By Chad Anderson Cavalier Daily Senior Writer Wednesday evening saw what several people in attendance deemed a historic day at the University.
Back in September, when it was still warm and everyone asked, "How was your summer?" at least 200 times a day, I was also asked, "Where are you living this year?" When I answered, "the Mosaic House," most people just looked at me, dumbfounded.
"Whiteness" is an elusive concept. In an attempt to address this often times confusing and debatable social construction, a group of artists have decided to present their own perceptions and ideas of whiteness through paintings, sculpture, photography and collage. The University's Bayly Art Museum currently is home to an exhibit titled "Whiteness: A Wayward Construction." According to the Bayly Art Museum Web site, the exhibit was initially organized by California's Laguna Beach Art Museum, and the University will be the only Eastern venue for the celebrated collection. The exhibition features a variety of artists' interpretation of whiteness, and as a whole, addresses not only the racial and social construction of whiteness, but also how that construction relates to history, class, region and gender. Several observers in the museum said that the whiteness exhibit was beyond anything they could have imagined and unlike anything they had ever seen. The exhibit "is not something you would see everyday in an ordinary art museum," said Charlottesville High School student Kaleigh Gilpin, whose Advanced Placement English class was touring the museum Wednesday. One room of the exhibition housed a large and incredibly detailed piece called "Mulatto Nation," by Lezley Saar.
Muddy ground and gray skies didn't dissuade University students from flocking to Mad Bowl Saturday for Springfest. Planned and organized by the University Programs Council, the event featured performances by The Wailers, Better Than Ezra and several other bands.
We were 15 students sick and tired of the gray Charlottesville winter, our minds stuffed with biochemical equations, quotes from Franklin and Dryden and facts about political systems in East Asia.
From politics to dancing to pyrotechnics, the Drama department's production of Lorraine Hansberry's "Les Blancs" has a little bit of everything.
Music and bright posters led students into the Newcomb Hall ballroom Saturday, as the Chinese Student Association's Chinafest got underway. The event filled the building's South Meeting Room with food, but the main attraction was in the ballroom. Third-year College student Selma Du, who helped to publicize Chinafest, did a Yo-Yo performance for the event. Du said that both modern and traditional Chinese dances were performed as well as a reoccurring skit that ran throughout the show. Chinafest, however, was not just a big show -- spectators were encouraged to play an active role. Du said there was a lot to for students to do. "We had exhibits that sold T-shirts and bubble tea," Du said.
With Black History Month well underway, the University is scheduling numerous cultural and intellectual events to celebrate and promote African-American culture and history.
While many students spent Saturday receiving bids and celebrating with new friends in the Greek system, others remembered old friends and memories from the past. The Theta Chapter of the Alpha Phi Omega co-ed service fraternity celebrated its 75th anniversary Saturday.
As a snowstorm sweeps into Charlottesville and winter announces that it is not going anywhere, University students bundle up to brave the cold. Last night, www.weather.com predicted that the Charlottesville and Alberlmarle County area would receive four to eight inches of snow and wintry mix between yesterday and today. Some students said they are not pleased with the incoming precipitation. Third-year College student Brian Hartman said he thought he had moved away from harsh winter weather when he came to the University. "I really hate the snow," Hartman said.
