Inside Iowa State

October 22, 2004

Cornhusker bronze to Kansas City art museum

Music, refreshments and a "thank you" are on the program that starts at 5:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 22, at the Brunnier Art Museum. The event is free and open to the public.

American art curator Randall Griffey will thank Iowa State for the gift of a bronze casting of Christian Petersen's Cornhusker Griffey represents the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, which received the gift.

Lynette Pohlman, University Museums director, said this is the second gift of a Cornhusker bronze cast to a major American art museum. The first went to the American Museum of Art at the Smithsonian.

"Christian Petersen deserves a national reputation for his contribution to American art of the Depression era. His sculptures, especially of rural imagery, are the basis for that recognition. Our goal is to put Petersen's art where people can see and appreciate his interpretation of one of America's most tumultuous eras. Scholarship from curators of America's significant museums will add to interpretations to Petersen's body of work," Pohlman said.

The most comprehensive permanent collection of Petersen's work is at Iowa State.

Petersen was the nation's first, permanent campus artist-in-residence, coming to Iowa State College in 1934, during the Depression, to participate in a federally funded Public Works of Art Project and staying on to sculpt and teach until his retirement in 1955.

While at Iowa State, he created more than 12 major public sculptures and hundreds of studio sculptures. His sculptures are the foundation of the university's practice of collecting public works of art. Today, Iowa State has the largest public art collection of any college or university in the nation.

The Christian Petersen Art Museum in the renovated Morrill Hall will be home to the Christian Petersen Art Collection, consisting of more than 700 works of art, and the Art on Campus Collection and Program.

Expert on recruiting, hiring diverse faculty to speak Oct. 29

Caroline Turner, a professor of educational leadership and policy studies at Arizona State University and author of several books on hiring and retaining faculty of color, will give a public lecture at noon Friday, Oct. 29, in the Memorial Union Pioneer Room. Her lecture will highlight research in one of her books, Faculty of Color in Academe: Bittersweet Success.

Turner also will meet that day with two campus groups to talk about their roles in recruiting a diverse faculty. From 9 to 10:30 a.m., she will meet with department chairs in the Memorial Union Gold Room. From 3 to 4:30 p.m. in the same room, she will meet with faculty from campus diversity groups (such as college diversity committees, the President's Advisory Committee on Diversity, Faculty Senate committee on women and minorities, and representatives of ethnic academic programs).

Turner is visiting primarily to assist the campus team that is preparing a proposal for an ADVANCE grant from the National Science Foundation. The multi-million dollar program supports institutional change, specifically by promoting gender equity in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.

Last year, Turner published a handbook, Diversifying the Faculty: A Guidebook for Search Committees.

Warsaw Philharmonic features pianist

The Warsaw Philharmonic, featuring pianist Olga Kern, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 31, at Stephens Auditorium. Tickets are $40.50 and $44.50.

The performance is expected to include Brahms' Symphony No. 1 and Rachmanioff's Piano Concerto No. 3 with Kern as the piano soloist.

Celebrity Cafe at 7 p.m. will feature Scott Colebank of the Rachmanioff Society. He has traced more than 115 recordings of the Concerto performed from 1930 to 1996.

Nutcracker tickets on sale

Tickets for the Dec. 10-12 performances of The Nutcracker Ballet are on sale at the Iowa State Center Ticket Office and TicketMaster locations, or may be purchased by calling 233-1888 or going online to http://www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets are $14.50, $15.50 and $16.50.

This annual Iowa State Center production features choreography by Robert Thomas and Miyoko Kato Thomas of the Dancenter in Ames; more than 200 local dancers from surrounding central Iowa communities; and principal dancers Bonnie L. Pickard, currently a member of BalletNY, and Jared Redick performing the roles of the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier.

On stage

Van Halen will perform at Hilton Thursday, Nov. 4. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. (Contributed photo.)

Cornhusker by Christian Petersen