Alumni News

Lisa Rosenthal is a professor of art history at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Art History alum offers new ways to perceive work of Rubens

Lisa Rosenthal (Cowell, Art History, 1981) has written “Gender, Politics and Allegory in the Art of Rubens,” which was recently published by Cambridge University Press. Rosenthal, a professor of art history at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, says that she wrote the book to draw attention to new ways of perceiving the work of 17th-century Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens.

In the book, which examines the relationship between paintings of family and marriage, and of war, peace, and statehood, Rosenthal draws upon recent critical and gender theory. Among the results are a new interpretation of canonical images and an original way of reading visual allegory.

Nathanson named executive director of Princeton Arts Council

Jeff Nathanson (Oakes, Art, 1977) has been appointed director of the Arts Council of Princeton, a non-profit community arts center that is the hub of cultural, artistic and family art events in Princeton, N.J. In this role, he is overseeing the renovation and expansion of a historic building at 102 Witherspoon Street in downtown Princeton. Michael Graves is the project designer. The newly renovated building is scheduled to open in 2007 and will be called the Paul Robeson Center for the Arts.

Nathanson previously served as director of the International Sculpture Center in Hamilton, N.J.

He also served on a public art committee charged with commissioning nine works of public art for the Princeton Public Library, which was building a new facility that opened in 2004. A figurative text sculpture by conceptual artist Robert Barry is a cornerpiece of that project. Nathanson joined the library’s public art committee at the request of Nancy Ukai Russell (Merrill, Anthropology, 1976), a trustee and current president of the Princeton Public Library Trustees. It wasn’t until mid-way through the project that Russell and Nathanson discovered their UCSC connection.

Spring dance concert features faculty and alum choreographers

Alumna Sommer Ulrickson (Porter, Theater Arts, 1996) returned to UCSC this spring to teach and develop a piece with her students for the Theater Arts spring dance concert, “Signs and Syndromes.” The work is titled “Jerusalem Syndrome” after the psychological phenomenon that affects some tourists to the holy city — they temporarily believe they are biblical figures. Through dance, text, and video, the performers investigated various aspects of fervor and longing related to this theme. Ulrickson is a dance theater artist in Germany.

“Signs and Syndromes,” which was staged at the beginning of June, also featured new works by faculty choreographers Ted Warburton and Mark Franko.

Warburton's work titled öötöö (pron. "ooh-too") observed life after dark, exploring ways in which fragments from our day get reassembled during sleep in strange and unpredictable ways. This piece included original video by Bay Area media artist Stacey Goodman, and digital media design and telematic distance collaboration with John Crawford and Lisa Naugle at UC Irvine.

Franko's piece, "After Apollo," was a meditation on George Balanchine's classic "Apollo" from a Dionysian perspective. Set to Stravinsky's Concerto in D for String Orchestra (a composition Balanchine never choreographed to), Franko asked what would have happened if "Apollo" did not end with the famous sunburst pose.

Lanfranco’s installation explores nature, culture, myth

An art installation by Katerina Lanfranco (Kresge, Art, 2001) was on display at Hunter College Times Square Gallery in New York City from May 17 to June 17. “The Creation of Ursus Horribilis” was a site-specific installation focusing on nature, culture and myth. It incorporated painting, sculpture and architecture.

Alumni perform in Sundanese Wayang Wong with UCSC faculty, students

Several UCSC faculty, alumni, students, and others performed in a Sundanese Wayang Wong (human puppet show) of the Ramayana in May. UCSC Music lecturer Undang Sumarna and Theater Arts professor Kathy Foley were joined by Dena Bjornlie (Porter, Music, 1977), Ben Arcangel (Oakes, Theater Arts, 1998), Henry Spiller (Oakes, Music 1978), current students, and Amy Beal, associate professor of Music, in the performance.

Many members of that group also played for a puppet version of the same episode at the National Steinbeck Center’s Pacific Rim Festival in Salinas. The event was sponsored by the Irvine Foundation. The second half of the program included the Balinese Gamelan with Music professor Linda Burman-Hall and Music lecturer Martin Randall presenting music and dance. Balinese guest artist Surya presented Topeng mask dance. DANM graduate students Jennifer (no.e) Parker and Daryl Ferucci performed at the concert and also developed gamelan-related performances for recent Digital Arts New Media performance showings.