Student musician and composer Tasan Smith-Gandy ’24 hiked up Pine Cobble trail, bringing along with him his six-pound cello. Upon reaching the summit of Pine Cobble, he sat down and performed “Pine Cello,” an original piece inspired by the natural beauty around him.
While most venues won’t have large concerts until 2022 or 2023, that hasn’t stopped artists and producers from collaborating with one another, continuing to release albums packed with pent-up creative energy. Here are three recent albums which are collaborative in one way or another.
“Dancer, choreographer, visual artist, rapper, BMX cycle rider, teacher, and I would say sage of hip-hop.” Those were the words that Director of Dance and Senior Lecturer in Dance Sandra Burton used to describe Raphael Xavier, a multi-talented artist originally from Wilmington, Delaware. At the March 30 event, Xavier joined a group of students and faculty from the College’s dance department to discuss the art of hip-hop and breakdancing, the obstacles he has faced, and — most prominently — his search for new ways to engage with breakdancing as he grew older.
Although at Williams, Ephelia is hailed as being the only cow that really matters, Kelly Reichardt’s tenth film, First Cow, showcases a cow worth competing with. First Cow, an unorthodox drama released in March 2020, tiptoes the line between a Western and a comedy by using the fictional first cow in Oregon as a catalyst for commentary on nature, capitalism, and friendship.
At the "Green Room" talk on March 13, journalist Zach Stafford joined a group of students to discuss his journalism career, the intersectional obstacles he has faced, and — importantly — the loving power of a good pet dog.
On March 11, Curator of Mellon Academic Programs Elizabeth Gallerani, art history graduate student Amber Orosco, and artist and Assistant Professor of Art Murad Khan Mumtaz hosted an event titled “Practice & Process in Indian Drawing,” during which attendees were able to take a deeper dive into Indian art and, more specifically, Indian miniature painting.
Black Lives Matter–related songs took the stage at the 63rd annual Grammy Awards on March 14, with performances like Lil Baby’s autobiographical protest rap “The Bigger Picture” and Mickey Guyton’s country tune “Black Like Me.” This was somewhat of a break from the event’s history, which many view as one of slighting Black artists, particularly Black women.
The proliferation of mobile devices and the internet ushered in a wind of change for the art world. Now visitors at art museums and galleries around the world can snapshot, record, and access artwork at their convenience. Canadian photographer and sculptor Erin Shirreff asks a question about this seemingly-effortless process that none of us commonly raise: What remains of art when it is translated through different mediums?
During a typical semester, dance groups would take to the stage in Chapin to perform their fall shows to live audiences. With COVID restrictions limiting the size of large gatherings, they have turned instead to recording their fall performances remotely, appearing in a series of virtual shows released between the end of fall semester and now.
As the lecture began, I was worried about my wifi connection, which had been phasing in and out for the whole week. Thankfully, things worked out. On March 4, Professor of Art Mike Glier presented “Answer Music: Observation and Abstraction of the Living World,” the second Zoom webinar in the College’s annual Faculty Lecture Series.
Few professions have been as severely affected by COVID-19 as the music industry. Live, in-person performances at Williams are all but extinct, and ensembles can no longer meet to play together. This change is very visible within the College’s music department, where music lessons and policies in Bernhard Music Building are significantly different than before.
Since September, photographer Carrie Mae Weems has been working with staff from the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) and ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance to bring her Resist COVID / Take 6! public health campaign to Williamstown. Weems developed the campaign with her colleague Pierre Loving, a performing arts and film curator based in New York.
