21, shares "Blurring the Lines" created with undergraduate students in Intermediate Ballet. "Creative projects are still being made and it is more important than ever to share, engage with, and celebrate each other's work," shares Emma Geiger, MFA EDA '22, who collaborated on filming and editing.

Support NC artists this season! Use our guide to find where to buy art by local artists in Durham (or online). 

Gianluca Corinaldesi started his position at Duke just three weeks before COVID stay at home orders. Learning to play the piano with his sons has brought joy to the Corinaldesi family home. "[It] puts me in a good mood like few other things," he reflects.

Meet North Carolinian artist Antoine Williams, creator of a wheat paste and sound installation on a new temporary structure for public art behind the Rubenstein Arts Center.

William Paul Thomas is an artist based in Durham. He taught at Duke in 2017-2018 as the Brock Family Visiting Instructor in Studio Arts, was in residence at the Ruby in 2019, and frequently leads workshops with the Nasher Museum of Art and DukeCreate. In this profile, junior Dani Yan digs deeper into the "magnetic" portraits in Thomas's Cyanosis series.

Wondering which movies you should watch during winter break? Junior Brandon Xie has compiled a list of “The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time” using statistics from 23 different movie websites.

New books by Richard Powell and Tom Rankin are available at independent Durham businesses—just in case you're beginning to think about holiday shopping.

Meet the students behind the scenes of Duke Arts—from tour guides to social media superstars, each is an important advocate in supporting our work in growing the arts across campus.

Sofia Zymnis '21 shares a project started as a pseudo-autobiographical documentation of her own experience during lockdown that has now developed into a constantly-growing website, inviting people to share their own balcony community in order to grow a shared virtual one.

Jonathan Homrighausen, PhD '23, shares a calligraphic piece, "Heaven's Roof," inspired by the relationship to home during COVID-19.

Christine Doeg '87 shares the documentary film she produced called One Vote. This film captures the compelling stories of diverse Americans on Election Day 2016.

Brittany J. Green, Duke PhD student in Music Composition, shares "Connected," a short piece for viola, piano, and fixed media inspired by paradoxical feelings of isolation and mediated connectedness that many have experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Duke Performances Advisory Board Chair and Duke alumnus Ari Redbord reflects on the importance of the arts, particularly the impact and importance of the performing arts in this moment.

Dave Heaton '89 and Lucy Heaton discuss the connection between the arts, lifelong wellness, and how arts expand students' potential beyond the classroom.

Join NCLAFF virtually this year to watch films and join conversations reflecting on 35 years of Latin American and Caribbean films.

Duke Magazine's Scott Huler writers about a new Duke University MFA program that "endorses dance as a politically, socially, and spiritually transformative force in society."

Before the pandemic shut everything down, visiting artist John Felix Arnold was working with students to create a conceptual portrait of Durham—his hometown—in the Ruby.

Watch the Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba performance, which was filmed at the Greensboro Science Center and premiered online Sun, Sep 13.

Beverly McIver was asked to participate in political public art project led by People for the American Way, and it sparked a series of directly political paintings. McIver is Professor of the Practice in Duke's Department of Art, Art History and Visual Studies.

Robinson channelled his academic focus on environmental science and documentary studies into a film, “Louisiana’s Missing Coast”—it’s now a 2020 Student Academy Awards Finalist.

Alexandra Bailliere '92 reflects on the growth of arts at Duke over the past 30 years and shares a piece created during the coronavirus crisis.

When the coronavirus crisis led to an unexpected and impressive turn in the final project for Michael Faber's "Graphic Design in Multimedia" class. The result? A 50-page magazine about graphic design and staying connected called "Connectere."

Duke Dance instructor Glenna Batson shares a reflection on the role of movement and dance during the coronavirus crisis and the social distancing that comes with it.

Freelance and documentary photographer Denise Allen shares "My Son Matters," a photography exhibit comprised of portraits of African-American parents with their sons with accompanying statements. Allen created this exhibit to elevate and honor the relationship between African-American mothers and their sons while shining a loving light on the young men whose existence is often stigmatized.

This summer, we’re proud to present Music in Your Gardens, a free eight-week online concert series showcasing nationally renowned artists who call Durham and the surrounding area home. The series shifts Duke ...

