"The Creative Mind Lecture Series this fall at Amarillo College will be taking an in-depth look at how War has become a popular theme for museum collections, artwork and music.
War will be presented in six Thursday lectures – two per day – on Oct. 26, Nov. 2 and Nov. 9. The two installments on Nov. 9 will predominantly feature live big-band and choral music.
All six lectures are free and open to the public.
The War lectures will build on last spring’s Creative Mind Lecture Series, which focused on the centennial anniversary of U.S. involvement in World War I. The fall lectures also coincide with ongoing Vietnam War-related initiatives at Amarillo College, which selected “The Things they Carried” for its Common Reader, and at Panhandle PBS, a driving force in the Texas Panhandle Vietnam War Project.
The presenters, from Amarillo College and West Texas A&M University, are:
Nathaniel Fryml, instructor of music, joined the AC faculty in fall 2016 as director of choral activities. Having recently completed doctoral coursework in choral music, conducting, and composition at the University of Southern California, he is currently engaged in dissertation research on the music of Antonín Dvoák. Fryml holds degrees in piano performance from Furman University and the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Michael R. Grauer is associate director for curatorial affairs/curator of art and western heritage for Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum. He also is an adjunct lecturer in Western American studies at WTAMU. He completed a double-major bachelor’s degree in painting and art history at the University of Kansas, and a master’s degree in art history at Southern Methodist University. He was named Distinguished Alumnus of the Kress Foundation Department of Art History, University of Kansas, in 2012.
Dr. Jim Laughlin is professor of music at AC and teaches saxophone, clarinet, jazz studies, recording arts and music theory. He is an active performer, adjudicator and clinician throughout the Midwest. He has performed with many touring groups such as the Temptations, Rat Pack, Lynn Seaton, and Mark Little, and as a student he appeared with jazz greats Clark Terry, Urbie Green, Bob Mintzer, and more. A member of the Amarillo Symphony on both clarinet and saxophone, he completed his doctoral degree in jazz pedagogy in 2001 at the University of North Texas.
Dr. Amy Von Lintel is the Doris Alexander Endowed Distinguished Professor of Fine Arts and an associate professor of art history at WTAMU, where she also directs the Gender Studies Program. Her publications include the award-winning Georgia O’Keeffe: Watercolors, 1916-1918 (Radius, 2016) and the co-authored volume Robert Smithson in Texas (Smithson Estate, 2015). She received her master’s degree from Southern Methodist University, and her doctoral degree from the University of Southern California.
For more information about the Lecture Series at Amarillo College, please contact Kristin Edford, instructor of humanities, at 806-371-5205 or visit actx.edu/humanities.
The lecture schedule is as follows:
Thursday, Oct. 26 – Michael R. Grauer, West Texas A&M University
12:30 p.m. – The Great War and the Panhandle-Plains Region part 1
Amarillo Museum of Art, Washington Street Campus
7 p.m. The Great War and the Panhandle-Plains Region part 2
Amarillo College Downtown Campus, Bud Joyner Auditorium
Thursday, Nov. 2 – Dr. Amy Von Lintel, West Texas A&M University
12:30 p.m. The Horrors of War and Great Art: A Productive Connection, Part 1
Amarillo College Concert Hall Theater, Washington Street Campus
7 p.m. – The Horrors of War and Great Art: A Productive Connection, Part 2
Amarillo College Downtown Campus, Bud Joyner Auditorium
Thursday, Nov. 9 – Nathaniel Fryml & Dr. James E. Laughlin, Amarillo College
12:30 p.m. – Battle Cries of Freedom: An Exploration of American War Tunes
Amarillo College Concert Hall Theater, Washington Street Campus
7 p.m. – Radio Days USO presents: Battle Cries of Freedom with The Radio Days Orchestra and Amarillo Master Chorale
Amarillo College Concert Hall Theater, Washington Street Campus"
-Amarillo College
