UAB Briefs: New director at AEIVA, commencement, honor for Pigford
In this weekly online feature, we keep track of interesting people and events on campus.
The Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts at UAB has a new director.
UAB will host its summer commencement ceremonies on Friday and Saturday, August 9-10.
And the late Birmingham architect Dick Pigford was to be honored this week in the Kingston community.
Know people, places and programs on the UAB campus that deserve a mention? Email jchambers@starnespublishing.com.
NEW DIRECTOR
John Fields is the new senior director of the Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts (AEIVA) on campus, according to UAB Media Relations. Fields, who has worked at UAB since 2011, became the first curator at the institute in 2014.
He will oversee all daily operations and programming at the stunning venue for contemporary art on 10th Avenue South near the Alys Stephens Center and will serve as a liaison for numerous campus and community stakeholders.
With over 15 years of experience as artist, educator, curator and administrator, Fields has curated 38 of AEIVA’s first 50 exhibitions, including “Warhol: Fabricated” and “Mary Frances Whitfield: Why?
Fields received a Bachelor of Arts degree in art from UAB in 2003 and an MFA in painting from the University of New Orleans in 2007.
His leadership of the AEIVA Collections Committee has seen the addition of works by major contemporary artists to the facility’s permanent collection.
In addition, Fields has collaborated with such community organizations as Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, the Birmingham Museum of Art and the Jefferson County Memorial Project to create educational programming.
CAPS AND GOWNS
UAB will hold its summer commencement ceremonies at Bartow Arena on Friday and Saturday, August 9-10. An estimated 1,708 students are expected to graduate, and about 1,000 students will take part in the ceremonies, according to UAB Media Relations.
A doctoral hooding and commencement ceremony for nearly all graduate programs will be held at Bartow on Friday at 6 p.m. Students receiving master’s degrees will receive their diplomas with the doctoral candidates. For the summer, the UAB Graduate School will confer degrees on 89 students, with 59 participating in the ceremony.
Undergraduate diplomas will be awarded to students at Bartow on Saturday at 9:30 a.m.
A to-do list for graduates and information for guests are available at uab.edu/commencement.
The ceremonies will be livestreamed on the UAB Facebook page. They will also be available for viewing on the commencement website about a week after the event.
COMMUNITY HONOR
The Kingston Teaching Farm in the Birmingham Kingston neighborhood was to be renamed for and dedicated to the late architect and community supporter Richard I. “Dick” Pigford on Wednesday, August 7, according to UAB Media Relations.
A charter member of the Kingston Coalition, Pigford died on March 31.
The dedication on August 7 will take place at Morton Simpson housing community, where a permanent sign and plaque recognizing Pigford’s impact on Kingston will be unveiled.
Pigford was known for his participation in UAB’s Building Healthy Communities Coalition in Kingston and was also deeply involved in other initiatives in Kingston, such as the Kingston Community Garden.
“Dick was a tremendous presence in Birmingham and surrounding communities and one that will be sorely missed,” said Mona Fouad, director of the UAB Minority Health and Health Disparity Research Center, in a news release.