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Aurora University Announces 2009-2010 Arts and Ideas Series

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9/4/2009

AURORA, Ill. — Art exhibits, music, film, theater performances and lectures highlight Aurora University's Celebrating Arts and Ideas series for 2009-2010. 

Events are free to the public. Reservations are required for events in Perry Theatre and Crimi Auditorium.

Call (630) 844-4924 or e-mail artsandideas@aurora.edu for reservations or information. Reservations can also be made online through the Arts and Ideas registration form.

The schedule is:

• Sept. 8-Oct. 30: "...of a Feather," an exhibition of 30 bird drawings and prints by DeKalb artist Peter Olson, will be in the Schingoethe Art Gallery in Dunham Hall at 1400 Marseillaise Place in Aurora. Hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday (closed Monday, Saturday and holidays). 
• Sept. 17: 7 p.m. The AU Film Series presents "La Misma Luna (Under the Same Moon)" in Perry Theatre in the Aurora Foundation Center, 1305 Kenilworth Place in Aurora. The film is a touching tale of how the love between a mother and a child can thrive and endure despite physical separation. The showing includes an introduction and discussion led by Denise Hatcher, associate professor of Spanish, and Eva Serrano, director of school and community partnerships.
• Sept. 22-Jan. 3, 2010: "Peoples of the Plateau," an exhibit of black and white photographs by Thomas Leander "Lee" Moorhouse, 1898-1915, will be in the Schingoethe Center for Native American Cultures in Dunham Hall, 1400 Marseillaise Place in Aurora. The display reflects the interior Pacific Northwest as it transitioned from frontier life to the modern era. Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday (closed Monday,Saturday and holidays). 
• Sept. 24: 7:30 p.m. "Critical Issues for the 21st Century" will be explored by author and New York Times columnist David Brooks in Crimi Auditorium, 407 S. Calumet Ave. in Aurora. The author of two books Brooks calls "comic sociology," he is a keen observer of American life and a savvy analyst of politics and foreign affairs. The Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley is a program co-sponsor with AU.
• Oct. 10: 7:30 p.m. Stormy Weather, an a capella group performing doo-wop, appears in Crimi Auditorium in the Institute for Collaboration, 407 S. Calumet Ave. in Aurora.
• Oct. 21: 7 p.m. The AU Film Series presents "The Truman Show" in Perry Theatre in the Aurora Foundation Center, 1305 Kenilworth Place in Aurora. The comedy-drama features Jim Cary as Truman Burbank, living a simple life until he realizes he is at the center of something beyond his imagination. Brian Vander Schee, assistant professor of marketing, will introduce the film and lead a discussion.
• Nov. 3-Jan. 2: "Aurora, Apollo and Others: Narrative Paintings by J.M. Mesple," paintings, drawings and prints exploring mythological imagery in a contemporary context, will be on display in the Schingoethe Art Gallery in Dunham Hall, 1400 Marseillaise Place in Aurora. Hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday (closed Monday, Saturday and holidays).    
• Nov. 5: 7 p.m. The Avalon String Quartet will perform in Crimi Auditorium in the Institute for Collaboration, 407 S. Calumet Ave. in Aurora. One of the nation's leading ensembles, the group was described by the Chicago Tribune as "an ensemble that invites you-ears, mind and spirit-into its music."
• Nov. 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21: 7:30 p.m. "The Clean House" will be performed by AU's theatre department in Perry Theatre in the Aurora Foundation Center, 1305 Kenilworth Place in Aurora. "House" chronicles a successful physician who requires an ordered pristine world as her oncologist husband runs off with  a breast-cancer patient and her obsessively maternal sister usurps the Brazilian comedienne maid. This play, written by Sarah Ruhl, is directed by guest artist and adjunct faculty member Kelly Roush.
• Nov. 17: 7 p.m. An All Gershwin Recital will be performed by American pianist Thomas Pandolfi in Crimi Auditorium in the Institute for Collaboration, 407 S. Calumet Ave. in Aurora.
• Dec. 6: 7 p.m. An annual Christmas concert will be performed by the University Chorale and Women's Ensemble in Crimi Auditorium in the Institute for Collaboration, 407 S. Calumet Ave. in Aurora.
