The UNM Dance Program welcomes dance scholar and historian Clare Croft to Albuquerque. Croft, in addition to being a dance theorist, curator, dramaturg, and dancer, has written on the role dance plays in cultural exchange and diplomacy as well as a focus on Jill Johnston – a queer writer, dance critic, and activist. In her written work Croft explores the relationship Johnston had between her physical body as a dancer, audience member, and protest participant, and her written critiques and traces the lesbian feminist movement backs to avant-garde art practices in the 1970s.
Clare Croft is the founder and curator of Daring Dances-a project that showcases work by dance artists about navigating through difficult situations. The project uses dance and bodies to teach us that policies have real effects on peoples’ lives and experiences. Daring Dances hosts a residency program that has been awarded to Anna Martine Whitehead, Leila Wadallah, and T. Ayo Alston.
Clare Croft will be at the University of New Mexico in the Elizabeth Waters Center for Dance to give a book reading and artist talk March 7th 1pm-2:30pm.
Southwest Contemporary Vol. 12: Obsession features some incredible work from several of the amazing people who comprise the Art Department. Current second-year MFA students Luka Berkley and Justine Kablack, recent MFA graduate Taylor Engel, and instructor Jessamyn Lovell all have work featured in this most recent issue of Southwest Contemporary.
Art History Professor Ray Hernández-Durán was recently featured in two articles and interviewed by the Latin American and Iberian Institute. UNM News published “UNM Professors Create Exhibition, First-Ever Scholarship of Local Chicano Artists’ Work” by Anna Padilla, highlighting an exhibition curated by Hernández-Durán and Dr. Irene Vásquez. The show, now on view at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, features six talented New Mexican Chicano artists whose work has been historically underrepresented in academic scholarship.
Distinguished Professor Jim Stone is an exhibiting artist who uses photography. His photographs have been published in three monographs and exhibited internationally; they are represented in the permanent collections of over 30 major museums and public archives.
