WCSU to host visiting artists for M.F.A. lecture series

The Western Connecticut State University School of Visual and Performing Arts will host a Visiting Artist Lecture series during the fall 2014 semester. All of the lectures will be at 11 a.m. in Room 144 of the Visual and Performing Arts Center on the university’s Westside campus, 43 Lake Ave. Extension in Danbury. The free lectures are being presented as part of the university’s Master of Fine Arts slide lecture series, and the public is invited.

• Sept. 8: Illustrator/writer/animator Zina Saunders is a Manhattan-based artist with a passion for illustration and animation, as well as editorial writing. Saunders’ talents are focused on a wide range of projects, from political animations to editorial pieces and Broadway advertising posters. Her current interests are in reportage illustration, which inspired her book, “Overlooked New York,” published in 2009.

• Sept. 25: Multi-disciplinary artist Ray DiCapua is an associate professor of drawing/sculpture at the University of Connecticut. DiCapua’s art is “informed and influenced by disciplined contemplative practice,” and has been exhibited in many galleries around the country. He is the recipient of the 2014 University of Connecticut Teaching Fellow Award, and has received numerous awards, grants and fellowships during his career.

• Oct. 6: Painter Fritz Drury, a professor at Rhode Island School of Design who teaches illustration, works out of his studio in Brooklyn, New York. Drury focuses on “narrative paintings that explore personally generated themes with extended socio-political significance.” His work has been widely exhibited, reviewed in Art in America, and has been shown in New York City at The Painting Center, the National Academy of Design, 55 Mercer Gallery, Charles Cowles Gallery and others.

• Oct. 23: Artist/curator/writer Richard Klein is the exhibitions director at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield. Klein’s own artwork has appeared in galleries throughout New England, and he was one of the contributing essayists for the book “Living and Sustaining a Create Life,” published in 2013. Klein has organized more than 80 exhibitions and has published essays on art and culture in Cabinet Magazine.

• Nov. 3: Multi-disciplinary artist Amber Scoon is an assistant professor who teaches drawing at Texas A & M University, Corpus Christi. Scoon has recently published a book, “Quantum Art.” She received her M.F.A. from American University’s program in Italy and her work has been exhibited in Italy, Portugal, Switzerland and the Ukraine. Her many awards include a National Endowment for the Arts Grant.

• Nov. 17: Painter & art critic John Goodrich has not only had his artwork featured in galleries and reviewed by publications such as The New York Times, he also has reviewed many gallery shows in the New York City area. Goodrich has been publishing reviews and essays since 1998, and regularly contributes to Review Magazine and The New York Sun. He sustains a blog, onviewat.com, and has written numerous exhibition catalogue essays. Goodrich currently teaches at Haverford College in Pennsylvania and the National Academy of Fine Arts.

Western Connecticut State University offers outstanding faculty in a range of quality academic programs. Our diverse university community provides students an enriching and supportive environment that takes advantage of the unique cultural offerings of Western Connecticut and New York. Our vision: To be an affordable public university with the characteristics of New England’s best small private universities.