SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford Theatre production of “Circle Mirror Transformation,” directed by associate professor of theatre Dan Day; the SoCon Undergraduate Research Forum; and art exhibitions highlight college events in November.
All events listed are open to the public and are free of charge unless otherwise noted. Please check the online calendar at the calendar.wofford.edu for frequent updates. For athletics events, please go to athletics.wofford.edu.
For more information, contact Laura Corbin at woffordnews@wofford.edu or 864-597-4180.
Friday, Nov. 1
All Saints Tolling of the Bells
12:15 p.m., Seal of Main Building
The college bell in Main Building will toll for all alumni and friends who have died in the past year. The Rev. Dr. Ron Robinson, Perkins-Prothro Chaplain and Professor of Religion, will lead a brief time of remembrance.
Saturday, Nov. 2, through Sunday, Nov. 3
SoCon Undergraduate Research Forum
All day, Roger Milliken Science Center (Great Oaks Hall and classrooms)
The SoCon Undergraduate Research Forum (SURF) consists of research and creative scholarly presentations in art, film, music, creative writing, science, humanities and social science. All 10 Southern Conference campuses will participate. For more information, go to www.soconsports.com.
Thursday, Nov. 7, through Saturday, Nov. 9
Wednesday, Nov. 13, through Saturday, Nov. 16
Wofford Theatre presents “Circle Mirror Transformation” by Annie Baker
8 nightly, Jerome Johnson Richardson Theatre, Rosalind Sallenger Richardson Center for the Arts
Wofford Theatre will present “Circle Mirror Transformation” by Obie Award-winning playwright Annie Baker. Directed by Dan Day, assistant professor of theatre, “Circle Mirror Transformation” takes place in the fictional town of Shirley, Vermont, where five characters from very different walks of life come together for an acting class. As the students and their eccentric teacher perform acting exercises together, they slowly come to make discoveries about themselves and about one another. The creative process engenders unexpected personal challenges for the group as relationships are tested and long-hidden truths are revealed. College student tickets are $3 with ID; faculty/staff tickets are $10; general public tickets are $15. Tickets may be purchased at www.wofford.edu/boxoffice/ or through the Wofford Theatre Facebook page to take advantage of the special online discount. Same-day online sales close at 5 p.m. each day, and the box office opens at 6 p.m. in the lobby of the Rosalind Sallenger Richardson Center for the Arts. Seating will be limited and by general admission only. Unclaimed tickets will be released to the public five minutes before showtime, and no admission will be permitted after the performance begins.
Wednesday, Nov. 13
Exhibit Talk: “50 and Forward: The Sandor Teszler Library Since 1969”
4 p.m., Martha Cloud Chapman Gallery, Sandor Teszler Library
(See exhibition description below.)
Wednesday, Nov. 13
Wofford Writers Series
Speaker: Poet Morri Creech,
7:30 p.m., Olin Teaching Theater, Franklin W. Olin Building
Award-winning poet Morri Creech will read and discuss his poetry. Born in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, Creech earned a B.A. at Winthrop University and an MA and MFA at McNeese State University. His formal poems engage human questions within a framework of biblical and mythical allusion. A reviewer for Library Journal praised Creech’s “sense of pacing and musicality,” observing that in “The Sleep of Reason” Creech “turn[s] over hard questions as he registers frustration with the human detritus of banks, businesses and weapons of war, but he finally comes back to the surety and beauty of the universe.” Creech’s collections include “The Sleep of Reason” (2013), the Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize–winning “Field Knowledge” (2006) and the Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Prize–winning “Paper Cathedrals” (2001). His work has been featured in “Poetry: A Pocket Anthology” (2005, 4th edition, edited by R.S. Gwynn) and “The Swallow Anthology of New American Poets” (2009, edited by David Yezzi). Creech’s honors include a Ruth Lilly Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, grants from the Louisiana Division of the Arts and the North Carolina Arts Council and a Southwest Review Elizabeth Matchett Stover Memorial Award. Creech has taught at Queens University of Charlotte and McNeese State University. He lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Wednesday, Nov. 27, through Friday, Nov. 29
Campus closed for Thanksgiving holiday; campus reopens and classes resume on Monday, Dec. 2.
