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Advance Program Notes

Advance Program Notes

Advance Program Notes Raisin’ Cane: A Renaissance Odyssey starring Jasmine Guy with the Avery Sharpe Trio Saturday, January 28, 2017, 7:30 PM These Advance Program Notes are provided online for our patrons who like to read about performances ahead of time. Printed programs will be provided to patrons at the performances. Programs are subject to change.

JASMINE GUY STARRING IN

FEATURING THE AVERY SHARPE TRIO

Inspired by the classic 1923 novel, Cane, by Jean Toomer and works by other artists of the Harlem Renaissance

with AVERY SHARPE, DIANE MONROE, AND KEVIN SHARPE written and conceived by HARRY CLARK adaptation by JASMINE GUY music composed and arranged by AVERY SHARPE

Baylin Artists Management 721 Hyde Park | Doylestown, PA 18902 p. 267-880-3750 | f. 267-880-3757 baylinartists.com Raisin’ Cane: A Harlem Renaissance Odyssey

It was an exceptional time. It was our time. 1920s. Harlem, , U.S.A.

In the American Black community, during the years leading up to the Harlem Renaissance, there was a sense of building artistic expression. Outlets and avenues for its poets, musicians, novelists, artists, and actors were few. But in 1918, as the first great World War concluded and thousands of African-American soldiers returned home victorious, this mountain of artistic expression was now ready to explode.

The words and thoughts of Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Zora Neale Hurston, W.E.B. Dubois, and many others became the voice of a new generation of African-Americans who were looking forward but still struggling with the past and present. These thoughts, songs, and images are woven into a panoramic experience that spans this extraordinary outpouring of artistic endeavor. Raisin’ Cane is a window on this critical point in our history.

There will be a brief intermission.

Jasmine Guy Avery Sharpe, double bass Diane Monroe, violin Kevin Sharpe, drums/percussion and vocals

Written and conceived by Harry Clark Adaptation by Jasmine Guy Original score by Avery Sharpe Directed by Dan Guerrero Production design by Gregg Bellón Projection design by R. Daniel Foster

Produced by Jade Eterprises, LLC

Raisin’ Cane logo and design by Ric Washington Credits POEMS/SHORT STORIES Gwendolyn Bennett To Usward (1924) and Hatred (1926) Countee Cullen Nothing Endures (1929) Georgia Douglas I Want to Die While You Love Me (1928) Langston Hughes Goodbye Christ (1932), The Negro Speaks of Rivers (1921), and I, Too (1925) James Weldon Johnson O Southland (1922) Claude McKay If We Must Die (1919) and The Tropics in New York (1920) Jean Toomer Kabnis, Georgia Dusk, and Cotton Song from Cane (1923)

POEMS/SHORT STORIES W.E.B. Dubois The Souls of Black Folk (1903); Returning Soldiers from The Crisis, XVIII (May 1919); and Criteria of Negro Art (1926) Langston Hughes The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain (1926) George Schuyler The New Daily News (Summer 1924) Booker T. Washington Speech at the Exposition (September 18, 1895)

MUSIC All music composed and arrangements by Avery Sharpe, with the exception of:

Arthur Francis Collins Here Comes My Daddy Now (1917) Traditional Negro spiritual Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington The Mooche (1928) Eubie Blake I’m Just Wild About Harry (1921) Theodore August Metz and Joe There’ll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight (1896) Hayden; adapted by Bessie Smith James Price Johnson Charleston (1923) Program Notes A FEW THOUGHTS ABOUT RAISIN’ CANE I’ve had the pleasure to know and work with Avery Sharpe for many years. During this time he has written several classical jazz works for cello and various combinations—always nudging this dyed-in-the-wool classical white guy toward a bit more improv and flexibility. One day he suggested that I write something for which he could compose an original score. I thought this was a terrific idea, but what? Well, I did scads of reading and was bowled over by Jean Toomer’s Cane. Cane is nearly always mentioned as the seminal work that started the sparks of the Harlem renaissance flying. As I progressed further, I realized it was going to be a panoramic view that would give expression to the pent up explosion of prose, poetry, politics, and music of African-Americans. The words and thoughts of Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, George Schuyler, Zora Neale-Hurston, Claude McKay, W.E.B. Dubois, Gwendolyn Bennett, Father Divine, Georgia Douglas Johnson, and many others are given their due with a large selection of the work dedicated to the brilliance of Toomer’s Cane. After I showed Avery an early draft, he asked me who I had in mind to handle such a task. I had no one in mind. “Do you know Jasmine Guy?” Avery asked, and I answered, “I do, but not personally.” “I’ve known her for many years,” Avery said, smiling as he answered. Lucky for us, Jasmine loved the period, the script, and Avery’s music, and so we were rolling. The work has played in small and large venues—churches, concert halls, theatres, and most fittingly the Apollo!

