Hamilton College will host its annual Fallcoming Weekend from Thursday, Oct. 12, through Sunday, Oct. 15. In addition to campus tours, a football game and dedication of new athletic facilities, the Fallcoming celebration brings a broad spectrum of arts opportunities to the community that are free and open to the public. Highlights are listed below.
Thursday, Oct. 12, 8 p.m., Fillius Events Barn - Acoustic Coffeehouse with Jose Gonzalez
The Campus Activities Board Acoustic Coffeehouse Series brings Jose Gonzalez to Hamilton. A master of Spanish guitar and warm vocals, Jose Gonzalez has exploded onto the music scene. Playing to crowds of thousands all across Europe, he is primed to conquer the U.S. market next. Having been featured on The O.C. soundtrack, he has performed on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and toured nationally with Zero 7. www.jose-gonzalez.com.
Friday, Oct. 13, 11:30 a.m., The Charlean and Wayland Blood Fitness and Dance Center dedication plaque unveiling. Guided tours at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Physical fitness has long been recognized as an important part of a Hamilton education. The new center features a spacious atrium that houses treadmills, elliptical machines and a three-story climbing wall in the building which was formerly known as the Saunders Hall of Chemistry. In addition to new fitness facilities the Blood Center is home to Hamilton's Dance Department, a dedicated dance studio and offices for the dance faculty. The building is named for Wayland F. "Bill" Blood '53, and his wife Charlean, with funding for the renovation provided by David W. Blood '81.
Friday, Oct. 13, 5:30 p.m, Little Squash Center dedication ceremony. Exhibition match between squash pros John White and Graham Ryding, ranked #11 and #19 in the world respectively.
Squash became a part Hamilton's athletic tradition in the 1940s with the
construction of the Alumni Gymnasium. In 1980, the sport earned intercollegiate varsity status but a setback came in 1993, when international squash court size regulations changed, making Hamilton's courts unusable for intercollegiate competition. All matches had to be played "away." George F. "Jeff" Little II '71, for whom the Little Squash Center is named, and his family provided leadership funding for the squash facilities, which include 10 international regulation-sized squash courts and exhibition courts.
Friday, Oct. 13, 9 p.m., Fillius Events Barn - World-Class Jazz with The Kenny Davern Quintet featuring Bucky Pizzarelli
The music of jazz clarinetist Kenny Davern H'00 has become a welcome tradition and an integral part of Hamilton's Fallcoming celebration. This year Kenny brings his favorite recording ensemble to the Hill, a quintet featuring fellow honorary degree recipient and guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli H'03.
Saturday, Oct. 14, 1:30 p.m., Chapel – The Doris M. and Ralph E. Hansmann Lecture Series presents choreographer Bill T. Jones on "The Persistence of Questioning: A Survival Technique Finding a Place Where Thought and Action Meet."
Choreographer and founder of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Bill T. Jones, will speak as part of the dedication ceremony for the Blood Fitness and Dance Center. The recipient of a MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship in 1994, Jones is a charismatic performer and gifted choreographer whose autobiographical work often merges the private and the public.
Emerson Gallery Exhibitions
WPA Artists: Prints from the Amity Art Foundation
This exhibit features 30 prints produced by artists who worked within the printmaking programs of the Federal Arts Project of the Works Project Administration. The exhibition includes artists who achieved recognition in their careers as well as some only known through the prints they produced while working in the WPA. WPA Artists was curated by John A. Stewart '64, P'07, founder and director of The Amity Art Foundation which is dedicated to promoting, encouraging and supporting the inclusive, accessible and social nature of traditional printmaking. Also on view will be a selection of works by WPA artists from the collection of the Emerson Gallery.
Native Perspectives: George Longfish and Shelley Niro
This exhibition features nine new and recent works by contemporary First Nations artists Shelley Niro (Mohawk) and George Longfish (Seneca/Tuscarora). Niro and Longfish are two of the most important contemporary native artists working in North America today and are critically engaged with the problem of decolonization. Their works are predominantly concerned with discerning truth from lies, the acknowledgement of spirit and memory, communication and dialogue — often expressed with humor and irony. The exhibition is curated by Neal Keating, visiting assistant professor of religious studies, with works from the artists and the Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford, Ontario.
Library Exhibit
The Murder That Won't Go Away: The 100th Anniversary of the Murder of Grace Brown
In 1906 Grace Brown died in Big Moose Lake in the Adirondacks. Chester Gillette, her lover, was tried and convicted of murder and executed in 1908. Theodore Dreisser's novel An American Tragedy (1925) was based on this murder and a movie adaptation of the novel, A Place in the Sun, was released in 1951 starring Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor and Shelley Winters. Marking the 100th anniversary of the trial, Burke Library will display Grace's letters to Chester and other material used by the district attorney leading to Chester's conviction. The library exhibit was made possible by Ward Halverson '92, the great-grandson of the Herkimer County district attorney, who entrusted Burke Library with the preservation of Grace's letters and other materials — the indictment, autopsy report, a letter from Chester to his mother, the last postcard Grace wrote to her mother, the Glenmore Hotel registry and a scrapbook of newspaper clippings about the murder case.
All events are free and open to the public. For additional information call 315-859-4656.
