HIGH POINT, N.C., Oct. 16, 2014 – High Point University’s Women’s and Gender Studies Program and the Modern Foreign Language Department will host local artist Beka Butts at 7 p.m. on Oct. 29 in the Francis Auditorium of Phillips Hall. The event is presented in conjunction with the Faculty Cultural Enrichment Grant Series and HPU’s “Year of the Arts.” It is free and open to the public; no tickets are required.
Butts, a young Chicana illustrator currently living in Greensboro, will discuss how both her Mexican and Southwestern U.S. heritages have influenced her art, giving particular attention to the use of Mayan and Aztec imagery. She will also address her experiences as a female artist and the relationship between art and political activism, with an emphasis on the women of Ciudad Juárez.
Throughout the month of October, Butts has been working with students in the HPU Spanish Club and Women’s and Gender Studies on the creation of altars for Día de los Muertos, the Mexican celebration of “The Day of the Dead,” held Nov. 1-2. Spanish students are creating a traditional altar, while students in the Women’s and Gender Studies Program are creating an altar focusing on women, gender issues and domestic violence awareness. One altar will be selected and displayed at Casa Azul, a nonprofit that exists to promote Latin American culture art and culture located in Greensboro, during its Día de los Muertos celebration.
“We are very lucky that Ms. Butts is not only bringing her art and insight to the entire High Point community, but that she is taking time to conduct workshops with students, providing them with additional background on Día de los Muertos and teaching them some of the traditional methods of altar-making,” says Jenn Brandt, director of Women’s and Gender Studies. “I am especially pleased that WGS students are using this opportunity to bring awareness to women’s issues and have the chance to participate in community, art-based activism.”
Butts is a co-founder of the 512 Collective, an artist collective and gallery in High Point that hopes to bring the growing art community in High Point together to create a culture of locally supported artists and makers. She has participated in several artistic festivals and showings including The First Friday Indie Market, High Point Hop Fest, E.A.S.T. Austin Studio Tour, Big Bang Bizarre in Orlando, Fla., and Bring it Down Town “mARTket” in El Paso, Texas, among others.
The grant series at HPU assists faculty in featuring nationally renowned academics, artists and performers for cultural enrichment events around campus. This year’s series is produced in conjunction with the HPU Year of the Arts.