UTC’s Awake and Engage(d) to screen film, “The Last Mountain.”

See this 2011, Sundance film selection, The Last Mountain by Bill Haney.   Here’s more on the film presented by Awake and Engage(d) documentary series:

Thursday, March 1st, we are proud to present a special session of Awake and Engage(d) examining  Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining. It may be no surprise that AwAE has wanted to feature Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining for some time now. It is an important and complex environmental issue. We are pleased to bring a bold film on the subject to our campus. The film is “The Last Mountain,” and it argues that the battle for a single mountain in an Appalachian valley affects most Americans while exhibiting just how Big “Big Coal” is. AwAE is pleased to welcome special guest host Sara Coffman, UTC Lecturer in English and Appalachian activist, who has been in contact with the group Appalachian Voices. Information about Mountaintop Removal can be found on their websites: www.appalachianvoices.org and www.ilovemountains.org. Information follows.

Note: as the series is growing, seating is often limited at our sessions. Admission is free (thanks to our generous sponsors). Hope to see you there; please email me with any questions.

When: Thursday, March 1st, 5:30-8:00 p.m.

Where: UC Raccoon Mountain Room

Host:  Sara Coffman

Film to be screened: The Last Mountain

Film website: http://thelastmountainmovie.com/film/

Cress Gallery Hosts ‘Okay Mountain’

In this segment, we’re talking to members of Okay Mountain, an artist collective based out of Austin, Texas.  Throughout February and March, their work will be on display at the Cress Gallery at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

From a Cress gallery press release:

 “Okay Mountain”

Exhibition dates: February 8 – March 20, 2012

 

Okay Mountain Artists’ lecture Wednesday February 8, 5:30 – 6:30pm, followed by a public reception. Okay Mountain visits campus and community for activities February 6 – 9, 2012 as a part of The Diane Marek Visiting Artist Series. Admission to all Marek events and the Cress exhibition is free and open to all.

Okay Mountain is an artists’ collaborative which in a few short years has burned an exhibition trail with acclaim and accolade from Miami to New Orleans, New York City to Los Angeles, and points between. Blending humor with irony, Okay Mountain creates work that weaves an engaging yet dead serious commentary about our contemporary existence.

Founded in 2006 in Austin, TX., Okay Mountain draws upon the talents of nine members whose working locations span the continental US from Austin, TX. (Sterling Allen, Nathan Green, Ryan Hennessee, Carlos Rosales-Silva, and Michael Sieben); Chicago, IL. (Josh Rios); Los Angeles, CA. (Justin Goldwater); Santa Barbara, CA. (Tim Brown); and Cambridge, MA. (Peat Duggins).

Okay Mountain’s exhibition will feature a recent retrospective of three large scale works in a range of media previously premiered at other locations, and a fourth work to be unveiled in the Cress.

Okay Mountain burst onto the international arts scene with “Corner Store”, 2009, commissioned by Arthouse at the Jones Center, for the Pulse Miami Art Fair during Art Basel Miami. “Corner Store” is now in the collection of the 21C Museum Hotel, Louisville, KY. “Corner Store” received “The People’s Choice” and “Best Booth” awards during Pulse Miami, 2009, Solo exhibitions include “Four Wheel Rollover”, upcoming 2012, De Cordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, MA.; “First Take: Okay Mountain” 2011, Blaffer Art Museum, University of Houston, TX; “New Works: Okay Mountain”, 2010, Austin Museum of Art, TX.; “Benefit Plate”, 2010, Freight and Volume Gallery, NYC; and “Big Strange Mystery”, 2010, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX.  Recent projects include “Food Fight”, 2010, a mural commissioned by Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN.

Okay Mountain’s exhibition is supported by The Friends of the Cress Gallery.

For more information about Okay Mountain visit http://www.okaymountain.com For more information about Okay Mountain’s Cress Gallery exhibition and Marek Series events visit http://www.CressGallery.org (soon to launch) or become a Fan of the Cress Gallery of Art on FACEBOOK; or contact ruth-grover@utc.edu ; voice or text 423-304-9789.

Gallery hours: 9:30am – 7:30pm Monday – Friday; 1:00pm – 4:00pm Saturday and Sunday

Gallery location: UTC Fine Arts Center lobby, 752 Vine Street, 37403

Parking: Parking is free after 5:00pm weekdays and all day on weekends in any UTC lot not marked “24-hour reserved”.  Before 5:00pm on weekdays, visitors may find one-hour or metered street parking or obtain a lot pass from the Parking Office in the UTC Facilities Bldg. located at 400 Palmetto Street.

 

 

Chattanooga’s Best Theatre Productions of 2011

Here are links to the original stories for the 3 chosen plays:

The Robber Bridegroom was produced by The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Department of Theatre and Speech.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was produced by the Chattanooga Theatre Centre.

My Children, My Africa was produced by Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga.

