UAB Briefs: Acclaimed artist, free English classes, a new app
Welcome to another installment of UAB Briefs.
In this weekly online feature, we keep track of interesting people and events on campus.
Know people, places and programs on the UAB campus that deserve a mention? Email jchambers@starnespublishing.com.
ARTIST PAYS RETURN VISIT TO UAB
Acclaimed contemporary artist Carlos Rolón, who created the large-scale painting “Tokyo Boogie” during his visit to the old UAB Visual Arts Gallery in 2003, is coming back to campus to speak and show work at the Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts.
“Carlos Rolón: Boxed” will open Friday, June 1, with a lecture by Rolón at 5 p.m. and a public reception from 6-8 p.m., according to a UAB news release. Both events are free and open to the public.
“Boxed” will remain on display at AEIVA through August 4.
A Chicago native of Puerto Rican descent, Rolón was formerly known in the art world as Dzine. He creates site-specific, autobiographical works, often merging his memories with his imagination.
As a young artist In the 1980s, Rolón was influenced by New York street life, disco, hip-hop and punk. He now explores ideas of identity while creating elaborate installations, decorative sculptures and richly crafted abstract paintings influenced by an American, Latino and pop culture.
His work has been exhibited in museums around the world, including Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego.
AEIVA will also show work by other visiting artists at UAB over the years, including Christo, Leonard Nimoy and John Waters.
AEIVA is open to the public 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 12-6 p.m. Saturday. It is closed Sundays and holidays.
FREE ENGLISH CLASSES
Beginning Thursday, June 7, UAB will offer free community English classes for international faculty and staff and their family members, as well as students and other language learners in the Birmingham area, according to a UAB news release.
Classes will take place in the Education Building at 901 13th St. South, Room 118, every Thursday from 6-7:30 p.m. Classes will end July 26.
Registration takes place on the first day of class and will continue throughout the semester.
New participants are encouraged to take a brief placement test on the first day. A placement test will also be offered May 31 at 6 p.m.
The classes are hosted by the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the School of Education.
They are taught by graduate students being trained to become teachers of English as an additional language.
People from more than 40 countries have attended these community English classes the last several years,.
For information, call Josie Prado at 975-5045 or click here.
FINDING YOUR WAY
A new smartphone app that can make it much easier for patients to find their way to their doctors’ offices and other locations in or near the UAB Medicine campus has been introduced.
The UAB Medicine Wayfinder is free and is available in a mobile version for both iOS and Android devices, as well as a web version for desktop use.
It provides indoor and outdoor turn-by-turn navigation with voice guidance and visual references.
The app covers the main UAB Medicine campus buildings indoors and out and leads users to the front doors of outlying clinics and UAB Highlands.
It also links clinic areas with parking lots, gift shops, guest services, as well as nearby hotels, restaurants, banks, grocery stores and gas stations.
The app uses the MediNavTM Navigator Edition 2.0 wayfinding system from Connexient.
UAB Medicine Wayfinder is available at the App Store or by going to the UAB Medicine Wayfinder page.