"Dance reminds you and teaches you the infinite nuances of life.  Excitement and joy in life is not limited to the big bangs, the major earthquakes; it is also the light brush of grief or the gentle awareness of beauty.  Dance can teach, or reteach, us what that means," says Barbara Dickinson, Emerita Dance Faculty.

Amir Williams '18 shares her multimedia project "capturing the musical ensemble of the current protests and fight for lasting change" titled "with stringed instruments."

As the world retreated to virtual spaces, Duke MFAEDA graduate Laurids Andersen Sonne and a colleague turned a storage unit into a place for their friends and neighbors to have an intimate, in-person experience of art.

A new collection documenting our coronavirus spring by the MFA in Experimental and Documentary Arts community.

Corey Pilson '20 shares his photography series with the Duke Arts community to invite us "to see black men in a new light."

Bruzelius, a world-renowned expert on medieval architecture and Duke's Anne Murnick Cogan Professor Emerita of Art and Art History, is among 34 new members this year.

Vice Provost for the Arts Scott Lindroth reflects for the ongoing "Art and Artists Are Essential" series, writing: "One thing that I feel more urgently than ever before is the importance of making your own work. It brings us back to ourselves."

Katherine Jennings '84 shares oil paintings of downtown Durham created while contemplating the future of urban landscapes and profound change in city life due to the coronavirus crisis.

Talya Klein, who taught "Acting for the Camera" this spring, shares the class's final project, an original feature filmed titled "EMERGENCY CONTACTS" set in 2030 during a new, fictional pandemic that explores and incorporates present experiences during the coronavirus crisis.

Abhilash Sivadas shares a drawing of the goddess Durga he's created utilizing the sacred rhythmic measure known as Navatala, the use of Navatala, and how he views art as a tool to elevate consciousness.

Graduate student Stanley Sun shares an acrylic painting depicting social distancing that he painted to process the feeling of separation that comes with the coronavirus crisis.

Michelle Liang, a student in Professor Kelly Alexander's course Our Culinary Cultures (CA285S/DOCST 344S) shares her final paper for the course: "From MSG to COVID-19: The Politics of America’s Fear of Chinese Food."

Duke faculty teaching visual arts, music, and theater share how they navigated the move to online teaching. It wasn’t easy. Supplies were mailed, collaborative projects were reinvented. Transformations and solutions discovered this spring have expanded the teaching repertoire—even as we look forward to safely returning to studio and stage.

Todd Bashore '94 shares a multitrack solo performance of his transcription of Take 6's "A Quiet Place" as part of our call for "Art and Artists are Essential" collection and invitation.

Sophia Li shares her final photography project, "Food for Trash"—created for the course Ways of Seeing: Storytelling through Photography with Professor Charlotte de la Fuente Nørregaard (DIS Copenhagen)—which meditates on the meaning of food scraps during the coronavirus crisis.

Sarah Wilbur, assistant professor of the practice of dance, was teaching seminars on collaborative performance and valuing labor in the arts—just as the arts world entered a period of unforeseen challenges.

Student groups also found new ways to present their work, lifting each other up and offering an antidote for social distancing to the Duke community. We honor their inventiveness and hard work with this round-up.

Inspired by her travels around the world, Fuqua School of Business at Duke alumnus Inesa Preciado shares fine art landscape paintings she has created as a way to find escape and comfort in art during the coronavirus crisis.

Students in this documentary studies and cultural anthropology course taught by Kelly Alexander “opened their hearts and minds to cooking and eating ‘apart together.’"

Students in David Heid's piano studio recorded their recital pieces from their homes due to COVID-19 distancing measures, the resulting video is a virtual recital bringing these separate pieces together.

Inspired by the demand for toilet paper during COVID-19, Nancy C. Sampson created a satirical zine titled, "Make Your Own Toilet Paper," saying that especially during challenging times, humor can be a helpful resource.

Mia Bolognesi is a junior in high school who shares portraits she has created as a reminder that creating art can bring light even during dark times.

Donovan Zimmerman, founder and director of the collective of artists known as the Paperhand Puppet Intervention, shares the soulful and captivating experience of their summer 2019 performance, "We Are Here."

Ira Knight shares a performance of "From Myth To Man: Martin Luther King, An Interpretation," as recorded live at the Ruby earlier this year, as a reminder of our shared humanity to create better days ahead.

Kelly C. Tang, a PhD Candidate in Art History, shares mixed-media drawings on letters she's made for friends during the coronavirus crisis, sharing how snail mail has allowed her to focus on those connections and relationships.

James Budinich, a PhD candidate in Music Composition, is giving a talk with his artistic collaborator, Gabrielle Lamb, on creating work together, from a distance. James reflects on the strategies that helped them produce Plexus: a work in knots, "strategies that can benefit all artists in our post-COVID reality."

"Want to learn how to edit in Adobe Premiere? Make films from the comfort of your living room?" Browse Summer Session courses in the documentary arts (camera not always required)!

Ashleigh Smith, Nasher intern and Duke Class of 2020, was excited to organize a small exhibition at the Nasher Museum this spring. When the museum temporarily closed, she converted the installation to a multimedia online project, which includes a Spotify playlist and podcast episode. An extension of her senior thesis, the project is the product of two years of research.

Students share their Visual Arts capstone projects online in lieu of a physical exhibition.

“The radical nature of art, at least the truth of it that I have come to embrace, is its capacity for care, empathy, reciprocity, invitation and correspondence with others.”—Dario Robleto, artist based in Houston and member of the Nasher Museum’s Board of Advisors. The global pandemic reminds Robleto of his early years as an artist, when social distancing, seclusion and self-reflection came naturally to him.

In advance of their Duke Performances livestream concert on Wed, Apr 22, we asked Kate McGarry and Keith Ganz reflect on an unexpected move back to Durham and potential benefits of this slower time at home.

Lana Garland is a writer, filmmaker, photographer, instructor who shares photographs, writing, and her thoughts on the role of art during this time as part of our "Art and Artists are Essential" collection and invitation.

Jaylan Rhea, an interdisciplinary artist, shares his portrait photography as part of our "Art and Artists are Essential" collection and invitation.

Corbie Hill is a musician and staff writer at Duke Magazine who shares a song he wrote as part of our "Art and Artists are Essential" collection and invitation.

Debora Cordero Martinez, a sophomore at Duke shares her photography series that comments on the targeting of black people in the United States as part of our "Art and Artists are Essential" collection and invitation.

The Durham Medical Orchestra and community musicians collaborated in a virtual performance of a new piece by Durham composer Steven Bryant, sharing music and creativity as an important component to battling stress during the current pandemic.

Sujal Manohar is a senior neuroscience and visual arts double major whose senior Graduate with Distinction project in Visual Arts, Reflect: Mental Health Experiences at Duke, focuses on mental health experiences at Duke. She shares this work with us as part of our "Art and Artists are Essential" collection and invitation.

Oliver Greenwald is a first year studying Computer Science and Visual Arts while pursuing a minor in Psychology and an Innovation & Entrepreneurship certificate. He shares his digital artwork as part of our "Art and Artists are Essential" collection and invitation.

Instead of documenting Hillsborough, Susie Post-Rust and her Center for Documentary Studies students began documenting their experience of the current pandemic, questioning what it means to “Stay At Home.”

A violin instructor in the Department of Music, Jennifer shares a video of an outdoor performance.

In advance of his Duke Performances livestream concert on Wed, Apr 15, we asked Jake Xerxes Fussell to reflect on how the coronavirus crisis has impacted his work, and what he is finding reassuring.

Robin Yeh is a senior visual arts major who has completed an independent study and capstone project with Beverly McIver. She shares her artwork as part of our "Art and Artists are Essential" collection and invitation.

Christian Boada is a postdoctoral researcher at Duke University, and "the vizual scientist" on Instagram shares artwork as part of our "Art and Artists are Essential" collection and invitation.

Aaron Zhao, a visual arts and biology major, shares a video he made while sheltering safely at home as part of our "Art and Artists are Essential" collection and invitation.

Yukai Qian, a mechanical engineering and visual arts major and a math minor, shares photographs as part of our "Art and Artists are Essential" collection and invitation.

John Brown, director of the Duke University Jazz Program, says: "Remember that art and artists will still be there for us on the other side when we reach that light. Artists need us just as much as we need them."

Duke English Majors read poems for comfort.