Emory’s calendar is packed with exciting arts events for the month of October. From artist talks and film screenings to musical performances and the opening of the Praise House Project — a public art installation and immersive digital experience — there’s something for everyone to enjoy.
Watch movies and think about arts and activism.
The Emory Film and Media Department presents Emory Cinematheque, a series of film screenings with a different theme every semester. This fall, Cinematheque focuses on the films of legendary filmmaker David Lynch. Screenings are free and take place every Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in White Hall, Room 208.
October’s Cinematheque films include “Dune” on Oct. 4, “Blue Velvet” on Oct. 11, “Wild at Heart” on Oct. 18 and “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me” on Oct. 25.
On Monday, Oct. 16, watch a film screening of “WINN,” the story of Pamela Winn’s journey to become an activist on behalf of pregnant people in prison. The screening will be at 7 p.m. on the Oxford College campus in Humanities Hall, Room 202. Nick Fesette and Stacy Bell will host the event and moderate a Q&A afterwards.
Photography Speaks — a series of artists’ talks in and around photography, film, art and activism — also returns this month, courtesy of the Film and Media Department. Guest speaker Paul Mueller will present an online program Monday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m. The program is free and open to the public.
Participate in special programs at the Carlos Museum.
The Michael C. Carlos Museum continues to enrich Emory’s on-campus arts culture with multiple events in October.
On Wednesday, Oct. 4, at 7:30 p.m., the Carlos hosts an online curatorial talk with Pilar Tompkins Rivas introducing her exhibition, “You Belong Here: Place, People and Purpose in Latinx Photography,” on view through Dec. 3.
On Saturday, Oct. 7, the exhibition “Crisscrosses: Benny Andrews and the Poetry of Langston Hughes” opens at the Carlos, featuring a selection of illustrations that Andrews created for the publication “Poetry for Young People: Langston Hughes.” Plus, fans of Andrews’ work will want to visit the new Emory Libraries exhibit “At the Crossroads”; learn more below.
The Carlos will also host “Constructing an Image: A Conversation with Atlanta Latinx Photographers” on Thursday, Oct. 12, at 7:30 p.m. Join Atlanta-based photographers Victoria García and José Ibarra Rizo in a conversation moderated by Yami Rodriguez, assistant professor in Emory’s Department of History, as they discuss southern Latinx representation through photography.
On Friday, Oct. 27, Student Studio: Mug Making is an opportunity to join ceramic artist Ana Vizurraga to make clay mugs like those seen on display in the Carlos’ permanent collection. The program begins at 1 p.m. and is open to all Emory students.
Enjoy musical performances by students and guests.
Emory welcomes many guest musicians to campus throughout October.
The Grammy Award–winning vocal ensemble Chanticleer performs Thursday, Oct. 5, at 8 p.m. at the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts as a part of the Flora Glenn Candler Concert Series. Tickets are available through the Schwartz Center box office.
On Thursday, Oct. 12, Bay Area live-electronic music pioneer John Bischoff performs a very special (and free) set at the Performing Arts Studio at 8 p.m. Atlanta Master Chorale presents its new concert, The Sky’s the Limit, for two nights at the Schwartz Center’s Emerson Hall on Friday, Oct. 13, and Saturday, Oct. 14. Both performances are at 8 p.m. and tickets can be purchased through the Schwartz Center box office.
The Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta (ECMSA) presents a recital with Timothy Miller on Tuesday, Oct. 17, at Oxford College. Known for his stirring renditions of “God Bless America” during the seventh-inning stretch of Atlanta Braves home games, Miller also is an assistant professor of voice and music at Morehouse College and serves on the board of the Meridian Herald. The program will be at 7:30 p.m. in Williams Hall.
Later that week, ECMSA welcomes violinist Yuriy Bekker for the Cooke Noontime Series at the Carlos Museum on Friday, Oct. 20, at 12 p.m. Bekker will also lead a masterclass in the Schwartz Center on Saturday, Oct. 21, at 10 a.m. Tickets for Schwartz Center events can be purchased on their box office website.
Several student ensembles also present concerts this month.
