Check out the Open Studio - Sponsored by UVa Athletics Cavman's Crew!

As many of you know, we have newly renovated our Open Studio. The walls have been repainted a warm cream color, a more interactive table with chairs was set up, and new accessible storage units have been constructed. All of this is courtesy of our sponsor, UVa Athletics Cavman’s Crew. We thank them heartily for their generosity. Next time your child is busy creating a masterpiece from a variety of art materials located in the storage units, check out the Cavaliers’ events on the posters that adorn the walls. You can also sign up for the official Kid’s Club of Virginia Athletics at http://www.cavmanscrew.com/.

New Art Show in the Program Room - Untitled Landsapes

I photograph the stillness of empty places--deserted beaches, barren deserts, vine encrusted factories. Even when I focus my camera of scenes that are full of life, such as blazing autumn forests or gossamer flowers, I try to abstract the subject matter so that it retreats into the quiescence of abstract form and texture. I photograph the same subject repeatedly, even obsessively. Slowly, the act of continually re-photographing a scene helps crystallize a mental image that eventually supplants the psychological chatter of descriptors (“dynamic,” “textural,” “luminous”) which inevitably fail to do justice to any image. I strive to let my head be as empty of words as my images are of people.This momentary triumph of images over words is necessitated by the other half of my mental life. By training I am, or am on my way to becoming, an historian of contemporary art. Art history and art criticism operate through words, words that attempt to analyze, explain and ultimately subdue an image (or a sculpture, installation or performance). The image is conscripted back into a linguistic system. The mental quietude of my photographic practice helps me to rebalance this equation.

Biography

Mike Maizels is an art history PhD student and photographer living in Charlottesville, Virginia. After studying photography and philosophy of mind at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, he received an MA in art history from the University of Chicago Program in the Humanities. He is currently working with Howard Singerman on his PhD at the University of Virginia. His dissertation will focus on the questions of subjectivity and spectatorship raised by new media art, particularly large-scale installations.

Presenting Hope Harris!

The Virginia Discovery Museum
presents

Hope Harris & The Cousins Jamboree
A Fun-filled Family Concert

Sunday, December 5, at 2:00 pm

The Sanctuary at The Haven at First & Market

Suggested donation is $5 per person.

Please join us as we celebrate the release of Hope’s new CD, Cousins Jamboree! It promises to be an energetic, interactive experience for the whole family – be ready to sing, dance, and laugh. Hope’s performances have been described as “magical” and “pure joy”. For more information, go to http://www.hopeharris.com/.


Here is a review that Richmond Family Magazine gave the CD in the October issue.
"Just sampling a snippet of Hope Harris' new CD should send families flocking to see her in action... Cousins Jamboree- with a whopping 16 songs- serves up all the energy of a live performance and then some. With rich arrangements and whimsical lyrics, the charm of this folksy artist shines through on every track, especially Eddie the Otter, I Love Apples, and Babysitter (the ones you'll be humming long after the kids are out of earshot)!"
Many thanks for your continuing support for the Museum....