Listen to this Story:

New Book Commemorates 125 Years Of UTC History

REPORTING: MICHAEL EDWARD MILLER

A book has just been published that illustrates more than a century’s worth of UTC’s history.  The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga: A 125 Year Tradition contains dozens of historical photographs, as well as recent campus photos from Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Robin Hood.  It’s on sale at the UTC bookstore and online at www.GoMocs.com.

Connor Society Presents “Three Chancellors” Forum at UTC

REPORTING: MICHAEL EDWARD MILLER

On Tuesday, March 22^nd at 7 p.m., the Connor Society will present a forum called “Three Chancellors” in the University Center Auditorium at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.  Former Chancellors Fred Obear and Bill Stacy and current Chancellor Roger Brown will take part in this forum, moderated by former Times Free Press Editor-in-Chief Tom Griscom.  The university is currently celebrating 125 years of service in Chattanooga and at the forum the university’s past, present and future will be discussed.

In this interview, I’m speaking with Connor Society member Dr. Clif Cleaveland and current Chancellor Roger Brown.

Ian Pedigo’s “Living Daylights” premieres at the Cress Gallery

Listen to an interview with Pedigo about his work.

UTC Marek Series visiting artist Ian Pedigo has arrived in Chattanooga for “Living Daylights” an exhibition of his work in the UTC Cress Gallery, Feb 8 – Mar 21. All events and the exhibition free and open to all.

Pedigo speaks about his work followed by a public reception Tuesday February 8, 5:30pm, room 356 Fine Arts Center.

Professionalism panel with Pedigo: 11am – 12pm Wednesday February 9, room 356 Fine Arts Center

Process and Materials talk + demonstration: 5pm – 6pm Wednesday February 9, room 356 Fine Arts Center.

Ian Pedigo: Living Daylights

February 8 – March 21, 2011; Cress Gallery hours 9:30am -7:30pm M-F; 1pm – 4pm weekends;

UTC Fine Arts Center, 752 Vine Street, Chattanooga, 37403. Park free after 5pm and on weekends.

For more information about the artist and his work visit www.ianpedigo.com

Join the Cress Gallery of Art on FACEBOOK or visit www.utc.edu/cressgallery

Born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, Ian Pedigo left the cold Northwest at a young age to travel and later study sculpture and visual art in Texas, Italy, and Austria.  In Salzburg, Austria, (2001) he participated in a program (Internationale Sommerakademie fur Bildende Kunst) that had a lasting affect on his work where Pedigo studied with installation artists such as the Russian Ilya Kabakov.  Pedigo received his MFA (2002) from the University of Texas at Austin and relocated to New York that year where he continues to live and work.  He has been featured in solo exhibitions in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Italy, and France and has participated in numerous group exhibitions both nationally and abroad.  Pedigo’s work has received reviews in many contemporary art publications including Artforum, Art In America, Art News, Freize, and Art Review; as well as in periodic publications such as The New York Times, Time Out New York, and the New Yorker.   A full color catalog dedicated to his work created over the past four years will be released later this year.

“Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country” Film Screened on UTC Campus

Reporting: Monessa Guilfoil

 

The Third Annual Awake and Engage(d) documentary film series created and hosted by Mike Jaynes and Andrew Najberg continues at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga this week.   Najberg said that his interest in the country was sparked through reading George Orwell’s 1930′s story about Burma, “Shooting an Elephant.”

When: Thursday, November 11th at 5:30 p.m.
Where: Raccoon Mountain Room
Admission: Free
Film to be screened: Burma VJ: Reporting from a closed country
Host/Discussion Leader: A.Najberg

“Burma VJ: Reporting from a closed country” hosted by A. Najberg, will be screened on Thursday, November 11th at 5:30 p.m. in the Raccoon Mountain Room. Admission is free.
Director Anders Østergaard presents us with “Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country,” a documentary which follows the 2007 uprising in Rangoon where Buddhist Monks led a mass protest in the hopes of freeing their imprisoned, democratically elected president Aun Yang Suu Kyi. Following a series of protests over economic instability that culminated in brutal bloodshed that left over 3000 peaceful protesters dead, President Aun Yang was elected in May of 1990 in the countrys first election in 30 years. Despite an overwhelming majority vote for Aun Yang, the SLORC, the nations military regime, nullified the election and placed President Aun Yang under house arrest, where she has languished for the last 20 years. After seventeen years, the people of Burma rose up in the protests covered during this film despite a massively restrictive and violent military government.

Perhaps the most interesting aspects of this documentary are the nearly insurmountable obstacles it faces in making itself a reality. Burma is a media closed country. It is illegal to photograph or film within its borders anything that might be considered damaging to the government or its authority. Held together by narrator Joshua’s patient and compassionate voice and edited in a safe haven in Norway, the voices of Burmas undercover reporters are brought to us through the use of cell phone cameras and digital video cameras, always at the peril of the photographers life. As a result, Burma VJ lets us glimpse into the repression faced by an often overlooked nation whose thirst for justice and freedom reaches us in the faintest gasps.

Run Time: 84 minutes

Aung San Suu Kyi’s house, seen across a lake from 500 metres away – the closest most people can get to her. Photograph: Nyein Chan Naing/EPA

The above picture was found in an article from the Guardian about the democratically-elected Prime Minister who remains under “house arrest” in Rangoon.

