Greene Gazette: “Arts alive in summer"

POSTED ON JULY 26, 2019 BY CIELO CASTANEDA AND JADEN MORELLO

Fally Sene Sow, glass collage painting, at the Zuccaire Gallery, Staller Center for the Arts

In the middle of July, when many college students are back home for summer vacation, one might expect there's not much to do on campus. But here at Stony Brook University, there are multiple possibilities.

From music ensembles to a film festival and an art gallery, students and community members are still able to enjoy themselves on campus.

Alan Inkles, director of the Staller Center for the Arts at Stony Brook University, said he believes that the arts are just as important on college campuses as anything else. He said he always likes to add an "A" for "art" to "STEM" — meaning science, technology, engineering and math — turning it into "STEAM" to remind others that the arts are crucial as well.

"I want it to be more than just a science and medical school. The arts have been added in," said Inkles. "It's important ... to take time to enjoy everything else."

One of the many opportunities to get out on campus is the weekly Tuesday Concert Series at the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics. This past Tuesday showcased the Doxas/Ambrosio/Hart Trio Jazz Ensemble, featuring saxophonist Chet Doxas, bassist Dave Ambrosio and jazz drummer Billy Hart.

Another event happening this week is "The View from Here: Contemporary Perspectives from Senegal" at the Paul W. Zuccaire Gallery at the Staller Center for the Arts. All of the artwork presented was curated by Joseph Underwood, a Stony Brook alumnus who earned his Ph.D. in 2017 and who collaborated with Karen Levitov, the director of the gallery.

"He got his [doctorate] in African art history, and while he was still a student here, we began talking about eventually collaborating on an exhibition," Levitov said.

She explained Underwood, who now teaches at Kent State University, along with Brooklyn-based photographer Laylah Amatullah Barrayn, introduced an exhibition of contemporary art from Senegal that began in the capital city of Dakar and is currently touring the United States, with Stony Brook's Staller Center being its last stop.

<p"The View from Here" features 11 unique perspectives on Senegal from artists based there as well as in Mali, Madagascar, France, and the United States. The exhibition includes different types of media, such as painting, photography, printmaking, video and collage.

"For the last 10 or 15 years, I've been telling the stories of women of African descent," said Barrayn,"sharing their stories because I am a woman of African descent."

Laylah Amatullah Barrayn's work in the Zuccaire Gallery's exhibition The View From Here. Click here to see the Greene Gazette video "Arts alive in summer."

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