—Harry Clark

NOTE FROM THE COMPOSER

The influence and impact musicians from the Harlem Renaissance had on the world still reverberates around the universe. American music would not have the extraordinary sonorous qualities it possesses if not for the creative geniuses of this fruitful period. Composers and musicians like Thomas “Fats” Waller, Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington, James “Fletcher” Henderson, Eubie Blake, Louis Armstrong, and many more were powerful figures during the 1920s. I am most fortunate to be a continuation of the powerful music known as jazz. I am even more fortunate to have been asked to give my interpretation of the music from that era. The music I composed for Raisin’ Cane is indicative of the 1920s. I also wrote music that is more modern and beyond, because I felt the subject matter of the poems was timeless. The music is performed by a slightly different trio composed of violin, bass, and drums/percussion. People often think of the instrumentation for this period in jazz as being piano, trumpet, reeds, and trombone. I chose violin because violin has a rich history in jazz from its beginning. Precursors to the modern violin can be found in ancient Africa. This might explain why Africans were able to adapt to the instrument they were introduced to in America during plantation times. Violin was easily adopted into jazz at its formation. A vital ingredient that distinguished jazz from other forms of music in its early stages was rhythm and improvisation. The rhythms Africans brought with them as slaves to this country were incorporated into the music and instruments they adapted to. My brother, Kevin Sharpe, brings a rich understanding of the function of the drums and rhythms from the Harlem Renaissance and beyond. The bottom, or “bass,” is essential to all music, and I am a bass player. When jazz was first played in its early formation, it was often performed by the marching bands and small combos of New Orleans. The bass was usually performed by sousaphone or tuba. When jazz began to move indoors and into more intimate urban settings, players began to switch from tuba to string or double bass. One such bassist who made this transition during the 1910s and 1920s was George Murphy “Pops” Foster. (You will note during the performance some of my slappin’ on the bass, compliments of Foster from nearly 100 years ago but modernized and advanced on by me). The bass wouldn’t move from a supportive role to a more front or dominant role until the 1940s, thanks to bassist Jimmy Blanton with Duke Ellington and later Charles Mingus in the 1950s.

—Musically yours, Avery Sharpe Program Notes, continued DIRECTOR’S NOTES

Raisin’ Cane was first brought to me by the playwright Harry Clark, an old friend from Tucson, . The idea of a piece about the Harlem Renaissance intrigued me, although I sheepishly admit to knowing very little of that important time in our nation’s history. I read it, and I was hooked. But the path from page to stage is a tricky one and often littered with the corpses of broken shows and shattered dreams. This path, however, was blessed. I had all the right elements to make magic. The glorious Jasmine Guy brought the script to life as only an incandescent artist could, and the music from the Avery Sharpe Trio made it fly. “A labor of love” is a much overused phrase in our business, but it suits Raisin’ Cane perfectly. There’s lots of love in this performance, for the piece, and between all the creative team. You’ll get your share when the house lights dim and you travel back in time with Jasmine, Avery, and the many names and faces of those pioneers that created what became known as the Harlem Renaissance. Enjoy!

