Throwback Thursday

Fun at the Formal

An Evergreen formal in 1975

The minimal accompanying caption for this image left me wondering, what formal happened at Evergreen in 1972? Did you attend this dance or do you know the fancy folks in this photo? I would love to hear from you!

2/1/2016 Update: We had a great response from our Facebook community and a comment from the man pictured! Hap Freund wrote, “Yes, of course that is me and my lovely wife of 36+ years, Claudia Chotzen. I think this was taken in 1975. I came to Evergreen in the fall of 1973, met Claudia in 1974. The other person is Claudia’s life-long friend Diane Berger (was Diane Hucks). The ‘occasion’ was an Evergreen prom. Probably the only time I wore a suit during my time at Evergreen!”

Next month you can don your best threads and join us at The Art of Living on February 20th from 5:30pm-9:00pm at The Hotel Murano in Downtown Tacoma. Proceeds from the evening will benefit the Annual Scholarship Fund to support Evergreen students in pursuing their dreams and create opportunities for those without means.


Click here to register today!

 

Evergreen Gallery Features New Exhibit “Prison Obscura”

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The Evergreen Gallery presents Prison Obscura which features pieces from Evergreen faculty member Steve Davis, Josh Begley, Paul Rucker, Alyse Emdur, and Robert Gumpert. Prison Obscura runs from January 14th 2016- March 2nd 2016 For more information please feel free to click the links below for more information.

Prison Obscura

 

“Prison Obscura considers this fundamental distortion that characterizes vision and viewing, how we see and don’t see the people we incarcerate, the people we put in boxes. Guiding the viewer through the visual culture of America’s prisons, the exhibit traces the contours of that box, to attempt to make sense of the dominant narratives and stereotypes that somehow justify a U.S. system now locking up people at an unprecedented rate. What do we know of our prisons? Do photographs help us know? Are the images of prisons we see reliable? Are they even useful? How do images relate to the political, social, and economic realities that exist within our prison industrial complex? Do prisons, as closed sites, present any challenges to the claims photography makes as a medium of communication?  – Pete Brook”

Guests mingling during opening night of Prison Obscura

 

 

One of the exhibits featured in Prison Obscura

 

 

 

 

 

 

That Time When Matt Groening Was On Portlandia

The Peabody Award winning satirical sketch comedy show, Portlandia, finished up its fifth season just a couple weeks ago. Episode 43 in the latest season was particularly notable for Evergreen.
The episode, titled “Fashion”, which aired on February 12, 2015, featured a guest star a few of us may know: Matt Groening ’77. Of course, Carrie Brownstein ’98 is one of the show’s two stars, and a co-creator, so for those of you who already watch the show this is just a fun blast to the past. But in this episode, jump straight to 19:15 (the scene starts at 18:25) to hear a mention of Matt Groening going to “Evergreen State”. Then, watch the whole episode, in which one of Fred Armisen’s characters, Spyke, faces trial for making unlicensed Bart Simpson merchandise.

Original Portland Timber Player and food pod pioneer Roger Goldingay ’73 looks back on 40 years

Roger Goldingay. Photo Credit: Doug Beghtel/The Oregonian

Roger Goldingay. Photo Credit: Doug Beghtel/The Oregonian

The Oregonian interviewed Roger Goldingay ’73, an original player for the Portland Timbers professional soccer team and revered Portland food pod pioneer, for their March 19 issue. Read the interview, during which they discuss the Evergreen graduate’s decision to come to Portland, his friendship with Bill Walton and the growth of soccer in the Pacific Northwest.

Roger Goldingay has been featured in the Evergreen Magazine, for the spring 2011 issue, in an article titled “The Patron of Curbside Cuisine”, and is a member of the Evergreen Author’s Directory for his book “Never Look Back”.

We can be grateful he did look back, at least this one time, for the forty year anniversary of The Portland Timbers. A lot has changed in forty years: in Portland, for Evergreen, for professional soccer and for Roger Goldingay.

Gallery Fotoland at Evergreen presents Nichole DeMent ’02, “Oracle”

Nichole DeMent’s process starts with printing a photograph onto Japanese rice paper, which is then infused with beeswax. She further transforms the piece by collaging and painting over it, creating a multi textured, delicately transparent “visceral topography” as she puts it. “By taking risks with paint, wax, and other media,” DeMent says, she allows her “creative subconscious the freedom to play, dream and inevitably teach me about my own human story.”

Nichole DeMent: Oracle

Nichole DeMent: Oracle

Beginning April 8 and running through May 15, DeMent’s “Oracle” series will be on display in Photoland‘s exhibition space, on the first floor of the Daniel J. Evan’s Library at The Evergreen State College.

DeMent received her B.A. from The Evergreen State College in 2002 with an emphasis in Fine Art Photography and Art History. Her work can be found at SAM Gallery and Waterworks Gallery in the San Juan Islands. She works currently as the Executive Director for Center of Contemporary Art (CoCA) in Seattle.

