[cid:image005.png@01CECA50.AF813CC0] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 16, 2013 Contact: Shirley Skeel, media relations ph. 253.879.2611, cell. 510.684.6715, sskeel@pugetsound.edu<mailto:sskeel@pugetsound.edu> Living Art: Conversations with Jeanne van Heeswijk and Randy Bolton Visiting artist series brings themes of social engagement, irony, and nostalgia to Tacoma, Oct.-Nov. [cid:image006.jpg@01CECA50.AF813CC0]TACOMA, Wash. - Two highly distinctive, modern artists, Jeanne van Heeswijk and Randy Bolton, will be featured in free public events this fall as part of University of Puget Sound's Living Art visiting artist series. The events include presentations, conversations, a reception, and art exhibit. Details are below. Jeanne van Heeswijk is a visual artist who helps create lively and diversified public spaces, typically from abandoned or derelict sites. Van Heeswijk's projects distinguish themselves through their strong social involvement, often engaging hundreds of participants and extending over a long period of time. She sees herself as a mediator who creates connections between people and institutions that lead to public improvements, the organization of local groups, self-sustaining enterprises, and a stronger community identity. Van Heeswijk trained in the Netherlands and has exhibited at venues worldwide. Randy Bolton, a printmaker, teaches at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. His work explores images that seem familiar and comforting on first glance, but that become strange and disturbing on further consideration. His prints borrow from the nostalgia-evolving illustrations of early children's books and science texts. By digitally altering these old images that are intended to reflect childhood security and innocence, Bolton molds them into ironic metaphors of a chaotic world. His work is about the power these illustrations have in shaping our view of the world as children, followed by the disillusionment that occurs when these images fail us as adults. The free public events include: Artist Talk: Jeanne van Heeswijk 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24 Kittredge Art Gallery, University of Puget Sound Jeanne van Heeswijk will discuss how art can promote urban renewal and participation, as well as the strategies that she employs in creating her socially engaged art. A Conversation with Jeanne van Heeswijk and Rock Hushka 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26 Tacoma Art Museum, 1701 Pacific Ave. Join Tacoma Art Museum Curator Rock Hushka for a conversation with Jeanne van Heeswijk. Visualizing Stories: A Discussion with Randy Bolton, Mita Mahato, and Scott Kolbo 7:00 p.m. Monday, Nov. 4 King's Books, 218 St. Helens Ave. Join us for a conversation with three artists working with narrative in their artwork. The conversation will be led by Mita Mahato, associate professor of English at University of Puget Sound. Mahato makes comic books using collage and is working on a longer narrative about end-of-life care and its subsequent grief and pain. Scott Kolbo, associate professsor of art at Seattle Pacific University, creates drawings, prints, and video projections that feature reoccurring characters and fragmentary narratives. His work has been exhibited regionally and nationally. Have A Terrific Great Nice OK Day: Gallery Reception 5-6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 6 Kittredge Art Gallery, University of Puget Sound Randy Bolton's work is on display in Kittredge Art Gallery through Saturday, Nov. 9. A reception will be held at the gallery on Wednesday, Nov. 6. Refreshments will be served and Bolton will be present to speak with visitors. Randy Bolton: "The Role of Research in Contemporary Art Practice" 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7 Tacoma Art Museum, 1701 Pacific Ave Join us at the Tacoma Art Museum for a lecture by renowned printmaker Randy Bolton. Living Art is a visiting artist series supported by the Department of Art at University of Puget Sound and funded by a generous grant from an anonymous donor. Living Art provides students, staff, faculty, and the Tacoma community with deep exposure to the art world today through opportunities to learn from and develop professional relationships with nationally and internationally renowned artists, art critics, and curators of modern and contemporary art. For directions and a map of the University of Puget Sound campus: pugetsound.edu/directions<http://www.pugetsound.edu/directions.xml> For accessibility information please contact accessibility@pugetsound.edu<mailto:accessibility@pugetsound.edu> or 253.879.3236, or visit pugetsound.edu/accessibility<http://www.pugetsound.edu/accessibility>. Press photos of works by Randy Bolton and Jeanne van Heeswijk are available upon request. Photo on page: Our Town, by Randy Bolton Tweet this: Living Art @univpugetsound features conversations with @jeanneworks and Randy Bolton. Oct, Nov. Follow us on Twitter! twitter.com/univpugetsound<http://www.twitter.com/univpugetsound> -0- Visit our "Newsroom" page featuring a searchable index of Puget Sound sources on a wide variety of topics at pugetsound.edu/about/offices--services/office-of-communications/newsroom/<http://www.pugetsound.edu/about/offices--services/office-of-communications/newsroom/> University of Puget Sound is a 2,600-student, national undergraduate liberal arts college in Tacoma, Wash., drawing students from 44 states and 16 countries. Graduates include Watson and Fulbright scholars, notables in the arts and culture, entrepreneurs and elected officials, and leaders in business and finance locally and throughout the world. A low student-faculty ratio provides Puget Sound students with personal attention from faculty members who have a strong commitment to teaching and offer 2,000 courses each year in more than 50 traditional and interdisciplinary areas of study. 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