—Dan Guerrero Biographies JASMINE GUY

Actor-dancer-director Jasmine Guy continues to enjoy a diverse career in television, theatre, and film. She began her professional career at the American Dance Theater in . Guy starred on Broadway in the original productions of Beehive and Leader of the Pack and reprised hit productions of Grease, , and (as Velma Kelly). After years on Broadway and touring the globe, Guy landed the role of Whitley Gilbert on spinoff, . She won six consecutive NAACP Image Awards for her portrayal of the pretentious but funny southern belle. Her other television performances include with Heather Locklear, NYPD Blue with Jimmy Smits, Fresh Prince of Bel Air with , and with Queen Latifah. Currently, she can be seen as history professor Ella Grace in the new BET series, The Quad. One of her favorite roles was that of Roxy, the grim reaper meter maid on Showtime’s hit series, , with . Her most recent role, recurring as Grams on the popular series, Vampire Diaries, can be seen on the CW Network. Guy has also worked with great performers and directors in films and mini-series, including ’s , ’s Harlem Nights, Alex Hailey’s Queen, and ’s Stompin’ at the Savoy. She received stellar reviews for her work on the film,October Baby. Jasmine has worked extensively in theatre with , Susan Booth, Andrea Frye, and . She has starred in or directed many productions, including for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf, Miss Evers’ Boys, Blues for an Alabama Sky, The Colored Museum, The Fourposter, The Nacirema Society, Broke-ology, Fool For Love, and God of Carnage at Atlanta’s , where she also directed the world premiere of the opera, I Dream, celebrating the life and journey of Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1991 she released her self-titled album on Warner Bros. Records, featuring the hit single, Try Me. Try Me was produced by Full Force and features Xcape with Kandi Burress. The song shot up the R&B charts quickly to Gold status and fueled the success of the album’s second and third chart singles, Another Like My Lover and I Just Wanna Hold You. In 2004 Guy penned the biography, Evolution of a Revolutionary (Atria Books), which chronicles the life and journey of —Black Panther, activist, and mother of slain rapper Tupac Shakur. As a frequent motivational public speaker, Guy is called upon to share her story openly with those who may benefit from her trials and triumphs. Her ongoing desire to blend balance and discipline with ambition and service continues to fuel her passion for the arts. She has traveled throughout the U.S. and appeared at more than 100 speaking engagements, addressing diverse audiences at colleges, universities, conventions, corporations, affinity groups, churches, high schools, and countless charitable and fundraising events.

“I am grateful for my journey. It has been interesting, fun, and exhilarating. I’ve learned a lot, but I am still growing, changing, exploring, and learning. That’s what makes life truly exciting.” —Jasmine Guy Biographies, continued AVERY SHARPE

Honesty. Clarity. Dignity. These are words that come to mind when you listen to the music of bassist-composer Avery Sharpe. In an age of ephemeral pop stars and flavor-of-the-month trends, Sharpe is a reminder of the lasting value of steadfast dedication and personal integrity. As the title of one of his tunes asserts, “Always Expect the Best of Yourself.” Sharpe was born in Valdosta, Georgia, and his first instrument was the piano. “I started playing when I was eight years old,” he recalls. “My mother was a piano player in the Church of God in Christ, and she gave lessons to everybody in the family—I’m the sixth of eight children—but it didn’t stick until it got to me.” He moved on to accordion and then switched to electric bass in high school. Sharpe teamed with classical cellist and writer Harry Clark to compose the music for Raisin’ Cane. Sharpe and Clark first worked together in the 1990s when Sharpe was commissioned by Chamber Music Plus of Hartford, to write three extended works for Clark’s classical group, Fideleo. Sharpe’s credits also include sideman stints with many other jazz greats, from Dizzy Gillespie to Pat Metheny, as well as leading his own groups. His first recording as a leader was the 1988 album, Unspoken Words, on Sunnyside Records, which was praised by critic Jim Roberts as “a diverse, challenging record that rewards repeated listening.” In 1994 he recorded Extended Family, the first CD of a trilogy that includesExtended Family II: Thoughts of My Ancestors (1995) and Extended Family III: Family Values (2001). His recording, Dragon Fly, on JKNM Records, was released in 2005 and features Winard Harper and Onaje Allan Gumbs with special guests Jeri Brown and Chico Freeman. Legends and Mentors: The Music of McCoy Tyner, Archie Shepp, and Yusef Lateef, released in 2008, features John Blake, , Winard Harper, and Onaje Allan Gumbs. It was followed by a 2009 trio recording, Autumn Moonlight. Avery Sharpe Trio Live, released in April 2010, features Sharpe’s trio with Winard Harper and Onaje Allan Gumbs, and Running Man, released April 2011, features Onaje Alan Gumbs, Yoron Isreal, Craig Handy, Duane Eubanks, and Maya Sharpe. All of these recordings were released on Sharpe’s own label, JKNM Records. His latest recording is Sojourner Truth—Ain’t I a Woman with Onaje Alan Gumbs, Yoron Isreal, Craig Handy, Duane Eubanks, and Jeri Brown. All of Sharpe’s recordings feature his distinctive original compositions, which draw from the full range of his musical background. “The most important thing is depth,” he says. “You have to seek out what was happening before and try to understand it. In my music, I do things that are a little older as well as things that are contemporary. If I try to do just one type of music, that limits me. But the more bases I cover—the more experience I have in my life—the further I can go.” He is equally adept at songs and longer compositional forms. In 1989 he wrote and conducted the soundtrack for the movie, An Unremarkable Life, starring Shelly Winters and Patricia Neal. A decade later, his six-movement piece, America’s Promise, debuted in a concert hall performance that featured Sharpe’s quintet and a gospel choir backed by the Springfield () Symphony Orchestra. In 2006 Sharpe was commissioned by the Springfield Symphony Orchestra to write a Jazz Concerto for Jazz Trio and Orchestra. The performance premiered in 2007. The trio featured Jay Leno’s Tonight Show Musical Director on acoustic guitar, Marvin “Smitty” Smith on drums, and Sharpe on acoustic bass. Biographies, continued DIANE MONROE

