Resource Theme Guides to selected programs from the Fall 2023 Visions & Voices program were created in partnership with USC Libraries faculty and staff. USE THESE FOR RESEARCH, LEARNING, AND TEACHING RESOURCES: Look for recommended resources pertaining to the people, performances and topics covered by these events. Visit the current season of: USC Visions and Voices Visions and Voices Theme Guides USC Libraries Visions and Voices website and project managers: Dr. Melissa L. Miller and Tyson Gaskill. Image source: Dr. Melissa L. Miller "interior of USC Hoose Library." Keith Haring: Art Is for Everybody (Theme Guide PDF) Date: Friday, August 25, 2023 at 1:15 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. Location: The Broad An Experience L.A. Event USC Libraries Contributor: Dr. Melissa L. Miller EVENT DESCRIPTION: USC students will take a guided tour of the first-ever museum exhibition in Los Angeles focusing on the art and life of Keith Haring (1958–1990). Known for his use of vibrant color, energetic linework, and iconic characters like the barking dog and the radiant baby, Haring’s body of work continues to dissolve barriers between art and life and spread joy—all while being rooted in the creative spirit and mission of his subway drawings and renowned public murals: art is for everybody. After the tour, students will have time to explore the museum on their own. Curated by Sarah Loyer, exhibition manager at The Broad, the expansive exhibition spans from the late 1970s, when Haring was a student at the School of Visual Arts in New York, through 1988, just two years before the artist died from AIDS-related illness. It features over 120 artworks and archival materials, including video, sculpture, drawing, painting, and graphic works, as well as public projects such as subway drawings and public murals. Haring’s participation in nuclear disarmament and anti-Apartheid movements are featured prominently, as well as art that addresses complex issues such as the environment, capitalism, religion, sexuality, race, and the proliferation of new technologies.Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Make Mend II: Unravel, Unwind (Theme Guide PDF) Date: Friday, September 8, 2023 at 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Location: Watt Hall (WAH), South Lawn Type: Workshop USC Libraries Contributor: Christina Snider EVENT DESCRIPTION: Carrying on the popular Make Mend series of workshops, the dean and members of the USC Roski School of Art and Design host three new events promoting mending, fabrication, and sustainability while highlighting the Wabi Sabi concept of embracing flaws and finding beauty in imperfection. USC Roski faculty, staff, and students will lead sessions on unraveling, spinning, weaving, stitching, needlework, and other techniques to renew, reuse, and repurpose textiles. 2.12 billion tons of fabric waste are dumped annually, but natural materials can be repurposed by fusing, weaving, or sewing. For the first workshop, participants are invited to bring old clothing or cloth (natural materials such as cotton, silk, or linen preferred) to be unraveled or shredded and transformed into skeins of usable textiles. The workshop will include a deconstruction circle, spinning circle, and community share area, and create inventory to be used in the second and third workshops. No experience is necessary, and light refreshments will be served. Workshop Facilitators: China Adams, assistant professor of teaching Sherin Guirguis, professor of practice, art, and design; chair of foundation Haven Lin-Kirk, dean; professor of art and design Brian O’Connell, assistant professor of teaching and design; co-chair of design Julia Paull, associate professor of teaching and art; chair of art 4D Alexis Zoto, assistant professor of teaching and design; co-chair of design This event is being held in conjunction with Green Week. For all Trojans, Green Week is your opportunity to learn more about USC’s sustainability framework, Assignment: Earth, and brush up on personal and professional actions that can help USC achieve its sustainability goals.Related Events: Make Mend II: Tools of the Trade Friday, November 17, 2023, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Watt Hall South Lawn For info, click HERE. Make Mend II: WORK + Materials Barter Fair Friday, February 23, 2024, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Watt Hall Courtyard and South Lawn For more info, click HERE. Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Organized by the USC Roski School of Art and Design. Co-sponsored by the USC Fisher Museum of Art, the USC Pacific Asia Museum, and the Office of Sustainability. What Is American: PUBLIQuartet (Theme Guide PDF) Date: Wednesday, September 13, 2023 at 7 p.m. 7 p.m.: Discussion with the Artists 8 p.m.: Concert Location: MacDonald Recital Hall (MUS 106) USC Libraries Contributor: Andrew Justice EVENT DESCRIPTION: “A perfect encapsulation of today’s trends in chamber music.”—The Washington Post The GRAMMY-nominated PUBLIQuartet will perform their latest album, What Is American, preceded by a conversation with USC Vice Provost for the Arts Josh Kun. Founded in 2010, the acclaimed New York City–based chamber music ensemble has received countless awards and accolades for its innovative programs, which range from 20th-century masterworks to newly commissioned pieces. PUBLIQuartet's reimagined classical works feature open-form improvisations that expand the techniques and aesthetic of the traditional string quartet. What Is American features creative and biting chamber improvisations on Oliver Wendell Holmes and Alice Coltrane, Vijay Iyer and Roscoe Mitchell, Tina Turner and Fats Waller, among others. According to the quartet, the concert program and album explore “the resonance between contemporary, blues, jazz, free, and rock-inflected music—all of which trace their roots back to the Black and Indigenous music that inspired Dvořák’s American String Quartet. Interrogating these traditions of our nation’s complex history, PUBLIQuartet attempts to connect the dots, illuminating the past, present, and future of American concert music.” Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Organized by the USC Thornton School of Music. Hip Hop 50: Celebrating Hip Hop Dance Scholarship (Theme Guide PDF) Date: Wednesday, September 20, 2023 at 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Location: Glorya Kaufman International Dance Center Type: Workshop, Performance, Diversity, Conversation USC Libraries Contributor: Javier Garibay EVENT DESCRIPTION: August 1973 is acknowledged as the critical moment of the emergence of Hip Hop, as innovated by Black and Brown youth in New York City. To celebrate Hip Hop’s 50th anniversary and dance in Hip Hop as a global phenomenon, the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, home to one of the nation’s largest contingents of faculty in higher education with Hip Hop dance expertise, will host a dynamic festival of panels, workshops, and dancing. “Celebrating Hip Hop Dance Scholarship” is the first of three parts. Schedule: 5–6 p.m.: A musical essay by DJ Lynnée Denise, 2022 Sterling Brown Visiting Professor at Williams College and founder of “DJ Scholarship,” who has re-positioned the role of the DJ from party purveyor to archivist, cultural custodian, and information specialist. 6–7 p.m.: Reception with food and drink. 7–8:30 p.m.: Hip Hop scholarship panel celebrating the publication of the Oxford Handbook of Hip Hop Dance Studies with editors Imani Kai Johnson and Mary Fogarty in conversation with USC Kaufman professors E. Moncell Durden and Naomi Bragin. 8:30–10 p.m.: Hip Hop dance workshops open to all (registration and liability waiver required). Related events:Celebrating Kinetic Innovation: A Birthday Party for Hip Hop Saturday, September 30 People’s Street Plaza, Leimert Park 3341 W. 43rd Place, Los Angeles, CA 90008 Get info HERECelebrating Collaboration & Community Wednesday, October 4 Glorya Kaufman International Dance Center RSVP beginning Friday, September 1 at 9 a.m. Get info HEREPresented by USC Visions and Voices. Organized by artistic lead and curator d. Sabela grimes (Dance). Co-sponsored by the Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs and La CASA. This Is Not a True Story (Theme Guide PDF) Date: Friday, September 22, 2023 at 7 p.m. to 10:45 p.m. Location: Los Angeles Theatre Center Presented by Artists at Play and Latino Theatre Company An Experience L.A. Event USC Libraries Contributor: Javier Garibay EVENT DESCRIPTION: In partnership with the Latino Theater Company, Asian American theatre producing collective Artists at Play presents the world premiere of This Is Not a True Story, written by Preston Choi and directed by Reena Dutt. Discover what it takes to control your own narrative as Cio Cio from Madame Butterfly and Kim from Miss Saigon each find themselves locked in a time loop of their respective stories that (spoiler alert!) always end in suicide. How do they fight against the plots that they’re forced to repeat for eternity? And what would happen if a contemporary character joined their ranks? From the perspectives of the characters themselves, This Is Not a True Story humorously challenges the harmful representations and stereotypes that Asian women have suffered for generations. The play will be followed by a conversation with the artists and members of the creative team. Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Art, Activism, and Reproductive Rights: Creative Workshops, Panel, and March (Theme Guide PDF) Date: Saturday, September 30, 2023 at 1 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Location: Various Locations, University Park Campus Type: Workshop, Performance, Diversity USC Libraries Contributor: Ariana Varela EVENT DESCRIPTION: In the wake of recent laws that bar or limit access to safe and legal abortions and reproductive health services, a full day of activities will explore the potential for art to produce social and political change. The inspiring and empowering event will include creative workshops in animation, silkscreen and poster-making, DIY zines, choreography, drumming, and activist architecture; a public reading of Lisa Loomer’s Roe; a panel of artists discussing the relationship between art, activism, and creating change; and a march of solidarity and support of bodily autonomy and reproductive rights that will feature many of the items created in the workshops. Everyone is welcome and snacks will be provided. Along with a presentation by Dutch medical doctor, artist, and activist Rebecca Gomperts on Friday, October 27, this event is part of a series that serves as a call to action to promote bodily autonomy and reproductive rights through arts, activism, and dialogue. Schedule (subject to change): 1–2:45 p.m.: CREATIVE WORKSHOPS—SESSION I Radical Botanicals: Phytogram Image-Making Workshop Holly Willis, Chair of the Media Arts + Practice Division in USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, will lead a workshop drawing together ancient knowledge of the power of herbs for reproductive health with a cameraless filmmaking/photography technique. Our Bodies, Our Battleground: Animation and Projection Workshop Led by USC School of Cinematic Arts professor Lisa Mann and experimental animator Ruth Hayes, participants will create text + image animations using the ancient printmaking technique of frottage, or rubbing, and then project them onto USC architecture. DIY Design: Zine-Making Workshop Derek Christian Quezada Meneses, rare books librarian at the USC Libraries’ Department of Special Collections, will guide you through the process of creating your own zine, using a variety of mediums and techniques inspired by the rich history of independent activist publications. Public Reading of Roe Anita Dashiell-Sparks, Vice Chair of Performance, Associate Dean of DEI, and professor in USC's School of Dramatic Arts, hosts a reading of Lisa Loomer’s award-winning play about lawyer Sarah Weddington and plaintiff Norma McCorvey (“Jane Roe”) in the years following the historic Roe v. Wade decision. 3–4:45 p.m.: CREATIVE WORKSHOPS—SESSION II DIY Political Poster-Making Workshop USC Roski professor Sherin Guirguis and representatives from Self Help Graphics & Art will assist participants in creating handmade stencils to silkscreen as posters with vibrant inks. Empowering Rhythms: Drumming for Reproductive Rights Anindo Marshall of the USC Kaufman School of Dance will introduce participants to the concept of the drum circle while teaching basic rhythms steeped in African drumming practice. Participants will learn to drum in preparation for a post-panel march through the USC campus that settles into a drum circle and rally at Tommy Trojan/Hahn Plaza. Our Bodies Claiming the Space: Choreography Workshop USC Kaufman School of Dance professor Alison D’Amato and participants will create and perform a choreographic score as protest, investigating relationships between choreography, agency, and authority while paying homage to Lawrence and Ana Halprin’s RSVP Cycles. No dance experience necessary. Exploring Access to Reproductive Justice Syracuse University School of Architecture professor Lori Brown and Esther Margulies of the USC School of Architecture will lead exercises in creating access to reproductive health services through design. 5–7:30 p.m.: WHAT CAN BE DONE?