4
KANSAN.COM
ARTS & CULTURE
7
+
Spencer Museum of Art to reopen in October
▶ OMAR SANCHEZ
@OhMySanchez
The Spencer Art Museum will be reopening in October after renovations.
For nearly a year and a half, the Spencer Museum of Art has been out of the public eye after major renovations forced it to close its doors. Now, the museum is planning its reentry into the public sphere
The Spencer is planning to showcase its new look to students, faculty and the Lawrence community during an official reopening on October 15 and 16, with special faculty and student previews the week before.
"Reopening weekend is a special opportunity to help usher in a new era in the museum's storied history," said Amy Duke, public programs and visiting experience manager at the museum. "As well as celebrate the achievements of artists from across the globe and four millennia."
Hannah Edelman/KANSAN
People will have the opportunity to see the museum's new features including a glass-encased entryway, an expanded lobby and a two-story window with a view out to Marvin Grove. It is a renovation project led by architects at Pei Cob Freed & Partners, an award-winning firm whose past work includes the Grand Louvre in Paris, the U.S Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and the Los Angeles Convention Center.
The free preview events will be an opportunity for those in the KU community to explore these new and improved pieces of architecture. Events include a colleague preview for faculty and staff Oct. 5 from 4 to 7 p.m. and a student preview party on Thursday, Oct. 6 from 7 to 10 p.m.
"Each of the preview events, as well as reopening weekend, are a celebration of the opening of our architecture and an opportunity to showcase the ways the renovation supports and strengthens our work with and for the University and the community." Duke said.
At the previews, guests will see two new collection galleries, as well as an installation related to this year's Common Book, "Between the World and Me." Four other galleries will also be reinstalled for viewing, with live music and refreshments available to those in attendance.
Reopening weekend will then follow suit on October 15 and 16, which will be free and open to the public. The museum will host not only the newly reinstalled galleries, but also a cross-campus progressive music concert entitled "Resonant Vessels" on Saturday and a free pancake picnic at Central Court on Sunday.
Celka Straughn, director of academic programs at the museum, said she
"It's been very hard not to have that access, but we work with the museum because we enjoy the works of art and engaging with everyone who comes," Straughn said. "That's something we really missed over the past year and a half."
is excited to finally see the culmination of the "Phase I" renovation effort during opening weekend.
The reopening also means that the museum will be able to begin the new integrated arts research initiative, a major grant given by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation that will provide faculty, undergraduate and graduate fellowships.
These fellowships will align with the museum's focus in research, a chance for interdisciplinary studies in the arts to go beyond what one sees in a gallery space or exhibition.
The end of "Phase I" also signals the next step of improvements: a yet publicly-announced "Phase II." No dates are known for
this second stage of renovations, though Straughn said part of the plan will involving further expansion of the museum's space and capabilities.
"The museum was built in 1978 and since, the collection has grown tremendously. Not only because there is more works of art, but the staff has grown, too," she said.
The continued rise in popularity of the museum has outgrown its structure, and with more K-12 programs and research opportunities around the corner, Straughn said to expect major additions some time in the future, including a café/ restaurant area for visitors.
More information on the "Phase I" renovations can be found at the Spencer Museum website. Check out their program & events calendar for more on opening weekend activities.
- Edited by Chandler Boese
KU study says millenials don't depend on social media
Photo illustration by Missy Minear
communicate despite popular belief.
Associate Professor Jeffrey Hall's social media research suggests many users don't use it as their main way to communicate desite popular belief. Photo illustration by Missy Minear
OMAR SANCHEZ
@OhMySanchez
Over the course of the last decade, social media networks like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have sparked an ongoing debate about the positive and negative effects of so-called "indirect" communication. And with much about social media use still left to be researched, Jeffrey Hall, a University professor of communication studies,
took it upon himself to study its impact.
Hall's findings in their entirety can be found in his recently published journal, which includes three main self-designed studies that reinforce his conclusions. Social media being a neutral social factor is one conclusion interpreted from a wide array of subjects Hall studied, including students of the University.
"Part of the purpose [of the journal] is to say
millennials aren't totally dependent on social media when they want to have an interaction," Hall said. "When they want to have a real interaction, they actually do seek out face-to-face and phone contact."
In summary, what Hall explains in his journal is that active social media users can still differentiate forms of interaction, and on average, will not use social media as their first and main source for communication.
He also details why there is such a polarizing view of social media.
"There is an assumption that social media is replacing real-life interaction, and that doesn't seem to be a case in the studies." Hall said.
The professor found that while users do spend much of their time on these networks, a majority of it is spent observing, much like the everyday act of looking around.
"Whether it'd be on your computer or on your mobile device, you are basically looking in for a moment just to look at people," Hall said. "You are watching people, and most of the people you are watching are people you know in some way."
Hall said there are exceptions but he characterizes all of these interactions as being in the "social space," an activity that does not differ much from what people have been doing since the early days of communication.
Emily Vietti, a fourthyear doctoral student studying communication studies, researches social media closely in regards to political communication. She said she follows much of Hall's work and said his findings mean social media platforms aren't a replacement for other types of communication.
Another aspect of the research Hall has done recently involves how the negative stigma toward social media use manifests.
"These interactions are an accompaniment to continue to connect with people in our lives, but not a replacement for other types of social interaction," Vietti said.
What's tricky, Hall said,
is that its overall effect is
still unclear. While he has found that people aren't using social media to replace real-life interaction, there is still a question that remains—are more people turning to social media to fix their problems, or is social media negatively affecting people's general well-being?
Marissa Wiley, a third-year doctoral student from Leavenworth, said that while the act of scrolling through social media might not be hurtful, people's comparative nature can cause negative effects to their well-being.
"We might be keeping tabs on those we are connected to, but as we create our social circles online, it is in our human nature that we are driven to compare ourselves to others." Wiley said. "So while I might go through my newsfeed and mindlessly like or comment a post, I have already engaged in a social comparison that could either positively or negatively affect my overall well-being."
Hall said this research, and studies in the future, will add to the conversation on social media, and that his study is meant to mitigate the assumptions people may have toward the topic.