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Art intervention in Tri-Cities via new magazine

June 11, 2014

Peter Christenson

Magazine to feature photography and written word by local artists

A new print magazine called Null Set will give a whole new meaning to the art world, its publisher hopes.

Peter Christenson, assistant professor of fine arts at WSU Tri-Cities, said the magazine, designed and published in Richland, gives people a platform to express themselves creatively.

Christenson calls it a sort of hybrid book for interventionists.

“Interventionist art is a type of art-making that seeks to engage the public and often exposes or educates or influences the public,” he said. “Interventionist art is not curated or commissioned, and it is often subversive, rooted in the Dadaist movement of the early 20th century.”

The magazine will feature photography as well as the written word in art form, with submissions by local artists. It will provide opportunities for the public to engage in a broader art discourse and to collaborate, intervene, and actively contribute to the regional culture, Christenson said.

Find out more about Null Set

Psychology faculty member earns state honor for community engagement

March 12, 2014

Paul Strand, associate professor of psychology at WSU Tri-Cities, won a statewide award for exemplary civic engagement by university faculty.

The Timm Ormsby Award for Faculty Citizenship is presented annually by Washington’s Council of Faculty Representatives. Nick Lovrich, WSU Regents professor in political science, won the honor last year.

Strand, who has been with WSU Tri-Cities for 17 years, studies the development of social skills and academic readiness in children, particularly those who are raised in culturally and linguistically diverse homes. He has testified before the state Senate Human Relations and Corrections committees on the evidence in support of his ideas.

He has focused on children from Spanish-speaking homes who struggle with shyness and anxiety in school; how these feelings contribute to both academic difficulties and teacher perceptions that a child has intellectual deficiencies; and how to help children, families and teachers overcome these barriers.

More about Strand’s outstanding work

Project aims to preserve voices of Hanford’s history

November 26, 2013

Seventy years ago, the U.S. military evacuated two small communities in southeast Washington and created a place called Hanford. The historic moments that happened there since can get lost in all the news the nuclear cleanup is creating today. Now, a major effort is underway to preserve the voices of Hanford’s past.

Bob Bauman, professor of history at WSU Tri-Cities, is recording memories of the area through the Hanford Oral History Project.

Watch the video at KING5 News

WSU-led Hanford history project reveals hardships in workers’ lives

October 8, 2013

Monte Stratton. Photo by Tri-City Herald.

Ask early Hanford workers what they remember about the 1940s, and you’re likely to hear a story about the wind and the dust it whipped up from a desert being scraped bare for new construction. Their stories are among several collected in recent months as part of the oral history project of the Hanford History Partnership, a community collaboration led by WSU Tri-Cities.

“There was a terminator wind, and there was probably 3 to 4 inches of sand blew into our front lawn,” remembered Harold Copeland, who started working at Hanford in 1947 and lived in worker housing in the government town of Richland. “The way they took care of it was the fire department came out with their tanker trucks and hoses and hosed it off our lawns.”

Art and Nuclear Technology

March 5, 2013

Columbia River Near Hanford, Late Afternoon painting by Dianne Dickeman

“Particles on the Wall,” a multidisciplinary art exhibit examining how nuclear technology has affected humanity, opened today at the Washington State University Tri-Cities Art Center.

It interweaves visual art, poems and science with history and memorabilia to address issues of radioactive contamination, nuclear weapons and technology in Washington State — and the role of nuclear technology in southeastern Washington’s desert landscape.

“As a curator invested in local culture and education, I am particularly interested in the varied narratives and diverse depictions of the history of Hanford and the Columbia River nuclear era,” said Peter Christenson, assistant professor of fine arts and Art Center curator. “‘Particles on the Wall’ is truly an interdisciplinary approach to community-based education and is an impressive example of inspired artistic expression.”

Uniquely, it is a growing exhibit: it is different each time it is displayed. For the WSU Tri-Cities show, it includes nearly 50 pieces of art.

The WSU Tri-Cities Art Center is located inside the Consolidated Information Center at 2770 Crimson Way, Richland. Admission is free. Center hours are noon-6 p.m. Monday-Thursday. The exhibit ends April 4.

Learn more at particlesonthewall.org >>