Diane Monroe, former first violinist of the Max Roach Double Quartet and a Curtis Institute of Music graduate, now enjoys a musical life performing in and composing for her jazz sextet and quartet, violin/vibraphone duo with Tony Miceli, and other collaborative and educational projects. She has also recently performed with saxophonists Steve Wilson and Bobby Zankel; pianists Bruce Barth, Renee Rosnes, and Tom Lawton; guitarist Monette Sudler; bassists Tony Marino, Lee Smith, Avery Sharpe, and Gerald Veasley; and drummer/percussionists Rogerio Boccato and Arturo Stable. Monroe’s quartet appeared at the 2012 Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival at the Kennedy Center. She led Steve Wilson’s string ensemble at the 2012 Dupont Clifford Brown and Jazz Festivals. Monroe just completed music to The Self Evident Poem from Quilting the Black Eyed Pea by poetess/activist Nikki Giovanni, which premiered at Virginia Tech.

KEVIN SHARPE

Multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Kevin Sharpe began his musical career at the age of seven singing gospel in his church choir. By age 11 he was playing drums for that same choir and eventually became one of the primary drummers for the Church of God in Christ in the region. Later in college he studied classical percussion, arranging, and choral conducting. The Springfield, Massachusetts, native also studied voice with Horace Clarence Boyer and improvisation with Yusef Lateef. Since graduating with degrees in music education and jazz performance, he has performed with jazz artists Archie Shepp, Charles Greenlee, Avery Sharpe, and Steve Turre. He’s recorded with John Blake, Fellowship, soul diva Betty Harris, and others. He was the conductor of the orchestral work, A Celebration of Family, Community, and the Life of Primus Mason, for the Springfield Arts Festival and guest conductor of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra’s Holiday Pops concert. He’s toured Europe as a vocalist and instrumentalist. He’s been a choral director for Dartmouth and Smith Colleges and he has also worked for several years as a writer, music director, and vocalist in the contemporary gospel group, Fellowship. A 2007 winner of New England Urban Music Award, Sharpe is currently leader of the modern Gospel ensemble, The Kevin Sharpe Group; drummer/percussionist and arranger in the K. Sharpe Project, a jazz-based instrumental group; bassist with the Unorthodox Groove Band; and workshop leader, producer, and engineer at SwingHigh Productions. Sharpe uses Noble & Cooley drums, Vic Firth sticks, and La Bella strings. Biographies, continued HARRY CLARK Harry Clark’s career as both cellist and playwright is a rare combination. He started playing the cello at the age of 10. Years later his performance in Carnegie Hall was described by the New York Times as, “a first rate cellist, the sort who can make his instrument interesting for anybody.” Clark and his partner and wife, Sanda Schuldmann, have appeared as a duo on every important musical stage in America and abroad, having premiered and recorded some five dozen works by this country’s most prominent composers. In 1980 Clark and Schuldmann, living in Connecticut, co-founded Chamber Music PLUS. Thirty years later much of their dream has been realized with state, regional, and national awards for distinguished performance and programming. They have maintained this tradition with their move back to Clark’s hometown, Tucson, Arizona, and now present series in Scottsdale, Chandler, and the Old Pueblo, Arizona. With this desire for distinctive programming, Clark began his first efforts writing portraits of composers; this body of work, nearing 40 scripts, is now entitledRhythms of Life—Fusions of Theater and Music. Rhythms of Life has become the signature programming of Chamber Music PLUS, and over the past decade audiences from coast-to-coast have taken to it with enthusiasm. Clark has had the great fortune and pleasure to work with a who’s who of film, television, and stage actors in Rhythms of Life. The roster includes Jill Clayburgh, Theodore Bikel, Edward Hermann, Barbara Feldman, Mason Adams, Keir Dullea, Phillip Bosco, Haley Mills, Harvey Fierstein, Caroline Kava, Rosemary Prinz, Sandy Duncan, Tovah Feldshuh, Jessica Walter, Michael Learned, Ron Leibman, Sharon Gless, Jean Marsh, Elke Sommer, Kathleen Chalfant, Katherine Helmond, Stephanie and Efrem Zimbalist, Jasmine Guy, Talia Shire, Jenny Sterlin, John Rubinstein, Margot Kidder, Robert Picardo, Armin Shimerman, Shirley Knight, Lou Gossett Jr., Bob Clendenin, John Schuck, and Lynn Redgrave.

