SACRED HEART UNIVERSITY NEWS

Contact: Funda Alp, 203-396-8241, alpf@sacredheart.edu

For Immediate Release
January 2, 2007

Circe into Swine, 1979 Screenprint Private Collection © Romare Bearden Foundation/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

ROMARE BEARDEN: SCENES FROM THE PORTFOLIOS TO OPEN AT SACRED HEART UNIVERSITY GALLERY OF CONTEMPORARY ART

FAIRFIELD, Conn.—An exhibition of works by the renowned twentieth century American artist Romare Bearden will open to the public on January 21, 2007 at Sacred Heart University’s Gallery of Contemporary Art. A reception will be held from 1:00-3:30 p.m. in the Gallery, featuring live jazz by the Carol Sudhalter Duo.

Associated programming includes an Art Talk by Fulbright Fellow and Connecticut Museum Educator of the Year recipient Mary Kordak in the Gallery on Tuesday, January 30, at 7:00 p.m.

To celebrate Black History Month, African-American poet and playwright Jay Wright will present a reading of excerpts from Transfigurations on February 6 at 7:00 p.m. This event is co-sponsored by the Office of International/Multicultural Affairs with the support of the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Train, 1974 Etching & Aquatint Courtesy of Jerald Melberg Gallery © Romare Bearden Foundation/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

The exhibit and associated programming are free and open to the public.

Born in 1911, Bearden, the son of college-educated parents who left North Carolina for Harlem when he was four, spent his formative years in the nexus of the Harlem Renaissance. His home was the gathering place for such artistic and intellectual giants as “Duke” Ellington, “Fats” Waller, Langston Hughes and Paul Robeson, hosted by a mother who was the New York correspondent of The Chicago Defender, an African-American newspaper of the time. It would hardly be surprising to learn that the young man followed in the footsteps of any one of these illustrious houseguests. What distinguishes Bearden is that he pursued virtually all of them.

There seemed to be no limit to his interests and abilities. He received a degree in education from New York University, wrote and published articles on numerous topics and created political cartoons. He designed costumes and sets for prominent dance and theater companies, illustrated books by influential authors, co-wrote books about African American art and culture and composed songs.  He was even offered an opportunity to play professional baseball for the Philadelphia Athletics, if he would only agree to “pass as white”—an offer he refused.

In the Garden, 1974 Screenprint From the Prevalence of Ritual Suite Courtesy of Jerald Melberg Gallery © Romare Bearden Foundation/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

Social consciousness was the other driving force in his life.  In fact, while creating his art, Bearden also worked full time as a social worker until age 63. He was also one of the founders of Spiral, a group of artists actively engaged in the civil rights movement that focused on a role that artists might have in the civil rights movement.

A prolific artist, Bearden’s works were composed of paintings, collages and prints that reflected the wide range of his intellect. His work reflected the places he lived, from Harlem to Pennsylvania to North Carolina, and his interests, from art history to music to social concerns and literary references. His works were widely acclaimed and exhibited during his lifetime in the United States as well as throughout Europe.

There are 24 prints in varied media and one collage featured in this exhibition.

Bearden was best known for the universal themes depicted in his collage paintings and prints. A well-read man whose friends were other artists, writers, poets and jazz musicians, Bearden mined their worlds as well as his own for topics to explore. He took his imagery from both the everyday rituals of African American rural life in the south  and urban life in the north, melding those American experiences with his personal experiences and with the themes of classical literature, religion, myth, music and daily human ritual.

As Ruth Fine, curator at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., noted in a comprehensive exhibit entitled The Art of Romare Bearden in 2003, “One great legacy of Bearden’s art is its insight that what we share as a global community is equal in both interest and importance to what makes each of us unique.”

Bopping at Birdland, 1979 Lithograph From the Jazz Series Courtesy of Jerald Melberg Gallery © Romare Bearden Foundation/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

Romare Bearden: Scenes From the Portfolios is in cooperation with Jerald Melberg Gallery in Charlotte, North Carolina, Bearden’s birthplace. The exhibit and it’s related events are sponsored by SHU’s College of Education & Health Professions; Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism; Earl & Connie Young; American Association of University Women, Connecticut and Bridgeport Area Branch; Fairfield County Chapter of The Links, Incorporated; General Electric Scholars Program at SHU; SHU’s Office of the Vice-President of Academic Affairs, College of Arts & Sciences, and John F. Welch College of Business.

A Teacher Workshop will be held on Saturday, January 13, from 9 am to 3 p.m. to prepare area educators to use Bearden’s works to teach through the curriculum (social studies, history, art). It will be presented by Fulbright Fellow and Connecticut Museum Educator of the Year recipient Mary Kordak. CEU’s are available to participating teachers. For more information and to register, contact Sophia Gevas at gevass@sacredheart.edu. Or visit the site at Romare Bearden: Scenes from the Portfolios

The Gallery of Contemporary Art is located at the University's main campus at 5151 Park Avenue, in Fairfield, Conn. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday from 12 to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 12 to 4 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, call 203-365-7650 or visit http://artgallery.sacredheart.edu.

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About Sacred Heart University
Sacred Heart University, the second-largest Catholic university in New England, offers more than 40 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs. Its main campus in Fairfield, Connecticut, is complemented by satellites in Connecticut, Luxembourg and Ireland. Nearly 5,800 students are enrolled in its four colleges: Arts & Sciences; Education & Health Professions; University College; and the newly established John F. Welch College of Business, committed to educating students in the leadership tradition and legacy of Jack Welch. U.S. News & World Report and the Princeton Review place SHU among the best colleges in the Northeast, and Intel rates it #11 among the nation’s most “unwired” campuses. SHU fields 32 Division I athletic teams, and has an award-winning program of community service. www.sacredheart.edu

For additional Sacred Heart University news, please visit http://www.sacredheart.edu/pressroom.cfm.

 

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