SOFA faculty, lectures change

Friends of Art, an organization that supports IU School of Fine Arts (SoFA) students, will have its 26th annual Fine Arts Library Benefit Dinner at 6:45 p.m. Jan. 28 in the Fine Arts Library. This year, Associate Professor Bret Rothstein of the History of Art Department will present a lecture titled “Playful Objects.”

According to the Friends of Art’s website, Rothstein has long been interested in puzzles, especially after seeing the Lilly Library’s collection. Now, puzzles take up “virtually every waking moment, having even become the heart of his current research,” according to the website.

In addition to dinner, the night will include a a silent auction, which will feature handmade, wooden puzzles.

The dinner costs $64 per person, of which $32 is tax deductible. Reservations should be made by Jan. 20. To make reservations, call the Friends of Art office at 812-855-5300 or email foart@indiana.edu by Jan.

New Faculty

This spring semester, the SoFA has received an addition to their faculty. Margaret Graves, the professor of Islamic art, said she hopes to spend the next several weeks building on her predecessors work. 

“I’m doing a survey of Islamic Art as my class this semester,” Graves said. “The students are really great. They seem keen and interested, so I’m very pleased.”
Graves, who hails from Scotland, was excited about the department’s international scope.

“It is unusually global,” she said. “It has a very broad focus for an art history department, which I think is one of its real strengths.”

Although it’s just her first week, Graves has found IU’s atmosphere has also made the transition easier.

“People are very friendly here,” she said. “I mean, coming from the U.K., everyone seems incredibly friendly. It’s really a pleasure.”

LECTURE SERIES

In addition to faculty changes, SoFA’s art history department is continuing  the Robert and Avis Burke Lecture Series, which will feature three new speakers scheduled to present this spring.

“It is an opportunity for top scholars in their respective fields to present their research to the Department of the History of Art, the faculty and students at IU and the larger Bloomington community,” coordinator Alicia Guebert said.

The lectures were named after Avis Burke, the wife of artist Robert Burke, who was a professor emeritus of IU fine art for eight years.

Though Guebert is still confirming the last speaker, she said she expects the information will be posted in the next few days. These lectures will be in addition to the department’s annual graduate student symposium.

Further information regarding the lectures and this semester’s speakers can be found at www.indiana.edu/~finaweb