For Immediate Release
August 14, 2006
Columbia Media Contact:
Priscilla L. Hunter, 312.344.7805
phunter@colum.edu
CHICAGO--Columbia College Chicago is proud to once again participate in the City of Chicago's second annual Fashion Focus Chicago, a citywide celebration of fashion and Chicago's dynamic fashion community, features runway shows, neighborhood shopping events, industry seminars, student designer events and much more. For 12 days, from September 20 through October 1, Chicago will be on pins and needles as the city, fashion design schools, local designers and fashion industry professionals put their best foot forward to show that Chicago is a city to be reckoned with when it comes to fashion.
Mayor Daley kicked off this year's festivities with the announcement of a Fashion Advisory Council, a group of designers and industry leaders brought together to promote the fashion industry in Chicago. The council includes Barbara Samuels, a part-time faculty member in Columbia's Fashion Retail Management program. The Fashion Advisory Council will identify ways to retain and support new and established designers in Chicago and assist design students in transitioning from school to career.
Kit LaCroix, a senior fashion design major at Columbia, is the first fashion design student invited to participate in Gen Art's Fresh Faces in Fashion, a fashion show and fashion-related art exhibition. She will design a 3-piece suit that will serves as a centerpiece to showcase accessories designed by local designers.
Kit is also the winner of ABC's 7 Chicago Runway competition in which four Chicago design students showed their best work. As a direct result of winning this competition, she was selected to design a red dress for Olympic figure skater Irina Slustkaya, as part of the American Heart Association's national 'Go Red for Women' campaign, sponsored by Macy's. On June 24th Kit met with Irina for her first fitting while she was in town participating in Champions on Ice.
The final dress was unveiled on the ABC 7 morning news on Friday, August 4, and placed in Macy's on State Street window later that day for public viewing. Irina will wear the dress to a future 'Go Red For Women' event.
In addition to Kit's contribution, Columbia faculty, staff and alumni are taking advantage of all that Fashion Focus Chicago has to offer.
On Monday, September 25 Columbia fashion design students and faculty will join their peers from The School of the Art Institute Chicago, the Illinois Institute of Art and the International Academy of Design & Technology for the 'Design College'Design Challenge' from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Chicago Theatre. Students and instructors from each school will create one-of-a-kind designs from surprise materials. The students will start with a surprise 'bag of goodies' which includes fabric, trims and other surprises.
The public will be able to stop by the Chicago Theater to view different stages of the design process and watch as the designs come to fruition from sketches to pattern via draping or drafting. The final work will be a design unique to the student and the school. The final piece from each school will be on display at Macy's after the challenge.
On Wednesday, September 27 at 12 p.m., Columbia's fashion design students, and their peers, will hit the pavement once again to showcase their creative designs in Street Beat, a fashion show on State Street between Washington and Monroe. Professional models will strut on both the East and West side of State Street. Street Beat is sponsored by the Chicago Loop Alliance.
Columbia fashion design faculty members and business partners Julie Fehlerand Holly Greenhagen, along with Columbia alumna, Stacey Leatherland ('06), were selected by Macy's to showcase their work in Macy's Chicago Designer Shop.
Fehler and Greenhagen are the owners of Dame Couture, a bridal boutique that specializes in custom-made and vintage-inspired gowns. 'Each week students see just how hard a designer must work to get ahead in the fashion industry. They know that we work seven days a week designing, sewing, cutting, bookkeeping'whatever it takes. Having our company accepted into Macy's Chicago Designer Shop is not only proof that hard work pays off, but it also encourages hope in our students that they could possibly have a future in fashion right here in Chicago,' say both Julie and Holly.
Columbia alumna Staci Leatherland, the owner/designer of Mifflin, a Chicago-based clothing, jewelry and accessory company, was selected for her distinctively designed jewelry. Her line reconciles an urban/rural contrast through a subtle handmade aesthetic and uses a range of materials from hand screen-printed natural fabrics to domestic and exotic woods, mixed metals and found objects.
Virginia Heaven, director of the Fashion Columbia Study Collection will curate a fashion exhibition, From Dream to Dress that will feature Chicago-based designers. The concept will center on the process of inspiration, from idea and inception to a 3-D design. The exhibition opens on Wednesday, September 27 at Columbia's Conaway Center, 1104 S. Wabash Ave., 1st Floor, with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. For further information contact Virginia Heaven at 312.344.6283.