—PANEL DISCUSSION, MARCH, AND RALLY An informative and empowering conversation will feature the diverse perspectives of practitioners in dance, visual arts, architecture, and theatre, who will share their strategies of intervention or exploration in relation to political and cultural structures around reproductive rights. Panelists will explore how different art forms provide different opportunities, as well as the different issues represented by artists and their communities. Panelists will include Paula Cizmar (USC School of Dramatic Arts, Institute for Theatre and Social Change), Nao Bustamante (USC Roski School of Art and Design), Lori Brown (co-founder of ArchiteXX/Syracuse Architecture), Marjani Forté-Saunders (USC Kaufman School of Dance), and Phung Huynh (Los Angeles Valley College). The panel will be followed by a march through the USC campus, culminating in a drum circle and rally at Tommy Trojan, where the art created throughout the day will be shown, projected, performed, and used as a call to action. Related Event: Rebecca Gomperts Discusses Art, Activism, and Reproductive Rights Friday, October 27, 2023, at 5:30 p.m. Ray Stark Family Theatre, SCA 108 For more info, click HERE. Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Organized by Patrick Corbin (Dance), Anita Dashiell-Sparks (Dramatic Arts), Sherin Guirguis and Amelia Jones (Art and Design), Evan Hughes and Lisa Mann (Cinematic Arts), and Esther Margulies (Architecture). Co-sponsored by the USC interArts Council. Hip Hop 50: A Birthday Party for Hip Hop (Theme Guide PDF) Date: Saturday, September 30, 2023 at 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Location: McCarthy Quad USC Libraries Contributor: Javier Garibay EVENT DESCRIPTION: August 1973 is acknowledged as the critical moment of the emergence of Hip Hop, as innovated by Black and Brown youth in New York City. To celebrate Hip Hop’s 50th anniversary and dance in Hip Hop as a global phenomenon, the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, home to one of the nation’s largest contingents of faculty in higher education with Hip Hop dance expertise, will host a dynamic festival of panels, workshops, and dancing organized by artistic lead and curator d. Sabela grimes. This community-focused block party will weave a vibrant tapestry of Hip Hop culture, with L.A.-based dance artists K’niin, Asia One (No Easy Props), Versa-Style Legacy, UniverSOUL Hip Hop, and Ryan Phuong with Kaufman BFA dancers as part of the SC Choreogaphic Collective, along with DJ Adé and an opening set by DJ Slaterrose bringing the streets to life with improvisational or spontaneous pop-up performances. Attendees are invited to not just witness but actively engage, collaborate, and co-create with our special guests and USC Kaufman students in a living celebration of kinetic innovation and a heartfelt homage to Hip Hop. It ain’t nothin’ but a party y’all! The first 225 guests who check in will receive tickets for dinner and dessert upon check in. Vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options will be available. Celebrating Collaboration & Community Wednesday, October 4 Glorya Kaufman International Dance Center For info, click HERE.Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Organized by artistic lead and curator d. Sabela grimes and the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. Co-sponsored by the Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs and La CASA. Artwork: Dark Matter in Breaking Cyphers book cover Hip Hop 50: Celebrating Collaboration & Community (Theme Guide PDF) Date: Wednesday, October 4, 2023 at 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Location: Glorya Kaufman International Dance Center USC Libraries Contributor: Javier Garibay EVENT DESCRIPTION: August 1973 is acknowledged as the critical moment of the emergence of Hip Hop, as innovated by Black and Brown youth in New York City. To celebrate Hip Hop’s 50th anniversary and dance in Hip Hop as a global phenomenon, the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, home to one of the nation’s largest contingents of faculty in higher education with Hip Hop dance expertise, will host a dynamic festival of panels, workshops, and dancing organized by artistic lead and curator d. Sabela grimes. “Celebrating Collaboration & Community” is the third of three events. Schedule:5–6 p.m.: A conversation with Dr. Shamell Bell about the 28-Day Global Dance Meditation for Black Liberation and the community-led improvisational methods of “co-choreographic praxis.” Street dance activism community organizers, guides, and artists will participate.6–7 p.m.: Reception with food and drink.7–10 p.m.: Ahmad DuBose-Dawson and Yoda Jones will lead Everything Raw, a freestyle platform inspiring improvisation and collaboration and showcasing the boundless potential cultivated when individuals and communities come together to share and harness raw energy. USC students from Thornton and beyond are invited to sit in with the live band, USC students from Roski and beyond are invited into the flow of live painting and art making, and space will be provided for all to linger and build break-out cyphers. Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Organized by artistic lead and curator d. Sabela grimes and the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. Co-sponsored by the Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs and La CASA. Artwork: Dark Matter in Breaking Cyphers book cover Boundless Curiosity: Unleashing the Potential of Inclusive Design Thinking - A Conversation with Mark Rios (Theme Guide PDF) Date: Monday, October 16, 2023 at 7 p.m. Location: Bovard Auditorium (ADM) Reception to follow. USC Libraries Contributor: Christina Snider EVENT DESCRIPTION: Join us for the inaugural event of Crossing Design Borders, an annual speaker series launched by the USC School of Architecture in partnership with USC Visions and Voices, featuring distinguished architect and landscape architect Mark Rios, whose projects include Gloria Molina Grand Park, The California Endowment, and Nokia Plaza at L.A. Live. With a focus on curiosity and defining one’s own formula for inclusive innovation, Rios will explore the transformative potential of embracing diverse ideas and collaborators in fostering innovation and share his passion for unlocking groundbreaking solutions and authentic creativity to shape a brighter future in a conversation with Frances Anderton, architecture and design journalist. Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Organized by the USC School of Architecture. Image (left): One Beverly Hills, & Beverly Hilton, Beverly Hills, CA. Rendering: Alagem Capital Group Ephrat Asherie Dance: UNDERSCORED (Theme Guide PDF) Date: Thursday, October 19, 2023 at 7 p.m. Location: Bovard Auditorium (ADM) USC Libraries Contributor: Javier Garibay EVENT DESCRIPTION: “Asherie’s movement phrases—compact bursts of choreography with rapid-fire changes in rhythm and gestural articulation—bubble up and dissipate, quickly paving the way for something new.”—New York Times Don’t miss the Los Angeles premiere of Ephrat Asherie Dance’s UNDERSCORED, a living archive of five generations of NYC club dancers. The evening-length performance is a multi-generational collaboration of performers ranging in age from 28–80. Celebrating and investigating their connections to the NYC club scene from the 1970s at seminal parties like the Loft and the Paradise Garage through today, UNDERSCORED features EAD ensemble members and three NYC club legends, Archie Burnett, Brahms “Bravo” LaFortune, and Michele Saunders. Audiences join the company in an exhilarating journey through deeply personal histories; rarely seen archival footage; a vast musical landscape including funk, disco, and house; and decades of dancing through the culturally reflective styles of breaking, hip hop, house, vogue, waacking, and hustle. The event will open with a conversation exploring the street and club dance scene of Los Angeles featuring street dance pioneer, choreographer, and singer Toni Basil; former Soul Train dancers Bill “Slim the Robot” Williams and Sharon Hill; Deidra “Krucial” of the Demolition Crew; Jackie Lopez-Foaad aka Miss Funk of Versa-Style; and Charlie E. Schmidt aka Vzion of the Groovaloos, moderated by the USC Kaufman School of Dance’s d. Sabela grimes. The evening will conclude with an onstage dance party for the artists and audience alike! The pandemic kept ALL of us from gathering. Whether on or off the dance floor, UNDERSCORED is a reminder of how essential it is to connect to one another. Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Co-sponsored by the USC Kaufman School of Dance and the USG Performing Arts Committee. Photo: Lamont Richardson Let’s Talk about George Floyd: Systemic Racism in the United States Today (Theme Guide PDF) Date: Tuesday, October 24, 2023 at 6 p.m. Location: USC Fisher Museum of Art (HAR), Courtyard USC Libraries Contributor: Adam Sexton EVENT DESCRIPTION: “Since we know George Floyd’s death with tragic clarity, we must know Floyd’s America—and life—with tragic clarity. Essential for our times.”