Judy L. Larson begins work this week as the new director of the Reynolds Gallery and the first holder of the R. Anthony Askew Chair in Art. Larson, most recently the director of the National Museum of Women in the Arts [NMWA] in Washington, D.C., will also teach art history courses. The founding director of Reynolds, Tony Askew, has retired after 26 years at Westmont.
Three current and former Westmont artists were honored with Independent Theater Awards at a ceremony May 19 at Center Stage Theatre downtown. The Indy Awards, given annually by a panel of theater critics from the Santa Barbara Independent and the Los Angeles Times, honor excellent productions throughout the Santa Barbara area.
Twenty-two Westmont students are devoting at least a month this summer to serve people in Malawi, Indonesia, and El Salvador through Emmaus Road, a Westmont program that’s been sending students overseas for the past 10 years.
Paul Willis, Westmont professor of English, will read from his new book, “Visiting Home,” at the Wildling Art Museum, 2329 Jonata St., Los Olivos, on Sunday, June 1, at 3 p.m. The event is free, and the book will be available for sale and signing.
Two seemingly different academic disciplines come together for a unique seminar open to the public this summer at Westmont. “Flying Information” will focus on how we learn to read codes, patterns, signs, and symbols and navigate webs of meaning Monday, June 2, through Friday, June 6, from 9 a.m. to noon. Marilyn McEntyre, professor of English, and Wayne Iba, professor of computer science, will teach the course.
Two Westmont art professors earned awards for their recent work, and several art students were featured in an exhibit in Sacramento last month.