ART|WPI : An annual art exhibition by WPI students, staff, and faculty
While you are on term break, think about what creative visual art you will submit to ART|WPI, WPI’s annual community art exhibition, to be held during C-term in the Class of 1941 Gallery, Gordon Library. Up to 4 works per artist in all media will be accepted:
DRAWINGS
MULTIMEDIA
PAINTINGS
PHOTOGRAPHS
PRINTS
SCULPTURE
TEXTILES
…AND MORE
Submission is easy, just bring your exhibition-ready (framed or mounted) artwork to Gordon Library 013 (Ground level) between 10:00am and 2:00pm, January 18-21. Every effort will be made to include all submissions in the exhibition.
Then join us for a celebration of WPI community creativity at a reception in the gallery on Thursday, January 28, from 4:30 to 6 p.m.
You probably know Laura Amy Robinson Hanlan as Gordon Library’s energetic research and instruction librarian, teaching students to creatively use Gordon Library’s resources in their work. This term’s exhibition in the Class of 1941 Gallery on Level Three of Gordon Library, MeetMeintheMultiverse, shows another side of Laura—an artist who translates places she has visited, experiences she has had, and emotions she has felt—into vibrant paintings. Laura describes her painting this way:
Painting bright colors, dots, and swirls is soothing to me, just as sorting, playing with, and making jewelry with beads was when I was a kid. The colors and designs create themselves when I am in a flow. Making pictures is also about moving some strong emotions out of my head to put them somewhere else. My process is a bit like Professor Dumbledore using his “pensieve” to take some thoughts out of his head so that he can make room for more. Even though I paint abstractions, most of my pictures are inspired by intense experiences I have had, beautiful spaces I have visited,and amazing moments I have shared with family and friends.
Stop by and enjoy the art and artist at a reception on Wednesday, December 2, from noon to 1 p.m. The show will run through January 8, 2016.
Are you working on a project that uses images, sounds, videos, or other media? Do you want to learn more about how to find copyright-free media that you can use in your project? Come to the library on Thursday, December 3 from 4:00 to 4:30 for our Copyright Workshop led by Lynne Riley, Research & Instruction Librarian.
Since WPI Interactive Qualifying Projects (IQPs), Major Qualifying Projects (MQPs), theses, and dissertations are now published online and often distributed to a sponsor, it is very important to pay close attention to copyright law. This workshop will address questions such as:
Can I copy an image from a commercial Web site?
How do I find free-to-use images?
May I use a chart or table from an article in my MQP, IQP, thesis, or dissertation?
Do I own the copyright to my MQP, IQP, Sufficiency, Thesis, or Dissertation?
For online projects, it is not enough to simply cite your source with a citation; copyright permissions are required for works under copyright protection. This workshop will explain basic copyright as it relates to your project, as well as show you how to find free-to-use images and other resources for your project work.
Date: Thursday, December 3, 2015 Time: 4:00 pm – 4:30 pm Location: Gordon Library, Anderson Lab A
You can register for this workshop here. For more information on copyright, check out the library’s Copyright LibGuide. If you have any questions about the workshop, please email Paige Neumann at peneumann@wpi.edu.
Tuesday, November 10
4:30pm – 6:00pm
Gladwin Gallery
Gordon Library, Level G
Inherently mathematical in nature, music — and its potential for boundless creativity — complements well the educational and professional pursuits of an engineer. WPI’s motto, “Lehr und Kunst” translates as “theory and practice” and speaks to both the study and performance of music. Music theory defines the structure and building blocks of music, while every good musician understands that there is only ONE way to get to Carnegie Hall: Practice, practice, practice!
Exhibit presented by Curation, Preservation, and Archives
Curated by Kathleen A. Markees
During B term, the Class of 1970 Café Gallery presents “Temples of Thailand,” photographs by Holden photographer Susan Sedgwick. She says that her interest in photography began “with an exotic trip and a borrowed camera.” The combination of travel and photography has taken her across the United States and around the world, including the American West, Iceland, and the Easter Islands. A trip to Thailand and Cambodia in 2013 brought her in touch with what these countries offer, especially the friendly and generous people and exotic colors. She enjoyed seeing how people live and market on the rivers and transform sidewalks into eating places in the evenings. For this exhibition, she chose photographs of some of the Wats (temples) of Thailand, both ancient and modern. She says “I enjoyed learning some of the ancient culture of the monks and seeing the people’s personal offerings to Buddha.”
