March 14 – August 11, 2024
The Core Self is a multimedia experience celebrating the unique and diverse voices and identities of Oglethorpe University students whose creative work will be on view. A groundbreaking collaboration with Core, OUMA, and the Intercultural Center, The Core Self call for entries to OU students requested “expressive works engaging with one or more of the Core themes in relation to identity in a media of (their) preference, including physical, digital, or graphic art, poetry, and performance.”
As the student submissions are being received and selected anonymously, the lead image presented here is by an as of yet unnamed OU student artist. This artist indicated they were inspired by Atlanta graffiti enlivening neighborhoods in contrast to white depictions of Jesus in church architecture. They indicate that this piece confronts local and global memory and history and that it poses a more flexible model of time beyond the 24-hour day to open a space for individuals and communities to explore their own memories and emotions.
Awards will be given to OU students in the categories of Best of Show, Audience Choice, and Outstanding Core Exemplar. The Core program at Oglethorpe University is unique in the liberal arts landscape as a four-year series of foundational classes which bring students into conversation with topics of identity, community, history, myth, memory, global citizenship, engagement. The program enhances student reflection, critical thinking, and effective communication.
“The Core will challenge how you think about yourself, the world, and everything in it.” For more information about OU’s innovative Core program.
Lectures to be announced. LASS (Liberal Arts and Sciences Symposium) presentations to be announced.
The Core Self was organized by Core Directors Dr. Judith Levy and Dr. Stephen Herschler Matter, Intercultural Center Director Ms. Marisol Zacarias, and OUMA Director Ms. Elizabeth Peterson Jennings, OUMA Curator of Collections John Daniel Tilford. The works of art were juried by a selection of staff, faculty, and students to be announced.