42F AUGUST 1996
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD
Spencer's art is easy on eyes and wallet
- It's free. It's visually appealing. It's the Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art.
BY MARK LUCE
JOURNAL-WORLD WRITER
Those wanting to break out of the tired dating routine of dinner and a movie need to look no further than Kansas University's Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art, which not only is easy on the pocketbook, but also on the eyes.
Admission to the Spencer, one of the top university art museums in the country, is free. And those suitors looking to impress but afraid of walking that fine line between pretension and insight that is part and parcel of many conversations about art, shouldn't worry.
"There will always be something that will attract you and something that will repel you.I always suggest that you spend more time with the thing that repels you."
Andrea Norris museum director
According to museum director Andrea Norris, the museum has a booklet to help the artistically challenged. "Aesthetic Scanning," by Pat Villeneuve, curator of education, provides even the most art-poor a quick and easy way to learn to look at and talk about works in any medium.
"There will always be something that will attract you and something that will repel you," Norris said. "I always suggest that you spend more time with the thing that repels you."
But the Spencer is more than a cheap date. It is a treasure trove of around 18,000 items, which allows students in all disciplines the chance to explore and grow.
"If you are interested in any type of culture, we have objects that relate to your interests," Norris said.
The 1996-'97 exhibit schedule is filled with solid material with local, regional national and international shows.
Opening next is "Western Waters: Photographs by Terry
ON EXHIBIT
Here is a list of exhibitions planned at the Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art.
- "Kansas Quilts from the Spencer Museum Collection," through Sept. 29.
- "Hopi Pottery, Sept. 7-Oct. 20.
- "Western Waters: Photographs by Terry Evans, Greg Conniff and Wanda Hammerbeck," Aug. 24-Oct. 20.
- "Ports of Entry: William S. Burroughs and the Arts," Oct. 19-Dec. 29.
- "Pictorialism into Modernism: The Clarence H. White School of Photography," Feb. 1- March 30.
- "Hogarth and Shows of London," Feb. 1-March 30.
- "Stage Designs by Boris Anisfeld," April 25-May 31.
Evans, Greg Conniff and Wanda Hammerbeck," a look at the use of water in both a rural and a western urban context.
Despite his reputation as Lawrence's literary godfather, William S. Burroughs also is an accomplished artist. A retrospective of his work, "Ports of Entry: William S. Burroughs and the Arts," opens Oct. 19.
"Especially exciting is the inclusion of several of Burroughs' scrapbooks, in which he found new ways to puzzle out the potential relationships between word and image," he said.
Steve Goddard, curator of prints and drawing and professor of art history, said that the exhibit, besides being a study of Burroughs' art, will examine Burroughs' influence on many important artists of the last 20 years.
The spring will bring three more exhibits, including a look at the Clarence H. White School of Photography, a collection of stage designs by Russian Boris Anisfeld and an exhibit of the works of pioneering printmaker William Hogarth.
Averill family takes over KU stages
Continued from page 8F
family. He concentrated on novels, magazine articles and his popular public radio commentaries featuring William Jennings Bryan Oleander from Here, Kansas.
But when he set his mind to writing for the theater, he came up as the first winner of the Great Plains Play Contest, a competition sponsored by University Theatre.
Averill said he first became interested in writing a novel
in the 1980s during the American agricultural movement. The main character was a radical farmer who wanted to go to Topeka to participate in a tractor brigade to protest the takeover of family farms by corporations.
he said. "After six months and after 24 minutes, I had more people interested in that fictional character than ever before. It was disconcerting because I had been writing short stories for 25 years."
"I got the idea of a voice that would represent an older Kansan," he said, describing how Oleander was born.
But he also found that
"My brother and I have stuck here (in Kansas) because there's something here and we've tried to make a living doing something creative. And to have that recognized is really exciting to me."
In 1989, KANU public radio station in Lawrence put out a call for scripts and commentaries about Kansas. Averill submitted a story and soon afterwards he was doing a once-month spot as Oleander.
- playwright Tom Averill
"It was four minutes long, never more than 500 words,"
Oleander allowed him to be satirical and cynical, poking fun at Kansas.
Before long, Averill was doing his Oleander commentaries twice a month. He recorded "Oleander's Kansas," which has sold more than 800 copies. And
Washburn reduced his class load so he could hang out at the Kansas Legislature and write about it from Oleander's point of view.
About two years ago, UT Director Del Unruh suggested that Averill tackle a play about the characters living in Here, Kansas. What developed was "Abide with Me," which is a deepened story about Oleander, who is grieving the loss of his wife, small
towns and his way of life.The play features commentary regulars, such as Iola Humboldt and her brother Claude Anderson.
"They come to accept that they can deal with death and decay if they have love and a sense of humor," Averill said. "It's not so much a play of sentiment as a play about acceptance.
"The very fact that the KU theater department, under Del Unruh, is not just dedicating itself to doing Shakespeare and the best of theater, but also dedicating itself to regional works is a wonderful and fresh thing to do."
"My brother and I have stuck here (in Kansas) because there's something here and we've tried to make a living doing something creative. And to have that recognized is really exciting to me."
Like his brother and nephew, Tom Averill also has other irons in the fire. This fall, he will publish "Oleander's Guide to Here Kansas: How You Know When You're There," a 34chapter collection of commentaries about history, geography, culture, attitudes, courtship, women in politics and the weather.
APARTMENT HUNTING?
The Journal-World Classified works 832-2222
GCO CARPET OUTLET
ENDORSED BY:
K.U. RESIDENCE
HALL ASSOC.
DORM RUGS
FREE DELIVERY TO CAMPUS
★ AUGUST ONLY ★
ROOM SIZE CARPETS
STARTING AT $48 EACH.
We're in LAWRENCE
3000 Iowa Street
One Block North of K-Mart
Call 841-3838
OR TOLL-FREE 800-608-3838
Shop Monday-Thursday 9am-8pm, Friday & Saturday 9am-6pm, Sunday 1-5pm