Miranda July, a writer, filmmaker and artist, will be on the University of Central Arkansas campus as part of the Artist-in-Residence program on Thursday, Feb. 13.
“Miranda July is one of the most inventive, provocative and unusual literary voices our country has ever produced,” said Dr. John Vanderslice, associate professor of writing and faculty sponsor of the residency. “She’s a complete original.”
July began her career with compiled video cassettes of solicited short films. These were shown at several film festivals around the United States. In 2004, she was named No. 1 in Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Indie Film.” In 2005 she released her first feature-length film, “Me and You and Everyone We Know,” which won numerous awards at the Sundance Film Festival.
July also did a few audio recordings for an independent record label, Kill Rock Stars, in the mid 1990s. Not only was she a big impact behind the scenes of her films, she also was one of the main actors in most of her own productions. July played the lead role in her 2011 movie “The Future.” She has also published critically acclaimed short stories in high-profile periodicals such as Paris Review, Harper’s and the New Yorker. They were later compiled into a book, “No one Belongs Here More Than You,” which won the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award in 2007.
July, along with artist Harrell Fletcher, also founded an online art project called “Learning to Love You More.” This website allowed artists to put their pieces on the web and expand their audiences throughout the world.
UCA’s Baum Gallery of Fine Art has teamed with Hendrix College and its participatory website, “Guiding Us to You,” http://hendrixmurphy.org/guidingustoyou, which was inspired by July’s “Learning to Love You More.” Members of the public are encouraged to complete assignment #6 by submitting an object or text that evokes “a memory you would like to forget.” Baum Gallery staff will transform these materials into an interactive exhibit on view through Feb. 20.
“While the Writing Department is excited to bring such an idiosyncratic and unforgettable fiction writer to campus, our colleagues in art and film — as well as our creative writing colleagues at Hendrix — are equally excited that this multi-talented figure is coming to Conway,” Vanderslice said.
The residency activities will include a question-and-answer session in Win Thompson Hall 331 from 10:50 a.m. to 12:05 p.m. on Feb. 13 and a public reading and book signing at the College of Business room 107 at 7:30 p.m.
All events are free and open to the public.
The Artist in Residence program is funded by UCA’s arts fee and is administered by the College of Fine Arts and Communication. For more information, call the Office of the Dean, College of Fine Arts and Communication, at (501) 450-3293 or e-mail jdmiller@uca.edu.
For more information, contact Vanderslice at (501) 450-3653 or johnv@uca.edu.
The UCA College of Fine Arts and Communication includes the Departments of Art, Communication, Mass Communication and Theatre, Music and Writing. The college’s primary mission is the preparation of the next generation of artists, educators and communicators. For more information about CFAC, visitwww.uca.edu/cfac or call (501) 450-3293.