Student musicians in the Emory Jazz Combos perform twice this month at Jazz on the Green. These free outdoor concerts on Patterson Green adjacent to Schwartz Center for Performing Arts will be at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 5, and Thursday, Oct. 19.
A variety of student ensemble performances will be part of Homecoming weekend activities. On Saturday, Oct. 21, enjoy the Alumni Big Band Reunion Concert at 2 p.m. at the Performing Arts Studio and the Emory Choirs Family Weekend Concert at 8 p.m. at the Schwartz Center. Sunday, Oct. 22, brings the Emory Wind Ensemble Fall Concert at 4 p.m., also at the Schwartz Center.
Hear the Oxford Chorale Fall Concert on Thursday, Oct. 26, at 7 p.m. The performance, held at Old Church in Oxford, is directed by Emorja Roberson.
During the final student performance of the month, the Emory Symphony Orchestra will present its annual fall concert on Saturday, Oct. 28, at 8 p.m. at the Schwartz Center.
All student ensemble concerts are free and open to the public, though some performances require a ticket for admission.
Celebrate the Praise House Project at Emory.
This month marks the opening of the Praise House Project at Emory, a public art installation and immersive digital experience honoring African and African American traditions. The house will be open Oct. 20-Dec. 15.
The project culminates a multi-year engagement between artist-activist Charmaine Minniefield and Emory University. Located on the grounds of Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church, Minniefield’s Praise House Project is presented in partnership with Emory University and with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Several events will celebrate the opening. All Praise House Project at Emory events are free and open to the public. Visit the project’s webpage to learn more.
- On Saturday, Oct. 14, at 4 p.m., the inaugural U.S. Hip Hop ambassador, Toni Blackman, will be on campus for “The Beat: A Ring Shout and Community Cypher.” Blackman will acknowledge the worldwide impact and cultural origins of hip hop and demonstrate how the emcee is the griot, or memory keeper, and a freestyle cypher is a modern iteration of the Ring Shout.
- On Thursday, Oct. 19, join Emory Arts at 7 p.m. for a special evening of dance, music, poetry and reflection celebrating the opening of the Praise House installation in the Glenn Memorial Auditorium.
- On Saturday, Oct. 28, the Atlanta chapter of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society hosts a genealogy workshop in the Jones Room of the Robert W. Woodruff Library at 1 p.m.
Hear creators read their work.
Emory Creative Writing hosts a Creative Writing Fellows Reading on Wednesday, Oct. 18, featuring poetry by Steven Duong and Sasha Debevec-McKenney and playwriting by Ryan Stevens. The reading is free and open to the public and will be at 6:30 p.m. at the Oxford Road Building’s Presentation Room.
Learn about the intersection of artists’ work.
Timed to be open during Emory’s Homecoming 2023, the exhibition “At the Crossroads” features three artists whose collections are housed at the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library: Benny Andrews, Flannery O’Connor and Alice Walker, all of whom grew up in middle Georgia.
“Crossroads” focuses on O’Connor’s short story, “Everything That Rises Must Converge,” which Andrews later illustrated. Walker also responded to O’Connor’s work through an essay, “Beyond the Peacock,” and a short story, “Convergence.” The exhibition examines how Andrews, O’Connor and Walker overlap geographically as Georgia natives, chronologically during their lifetimes and creatively through their work.
The exhibition opens Oct. 16 and runs through May 18, 2024, at the Robert W. Woodruff Library. It is free and open to the public during library hours.
See a theater performance and dance premiere.
OxTheatre presents Dustin Chinn’s “Snowflakes, or Rare White People” beginning Thursday, Oct. 19, at Tarbutton Performing Arts Center. Shows will be Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 3 p.m. Admission is free, but tickets through the OxTheatre box office are required.
Emory Dance hosts the premiere of a new faculty dance piece the weekend of Oct. 26-28. “ARARAT” by staibdance is a multimedia work that considers the history and resilience of the Armenian people following a genocide that claimed 1.5 million lives. Performances will be at the Schwartz Center Dance Studio each evening at 7:30 p.m. and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 28. From a Critic’s Lens, a post-show discussion led by dance, theater and music critics from ArtsATL.org, will follow each show. Tickets can be purchased through the Schwartz Center box office website.