MANIFEST @ the Library - Friday May 17th

Columbia's annual spring rite of passage, the MANIFEST Urban Arts Festival is finally here!  Eighty departmental showcases of work by over 2,000 students as well as performances, gallery exhibitions, and many activities will be occurring throughout the day around campus.  The Library is a big supporter of Manifest, featuring art exhibits throughout the day including:


Bill Russo Concert Posters: selected concerts from the archives of the legendary founder of the Chicago Jazz Ensemble. 1st Floor
The Jane Alexandroff Exhibition:  a celebration of the first lady of Columbia College. 2nd Floor, West
The  Columbia College Project 2: 1972: tells the story of 540 N. Lake Shore Dr., Columbia’s home in the 1960s and early 70s.  2nd Floor East
Art in the Library:  Presenting the work of Columbia College Chicago students, faculty, staff and alumni.  3rd Floor North
Chicago: A Celebration: featuring photographs by Archie Lieberman and text by Robert Cromie.   
3rd Floor East
Alumni on 5 Exhibition:  looks at Columbia alumni teaching artists and the connection between studio practice and their teaching practice. 5th Floor
The Big Read at Manifest: showcasing artwork dealing with  broad themes addressed in Julia Alvarez’s novel,  In the Time of the Butterflies including violence against women, political activism, equal rights, and the history of the Dominican Republic 1001 S. Wabash.

The Library is also a stop on the Manifest Gallery Walk  tonight, so come by and see lots of wonderful art work from the Columbia community and enjoy refreshments from 5-7pm during your visit.  For more Manifest information, go to: www.colum.edu/manifest.

Julia Alvarez: Keynote Speaker for The Big Read, Friday May 10, 2013

Photo credit: Bill Eichner

Julia Alvarez, author of In the Time of the Butterflies, and other books such as How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent and Return to Sender joins us via videoconferencing as the keynote speaker for The Big Read.  The program will be held on Friday, May 10, 2013 at Columbia College Chicago's Ferguson Lecture Hall, 600 S. Michigan Ave., 1st Floor from 6:00-7:30pm.  A reception follows the program.
 
Ms. Alvarez is a novelist, prize-winning poet, children's author, essayist and currently a writer in residence at Middlebury College in Vermont. Her latest work, A Wedding in Haiti was published by Algonquin Books in 2012. The program will be moderated by Jesus Macarena-Avila, faculty member in the Humanities, History and Social Sciences Department at Columbia College Chicago.

Also on the program will be Grupo Marivilla, a Chicago area senior citizen Latina/o folk dance group who will be performing dances of the Domincan Republic in native dress. They are based at Centro Maravilla, part of Alivio Medical Center in the Pilsen neighborhood.  Members of the dance troupe are between the ages of 65-93.

The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.  This program is also made in part by a grant from the Illinois Humanities Council, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Illinois General Assembly.

The Big Read Screening TONIGHT: Tropico de Sangre

The Big Read Screenings conclude with Tropico de Sangre, starring Michelle Rodriguez in the role of Minerva Mirabal.  The film, directed by Juan Delancer, focuses on Minerva Mirabal and tells the true story of how she and her sisters came to represent the greatest threat to dictator Rafael Trujillo and his regime.

She, along with her sisters, Patria and Maria Teresa would eventually be murdered by Trujillo on November 25, 1960 for their underground work toward overthrowing his dictatorship.





The film came under fire in 2008 by Carlos Leiter, president of the Minerva Mirabal  Foundation for using Rodriguez due to her past legal troubles and illegal use of the Mirabal name.  Find out what happened here.

Trópico de Sangre
Wednesday, May 8 from 6:30-8:30pm 
Columbia College Chicago Film Row Cinema
1104 S. Wabash, 8th Floor, Chicago IL

CALL FOR ENTRIES: THE BIG READ @ MANIFEST ART EXHIBIT

As part of The Big Read and Manifest, the Columbia College Chicago Library is looking for visual artwork of all media that deals with the broad themes in Julia Alvarez’s novel,  In the Time of the Butterflies.

We are looking for original art which encompasses themes including:

• Violence against women
• Political activism
• Women’s rights/Equal rights
• The history and politics of the Dominican Republic

Accepted works (or reproductions) will be reproduced from emailed jpg files as ephemeral prints for distribution at Manifest, the college’s annual arts and media festival.  These prints will include the artist’s name, website, and email (if they wish to release this information). 
NO ORIGINAL WORKS WILL BE ACCEPTED

There is no fee to submit. Submissions should be:

•  3000 pixels on the long side (ie 10” @ 300 ppi)
•  Level 12 jpg files
• Naming: files should be named FIRSTNAME_LASTNAME#.jpg (ie robertson_cole1.jpg)
• The body of the email should include title, date, medium, size, artist's website, email, and contact info for the back of the print

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 3 PM, THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013
PLEASE INCLUDE “ARTWORK SUBMISSION” IN SUBJECT LINE

Email Cole Robertson to submit, or for additional information: crobertson@colum.edu

 ______________________________

The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. This program is also made possible in part by a grant from the Illinois Humanities Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Illinois General Assembly.

The Big Read Film Screenings

As part of The Big Read, Columbia College Chicago will be sponsoring several film screenings related to the In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez.  In the Time of the Butterflies transports us to the Dominican Republic in the mid-twentieth century when the country struggled under the brutal dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. A work of historical fiction, the novel honors the lives of Patria, Minerva, and María Teresa Mirabal, who became icons of freedom and women's rights when they were assassinated in the autumn of 1960 for their role in the underground movement against Trujillo's regime.

There will be several screenings of the "In the Time of the Butterflies," the feature motion picture, starring Salma Hayek, Lumi Cavazos, Marc Anthony and Edward James Olmos.

In the Time of the Butterflies
Upcoming Screenings

Wednesday, April 24, from 6:30-8:30pm 
Columbia College Chicago Film Row Cinema
1104 S. Wabash Ave, 8th Floor
Chicago IL

Wednesday, May 1, from 3:00-4:30pm 
Harold Washington College Library
30 E. Lake St., Rm 102
Chicago IL

Wednesday, May 8 from 7:00-8:30pm 
Cicero Public Library
5225 W. Cermak Rd.
Cicero IL

Code Name: Butterflies - Nombre secreto: Mariposas
The first documentary to tell the powerful story of the Mirabal sisters of the Dominican Republic.  Directed by Cecilia Domeyko.

Code Name: Butterflies 
Wednesday, May 1 from 6:00-8:00pm 
NOTE LOCATION CHANGE:
624 S. Michigan Ave., Collins Hall, 6th floor
Chicago IL 

Trópico de Sangre
In 1960, The Dominican Republic's historic heroine, Minerva Mirabal and her sisters were assassinated by dictator Rafael L. Trujillo for daring to oppose the dictatorship.  Their death gave life to revolution.  The film focuses on Minerva Mirabal and tells the true story of how she and her sisters came to represent the greatest threat to dictator Rafael Trujillo and his regime. The Mirabal sisters were involved in an underground movement against the government, and were assassinated in 1960 by men under the instruction of the Trujillo regime.  Starring Michelle Rodriguez.

Trópico de Sangre
Wednesday, May 8 from 6:30-8:30pm 
Columbia College Chicago Film Row Cinema
1104 S. Wabash, 8th Floor
Chicago IL

  

For more information about The Big Read at Columbia College Chicago, please visit the Columbia College Chicago Library Big Read website.   All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.

Book Discussion/ In the Time of the Butterflies FREE at the Library!

Join Sonja Smally, staff member of Follett's Bookstore, as she leads a spirited book discussion about In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez at the Columbia College Chicago Library, on Thursday April 18th from 2-3:30pm in Room 305 (3rd floor North).

 

 

Whether you have read the book, are reading it or are planning to for the first time, join us for conversation about an important work in literature whose themes of political oppression, violence against women and the courage to fight against a brutal system have both historical and contemporary relevance.  In celebration of The Big Read and National Library Week, free copies of In the Time of the Butterflies will be available in both English and Spanish at the Library beginning Monday,  April 15th while supplies last!

  
The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. This program is also made possible in part by a grant from the Illinois Humanities Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Illinois General Assembly.

14th Annual Edible Books & Tea

In conjunction with The Big Read at Columbia College Chicago, the 14th Annual Edible Books and Tea will be held on Tuesday, April 16th, 2013 from 6-8pm in the Columbia College Chicago Library, 624 S. Michigan Ave., 3rd Fl, North.

This year, entries can be inspired by Julia Alvarez's novel, In the Time of the Butterflies as this year's themes are "Influences of the Caribbean" and "Protest, Sacrifice and Hope" or any literary-oriented theme of your choice.

We invite you to create a book-like sculpture from edible materials reflecting these themes and bring it to the Columbia College Chicago Library where it will be consumed by book-loving gourmets! Prize categories include: Best in Show, Most Book-Like, Best Visual Pun, Best Presentation and Most Likely to be Devoured.

Need some inspiration?  Check out past entries here.

For general information and a registration form visit: colum.edu/bookandpaper


$10 General Admission | $5 Columbia College Students
| $5 Members of the Friends of the Library or CBPA

FREE for entrants!

The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.