This spring is another busy season for the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts at the University of Houston as it presents a selection of diverse and dynamic public events and performances, as well as intensive residencies with world-renowned artists.
"The Mitchell Center is now in full swing with major projects under way," said Karen Farber, director of the Mitchell Center. "This spring, we have struck a great balance between supporting campus-based projects and local artists with commissioning the work of major forces on the international scene."
Now entering its fourth year, the Mitchell Center combines the creative forces of UH's Creative Writing Program, Blaffer Gallery and schools of Theatre, Music and Art. The center brings visiting artists to the city for residencies and performances. It also offers inter-disciplinary curriculum open to the UH student body.
The center's spring schedule is as follows:
Screening and Contemporary Salon: "Chantal Akerman: Moving Through Time and Space"
- 6 p.m., Feb. 13, Blaffer Gallery, Fine Arts Building
Conducted in conjunction with Blaffer Gallery, the art museum of UH, the documentaries
of Chantal Akerman will be screened, then discussed, by Blaffer director Terrie Sultan
and Bill Arning, curator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology List Visual
Arts Center. The free event is part of the "Artists Up Close" series, which is presented
by the Mitchell Center in collaboration with Blaffer Gallery and the UH School of
Art. "Artists Up Close" offers free public performances, readings and demonstrations
by artists featured in Blaffer Gallery exhibitions. For more details on this event,
call 713-743-9530.
"The Good Woman of Setzuan" - Feb. 15-17, 22-23, 8 p.m.; Feb. 24, 2 p.m., Lyndall
Finley Wortham Theatre at UH
Presented by the Mitchell Center and UH School of Theatre & Dance, Bertolt Brecht's
classic play comes to life at UH's Wortham Theatre. This ambitious production is directed
by New York-based visiting artist Kim Weild and features a newly commissioned soundtrack
by Houston string quartet Two Star Symphony. Its story focuses on three gods that
seek for one good woman on earth and think they've found one in Shen Te, a kindly
prostitute. Tickets are $15. For additional details, call 713-743-2929.
"Moving Pictures" - 7:30 p.m., April 11, Moores Opera House
UH's AURA Contemporary Ensemble teams with ENSEMBLE, the university's pre-professional
dance company, for an evening of live music and dance. The performance will feature
the work of special guest choreographer Jennifer Wood, artistic director of Suchu
Dance in Houston, as well as material by composers Jennifer Higdon, Peter Sculthorpe,
Don Grantham, Bill Ryan, Ken Booker and David Lang. Tickets are $15. For more details,
call 713-743-2929.
"Horn Concerto" - Performance begins about noon, April 13; Discovery Green in Downtown
Houston
Houston's newest downtown park will come alive with the sounds of car horns. By popular
demand, the "Horn Concerto" returns to Houston for another free performance. Composed
by Mitchell Center 2005 visiting artist Stephen Montague, this piece will be performed
by Houston Art Cars and will be part of the historic opening of Discovery Green, a
new urban park located near the George R. Brown Convention Center. For details or
directions to Discovery Green, call 713-333-1161 or visit www.discoverygreen.com.
"Charles ‘Teenie' Harris: Rhapsody in Black and White"- 6 p.m. April 25, Blaffer Gallery
Part of a citywide collaboration, the Mitchell Center will present an exhibition of
photographs by the pioneering 20th century African American photojournalist Charles
"Teenie" Harris, whose works inspired explosive choreographer Ronald K. Brown's new
performance work, "One Shot." The Mitchell Center will host this exhibition at the
Blaffer Gallery in conjunction with an upcoming presentation by DiverseWorks and Society
for the Performing Arts of "One Shot." "Teenie" Harris is celebrated in this exhibition,
curated by Brown along with photographic arts expert Deborah Willis. Brown will be
joining the Mitchell Center as artist-in-residence, working with UH dance and photography
students as well as the after school program at Project Row Houses in the Third Ward.
The Mitchell Center also is working on a major project with Los Angeles-based collective, the Center for Land Use Interpretation. The group is in residence in Houston throughout the spring and will roll out a major public project in fall 2008. In addition, key projects are under way with New York-based Ridge Theater and composer Michael Gordon, as well as a collaborative project with Da Camera of Houston and continued activities with the Buffalo Bayou Partnership.
About the Mitchell Center
Funded by a $20 million grant from George and Cynthia Woods Mitchell, the Cynthia
Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts at the University of Houston cultivates collaboration
in the performing, visual and literary arts. The Center fuels the life-cycle of interdisciplinary
artists - from students to emerging artists to world-renowned performers, creators
and thinkers. Each fall and spring, the center offers public events, creative development
and teaching residencies, and courses that explore the concepts and practices of interdisciplinary
collaboration. All center programs are offered in alliance with the School of Art,
Creative Writing Program, Moores School of Music, School of Theatre and Dance, and
Blaffer Gallery, the art museum of the University of Houston. For more information
about the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts at the University of Houston,
visit www.mitchellcenterforarts.org.
About the University of Houston
The University of Houston, Texas' premier metropolitan research and teaching institution,
is home to more than 40 research centers and institutes and sponsors more than 300
partnerships with corporate, civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse
research university in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research
and service with more than 35,000 students.