All events are free to the public unless otherwise noted. For more information, visit www.fashionfocuschicago.com or call 1.877.CHICAGO. Fashion Focus Chicago 2006 is presented by the City of Chicago in partnership with various Chicago fashion industry organizations, schools, associations and retailers.
Columbia College Chicago, an urban institution committed to access, opportunity, and excellence in higher education, provides innovative practice and education in the visual, performing, media and communication arts to 11,500 students in more than 90 undergraduate and graduate programs. Founded in 1890 as a communications school for women, Columbia was revisioned in 1963 as a liberal arts college with a "hands-on, minds-on" approach to arts and media education and a progressive social agenda. Under the modern leadership of President Warrick L. Carter, Ph.D., Columbia is aggressively pursuing its mission to bring a richness of vision and a multiplicity of voices to the creation of culture through the diversity of our students and graduates. For further information visit www.colum.edu.
From the pimped-out Low Rider cars that will take over the 600 block of S. Wabash Avenue to the eloquent Body Maps made by South African women with HIV and AIDS, Talk the Walk'06 is an open forum for discussion of the high culture/low culture debate.
Mounted with a curatorial intent to create dialectic tension, Talk the Walk '06 invites the public, the artists and the people behind the exhibitions to engage with each other and today's contemporary art for a stimulating evening of culture - high, low and in-between.
EXHIBITIONS:
WHAT: Exalted Trash: works by Bruno Richard, Patrick Miceli, and Marc Fischer
The discarded paper items from our daily lives; fast food containers, scratched notes, and paper are elevated to reliquary objects left in the wake of our consumer society.
WHERE: Center for Book & Paper Arts: 1104 S. Wabash Avenue, 2nd floor
WHEN: Talk the Walk '06 Curatorial tours: 6:30 and 7:30pm
(Exhibition Run: October 7 - December 9, 2006)
WHAT: Sartorial Flux: curated by Valerie Lamontagne
Sartorial Flux reflects on the changing nature of clothing and fashion in light of modern society's increasingly transient and techno-savvy lifestyles.
WHERE: A+D Gallery: 619 S. Wabash Avenue
WHEN: Talk the Walk '06 Performance by Hoyun Son and A+D Luxe, a fashion event by Columbia College Chicago designers: 5:30 and 7:30pm
(Exhibition Run: September 7 - October 21. 2006)
WHAT: Weisman Exhibition: works by student winners of the Weisman Scholarship
2006 Albert P. Weisman Scholars are students at Columbia College Chicago who are awarded grants to complete communications projects from the Albert P. Weisman Memorial Fund.
WHERE: Hokin Gallery and Annex Gallery : 623 S. Wabash Avenue
WHEN: Talk the Walk '06 Curatorial tours: 5:30 and 6:00pm
(Exhibition Run: October 9 - November 17, 2006)
WHAT: Meridel Rubenstein Photographs: Lowriders: Portraits from New Mexico
A portfolio of twelve photographs of Lowriders and the people who covet them. Created in 1980 by Meridel Rubenstein. Photos on loan from the Museum of Contemporary Photography
WHERE: Hokin Annex: 623 S. Wabash Avenue
WHEN: Two Nights Only: October 12 - 13, 2006
WHAT: Low Rider Vehicles on Parade
Fifteen low ride automobiles created by low rider car clubs in the Chicago area will be on display on the 600 block of S. Wabash.
WHERE: 600 Block of S. Wabash Avenue
WHEN: Two Nights Only: October 12 - 13, 2006, 6:00-8:00pm
WHAT: Body Maps: self-portraits by African women living with HIV/AIDS
Body Maps is an exhibition by South African women living with HIV and AIDS. The artists map out and document their lives and illness in stunning, vibrant self-portraits.
WHERE: C33 Gallery: 33 E. Congress
WHEN: Talk the Walk '06 Curatorial tours: 6:00 and 7:00pm
(Exhibition Run: September 5 - October 13, 2006)
WHAT: FOCO: Performance and Installation with Celia Herrera Rodriguez and Xochipala Valdez-Maez: A Prayer to the Mother Waters for Peace
A ritual blessing of the water from areas of conflict around the world, A Prayer to the Mother Waters for Peace, thoughtfully addresses issues of economics, war and ecology through installation and performance.
WHERE: Glass Curtain Gallery: 1104 S. Wabash, 1st Floor
WHEN: Talk the Walk '06 Performance: 7:00pm
(Exhibition Run: October 4 - November 8, 2006)
WHAT: MP3: Midwest Photographers Publication Project
MP3: Closing Reception and Book Signing: Please join us for a closing reception for the exhibitions MP3, Tim Davis, and Greta Pratt. MP3 artists Kelli Connell, Justin Newhall and Brian Ulrich will be present to sign copies of their newly released trio of books, MP3.
