CONVERSATION
It Is What It Is: Conversations About Iraq
April 9-10

The Mitchell Center is proud to present Turner Prize-winning British artist Jeremy Deller's project It Is What It Is: Conversations About Iraq, a mobile museum of dialogues, stories, and living histories surrounding the war in Iraq.  The museum is travelling across the United States and is coming to Houston!

The goal of It Is What It Is: Conversations About Iraq is modest: to encourage conversation about our world. It is a project that strives to present a broad, informational, nonpartisan perspective of Iraq through firsthand encounters between the general public and those who have significant scholarly research to impart, military experiences to describe, and heritage to share.

Presented in collaboration with Blaffer Gallery and the UH School of Art, in parternship with Creative Time, New Museum of Contemporary Art, the Hammer Museum, and the MCA Chicago.

THURSDAY APRIL 9, 10:00am to 4:00pm
Location: Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center, University of Houston
(Entrance 16 off Cullen Blvd)
FREE ADMISSION
Information: 713-743-5749
Artist Talk: 7:00pm at MFAH CORE, Glassell School of Art

FRIDAY APRIL 10, 10:00am to 2:00pm
Location: Emancipation Park, Elgin & Dowling Streets
FREE ADMISSION
Information: 713-743-5749

FESTIVAL
Media Archeology Festival: Liquid Light to the Laptop, the Evolution of Live Visuals
Saturday April 18, 8:00pm

Aurora Picture Show´s annual multimedia festival features artists who incorporate audio/visual technology with live performance. The 2009 edition, curated by Bree Edwards, cofounder of Los Angeles´s Be Johnny, pays tribute to the multimedia spectacle of the psychedelic light show as an art form that revolutionized rock concerts, influenced corporate events and advertising, and paved the way for the VJs of today.

Produced by the Mitchell Center in collaboration with Aurora Picture Show and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. Curated by Bree Edwards. Media Archeology is also supported by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and Houston Arts Alliance through the City of Houston.

SCHEDULE
Friday, April 17, 8:00pm: The Joshua Light Show and Silver Apples: LIVE
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11's historic landing, the legendary Joshua Light Show teams up with pioneering electronic-rock band Silver Apples for this multimedia performance featuring the Houston premiere of Silver Apples' 1969 composition, Mune Toon.

Saturday, April 18, 8:00pm: Maximal Art: The Origins and Aesthetics of West Coast Light Shows, presentation by Robin Oppenheimer and  Andy Warhol’s Exploding Plastic Inevitable with The Velvet Underground by Ronald Nameth

Visit www.aurorapictureshow.org for more details. 

Location: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 1001 Bissonet
Admission: Aurora members $10 per show, non-members $10 in advance or $12 at the door
Information: 713-868-2101

SYMPOSIUM
Systems of Sustainability: Art, Innovation, Action
March 27 - 29
Kick-off party March 26

Systems of Sustainability: Art, Innovation, Action (“S.O.S”), is a three-day event organized by the Mitchell Center and Blaffer Gallery, the Art Museum of the University of Houston. Part arts festival, part academic symposium, S.O.S. explores creative enterprise as an integral tool for cultural growth and social change. The program presents a range of innovative practices from local, national, and international participants including prominent artists, researchers, activists, and scholars.

Systems of Sustainability is developed in close consultation with Dr. Robert Harriss, President of the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) and Liz Lerman, founder of the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange.

For registration and additional information, please visit our website: www.soshouston.org

Location: Wortham Theatre, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center, University of Houston
(Entrance 16 off Cullen Blvd; free parking in Lot 16)
Information: 713-743-5548

EXHIBITION
Texas Oil: Landscape of an Industry, The Center for Land Use Interpretation
January 17 - March 29

PUBLIC PROGRAMS
Center for Land Use Interpretation and the Buffalo Bayou Partnership
January - March

The Mitchell Center, the Center for Land Use Interpretation, and Buffalo Bayou Partnership present a series of public events in conjunction with the CLUI's exhibition Texas Oil: Landscape of an Industry.

Click here for events schedule.

DARWINIAN 2009 ANNIVERSARY PERFORMANCE
Blue Lias, or The Fish Lizard's Whore
Thursday February 26
7:30 pm

In recognition of the 2009 Darwinian anniversary, the Mitchell Center co-presents a solo play about fossilist Mary Anning, Written and performed by Claudia Stevens, with music composed by Allen Shearer. The performance is supported by the University of Houston, Office of the Associate Vice President for University Relations, the College of Natural Science and Mathematics, the Department of Biology and Biochemistry, the School of Theatre and Dance, the Women’s Studies Program and the Friends of Women’s Studies, and the Mitchell Center.

Location: Jose Quintero Lab Theatre, School of Theatre & Dance
University of Houston
(Entrance 16 off Cullen Blvd; free parking in Lot 16)
FREE ADMISSION
Information: 713-743-5548