Symposium to Explore Future of the Arts

“The Arts in the New Century,” one of the university’s Year of the Arts events, begins Thursday, March 20, with a talk by art critic and collector Lucy Lippard. The lecture begins at 7 p.m. in Scales Fine Arts Center, Room 102. All other events will be held in the Scales Center’s Brendle Recital Hall.

Poet Rita Dove and Bard College President Leon Botstein are among the 18 speakers who will address issues facing the arts beginning at 9 a.m. Friday, March 21.

“We invite participants to ponder the relationship between the arts and their publics,” says Donald Wolfe, chair of Wake Forest’s theater department and symposium organizer. “Where have we been? Where are we now? What is to come as we approach the millenium?”

The symposium will address the role technology may play in the arts, too. ” Will technology replace live experience of the arts?” asks Wolfe.

The symposium will feature four panel discussions.

At 9:30 a.m. March 21, panelists will discuss “The Arts and Their Publics at the End of the Twentieth Century.” Participants will include Leon Botstein and Susan Lubowsky, executive director of the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art.

At 1:30 p.m. March 21, a panel will discuss “New Directions in Art.” Panelists will include representatives from art, music and theater: Brooke Davis Anderson, director of the Diggs Gallery at Winston-Salem State University; Carter Kustera, a mixed media artist from New York City; Kenny Leon, artistic director of the Alliance Theater; Inigo Manglano Ovalle, an artist; Michael Walsh, music critic for Time magazine; Roberto Sierra, composer and Ithaca College professor; and Joan Tower, composer and teacher.

Rita Dove, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, will read her poetry at 4:15 p.m. March 21. Commonwealth Professor of English at the University of Virginia and a permanent fellow at the Edgar F. Shannon Jr. Center for Advanced Studies, Dove is the author of six volumes of poetry. She has also written a short story collection entitled “Fifth Sunday,” a novel and a verse drama. She was poet laureate of the United States from 1993-1995. A limited number of seats will be available to non-symposium participants for Dove’s poetry reading.

A 6 p.m. reception for symposium participants and special guests will be sponsored by the North Carolina Museum of Art. The museum is sponsoring the reception as part of a state-wide outreach campaign in honor of its 50th anniversary.

Ravi Shankar, a popular sitarist from India, will perform at 8 p.m. March 21, as part of the Secrest Artists Series. Tickets for this event are available to non-symposium participants by calling 910-759-5295.

On Saturday, March 22, symposium participants will hear another panel discussion, “The Future of the Arts in Education,” at 9:30 a.m. Susan Borwick, professor of music and director of women’s studies at Wake Forest, will moderate the session. Nicholas Bragg, executive director of Reynolda House Museum of Art; Vincent Marron, associate director of the Kenan Institute for the Arts; and Henry Sayre, an art historian at Oregon State University, will sit on the panel.

At 12:30 p.m. March 22, the final panel discussion will address “Audiences and Patrons, Old and New.” Three panelists will participate: Henry Janiec, former director of the Brevard Music Festival; Kenny Leon of the Alliance Theatre; and Lawrence J. Wheeler, executive director of the North Carolina Museum of Art. Ann Cramer, IBM’s director of external programs for the southeast district, will moderate.

A 6:30 p.m. reception and banquet will conclude the symposium events.

Wake Forest is hosting the symposium as part of its Year of the Arts, a yearlong celebration of the arts featuring special performances, speakers and exhibitions.

Registration for the “Arts in the New Century” Symposium is $30, with additional charges for some meals. To request a registration form or more information, call 910-759-5294.

NOTE TO EDITORS: To request photographs of Rita Dove, Leon Botstein and other symposium speakers, contact Cheryl Walker in the News Bureau.