Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / Nov. 9, 2000, edition 1 / Page 4
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Page 4 The Blue Banner nouember 9,2000 Features Gallery Walk highlights local works PHOTO BY CASEY BLANKENSHIP Blue Spiral 1 gallery was one location on the Gallery Walk sponsored by the Asheville Area Arts Council. Blue Spiral 1 is a multi-level gallery that exhibits different genres of art. Casey Blankenship staff lUriter The Asheville Area Arts Council co-sponsored the last of the City Center Art Walks for this year on Nov. 3. The walks are self-guided tours through downtown galleries, which host an eclectic assortment of exhibits. The galleries play host to the com munity with extended hours, and some even offered refreshments. One of the other nice perks is that it is free. It is also a great way to stroll around downtown and soak up some culture. The first gallery I stopped by was zone one contemporary on Biltmore Avenue. I was drawn in from the street by the flickering lights of a display inside. Three televisions were stacked one on top of the other with each separate television making up part of a man’s body. It reminded me of the children books that are divided into three sections where you can mix and match body parts to create some oddity. This particular display was en titled “Peculiar Characters” and the man on display was in a constant state of change with his outfits and poses. The different characters he represented ranged from a construc tion worker to a goat. During all of his transformations, the song “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo” from the Disney movie “Cinderella” was play ing. As with most Ameri cans, I am fascinated by anything on televi sion, but eventually, the gritty real ity sets in that I am watching crap, whether it be an infomercial or the display I had been glued in front of for 10 minutes. Perusing the other displays, I realized that the televi sion had been the highlight of the gallery. The other exhibits consisted of 15 black-and-white out-of-focus head shots of a man looking slightly de mented, and a collection of brightly painted signs with titles such as “Party Animal” and “Eco-Terror- ist.” The next gallery on my walk was Blue Spiral 1. This gallery is amaz ing. It has three levels and on each level there was something extraor dinary that caught my interest. On entering the gallery, there were several oversized canvasses which first caught my eye. These were John L. Cleaveland,Jr.’s depictions of Southern landscapes. I am usually not a big fan of land scape paintings, since they tend to remind me of the waiting area in doctor’s of fices, but Cleaveland’s bright and colorful landscapes would dominate and enliven any environment. His paintings come across as very lush and fertile, capturing the minute details of forests and fields from local regions. The attention given to his painting is evident in the realistic renderings that are so accurate they could almost be mis taken for photographs. Moving on through the gallery, I came to a small room where the walls were covered with snakes and prehistoric fish in brilliant shades of blue, yellow and green. The images looked like illustra tions out of a children’s book come to life. The fish had menacing grins, and some even bared rows of crooked, jagged white teeth. There was also pottery and glass art on display, which was tasteful, but I tended to enjoy the more flamboyant pieces of art like Debra W. Fritts’ ceramic sculptures. Her work represented women in un usual poses, but with such ordinary and humble faces that you would expect to see them standing next to you in line at the grocery store. The AAAC Gallery was very small, and the most crowded of all of the galleries I visited. Mary Aldrich’s oil paintings were being exhibited. These paintings were very personal and intimate portraits of women. In each of the images, the women seem twisted and contorted as if in pain and were bound up in sheets with their muscles strained and hands reaching out. The colors that were used were muted reds and blues, giving the paintings a seedy feeling, as if they represented hotel rooms, which were bathed in the See GALLERY page 6 Arthritis Foundation race on campus ym PHOTO BY WALTER FLYER The Jingle Bell RunAValk raised money for the Arthritis Foundation. The event was partially sponsored by the UNCA Track Team and the Track Club. Casey Blankenship staff Ulriter The Jingle Bell Walk/Run, which was held on Nov. 5 here on cam pus, helped to raise about $10,000 for the Arthritis Foundation. The event proceeds will be used to support research, programs and ser vices, public services, public educa tion, advocacy and professional training. “I think that the event was a great success. Last year we had only 50 participants, and this year it j umped to about 165 participants. This is the fourth year that we have held this event, and this year has been the most successful. This is largely because of an increase in support from UNCA,” said Amme St. Clair, special events coordinator of the Arthritis Foundation. The UNCA Track team and the Asheville Track Club helped to run the event. Chancel lor Mullen was the honorary chair of the fundraiser. There was a great deal of support from UNCA stu dents, runners and other concerned citizens in the community. “Our sorority (Gamma Phi Beta) Film protests mascots Bridgette Odom staff Writer decided to participate in this event because arthritis is a very important issue for many people. It’s a great opportunity to serve the commu nity and to promote healthy liv ing,” said Erin Brown, senior biol ogy major. The Jingle Bell Walk/Run brought people together for an important cause. Nearly 43 million men, women and children currently suf fer from this disease. The Arthritis Foundation is com mitted to preventing