Sedgwick considers photography to be an area of continual learning, visually and technically. Although she was trained in film photography, she has recently converted to digital, drawn by the ease and freedom of the digital camera, especially when traveling. Sedgwick learned photography at Worcester Center for Crafts where students were allowed the freedom of their own artistic vision in the composition of their photographs. As well as jurying numerous shows, she has been awarded prizes in juried shows and has had photographs included in several publications. She has earned the title of Copley Artist at Boston’s Copley Society.
Did you notice something of a “Turkey” of an older man walking around Gordon Library lately? He’s frequently seen in plaid shorts, WPI T-shirts, and sneakers with no laces. If you answered “Yes!” I’m sure your the next question would be,”Who IS that guy?” Well, that guy is Bill “Tuna” Trask, a WPI institution like no other!
The original “Tuna” bobble head is on view.
Bill first came to WPI in 1958 to work for admissions and college career counseling—and he’s been here ever since! While he officially retired from WPI in 1992, Bill remains involved with numerous fraternities and sororities, is a loyal sports fan, and continues to be an active Skull member. His network of former colleagues, friends, connections — and even people who have heard of him, but never met him — spans across thousands of students and staff and their families. He truly is a unique part of WPI’s culture!
Since D-Term 2015, Bill has donated over 70 boxes of personal, professional, and WPI material to WPI’s Curation, Preservation, and Archives. His collection ranges from paperwork and documents to awards, memorabilia, and even some unique and special findings. With the help of many campus volunteers — students, professors, coaches, archivists, librarians, and many others—we sorted through his collection bringing order to lovingly controlled chaos and are working to finalize his gift to the Archives. It has been a journey of hard work, dedication, and discovery as we work through the many treasures to his family and the university his boxes hold, including unearthing photographs and scrapbooks from Bill’s childhood growing up in Rochester, Vermont. One the most amazing things about Bill’s collection is that no matter when a WPIer was here, Bill has a piece of memorabilia that captures that moment in time — whether it be the soccer program from your first game freshman year, or the postcard you wrote to him while abroad.
Bill shares his memories with guests at the community reception.
A celebratory exhibit, The Tuna Files: Opening up the William Foley Trask Collection, on view in the Gladwin Gallery, Level G through the last weekend in October, invites you to walk through Bill’s life from his childhood to today, along with samplings from his infamous post card collection, sayings, and poems. The exhibit was first envisioned to be a single display case in the Rubin Campus Center during Homecoming 2015. Soon after we opened the first few boxes and spoke to just a handful of Bill’s fans, we realized we had the opportunity to offer a much richer experience told in Bill’s voice.
Guests share ice cream and stories with the man behind the collection at the reception.
The Archives hosted a community reception to celebrate Bill and “his stuff” on Thursday, October 8, 2015. Over 170 of Bill’s friends and family turned out to walk through the exhibit and share some laughs over ice cream sundaes.
If you haven’t seen the Tuna File yet, make sure to visit the Gladwin Gallery, Level G, Gordon Library to visit with the “Turkey” and sign his t-shirt guest book. The exhibit ends November 1, so don’t miss your chance to spend some time in Bill’s proverbial shoes. It’s been real!
Please join us on Monday, November 9, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. as Jerry Schaufeld presents a book reading on his new book, Commercializing Innovation: Turning Technology Breakthroughs into Products.
Commercializing technology is not easy. There are many complicated decisions to make: Where to get ideas? Which to pursue? Whom to hire? Where to manufacture? How to fund? Create a startup or license to another? As Commercializing Innovation: Turning Technology Breakthroughs into Products shows, you need a systematic method to answer such questions and bring sophisticated products and services to market. In his new book, Jerry Schaufeld offers a step-by-step commercialization process that begins with assessing technology from a variety of sources and ends with taking viable products into the market.
An informal reception with light refreshments will follow. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and author signing.
Jerry Schaufeld is a professor of entrepreneurship at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts. In addition to his expertise in entrepreneurship, Jerry has a wealth of experience in operations, and general management of technology-based companies. His current research is in the area of improving the probability of success in early stage, innovative, technology-based ventures.
The Class of 1941 Gallery, on Gordon Library’s level three, hosts “The Patina of Polaroid — Toys from the Attic and Cuba : Time Suspended,” two series of photographs by Worcester artist Mari Seder, which use the Polaroid camera with vastly different results.
