Category: Hamon Arts Library

The Community of Cinema – March 1 Film Events at SMU

Film screening room 3rd floor Hamon

Cinema is a natural community-forming medium, and next week, when the lights dim in Hamon Library’s new third-floor film screening room on March 1st, attendees will be treated to a unique and authentic cinematic experience, complete with the whirring sound of a 16mm film projector. The new room and projector are an extension of the…Continue Reading The Community of Cinema – March 1 Film Events at SMU

Octavio Medellín: Spirit and Form

Octavio Medellín portrait

  The exhibition Octavio Medellín: Spirit and Form is now open at the Dallas Museum of Art. This exceptional retrospective exhibition features many fabulous works of art on loan from Bywaters Special Collections. Bywaters Special Collections holds the Octavio Medellin Artwork and Papers. A detailed finding aid and extensive digital collection are available. https://www.smu.edu/libraries/digitalcollections/med https://txarchives.org/smu/finding_aids/00272.xml…Continue Reading Octavio Medellín: Spirit and Form

Narrative as Reality: A World Reimagined/ Selections from the Jessica and Kelvin Beachum Family Collection opens Feb. 18

Dominic Chambers_The Night is Our Friend

Several paintings by contemporary Black artists from the Jessica and Kelvin Beachum Family collection will be on view at Hamon’s Hawn Gallery beginning February 18 and continuing to May 22. The exhibition, Narrative as Reality: A World Reimagined, presents the work of artists, Dominic Chambers, Ryan Cosbert, Robert Hodge, Nelson Makamo, Delita Martin, Sungi Mlengeya,…Continue Reading Narrative as Reality: A World Reimagined/ Selections from the Jessica and Kelvin Beachum Family Collection opens Feb. 18

In memory of Stephen Sondheim (1930-2021)

Forbes cover with Hal Prince

The enormously prolific and influential composer and lyricist, Stephen Sondheim, passed away on November 26, 2021. Known for his generosity in sharing his knowledge and tutelage in the field of musical composition, Sondheim came to SMU to receive the Meadows Prize in 1994 and spoke to students and the SMU community about his ideas on…Continue Reading In memory of Stephen Sondheim (1930-2021)

Collection Spotlight: Rosa Bonheur papers 

Rosa Bonheur letter

The Collection of Rosa Bonheur correspondence, 1808-1961 held in Bywaters Special Collections is a significant record of the artist’s correspondence and writings.  French painter Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899), acclaimed for her detailed paintings of animals, is considered one of the most well-known female artists of the 19th century. She was awarded the Cross of the Legion…Continue Reading Collection Spotlight: Rosa Bonheur papers 

Fall ’21 and spring ’22 screenings for Ghosts of Lost Futures

Flyers for Archive Fever

Curator and artist, Mike Morris, and his collaborators on the experimental videos, Ghosts of Lost Futures, have been busy with additional screenings of this program of works. Ghosts premiered at the Dallas Museum of Art in the Horchow Auditorium on May 22 with ten works by ten experimental video artists commissioned to re-interpret film footage…Continue Reading Fall ’21 and spring ’22 screenings for Ghosts of Lost Futures

In Honor of Veterans’ Day: John ‘Carr’ Pritchett (1921 – 2016)

Untitled (Ranch Scene at Night)

While serving as curator of Bywaters Special Collections there were many times I would find interesting items housed in the archival files that were of importance to Jerry Bywaters and his colleagues. One such discovery was a folder of drawings made by John ‘Carr’ Pritchett who graduated from SMU in May 1942. Pritchett studied art…Continue Reading In Honor of Veterans’ Day: John ‘Carr’ Pritchett (1921 – 2016)

Skin Hunger – interactive installation in Hamon Arts Library, October 26-31

Skin Hunger screen shot

Skin Hunger is a telematic installation that plays on the zoom-style video-chat that has recently become ubiquitous. Participants can reach across their screens to virtually ‘touch’ one another.  By touching or moving together, participants create visuals and sounds that emerge and evolve from participant relation and interaction making the intangible connection tangible and also giving…Continue Reading Skin Hunger – interactive installation in Hamon Arts Library, October 26-31

Dr. Jacqueline Stewart receives 2021 MacArthur Fellowship

Dr Jaqueline Stewart

SMU Libraries congratulates Dr. Jacqueline Stewart, film curator, archivist and scholar, on her recent 2021 MacArthur Fellowship. Dr. Stewart has published extensively on black film and filmmaking in the United States. In her video post for the MacArthur Foundation, Dr. Stewart describes her interest in the genre of black films from the early 1920s –…Continue Reading Dr. Jacqueline Stewart receives 2021 MacArthur Fellowship

Report from the Red Carpet – The Velvet Underground at the Cannes Film Festival

After a thorough bout of negotiations, the previously lost film footage of the Velvet Underground performing at a Vietnam War protest at Dallas’ White Rock Lake in 1969 has made it into The Velvet Underground, a documentary directed by Todd Haynes. The documentary, mirroring the name of the band itself, contains this special footage that…Continue Reading Report from the Red Carpet – The Velvet Underground at the Cannes Film Festival