York University graduate students partner with McMichael Canadian Art Collection for one-day symposium on the theme of the tree
Event Date: March 31, 2012
Event Website: www.ahgsay.com
Time: 9:00 - 6:00
The Art History Graduate Students’ Association (AHGSA) of York University is proud to present their 11th annual graduate student symposium, New Growth: Dialogues on the Tree. For the first time in the symposium’s history, the AHGSA has collaborated with the McMichael Canadian Art Collection to produce a project that includes graduate students from across the continent, as well as the work of artists from even further abroad.
New Growth: Dialogues on the Tree reconsiders the tree through its representations in art and aesthetics. The tree has taken on many meanings throughout history and across cultures within mythology, religion, art, political & state propaganda, and scientific study—to name only a few such categories. Within current environmental debates, the cultural significance of the tree is juxtaposed by the threat of its extinction that massive deforestation, over-exploitation, and urban sprawl pose. The papers selected for inclusion in the symposium maintain a close tie to the motif of the tree in art and aesthetics, expanding out towards examinations of landscape and nature.
The event is part of The McMichael Tree Project, a celebration of the artistic, cultural, and natural aspects of the tree with two breathtaking exhibitions, a variety of programs, and special installations taking place at the gallery until Earth Day, April 22. The exhibition “The Tree: Form and Substance,” curated by McMichael Chief Curator Katerina Atanassova, features works from the McMichael’s permanent collection in dialogue with contemporary artists’ interpretations of the tree. Also on view from the Vancouver Art Gallery is “The Tree: From the Sublime to the Social.” Attendees of the symposium receive complimentary admission to both exhibitions.
Join us on Saturday, March 31 for this one-day symposium examining the tree and its many significations with invited panelists from across Canada and the United States. The event will feature Dr. Cynthia Hammond, Associate Professor of Art History at Concordia University, who will deliver a keynote lecture on the creation and destruction of an arboretum in Bath, UK, planted by a group of suffragettes in the early part of the twentieth century.
This event is free for students and McMichael members with valid ID presented the day of the symposium. Please register in advance to reserve your seat at www.ahgsay.com/symposium
Registration $15
9:00 a.m.–9:45 a.m. in the Grand Hall of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection
Continental breakfast, juice, coffee & tea provided.
Also enjoy entry to the exhibitions, catered lunch and refreshments.
Free for students and McMichael members with valid ID presented the day of the symposium
Bus Transportation $5 (cash only)
A bus has been organized to bring participants and the public to and from the McMichael Canadian Art Collection on the day of the symposium.
Departure: 8:15 a.m. - departs from Hart House, University of Toronto, for the McMichael Canadian Art Collection
Return: 6:00 p.m. - departs McMichael Canadian Art Collection to bring participants and public back to Hart House, University of Toronto
McMichael Canadian Art Collection
10365 Islington Avenue
Kleinburg, Ontario L0J 1C0
Canada
For further information on the event including registration, symposium schedule, and directions to the McMichael, please visitthe Art History Graduate Students’ Association’s website, www.ahgsay.com/symposium, or email ahgsay@gmail.com.
