TOKIMEKI BLUE creators to present in weekly Arts Speaker Series Sept. 22

ALFRED, NY—The Weekly Wednesday Arts Speaker Series at Alfred University continues on Wednesday, Sept. 22, at 7 p.m. with a discussion on the making of TOKIMEKI BLUE, a multimedia dance installation currently on view in the Fosdick-Nelson Gallery.

In the Weekly Wednesday Arts Speaker Series, faculty and staff in the School of Art and Design, as well as guest artists, present short talks on their creative practice outside of the classroom. The series—offered both in-person and virtually—aims to engage the Alfred community by creating a unique sharing space focusing on the arts. The Sept. 22 installment will feature D. Chase Angier, professor of dance and chair of the Performing Arts Division at Alfred University, moderating a gallery talk by TOKIMEKI BLUE creators Cameron McKinney and Cayla Mae Simpson. Angier curated the TOKIMEKI BLUE installation, which will remain on view at the Fosdick-Nelson Gallery through Oct. 11.

The Sept. 22 event will be held at 7 p.m. in Holmes Auditorium, Harder Hall. For those who prefer to take in the presentation virtually, it will be presented via Zoom.

Previously, McKinney and Simpson engaged with students, faculty, staff, and the public through a series of events on Sept. 8. Simpson presented an on-campus lecture on titled "Exploring Creative Process for the Interdisciplinary Artist: A journey through the creative process of finding your voice as an interdisciplinary artist and applying it to your stories,” and McKinney taught Nagare Technique to select dance classes. McKinney and Simpson also met in the Fosdick-Nelson Gallery with exhibition design students.

The TOKIMEKI BLUE installation is made possible by a funding from the NYSCA DanceForce, a partnership program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the governor's office and the New York State Legislature, and the following programs within Alfred University: Marlin Miller Dance Residency Program, Miller Endowment for Excellence in the Arts, Fosdick-Nelson Gallery, the Institute for Electronic Arts, and the Diversity Innovation Fund Grants Program.

Future talks in the Weekly Wednesday Arts Speaker Series will feature faculty/staff from the various divisions in the School of Art and Design and Performing Arts: Drawing/Painting/Photography (Sept. 29, 7 p.m.); Ceramic Arts (Oct. 6, 7 p.m.); Expanded Media (Oct. 13, 7 p.m.); Art History (Oct. 20, 7 p.m.); Performing Arts (Oct. 27, 7 p.m.).

The remainder of the Fall 2021 semester and the Spring 2022 semester will feature presentations by guest artists.