FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2007
Contact: Dave Wellman, Director of Communications (304) 696-7153
 

Yeager Symposium features artists Jack Mackie, Tom Kelly;
theme is ‘For One, For All: Perspectives on Public Art’

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Jack Mackie, a public artist living in Seattle, will be the keynote speaker at the 21^st annual Yeager Symposium Lecture Series, which runs Oct. 22, 23 and 25 at Marshall University.

The theme of the symposium is “For One, For All: Perspectives on Public Art.” All events will take place at the Francis-Booth Experimental Theatre inside the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center on the Huntington campus, will start at 7 p.m. and are free to the public.

“Public art is really at the heart of civic identity and purpose,” said Dr. Barry Sharpe, executive director of the John R. Hall Center for Academic Excellence at Marshall. “This year’s Yeager Symposium will be organized around how public art centers on basic questions of identity, purpose and memory. It will also provide a wonderful opportunity to focus attention on the place and value of art in urban planning and economic development.”

Mackie will present the Harry and Betty Wolfe Lecture on Thursday, Oct. 25. The title of his presentation is “Towards a Civic Art.”  Mackie is based in Seattle, but has worked on major urban redevelopment and urban planning and design projects in Nashville and other major cities, as well as in Seattle.

“Mr. Mackie is a tremendous speaker and a leading force in public art policy and practice who will appeal to broad constituencies,” said Byron D. Clercx, chair of Marshall’s department of art and design. “Jack is decidedly articulate and disarmingly empathetic and empowering. He will illustrate how public art is a ‘value added’ community enhancement that redefines how people understand and interact with civic spaces and one another.”

Mackie has participated in major urban redevelopment and new construction projects, including serving as project artist for Santa Clara County (Calif.) light rail and BART projects; as design team artist for the City of Albuquerque and National Parks on the Unser Boulevard crossing of the Petroglyphs National Monument; and as commissioned artist for the Health Sciences Learning Center at the University of Wisconsin and Scottsdale (Ariz.) Justice Center.

As an artist planner, Mackie has co-authored the public art program for the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Agency; the aesthetic design standards and design implementation procedures for CENTRO Transport Authority in Birmingham, United Kingdom; the Bute Avenue Corridor plan in Cardiff, Wales; and the new San Jose International Airport. He created the public art plans for the Memphis/Shelby County Central Library in Tennessee; the Performing Arts Center in Mesa, Ariz.; the Charlotte Area Transit System; and Terminal A at Miami International Airport and American Airlines.

He is past chair of the Public Art Committee for the Seattle Arts Commission, vice chair to the Seattle Design Commission and chair to the Seattle Light Rail review panel. He currently serves as chair to the Port of Seattle Art Oversight Committee.

The Yeager Symposium begins Monday, Oct. 22 with a visit from Tom Kelly of the Bogside Artists, which is a group of three mural painters from an area of Derry City, Northern Ireland, known as the Bogside. It was in the Bogside area that 14 people were shot dead on “Bloody Sunday” by the British army on Jan. 30, 1972. To date, the Bogside Artists have painted a dozen murals about the political conflict of “Bloody Sunday.”

Kelly, who will speak on “Art and Conflict,” is well known for his cross-community work and has pioneered the use of art to assuage religious conflict long before its efficacy in this respect was fully recognized by the cultural elite of Northern Ireland. The Bogside Artists have been working together on mural projects since 1994.

The second event of the Yeager Symposium, scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 23, is a panel discussion featuring Clercx and Dr. Dan Holbrook from Marshall’s department of history. The title of their presentation is “Regeneration through Public Display: The Interaction of Public Art and Public History.”

Holbrook and Clercx will speak about how public art and public history can work together to rejuvenate communities, with specific reference to projects in Huntington. Marshall student Josh Lynn, one of the organizers of the Tuesday event, said the goal is to have an interactive panel discussion. “There will be opportunities for audience participation,” Lynn said.

Don Van Horn, dean of Marshall’s College of Fine Arts, said the focus on public art “is an important step for the Symposium and Marshall.  We have talked about public art on campus for many years and I applaud Dr. Sharpe and the Yeager program for raising the awareness of the issue,” Van Horn said.   

For more information on the Yeager Symposium Lecture Series, contact Caitlin Haught at (434) 610-6970 or via e-mail at Haught25@marshall.edu

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