For the “Toys from the Attic” series, Seder used a large 20 x 24 inch Polaroid camera. The almost life-size quality of this large format helps to give added importance to objects she photographs, exploring themes of memory, nostalgia for the past and aging of material objects. Mari says : “The project began when I noticed the surface of my son’s favorite toy–his red fire truck–becoming increasingly rusted. I wanted to preserve this stage of deterioration, visual appearance of the toy itself, and the memories surrounding the toy.” The inherent qualities of the large format camera–shallow depth of field, detail of the characteristics of aging, and the vivid color inherent in the film itself–help to contribute to the romanticism of these objects.
In contrast, the Polaroid transfer process used in the “Cuba: Time Suspended” series yields colors that appear washed out. The images are almost microscopic in comparison to the size of the 20 x 24 inch prints. The Polaroid transfer process was developed accidentally by Edwin H. Land, inventor of the Polaroid instant photographic process. He was processing the small peel apart 3×4 inch Polaroid film and by accident left the emulsion side of the film facing the counter. When he picked it up he saw that an image had been left on the counter from the wet emulsion, and thus the Polaroid transfer process became an art form. “Cuba: Time Suspended” uses the almost dreamlike qualities of the process to highlight images of a country still in the past.
Mari Seder lives half of the year in Worcester and half in Oaxaca, Mexico. Although she originally studied painting, photography soon became her passion. In addition to the Polaroid work, she has used the alternative antique photographic processes Van Dyke and cyanotype, and done pinhole photography, and hand-coloring of black and white images. She leads photography workshops in Mexico and Cuba.
The exhibition will be on view through September 26. Come meet Mari at a reception on September 16, 5 to 7 p.m.
Built in 1772 as a combination house and general store, Salisbury Mansion served as the home of “gentleman-merchant” Stephen Salisbury. Worcester’s only historic house museum, it has gone through many changes over the years, from a rooming-house to a gentleman’s club. Through tireless research and documentation, Salisbury Mansion has been restored to its 1830s splendor to reflect the time when it was home to widow Elizabeth Salisbury and her staff. It is one of the best documented historic house museums in New England. Come join us as docents from the Worcester Historical Museum guide us on a tour of one of Worcester’s premier historic buildings.
Please meet at the top of the driveway at the front walk to the mansion.
WHAT: Worcester Historical Museum: Highlights and Tour
DATE: Thursday, July 23, 2015
TIME: 5:30-6:30 p.m.
Founded in 1875, the Worcester Historical Museum is a unique organization dedicated to collecting, preserving, and interpreting Worcester’s history in all time periods and subject areas. Their collections include the correspondence of abolitionist Abby Kelley Foster, Blackstone Canal Company records, Civil War era diaries, and letters, and artifacts related to Worcester’s industrial past. The museum will be open until 8:30 p.m. that evening, Thursday, July 23. Limited free parking is available on the Chestnut St. side of the building.
Please join us on Thursday, April 16, 2015 as David Dollenmayer presents a book reading on Martin Walser’s autobiographical novel, A Gushing Fountain. Walser is one of Germany’s most prominent and prolific postwar writers.
Appearing for the first time in English, Walser’s autobiographical novel is an unforgettable portrait of Nazism slowly overtaking and poisoning a small town in Germany. It is also a remarkably vivid account of a childhood fraught with troubles, yet full of remembered love.
An informal reception with light refreshments will follow. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and author signing. David Dollenmayer is a literary translator and emeritus professor of German at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts. Winner of the 2008 Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator’s Prize and the 2010 Translation Prize of the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York, he lives in Hopkinton, Massachusetts.
nto vibrant paintings. Laura describes her painting this way:
trip and a borrowed camera.” The combination of travel and photography has taken her across the United States and around the world, including the American West, Iceland, and the Easter Islands. A trip to Thailand and Cambodia in 2013 brought her in touch with what these countries offer, especially the friendly and generous people and exotic colors. She enjoyed seeing how people live and market on the rivers and transform sidewalks into eating places in the evenings. For this exhibition, she chose photographs of some of the Wats (temples) of Thailand, both ancient and modern. She says “I enjoyed learning some of the ancient culture of the monks and seeing the people’s personal offerings to Buddha.”
