La Monarca continues free events for public

ALAMOSA – The third week of La Monarca, an Adams State University Art Symposium, includes a Chilean film and a hands-on workshop on photograms. The following events are free and open to the public.

“I am From Chile,” (2004, Chile) directed by Gonzalo Diaz, will be introduced by Carlos Yarza. Salvador is a young Chilean who moves to London to study English and travel around Europe. While in London, he stays with his aunt Maria, an immature and alcoholic 55-year-old woman. When Salvador’s parents face unexpected economic hardship, it threatens to cut short their son’s London experience. Seduced by what the city has to offer, Salvador refuses to return to Chile. With the help of Maria and his other flatmates (Ivan, a Russian drug dealer and Yoshiko, his Japanese girlfriend), he manages to stay and find temporary jobs but difficult and challenging situation will force him out of his protected bourgeois reality. The evening, including short films, curated by Yarza, begins at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 28, in the Visual Arts Building room 227.

A hands-on art workshop, “The Aesthetics of Deep Ecology: Photograms and the Wild,” featuring Eric Stewart, Adams State assistant professor of art, begins at 12 p.m. Friday, March 2, in the Visual Arts Building room 127. Using found material and the sun this workshop will explore 19th century photochemistry to create camera-less images or photograms. Students will learn about silver salt paper, cyanotype and van dyke brown printing processes to create their own camera-less images with found material. In addition to learning technical processes the workshop will be introduced by a talk on the history of photography and its implications for wilderness conservation. All materials provided and no prior experience needed.

La Monarca represents beauty, migration, and transformation. These qualities are the conceptual starting point for a symposium that aims to cultivate discussion around the persistent and enduring effects of colonialism in the Americas. Through looking at the visual culture of indigenous and other underrepresented groups this symposium will highlight a chorus of voices and visions from the American Southwest, Mexico, Central and South America.

An exhibition, “Local Traditions, Contemporary Visions,” will feature select pieces from the Adams State Luther Bean Museum collection with work from artists featured in the La Monarca Symposium. The exhibit will be on display from February 26 through April 6 in the Hatfield Gallery, located in the Adams State Visual Arts Building. A closing reception will take place from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. Friday, April 6.

The Art Symposium will continue through March 14 featuring films and art workshops. For more information and a complete schedule visit adams.edu and click on the La Monarca link.