DAN GUERRERO Dan Guerrero began his entertainment career in New York, where he was a successful theatrical agent with clients in the original casts of countless Broadway musicals over the years, from A Chorus Line to Cats. He returned home to Los Angeles for an equally successful time as a casting director for stage and television before turning his talents to producing and directing. He has long been acclaimed as a highly creative independent producer of diverse programming for network and cable television, including NBC, HBO, and PBS. More recently, he has specialized in producing and directing non-broadcast international arts and culture events and plays at such prestigious venues as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.; the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles; the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico; and the Cite de la Musique in Paris, France. Live productions include the world premiere of Concierto para Mendez for the Los Angeles Opera at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion; a celebrity staged reading of the play, In Darfur, at the Los Angeles Theatre Center; the Arabesque: Arts of the Arab World concert event at the Kennedy Center Opera House; and the 2008 and 2009 Artists Fellows Celebration at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and The Broad Stage in Santa Monica, respectively. Guerrero also co- produced and co-wrote Lalo Guerrero: The Original Chicano, an award-winning documentary on his late father, Chicano music icon Lalo Guerrero. The film aired nationally on PBS stations and included a DVD/CD release. It has also screened at national and international film festivals, including the Turks & Caicos International Film Festival, where the film garnered awards for Best Documentary, Best Director, and Best Song. Biographies, continued R. DANIEL FOSTER

R. Daniel Foster has served as director, shooter, and editor for a variety of domestic and international productions. His projection design has been featured by the L.A. Opera, Center Theatre Group, the Los Angeles Theatre Center, Renberg Theatre, Walker Art Center, Dupont Theatre, Cornerstone Theater, and PBS. Foster’s short film, Airborn, was awarded Best Experimental Film by the International Festival of Cinema and Technology. His extensive work in southeast Asia includes Balinese and Thai travel shows and the feature documentary, USS Cooper: Return to Ormoc Bay, which received a Best Documentary nomination from the Asia First Film Festival in Singapore. He has also created films for Novica in association with National Geographic in Africa and southeast Asia. He is also a writer, publishing in the Los Angeles Times, Details, Esquire, the Harvard Business Review, on National Public Radio, and other outlets. He has taught writing at UCLA Extension, Santa Monica College, and University-Long Beach and -Northridge. For more information, visit fosterimage.com.

