(PRINCETON, NJ) -- The Lewis Center for the Arts presents theatrical productions; readings of poetry, screenplays, and fiction; artwork exhibitions, and film screenings in May 2023. There are more than 100 public performances, exhibitions, readings, screenings, concerts, lectures, and special events presented by the Lewis Center each year, most of them have free admission.
How to Find a Missing Black Woman, presented by the Lewis Center for the Arts’ Princeton Atelier. May 1 at 8:00pm, Hearst Dance Theater at Lewis Arts complex on the Princeton University campus. Poet Patricia Smith, poet and Executive Director of JustMedia Mahogany Browne, choreographer Davalois Fearon and students in the spring Princeton Atelier course “How to Find a Missing Black Woman” collaborated over the past semester to craft a multimedia theatrical production that shines an unflinching light on the problem of missing Black women and girls. In 2020, 268,884 women were reported missing, and nearly 100,000 were Black women and girls, but there is a huge disparity in how the cases of Black missing girls and women are treated by media and law enforcement.
Admission is free and open to the public. The Hearst Dance Theater is an accessible venue. Guests in need of access accommodations are invited to contact the Lewis Center at least one week in advance at [email protected]
Creative Writing Seniors Reading: Poetry, Translation & Screenwriting, presented by the Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Creative Writing. May 2 at 5:00pm, Prospect House on the Princeton University campus. Eleven seniors in Princeton’s renowned Program in Creative Writing read from the screenplays or collections of poems or translations written as their senior independent work under mentorship of professional writers on the faculty.
Admission is free and open to the public. Prospect House is an accessible venue. Guests in need of access accommodations are invited to contact the Lewis Center at least one week in advance at [email protected]
Creative Writing Seniors Reading: Fiction, presented by the Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Creative Writing. May 3 at 5:00pm, Prospect House on the Princeton University campus. Fourteen seniors in Princeton’s renowned Program in Creative Writing read from the novels and collections of short stories written as their senior independent work under mentorship of professional writers on the faculty.
Admission is free and open to the public. Prospect House is an accessible venue. Guests in need of access accommodations are invited to contact the Lewis Center at least one week in advance at [email protected]
Hamlet by William Shakespeare, presented by the Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Theater. May 5 & 6 at 7:30pm, Drapkin Studio at Lewis Arts complex on the Princeton University campus. How can a text that is more than four hundred years old speak to the realities of today? In this 90-minute workshop performance of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, a new generation brings their voices to this famed play to find what resonates most personally, and thus most universally. Under the direction of Associate Professor Tamsen Wolff, students participated in the spring course, crosslisted in English, theater and humanities, “Topics in Drama: Performing Hamlet,” using the tools of classical training to build their skills as actors and tell a story that is fundamentally about young people struggling with mental health, sexuality, and circumstances far beyond their control. The ensemble features senior Julien Alam as Hamlet.
Admission is free and open to the public; no tickets required. The Drapkin Studio is an accessible venue. Guests in need of access accommodations are invited to contact the Lewis Center at least one week in advance at [email protected]
Coagulate. an exhibition by senior Rachel Qing Pang, presented by the Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Visual Arts. May 8-14, opening reception May 9 at 6:00pm, Lucas Gallery at 185 Nassau St. on the Princeton University campus. Gallery open Monday-Friday 9:00am-6:00pm. Coagulate. is a sculptural exhibition by visual arts senior Rachel Qing Pang. Eggs, both raw and cooked, provide an unexpected gateway into her work as she invokes themes of feminism, memory, and fragility. Fascinated by the materiality of perishable food, Rachel distorts her background in scientific experimentation to challenge our connotations of unassuming everyday objects. Somewhat disturbing, undeniably grotesque, but hopefully at least a little cathartic—this exhibition invites the viewer into a moment of visceral introspection.
Admission is free and open to the public. The Lucas Gallery is an accessible venue. Guests in need of access accommodations are invited to contact the Lewis Center at least one week in advance at [email protected]
A Tiny Museum of Mammoth Technologies, an exhibition by senior Wendi Yan, presented by the Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Visual Arts. May 8-14, opening reception May 9 at 5:30pm, Hurley Gallery at Lewis Arts complex. on the Princeton University campus. Gallery open daily 10:00am-8:00pm. Visual arts senior Wendi Yan presents A Tiny Museum of Mammoth Technologies (TMMT), which features a short animation film, paintings and sculptures. TMMT explores chronologies slightly alien from our own, using the museum format as a personal practice of history-making. Traversing between fiction and facts, TMMT stares into historicity and questions the linearity of technologies.
Admission is free and open to the public. The Hurley Gallery is an accessible venue. Guests in need of access accommodations are invited to contact the Lewis Center at least one week in advance at [email protected]
2023 Junior & Senior Film Festival, presented by the Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Visual Arts. May 10 at 7:30pm, James Stewart Film Theater at 185 Nassau St. on the Princeton University campus. The Program in Visual Arts and the Department of Art and Archaeology present a screening of the independent animation, documentary and narrative films made by juniors and seniors in the program. The show features work by seniors Lola Constantino, Allen Delgado, Titi Sodimu and Wendi Yan and by juniors David Akpokiere, Tiffany Deane, Daniel Drake, Sreesha Ghosh, Kirsten Pardo, Justin Zhang and Briony Zhao. Refreshments will be served.
Admission is free and open to the public. The Film Theater is an accessible venue. Guests in need of access accommodations are invited to contact the Lewis Center at least one week in advance at [email protected]
Spring 2023 Film & Video Classes Screening, presented by the Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Visual Arts. May 11 at 4:30pm & 7:30pm and May 12 at 7:30pm, James Stewart Film Theater at 185 Nassau St. on the Princeton University campus. The Program in Visual Arts presents 40 short student films created in spring 2023 semester courses. On May 11 at 4:30pm and 7:30pm, screenings will include films from “Representation in Documentary Filmmaking,” taught by Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt, “Digital Animation,” taught by Tim Szetela, and “Documentary Filmmaking II,” taught by Su Friedrich. On May 12 at 7:30pm, a screening will include films from “Narrative Filmmaking I & II” taught by Moon Molson. Refreshments will be served on both evenings.
Admission is free and open to the public. The Film Theater is an accessible venue. Guests in need of access accommodations are invited to contact the Lewis Center at least one week in advance at [email protected]
To learn more about the Lewis Center for the Arts, and the more than 100 public performances, exhibitions, readings, screenings, concerts, lectures, and special events presented by the Lewis Center each year, most of them free, visit the Lewis Center website.