• Jan. 28: 7 p.m. "The Visitor," a comedy about a disillusioned professor and how his life is transformed by a chance encounter, will be screened as part of the AU Film Series in Perry Theatre in the Aurora Foundation Center, 1305 Kenilworth Place in Aurora.
• Jan. 30: 7 p.m. Chicago a capella will team up Baroque and Beatles' hits in Crimi Auditorium, 407 S. Calumet Ave. in Aurora.
• Feb. 2-March 28: "Frida Kahlo: Through the Lens of Nicholas Muray," a photography exhibit, will be displayed in the Schingoethe Center for Native American Cultures in Dunham Hall, 1400 Marseillaise Place in Aurora. Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 1 to 4 p.m.Sunday (closed Monday, Saturday and holidays). 
• Feb. 3: 7 p.m. A presentation on Gene Roddenberry, creator of "Star Trek," will be given by David Alexander, Roddenberry biographer and deputy director of the SciTech Hands-On Museum in Aurora, in Crimi Auditorium in the Institute for Collaboration, 407 S. Calumet Ave. in Aurora.
• Feb. 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13: 7:30 p.m. "Trip's Cinch," a production by the AU theatre department, will be performed in Perry Theatre in the Aurora Foundation Center, 407 S. Calumet Ave. in Aurora. A pop anthropologist professor interviews a millionaire tycoon accused of sexual assault and a hick crossing guard who lost the case. Ian Klink, AU '07, directs this play that was written by Phyllis Nagy.
• Feb. 16: 7 p.m. "Autism, Animals and Design," a lecture by Temple Grandin, professor of animal science at Colorado State University, will be given in Crimi Auditorium in the Institute for Collaboration, 407 S. Calumet Ave. in Aurora.
• March 17: 7 p.m. "Tecumseh, Native America and the Other American Dream" will be discussed by filmmaker Ric Burns in Crimi Auditorium in the Institute for Collaboraton, 407 S. Calumet Ave. in Aurora. Burns will discuss his 90-minute documentary film that is included in "We Shall Remain," a five-part PBS series about the history of Native America.
• March 22: 7 p.m. "The Third Man" will be shown as part of the AU Film Series in Perry Theatre in the Aurora Foundation Center, 1305 Kenilworth Ave. in Aurora. The 1949 thriller tells the paranoid story of economic and moral corruption in a depressed, rotting and crumbling post-World War II Vienna.
• April 1-June 30: "Intrigue and Novelty," paintings, drawings and photography by contemporary Native American artists, will be displayed in the Schingoethe Center for Native American Cultures in Dunham Hall, 1400 Marseillaise Place in Aurora. Hours are are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Fridayand 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday (closed Monday, Saturday and holidays). 
• April 7-Sept. 7: A senior exhibit of paintings, drawings and photographs by AU students will be displayed in the Schingoethe Art Gallery in Dunham Hall, 1400 Marseillaise Place in Aurora. Hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday (closed Monday, Saturday and holidays).   
• April 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17: 7:30 p.m. "The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail" will be presented by the  AU theatre department in Perry Theatre in the Aurora Foundation Center, 1305 Kenilworth Place in Aurora. Jailed for non-payment of taxes, Thoreau examines what he's learned and done, and decides to make his own journey into the world. Written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, the play is directed by Denise Blank, AU's assistant professor of theater.
• April 30: 7:30 p.m. The University Chorale and Women's Ensemble will perform in Crimi Auditorium in the Institute for Collaboration, 407 S. Calumet Ave. in Aurora.

Sponsors of the 2009-2010 Arts and Ideas series are Nicor, gold sponsor; City of Aurora, Harris Bank, Human Resources Management Systems, LLC, Old Second National Bank and Sodexo, silver sponsors; Alarm Detection Systems, Inc., BFC Integrated Print Management, Sikich LLP, and Whitt Brothers Garage, bronze sponsors; and Comcast and The Beacon News, media support. Thanks to Hollywood Casino and CNA Foundation for their additional support.

For reservations or information, call (630) 844-4924, e-mail artsandideas@aurora.edu, or visit www.aurora.edu/artsandideas to make reservations online.