University Events

Description: UMass Dartmouth College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) is launching a 13-week performing and visual arts series at it's Star Store campus in Downtown New Bedford. The CVPA Star Series will present free public programs every Thursday evening, 6:00 to 8:00 pm, in its Swain Studio space at the corner of Union and Purchase Streets. Dynamic live performances, video projections, and installations will be inside but viewable from the sidewalks outside of the Star Store Campus.

On Thursday, February 11, between 6:00 to 8:00 pm, the CVPA Star Series features the work of New Bedford based photographer and DJ, Andrew Kepinski. Kepinski's photographs will be integrated into projections that will cover the walls and ceiling of the Swain Studio while he 'spins' his favorite music.

Additionally, printmaker and graduating CVPA student, Taylor Hickey, will be demonstrating how she creates paper objects, shown in our pop-up exhibition, The Cosmological Sublime, installed above the stage. And finally, the audience will also be able to see ceramic sculptures by graduating CVPA student Danielle O'Malley through the windows of this corner gallery.

Poetry and spoken word will be the running theme for the first Thursday of each month, followed by a visual arts component during AHA! Nights on the second Thursdays, live music on third Thursdays, and fourth Thursdays are dedicated to performing arts all with site-specific projections that will bring the walls of the space to life. More information about each week's programming will be posted on the Swain Studio page on our website.

The CVPA Series will provide a distinctive platform to showcase the talents of our students, alumni, and visiting artists at a moment when public access to the arts is so severely limited. We are excited to bring these events to Downtown New Bedford and to contribute to the City's rich tradition of arts and culture. We are proud to partner with the City on this project which emphasizes the strong bonds between CVPA and the New Bedford community, stated Lawrence Jenkens, Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

Viera Levitt, CVPA Gallery Director, added, We want to make the Star Store Campus feel alive even though, for the time being, we are not able to gather indoors. Our public programming inside is limited to visits to the University Art Gallery that need to be scheduled in advance. The CVPA Star Series is bringing artistic experiences to the outside, easily and safely accessible from the sidewalk. We feel that in times of social isolation like these, it is especially important to keep human connections alive and to help make a difficult time more bearable. Art is the perfect vehicle for accomplishing this. For our artists and performers, these challenges, while unique to our times, will be yet another example of how art sustains, enlivens, provokes and teaches, while doing so, connects us to one another. Bring your mittens, folding chair, hot tea thermos and head downtown for a socially distant art experience!"

The CVPA Star Series is curated in collaboration with Don Burton Media (Film, New Media and Fine Art) and Beatriz & Company (Events Production and Management) with financial support from UMass Dartmouth and the City of New Bedford's #NBfestive Winter Places project. In-kind sponsors include Chase Canopy, Lightworks Productions Inc., and more. #NBfestive Winter Places partners the City of New Bedford with Destination New Bedford, New Bedford Creative, UMass Dartmouth CVPA and the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park every Thursday through Saturday through the winter months. On those days, artists, performers and downtown businesses will offer a variety of special events and programming in the City that are safe and fun for all ages.

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