As a Nobel Peace Prize recipient in 1991, editors of the Nobel site have put together a biographical timeline of Suu Kyi’s life here.     This is how Nobel editors describe 1945:

Aung San Suu Kyi born in Rangoon, third child in family. “Aung San” for father, “Kyi” for mother, “Suu” for grandmother, also day of week of birth.

Suu Kyi’s father, the commander of the Burma Independence Army was assassinated when she was two years old.    This event along with the tragic death of her favorite brother at a young age no doubt set her up for the course her life would take.

Here’s an article about the first election held in Burma in 20 years by the BBC.      Zoe Murphy of the BBC reports about Suu Kyi,

“On Burma’s most significant day in 20 years she too will remain locked up in her home and prison – just where the junta wants her.”

Listen to the Story:

“Awake and Engage” opens 3rd Documentary Series with Double Feature at UTC

 

 

"King Corn" Co-Producers

 

When: Tuesday, October 19th at 5:30 p.m.
Where: UC Auditorium
Admission: Free
Film to be screened: “King Corn” and “Big River” (A King Corn Companion)
Topic: The ecological consequences of industrial agriculture
Film Website: www.kingcorn.net
Host/Discussion Leader: M. Jaynes
Shown in conjunction with: The Third Annual Jaynes-Najberg Awake and Engage(d) Documentary Film Series

“Awake and Engage(d)” Founder, Mike Jaynes writes about this Film Series:

AWAE, a monthly colloquium, will screen socially conscious documentary films with the aim of fostering a renewed interest in some of the most pressing issues confronting the graduates of our university in the future. As mainstream media too often ignores the voices of “others” on the periphery and quashes the message of the marginalized, AWAE provides a forum for documentarian narratives that interrogate the status quo and offer alternative perspectives that encourage sustainability, preservation and participation. The films chosen for this series place an emphasis on the civic responsibility of individuals by demonstrating some of the dangers facing the environment, animals, economies and civil rights in the not-so-distant globalized future. So, this year, please join us at AWAE to discover the work of documentarians advocating social and ecological justice in the modern world.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga recognized the work of Professor Jaynes in 2008 for his work on this film series among other achievements.

Mike Jaynes, English, continues building a national reputation in the animal rights and advocacy field. Already an internationally published animal advocacy writer, he continues to contribute to the humanities as well with the following twelve essays, interview, and four speaking appearances placing publications in national outlets such as ABCNews.com, National Public Radio, The Washington Post, and Dissident Voice

ATSUSHI FUNAHASHI directed “Big River” and he says about this film:

Big River is a metaphor of America. As tiny currents gather together to become the Rio Grande, people feed into America from all over the world. The title also reflects my aspiration to make a profound but simple film as the cannon of Western films used to do.

 

Solar Panels installed at UTC’s Challenger Center

This was reported in an article published October 1, 2010 on UTC’s blog at UTC.edu:

Students can see their green fee money at work, converting sunlight into energy. New solar panels have been installed on the roof of the Challenger STEM Learning Center.

Danny West is quoted as saying about the newly installed solar panel array:

“This conversion of sunlight to electricity occurs without moving parts, is silent and pollution free in its operation. It is a renewable energy source that will supply the estimated electrical load for teaching within the Challenger Center,” said Danny West, facilities planning and management.

Dr. Stephen Eskildsen lectures on Medieval Taoist Meditation

The Department of Philosophy and Religion would like to invite UTC faculty, staff, students and the general public to the following lecture:

“Red Snakes and Angry Queen Mothers: Hallucinations and Epiphanies in Medieval Taoist Meditation”

Given by: Dr. Stephen Eskildsen (UTC)

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Holt 208

3:00 pm – 4:00 pm

 

Dr. Eskildsen

 

“This talk  will examine a mystical phenomenon attested to in multiple Taoist sources—a sequence of visions that include an encounter with a fiery red snake and the ancient goddess, the Queen Mother of the West.  Focusing particularly on two texts of the first millennium, it will discuss the meditative regimen and techniques employed to bring about the vision sequence, as well as the perceived significance and meaning of the visions.”

DR. STEPHEN ESKILDSEN has a Ph.D. in Asian Studies from the University of British Columbia (1994). His specialty is Taoist religion. He was recently named U.C. Foundation Associate Professor, has been teaching at UTC since 1998. Since coming to UTC he has published two books with SUNY Press, Asceticism in Early Taoist Religion and The Teachings and Practices of the Early Quanzhen Taoist Masters, as well as four articles. He has presented papers in China, Austria, and Canada, as well as several in the United States. His current research is on Taoist internal alchemy from the mid-Tang down to the Northern Song period. Courses taught include Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, Mysticism East and West, and Religions of the East.

The Peaches of Immortality are Ripening
The Queen Mother of the West Sits on High.
“Nobody knows Her beginning, nobody knows Her end.”

For more about the above picture and the Daoist Goddess, “Queen Mother of the West,” click here.