WHERE: Museum of Contemporary Photography, 600 S. Michigan, 1st floor
WHEN: Talk the Walk '06: Book Signing: 5:00 - 7:00pm
(Exhibition Run: August 18 - October 14, 2006)
WHAT: Grand Opening of Anchor Graphics and Art + Design's New Print Shop
See the new home of Anchor Graphics, the nationally-known fine art print shop who became a part of Columbia College last April.
Etching Demonstrations in A+D's New Print Shop
WHERE: Anchor Graphics and Print Shop, 623 S. Wabash, 2nd Floor
WHEN: Talk the Walk 06 Exclusive: 5:30 - 8:00pm
WHAT: Art of the Library: artworks by student, faculty and staff
Curated by Larry Oberc, Preservation Librarian
WHERE: Columbia College Chicago Library, 624 S. Michigan, first three floors
WHEN: Talk the Walk '06: October 12, 2006, 5:30 - 8:00pm
(Exhibition is on open run)
INFO/MEDIA
CONTACT: Elizabeth Burke-Dain, 312.344.8695 or visit www.colum.edu/talkthewalk(after 9/15/06)
For Immediate Release
August 23, 2006
Chicago, IL - When students return to classes at Columbia College Chicago this September, they will begin a journey during which they will learn the real meaning of civic engagement. "Most people view civic engagement as simply voting or volunteering," says Dr. Amy Hawkins, Columbia English professor and the Critical Encounters Faculty Fellow. "It is and can be so much more than that and the Critical Encounters initiative will give students the opportunity to understand social problems at a very deep level and provide them with some of the skills they need to take action and work towards constructive social change to help relieve those problems."
An initiative of the Office of the Provost, the first cycle of Critical Encounters will grapple with the global issue of HIV & AIDS. During the first year, through both classroom initiatives and public programs, Columbia will examine the problem of HIV & AIDS, looking at the history and current status of the disease. Year two layers on the 'complicating factors' of Poverty and Privilege. During the third year the exploration focuses on possible redemptive approaches to large social issues such as HIV & AIDS.
"The Critical Encounters Task Force, under Amy's leadership, and the active support of the Center for Teaching Excellence, has worked tirelessly on this effort and I am deeply grateful for their commitment," says Provost Steven Kapelke. "Critical Encounters will serve our students very well, as they gain knowledge, increase their understanding of extremely complex issues and develop into engaged global citizens."
Columbia chose to examine HIV & AIDS during the first Critical Encounters cycle for two specific reasons: There is a historical connection between HIV & AIDS and the arts community -- and faculty at this arts and communications college are invested in and committed to education and activism around the issue. Infection rates are rising at an alarming rate among 18-35 year old, predominately heterosexual, individuals. Education that speaks to the sensibilities of this age group is urgently needed.
Any social issue can be engaged with in this systematic way, Kapelke notes, adding that this broad-based institutional approach to a particular problem or theme is uncommon, if not unique in higher education. "The entire college is on board to participate, from hands-on learning in the classroom and student organizational activities to public performances at our Dance Center and collaborations on art exhibitions with community partners, we are committed to making this a significant growth experience for our students, faculty and staff -- and for the community at large," he says.
Faculty, departments and student organizations will be able to apply for $500 project grants to help support curricula or programs addressing the HIV & AIDS theme. Columbia, through the Center for Teaching Excellence, is partnering with Test Positive Awareness and the AIDS Foundation of Chicago to present public programming, including several art exhibitions.
Public Events this fall will include:
September 5 - October 13
Body Maps: Self-Portraits of South African Women Living With HIV or AIDS Presented by Columbia's Institute for the Study of Women & Gender in the Arts & Media
September 14-16
Bareback into the Sunset: a dance work by Peter Carpenter,
Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago www.dancecenter.org
November 16 - January 5
Dress Up Against Aids: Dresses Constructed of Condoms by Brazilian artist Adriana Bertini
November 30 - January 10
Picturing Hope: Photos by International Children Affected by HIV & AIDS Presented in partnership with AIDS Foundation of Chicago
Updates on public events into the new year forthcoming. Visit www.colum.edu/criticalencounters.
NOTE: Amy Hawkins and Steven Kapelke are available for interview
Media Contact: Micki Leventhal, 312-344-7383 or mleventhal@colum.edu