EARLY DECEMBER EVENTS:
Tuesday, Dec. 3
Candlelight Carols and Lighting of the Menorah
6:30 p.m., Leonard Auditorium and seal of Main Building
The annual Candlelight Carols program will be held in Leonard Auditorium, led by the Rev. Dr. Ron Robinson, Perkins-Prothro Chaplain and Professor of Religion, then the Lighting of the Menorah will take place in front of Main Building.
Friday, Dec. 6
Last day of fall semester classes
GALLERY AND MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS
Through Saturday, Dec. 14
“Southern Gothic: Intersections of Art and Literature in the Johnson Collection”
Richardson Family Art Museum, upper level, Rosalind Sallenger Richardson Center for the Arts
From the unsettling novels of William Faulkner to the gritty short stories of Flannery O’Connor, the Southern Gothic literary tradition has exhumed the American South’s aberrations, contradictions, otherworldly landscapes and unique sense of dark humor. Drawing exclusively from the Johnson Collection, “Southern Gothic” examines how 19th and 20th century artists borrowed from their literary peers, using a potent visual language to address the tensions between the South’s idyllic visions and its historical realities. The exhibition is guest curated by Elizabeth Driscoll Smith, a Ph.D. candidate in the history of art at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the Johnson Collection’s 2019 graduate fellow.
Through Saturday, Dec. 14
“Props: Personal Identities in the Portrait Photography of Richard Samuel Roberts”
Richardson Family Art Museum, lower level, Rosalind Sallenger Richardson Center for the Arts
The term “props” brings to mind the objects used in the theater that help establish the meaning of a scene. In this theater context, the word is shortened from “properties,” things collectively owned by a theater group. But could the term also reflect the notion that props show “properties” of a character, offering layers of information and meaning to a viewer? “Props” is also a slang term, meaning “proper respect.” This show analyzes props in photographic portraits taken by Richard Samuel Roberts between 1920 and 1936 to see the way that the “props” – most often objects chosen by the sitters themselves – tell us something about the self-identity of the sitters. The objects chosen often underscore the proper respect due the sitters based on their attainments, but also can give insights – in an otherwise very formulaic genre – into the inner desires and predilections of the sitters. Props thus can help us see beyond the surface, or, perhaps conversely, can reify socially-agreed upon tropes.
Through Saturday, Dec. 14
“The Notion of Family” by LaToya Ruby Frazier
Richardson Family Art Museum, lower level, Rosalind Sallenger Richardson Center for the Arts
“The Notion of Family” celebrates the African-American identity of LaToya Ruby Frazier and her family in Braddock, Pennsylvania. In the photographs, Frazier documents her family and herself as a response to how African Americans have been ignored in Braddock’s history as well as American and global history. In several of these photographs, Frazier includes herself, which also challenges the traditions of the social documentary photography. Unlike the typical social documentary photographer who is detached from their subjects’ struggle, Frazier is a part of the same struggle her family experiences as African Americans who are not always acknowledged in their community and its history. In “The Notion of Family,” African Americans become focal points in history rather than footnotes or omissions.
Through Friday, Dec. 20
“Siendo Mujer: A Short Study of the Female Experience in South America”
Richardson Family Art Gallery, Rosalind Sallenger Richardson Center for the Arts
As Wofford College’s 35th Presidential International Scholar, Lydia Estes attempted to uncover the visual representation of “la mujer,” or the woman, in the South American countries of Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Peru. “Siendo mujer” means “being a woman,” and this exhibition represents the conversations she shared with resilient, creative women for whom art plays a significant role in their female experiences and vice versa. It is further a collection of their artwork and Estes’ photographs of these women, their spaces and moments that contribute to the story each is trying to tell through their work. Her research revealed more questions, such as how are women stereotypically portrayed in their societies? How are female artists confronting these images through their artwork, and how are the mediums they work in an aspect of their protest? And lastly, how will art change the female experience in future South American societies?
Special event: Artist’s Talk: 7 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 21, Lydia Estes
Through Friday, Dec. 20
“50 and Forward: The Sandor Teszler Library Since 1969”
Martha Cloud Chapman Gallery, Sandor Teszler Library
The Sandor Teszler Library celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. This exhibition showcases the life of the library.
Special event: Exhibit Talk: 4 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 13
Hours for Richardson Family Art Gallery and Richardson Family Art Museum:
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, 1-5 p.m.; Thursday, 1-9 p.m.; Sunday-Monday, closed.