—Ibram X. Kendi on His Name Is George Floyd Examine structural, institutional, and systemic racism and the life and death of George Floyd with Toluse Olorunnipa, a Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter for The Washington Post and co-author of His Name Is George Floyd. Olorunnipa will be joined by Brittany Friedman, a USC professor of sociology; Jody David Armour, Roy P. Crocker Professor of Law at USC; and moderator Kymia Freeman, a public relations student at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, to explore themes from his landmark biography, which analyzes racist laws, racial segregation, mass incarceration, and other issues that affect the lives of Black Americans, and discuss how we can create meaningful change and move towards a more equitable society. A reception with music, food, and an interactive mural will follow. This special event is presented in conjunction with Kara Walker: Cut to the Quick, on view at the USC Fisher Museum of Art from September 8 through December 9, 2023. With more than 80 powerful and provocative images from the collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, the exhibition provides a broad overview of Walker’s internationally acclaimed career and work, which critiques the painful legacies of slavery, sexism, violence, imperialism, and other power structures. Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Organized by the USC Fisher Museum of Art, Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs, and USC Gould School of Law. Ghosts of USC: A Historical Immersive Haunt (Program PDF and Theme Guide PDF) “Ghosts of USC: A Historical Immersive Haunt” runs from Thursday, October 26, through Sunday, October 29, with two shows nightly at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Date: Thursday, October 26, 2023 - Sunday, October 29, 2023 Location: Kerckhoff Hall (KER) USC Libraries Contributor: Adam Sexton EVENT DESCRIPTION: Enter if you dare and experience “Ghosts of USC.” Taking place at an enchanting-but-spooky Tudor Revival mansion just north of University Park Campus, this immersive, walk-through theatrical event will transport audiences to 1880, when USC was founded, and to the explosive history of Los Angeles at the turn of the twentieth century. But beware: visitors from the other side may join as well. This innovative historical haunting is a collaboration between the students and faculty of the USC School of Dramatic Arts; guest artists from the award-winning Company of Angels, the oldest non-profit professional equity waiver theatre in Los Angeles; and students and faculty from the USC School of Cinematic Arts’ brand-new Themed Entertainment program.Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Organized by the USC School of Dramatic Arts. Co-sponsored by the USC School of Cinematic Arts, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, the USC Libraries, and Company of Angels. Photo: University of Southern California Student Halloween Party, CA, 1890 Rebecca Gomperts Discusses Art, Activism, and Reproductive Rights (Theme Guide PDF) Date: Friday, October 27, 2023 at 5:30 p.m. Location: Ray Stark Family Theatre (SCA), SCA 108 USC Libraries Contributor: Jennifer Silverman EVENT DESCRIPTION: 100 Most Influential People of 2020—TIME Woman of the Year 2022—Glamour Trained as both a medical doctor and an artist, Rebecca Gomperts has founded three international organizations to improve women’s access to reproductive healthcare worldwide: Women on Waves, which brings non-surgical abortion services and education to countries around the world via boat; Women on Web, which provides online counseling and sends pills and instructions for safe, at-home abortions via drones and packages; and Aid Access, which has shipped mifepristone and misoprostol to tens of thousands of people in the United States. In this presentation, introduced by and featuring a conversation moderated by USC Roski professor Amelia Jones, the Dutch physician and human rights activist will discuss her career at the intersection of art, medicine, and activism, and answer questions from the audience. Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Organized by Patrick Corbin (Dance), Anita Dashiell-Sparks (Dramatic Arts), Sherin Guirguis and Amelia Jones (Art and Design), Evan Hughes and Lisa Mann (Cinematic Arts), and Esther Margulies (Architecture). Co-sponsored by the USC interArts Council. An Evening with Enrique Martínez Celaya Including a Conversation with Martin Brest (Theme Guide PDF) Date: Thursday, November 2, 2023 at 7 p.m. Location: Ray Stark Family Theatre (SCA), SCA 108 USC Libraries Contributor: Christina Snider EVENT DESCRIPTION: Prominent contemporary artist Enrique Martínez Celaya will give a brief talk about his work followed by a conversation with acclaimed movie director, art collector, and longtime friend Martin Brest (Beverly Hills Cop, Midnight Run, Scent of a Woman). In addition to discussing the artist’s work and its significance in today’s cultural landscape, topics of their exchange may include the creative process, sources of inspiration, strategies to overcome the challenges that artists face, the role of friendship and collaboration in the artistic process, and themes and concepts that are central to Martínez Celaya’s work, such as memory, identity, nature, and poetry. Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Co-sponsored by the USC Roski School of Art and Design and USC School of Cinematic Arts. Photo (left): Enrique Martínez Celaya and Martin Brest, New York, New York, 2023 Photo (right): Enrique Martínez Celaya, The Song of Freedom (2021–2023). Oil and wax on canvas, 92 x 118 in. An Evening with Maxine Hong Kingston (Theme Guide PDF) Date: Monday, November 13, 2023 at 7 p.m. Location: Bovard Auditorium (ADM) USC Libraries Contributor: Christina Snider EVENT DESCRIPTION: “We are in the presence of a splendid raconteur, who shares with us the myths and stories that emerge from the lode of a culture’s deepest realities.”—Chicago Tribune Called an “Asian-American literary pioneer, whose writing has paved the way for many immigrants’ stories” (The New Yorker), groundbreaking novelist, poet, and memoirist Maxine Hong Kingston is the author of award-winning and influential autobiographies The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts and China Men, which blurred the lines between nonfiction and fiction. She is also the author of the novelTripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book and editor of the anthologyVeterans of War, Veterans of Peace, compiled from the work of participants in the therapeutic poetry workshops she has led for more than 500 veterans of war. As part of the Subir and Malini Chowdhury Foundation Distinguished Speakers Series, Hong Kingston will read from her works and participate in a conversation with USC professor David Ulin and Q&A with the audience, followed by a book signing. Presented by the USC Department of English and USC Visions and Voices with support from the Subir and Malini Chowdhury Foundation and our media partner, KCRW. Co-sponsored by the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and the USC Center for Transpacific Studies. Make Mend II: Tools of the Trade (Theme Guide PDF) Date: Friday, November 17, 2023 at 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Location: Watt Hall (WAH), South Lawn USC Libraries Contributor: Christina Snider EVENT DESCRIPTION: Practicing mending, fabrication, and sustainability while embracing the wabi-sabi concept of celebrating flaws and finding beauty in imperfection, participants in the second Make Mend II workshop will learn how to create tools including table looms, drop spindles, and knitting needles that will be used on unraveled, shredded, and transformed old clothing and cloth from the first workshop. The spinning circle from the first workshop will continue, and special guests will demonstrate and teach introductory weaving, knitting, and spinning skills. New participants are welcome, too! Make Mend II carries on the popular series of workshops in which faculty, staff, and students from the USC Roski School of Art and Design lead sessions on unraveling, spinning, weaving, stitching, needlework, and other techniques to renew, reuse, and repurpose textiles. No experience is necessary, and light refreshments will be served. Related Events: Make Mend II: Unravel, Unwind Friday, September 8, 2023, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Watt Hall South Lawn For more info, click HERE. Make Mend II: WORK + Materials Barter Fair Friday, February 23, 2024, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Watt Hall Courtyard and South Lawn For more info, click HERE. Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Organized by the USC Roski School of Art and Design. Co-sponsored by the USC Fisher Museum of Art, the USC Pacific Asia Museum, and the Office of Sustainability. LA Opera: El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego (Theme Guide PDF)Date: Thursday, November 30, 2023 at 6 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.Location: Dorothy Chandler PavilionUSC Libraries Contributor: Ariana Varela An Experience L.A. Event El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego will run at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion from November 18 through December 9. To attend a performance on your own, visit laopera.org for more information. ADMISSION: Admission is free and open to current USC students only, who must use the provided transportation to participate. Space is limited and advance registration is required. Check-in for the event will begin at 5:15 p.m. on campus. Buses will depart at 6 p.m. and return to campus at 10:30 p.m. Dinner will be provided.EVENT DESCRIPTION: “Opera is an ideal medium for fusing magic and reality, and El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego... does just that with sensitivity and charm.”—Wall Street Journal Mexico’s most iconic artists (and infamously stormy lovers) leap off the canvas in this new musical portrait from GRAMMY Award–winning composer Gabriela Lena Frank and Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Nilo Cruz. When a desperate wish on Day of the Dead reunites Diego Rivera with his wife, Frida Kahlo, he jumps at the chance to seek forgiveness. But Frida refuses to return to the world that caused her so much pain, until another departed soul inspires her to look back at the art (and the man) she once loved. LA Opera resident conductor Lina González-Granados commands a cast packed with international talent, including Daniela Mack, Alfredo Daza, and Ana María Martínez, in this tribute to one of the most pivotal romances in history. The artists‘ own emblematic paintings merge with a folklore-inspired score to breathe new life into the love-hate saga of Frida and Diego. “On a purely visual level, Frida y Diego is an endless delight,” writes Joshua Kosman of the San Francisco Chronicle. “Frank’s score matches this bounty note for note and shade for shade.” Created in 1986 by a team of visionaries, LA Opera has become a leader in artistic innovation, while honoring the great historical legacy of opera. Its mission is to serve the public by producing world-class opera that preserves, promotes, and advances the art form while embodying the diversity, pioneering spirit, and artistic sensibility unique to Los Angeles. Its vision is an engaged and enlightened community in which all members have the opportunity to collectively enjoy the rich aesthetic and emotional, intellectual, and cultural experience of opera.Presented by USC Visions and Voices. The Upcycled Self: An Evening with Black Thought from The Roots (Theme Guide PDF)Date: Saturday, December 2, 2023 at 7 p.m.Location: Bovard Auditorium (ADM)USC Libraries Contributor: Christina SniderEVENT DESCRIPTION:“Tariq Trotter . . . could be hip-hop’s Dostoyevsky. Like the Russian novelist, Mr. Trotter has refined literary fire from the soulful furnace of pain and suffering.”—The New York TimesTariq Trotter—better known as Black Thought—is the platinum-selling, Grammy-winning co-founder of The Roots, and one of the most exhilaratingly skillful and profound rappers the culture has ever produced. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Hip Hop and Trotter’s brand-new book, The Upcycled Self: A Memoir on the Art of Becoming Who We Are (November 2023), Trotter will discuss his life and work in an intimate conversation with Jason King, Dean of the USC Thornton School of Music.Trotter’s story begins with a tragedy: as a child, Trotter burned down his family’s home. The years that followed are the story of a life snatched from the flames, forged in fire. In The Upcycled Self, Trotter explores the four powerful relationships that shaped him—community, friends, art, and family—each a complex weave of love, discovery, trauma, and loss. But beyond offering the compellingly poetic account of one artist’s creative and emotional origins, Trotter tells a beautifully bluesy story of a boy genius’s coming of age that illuminates the redemptive power of the upcycle. Presented by USC Visions and Voices in partnership with the USC Thornton School of Music. Co-sponsored by the Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs.