UAB Briefs: Painting show, k.d. lang at The Alys, free English classes

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.

DEVELOPING A ‘UNIQUE VISION’

Some of the diverse work created in the painting classes offered by the UAB Department of Art and Art History taught by Professor Gary Chapman will be on display soon in the Fourth Floor Gallery at the Birmingham Public Library downtown.

The “Painting at UAB” exhibition will be held from Sept. 7 to Oct. 25, according to a UAB news release.

There will be a free opening reception at the library, located at 2100 Park Place, on Sunday, Sept. 9, from 2-4 p.m., the release states.

“By exploring and experimenting with the medium, this dynamic group of painters has developed unique vision through paint,” Chapman said in the release.

Chapman teaches a highly structured, somewhat traditional beginning painting class, and then guides his students in individual research in his intermediate and advanced classes.

In his classes, Chapman said he tries to helps students “develop an authentic, personal aesthetic” by researching other writers, thinkers and artists, and by examining the people and other factors that have shaped their own lives.

The works in the exhibition were made by current and recently graduated painting students, Chapman said in a BPL news release.

Each student will have two to three paintings in the show, and two artists will have a larger display of their work, he said.

“What I am most proud of is the diversity of style and subject matter,” Chapman said in the BPL release. “There is a prevalence of figurative work, primarily because it was the subject of a recent class. But the show includes work that is abstract as well as geometric patterning.”

Participating students in “Painting at UAB” are Bailey Barrow, Laura Benson, Ashlee Boren, Leah Cox, Becky Delgado, Frances Drew, Caroline Etheridge, Timothy Harstvedt, Cima Kahdemi, Meghan Malone, Joni Moore, Lanette Blankenship, Emily Stroud, Anthony Smith and Daniel Vann.

For more information, contact Chapman at painter@uab.edu or go to uab.edu/cas/art.

SHE PUT THE ALT IN ALT-COUNTRY

Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter k.d. lang will appear at Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center on Friday, Sept. 14, at 8 p.m.

The first performer in the new 2018-2019 season at the ASC, lang is making a Birmingham stop on her “Ingénue Redux” tour.

The tour celebrates the 25th anniversary of lang’s critically acclaimed, platinum-selling album “Ingénue.”

The veteran performer, a native of Canada, is considered to be one of the progenitors of alt-country.

The opening act will be guitarist Mak Grgic, who plays everything from avant-garde and film music to transcriptions of Brahms.

Performance ticket prices are $67, $77 and $87, with a limited number of $10 student tickets.

There will be a season kick-off lobby party with food, drink and live entertainment at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. ASC members are admitted free.

For complete ticket information, including VIP packages and discounts for UAB staff and faculty, call 975-2787 or go to alysstephens.org.

COMMUNITY ENGLISH CLASSES

The UAB Department of Curriculum and Instruction will offer free community classes in English as a Second Language from Sept. 13 to Dec. 7.

The English classes are intended for students and other language learners in the Birmingham area, including UAB international faculty and staff and their family members.

Classes will be held in the UAB Education Building, at 901 13th St. S., Room 118, every Thursday from 7-9 p.m. and every Friday from 9:30-10:45 a.m.

In addition to practice in listening, speaking and having conversations in English, instructors will help English learners understand idioms.

The classes also incorporate reading, writing, vocabulary and grammar, as well as information about local culture and history.

The classes serve as a teaching opportunity for graduate students in UAB’s master’s program in ESL.

In the past few years, participants from more than 40 countries have attended UAB community English classes.

Registration takes place on the first day of class and will continue throughout the semester.

For more information, call 975-5045 or click here.