BY LINDSAY RAMSEY, Jayplay writer
After concluding his interview with director Steven Spielberg, John Tibbetts impulsively held out his hands. The year was 1985, and the unlikely pair was discussing Spielberg's film The Color Purple. During the interview, the talk turned to the childhood game patty-cake as a central motif from the film. As the interview wound down, Tibbetts, enamored by Spielberg's charisma and confidence, couldn't resist — he held out his hands hopefully. In return he received a game of patty-cake from the Oscar-winning director. It is just one of many stories Tibbetts has collected over his years as a film academic.
demic.
Tibbetts, professor of film at the University of Kansas, is using these memories to showcase his artistic talent. A collection of his portraits is on display on the fourth floor of the Kansas Union and will be through Sept. 5. The body of work attests to all the hard work and fun Tibbetts has had over the years as a teacher, journalist, author and artist. His experiences interviewing artisans were the inspiration behind many of the portraits that are on display in his exhibit.
traits that are on display in the room.
Tibbetts been drawn portraits for as long as he can remember, and he's always enjoyed painting the faces of the famous people he's met. "Some capture the indefinable essence of the character, and others stubbornly resist the process, but that unpredictability is part of the fun," Tibbetts says. "It keeps you humble and it never gets boring." Over his time as a journalist he's captured the faces of such subjects as Meryl Streep, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dustin Hoffman, and Spike Lee.
man, and Spike Lee. In the late 1960s, Tibbetts began working as an interviewer and correspondent for KANU Radio in Lawrence and has worked in broadcasting ever since. Through his work as an interviewer, Tibbetts has had the opportunity to meet and interview hundreds of artists from many different mediums. He interviewed classical pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy in his dressing room when
John Tibbetts, University of Kansas film professor, gets a dose of his own medicine when Sissy Spacek grabs his microp before he paints her portrait.
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8 Jayplay 8.26.04