arthritis and finding a cure for it. They also work toward improving the quality of life for those who are afflicted by arthritis. “This fundraiser was important to me because I worry about my grand parents. I want to be sure that there is available funding for the care of elderly people. I think that this is a really good cause,” said Kristina Kareth, an undeclared freshman. The registration fee for the par ticipants was $25 per person for early registration, and $30 on the day of the event. _ The Jingle Bell Walk/Run provided a number of incen tives and prizes for the participants. All of the walkers and runners received a goody bag and a long sleeve T-shirt. They were able See RACE page 6 Native American Heritage month kicked off to an audience of less than 10 to watch a documentary and discuss the use of American Indian imagery in collegiate and professional sports. The theme of Native American Heritage month is Share the Spirit, and the programs are designed to educate the UNCA community about American Indian issues. This first meeting of the month featured a documen tary film and an open forum discussion led by George Benge, Cherokee of Okla homa and executive editor at the Asheville Citizen- Times. The movie lasted about one hour, and focused on one woman’s struggle with the University of Illi nois and the school’s mascot. Chief Illini. Charlene Teters was a gradu ate student at the university and an American Indian. She had heard of Chief Illini and his “traditional” dance and dress, but she had never seen his half-time routine until she went to a basket ball game with her children. Teters and her children were angry and embarrassed by the show, accord ing to the film. It was this incident that led to Teters’ activism. The Chief Illini mascot had been the official representative of the University of Illinios for 70 years. Teters had no idea what a fight she had become involved in. Soon after Teters instigated pro test against the mascot, she gained the attention from the Illinois gov ernor and state representatives. People involved with the Univer sity of Illinois were adamant about keeping the mascot, and diligently fought to keep Chief Illini. One year after Teters began her struggle to change the school mascot, the University Trustees voted to make Chief Illini the official symbol of the University of Illionis. After years of waging war against the University oflllinois to no avail, Teters left the school, but not her position about American Indian mascots. Teters was so vocal about her stance on the issue, she soon gained national support from American Indian activist groups. Teters re sumed her resistance, this time by attacking national football and base ball teams. “My people paid for what we have, and I have to protect it for children yet unborn,” said Teters when asked why she continues her crusade. After the film, Benge led a discus sion about the issues presented in the documentary and other issues affecting the American Indian com munity. The issues that are relevant to American Indians are also impor tant to people in our area because of the nearby Cherokee Indian reser vation. It is essential to residents of WNC to be educated about the American Indian community and its concerns, according to Benge. Other areas need to be addressed in conjunction with mascot use, according to Benge. He believes that the use of derogatory words is just as harmful to the self-esteem of American Indi ans. He is one of the highest-ranking American Indian journalists in the mainstream press, because many other American Indians choose to write for tribal papers, according to Benge. He also talked about the fact that there are not as many opportunities for success within the Native American culture. Many times, disparaging insults are hurled at American Indians that people are not aware of People often do not understand the mag nitude of their behavior or how it affects American Indians, accord ing to Benge. Iris difficult for American Indians to affect any substantial social change because they constitute such a small percentage of the total U.S. population. Since most people do not know any American Indians, they find it challenging to identify with their emotions. People do not realize that practices, such as using American Inian imagery for mascots, makes American Indians feel like they are being mocked. Such practices are not done to degrade the culture, but the Ameri can Indians feel as if they are being characterized, making them feel like lesser people, according to Teters. The issue of economic effect was also addressed in the film. One of the main reasons that the Univer sity oflllinois would not even con sider changing its mascot is because the Alumni Association said it would lose monetary support if Chief Illini was no longer used. The foremost reason that little measurable change has occurred with respect to the mascot issue is that the American Indian culture has little economic influence. They can threaten a boycott, but their community and supporters are so small that they would not be enough ofan economic threat, according to Benge. Bums toast. Bri^Kt ens Ltu res. Some Gifts Just Do More Tlian Otkers. Most gifts are pretty unimaginative. A toaster makes toast. A blender just blends. And some gifts, no one knows what they’re supposed to do. But giving Savings Bonds now can make a difference for the future—to help with expenses Hke college tuition or that first car. They’re available through most banks, where you work, or automatically through the new Savings Bonds EasySaver" Plan at www.easysaver.gov. _ Call 1-8Q0-4US BOND for creating U CSAVINGS recorded rate information BONDS For complete information about U.S. Savings Bonds, visit our Web site at www.savingsbonds.gov. A public service of this newspaper
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