New exhibit at Evergreen Gallery honors recently retired Susan Aurand and Lucia Harrison

An opening reception on April 2, from 5:00 – 7:00 pm at the Evergreen Gallery, honors artists and long faculty members Susan Aurand and Lucia Harrison. The exhibit, titled “Nature: Observation, Metaphor, Transformation”, celebrates “Four Decades of Art” by the two influential teachers.  The exhibit will run until May May 6.

From the Evergreen Gallery:

The Diver 1, Susan Aurand

The Diver 1, Susan Aurand

“The art of both artists parallels the changing environments in their personal and professional lives. Susan and Lucia have highly developed observational skills that they began developing at an early age, in very different environments. At Evergreen, when they taught interdisciplinary programs with scientists, they helped others hone these skills, while continuing to build their own.

Susan grew up in the Midwest where her relationship with nature was confined to mostly housing developments. Wild nature roamed in her imagination. Initially Susan concentrated on ceramics, and sculptural elements continue to be important in her artworks. When she came to teach at Evergreen, she gravitated toward two-dimensional art. Her work in drawing, painting and assemblages reflects her interests in mythology and metaphor and her passion for the ever-changing quality of light and color in nature.

Beneath the Forest Floor II, Lucia Harrison

Beneath the Forest Floor II, Lucia Harrison

Lucia grew up on Cooper Point in Olympia roaming the forests and shores of Puget Sound. Trained as an artist and social scientist, Lucia developed an interest in qualitative research methods, ethnography, and environmental education. While teaching with scientists, she developed a practice of field journaling as inspiration for her paintings, drawings, and artist books. These works reflect her observations of nature and the inspiration she finds there. As nature inspires her, so too her artworks inspire viewers to deepen their own interest in the natural and cultural history of South Puget Sound.”

Alumni to return for Sean-nós NW Festival

Almost 25 years ago, Sean Williams came to The Evergreen State College to teach ethnomusicology, and soon after launched an Irish Studies program that’s drawn students and alumni to campus ever since. Taught once every three years, the year-long program was started in 1994 by Williams and the late Patrick Hill. Over the years, Williams taught the program with Hill, Charles Teske, Rebecca Chamberlain and Tom Rainey. Over the past decade or so, Williams has taught the program by herself. “There are 25 spots available in the class, and four times as many typically write admittance essays,” Williams says of the process to enroll. With the popularity and uniqueness of the program, eight years ago Williams started the annual Sean-nós Northwest Festival, and this President’s day weekend it returns to Evergreen. Close to 100 Evergreen Irish Studies alumni and devotees are expected to attend the three-day festival from across North America. Continue reading

Greeners Carrie Brownstein ’98 and Corin Tucker ’94 Reunite to Release Album

Left to right: drummer Janet Weiss, singer-guitarist Corin Tucker, singer-guitarist Carrie Brownstein.

Left to right: drummer Janet Weiss, singer-guitarist Corin Tucker, singer-guitarist Carrie Brownstein. Brigitte Sire/Courtesy of the artist to NPR

Sleater-Kinney was formed in early 1994, while Carrie Brownstein ’98 and Corin Tucker ’94 were students at The Evergreen State College. The band’s new album, its first since 2005, is No Cities to Love. The band has announced a 2015 tour covering North America and western Europe.

Enjoy coverage by NPR.

2014 Arts Innovator Award to Rodrigo Valenzuela ’10

Rodrigo Valenzuela '10

Rodrigo Valenzuela ’10 photo: Robert Wade from artisttrust.org

Video artist and photographer Rodrigo Valenzuela ’10 already held a Bachelor’s Degree in Photography before moving to Boston from Chile, where his family still lives today. Valenzuela chose Evergreen, after several years working in the United States, to study philosophy in an uninhibited environment. Valenzuela credits his Evergreen experience for learning to have a better dialogue with the material and the subject in his art.

Continue reading

Inkwell 9: Meet the Writers

The front cover of a book. It has a grey background with a black repeating geometric design and says "Inkwell 9"

Inkwell 9: A Student Guide to Writing at Evergreen

[Writing for Inkwell gave me] a sense that my words and my story matter to someone beyond myself. I think it also helped me to help others in their writing—to ask more questions that could lead to greater levels of inquiry into self, into language.
– Roxana Bell, Inkwell author

The newest edition of Inkwell: A Student Guide to Writing at Evergreen is done!

In this article, Writing Center Publications Editor Thane Fay met with four of this year’s Inkwell authors to talk about their experiences writing for the publication, what they hope the Evergreen community will take from their pieces, and their goals now as alumni.

You can pick up a free copy of Inkwell 9 at the Writing Center, read the digital version online, or come to InkFest: Wednesday October 15th, from 1-3 p.m. in the Olympia campus library lobby!

Read the full author interviews here.