GREGG BELLÓN Gregg Bellón is a performer, director, writer, designer, and production manager. Recent off-Broadway credits include Stuffed & Unstrung as production manager at the Union Square Theatre with Henson Alternative and WestBeth Entertainment; American Hwangap as production manager at Wild Project with The Play Company and Ma-Yi Theatre Company; Wild Thing as director, Theater at PCC with New Acting Co.; Soul Samurai as production manager at HERE Arts with Ma-Yi Theatre Company and Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company; for Spiegelworld as production manager with Spiegel LP; Eddie Izzard Stripped as production manager for the U.S. national tour with WestBeth Entertainment; Frankenstein: A New Musical as production manager and technical director at 37 Arts with Goehring Evans Productions and director Bill Fennelly; and Margaret Cho’s Sensuous Woman as production manager at Zipper Theater for WestBeth Entertainment with director Randall Rapstine. Bellón’s national tours include Cinematic Titanic as production manager for the U.S. tour in 2009, Eddie Izzard Stripped as production manager for the U.S. and U.K. legs from 2008 to present, Billy Connolly’s Too Old to Die Young as tour and production manager for the North American leg from 2006 to present, and Jasmine Guy’s Raisin’ Cane featuring the Avery Sharpe Trio as lighting and production designer for the U.S. tour from 2008 to present. He worked as festival technical supervisor for the New York International Fringe Festival and as artistic director at Hudson Exploited Theater Company. Bellón is founder and director of Production Consolidated, a full-service production company dedicated to a holistic approach to theatre production. For more information, visit productionconsolidated.com. As always, for Nick. national tour with WestBeth Entertainment; Frankenstein: A New Musical as production manager and technical director at 37 Arts with Goehring Evans Productions and director Bill Fennelly; and Margaret Cho’s Sensuous Woman as production manager at Zipper Theater for WestBeth Entertainment with director Randall Rapstine. Bellón’s national tours include Cinematic Titanic as production manager for the U.S. tour in 2009, Eddie Izzard Stripped as production manager for the U.S. and U.K. legs from 2008 to present, Billy Connolly’s Too Old to Die Young as tour and production manager for the North American leg from 2006 to present, and Jasmine Guy’s Raisin’ Cane featuring the Avery Sharpe Trio as lighting and production designer for the U.S. tour from 2008 to present. He worked as festival technical supervisor for the New York International Fringe Festival and as artistic director at Hudson Exploited Theater Company. Bellón is founder and director of Production Consolidated, a full-service production company dedicated to a holistic approach to theatre production. For more information, visit productionconsolidated.com. As always, for Nick. Engagement Events

Friday, January 27, 2017 JAZZ MUSIC WORKSHOP: AVERY SHARPE TRIO

During their visit, members of the Avery Sharpe Trio lead a jazz music workshop for students at Kipps Elementary School in Blackburg.

Friday, January 27, 2017 ACTING WORKSHOP: JASMINE GUY

Virginia Tech Theatre Arts students in the School of Performing Arts participate in an acting workshop, led by Jasmine Guy.

Friday, January 27, 2017 STUDENT PERFORMANCE: RAISIN’ CANE: A HARLEM RENAISSANCE ODYSSEY

Jasmine Guy and the Avery Sharpe Trio perform an abridged version of Raisin’ Cane: A Harlem Renaissance Odyssey for students in grades 5-12 from Roanoke City and Montgomery, Pulaski, Giles, and Floyd Counties.

Special thanks to Glen Chilcote and Susanna Rinehart In the Galleries

What’s New? We’re proud to welcome you back with an exciting group of new exhibitions and installations!

ARTISTS AND ARCHITECTURE: PROJECTION/CONVERGENCE/INTERSECTION January 19-April 1, 2017 All galleries Spanning the practices of photography, painting, and site-specific installation, this exhibition features predominantly large-scale works by a group of artists who engage architecture in their work in a wild reimagining of the built environment while addressing underlying issues of history, memory, and place.

Related Events GALLERY TALK: PHOTOGRAPHY AND ARCHITECTURE WITH MICHAEL BOROWSKI Friday, February 10, 2017, 6:30 PM Ruth C. Horton Gallery Michael Borowski, artist and assistant professor of studio art, School of Visual Arts

ARTIST TALK: JENNIFER WILLIAMS ON BLACKSBURG UNFURLED Friday, February 18, 2017, 6 PM Francis T. Eck Exhibition Corridor Artist Jennifer Williams speaks about her new installation based on the architecture, history, and community of Blacksburg.

DESIGNSPACE: HAND LETTERING Grand Lobby stairs and Orchestra Lobby The fall 2016 Visual Communication Design Hand Lettering class created two installation for the Moss Arts Center. Using their own digitized hand lettering, the students depicted a quote by public radio personality and producer Ira Glass in adhesive vinyl.

GALLERY HOURS Tuesday-Friday, 10 AM-5:30 PM Saturday, 10 AM-4 PM Always free

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