The University of Chicago's Artspeaks 2012 series welcomes the David Wax Museum, for an intimate night of song and conversation on February 24, 2012 at 7:30 pm at Mandel Hall at the University of Chicago, 1131 E. 57th St, Chicago, IL. 

Audience members will be immersed in the David Wax Museum’s unique fusion of Mexo-American folk music and storytelling as the Mandel Hall stage is lowered to audience level for one night only, putting the entire audience and the band on one shared level for a concert unlike anything ever experienced in the 109-year-old auditorium’s history. Combining Latin rhythms, call-and-response hollering, and donkey jawbone rattling, the David Wax Museum’s brand of togetherness, music, and conversation will involve everyone in the room in this must-see ArtSpeaks event.

Interspersed between musical sets, the band will engage in a lively conversation led by Raúl Coronado, Assistant Professor in the Department of English at the University of Chicago, around topics attuned to the historical specificities of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Ari Folman, award-winning Israeli filmmaker, joins the Artspeaks 2012 line-up for an evening discussion on April 23, 2012, at 7:30pm. The event will take place at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago, 6043 South Drexel Avenue, Chicago, IL, during the preview period of the new building. Folman will share a glimpse into the teeming cinematic imagination that brought moviegoers Waltz with Bashir, the 2009 feature documentary that revolutionized the aesthetic possibilities of animation. His latest project The Congress freely adapts Stanislaw Lem’s 1971 sci-fi novel The Futurological Congress and stars Robin Wright Penn and Jon Hamm. 

Now in its eighth season, the Artspeaks series engages internationally renowned artists from varying disciplines in creative conversations with The University of Chicago and community—giving voice to vision. Combining public presentations and workshops, the  Artspeaks programs offer a rare encounter with eminent talent in an intimate setting. Previous seasons have included visits by photographers, painters, musicians, authors and filmmakers, including notable figures such as Dame A.S. Byatt, Uri Caine, Atom Egoyan, Oskar Eustis, Leon Fleisher, David Henry Hwang, Bill T. Jones, Mark Morris, Peter Sellars, Anna Deavere Smith, Kara Walker, and John Zorn. Visit artspeaks.uchicago.edu for more information on Artspeaks and visit http://arts.uchicago.edu/ondemand/ for videos of previous Artspeaks programs.

Artspeaks is made possible through the generosity of the University of Chicago Arts Council and the Office of the President.

About David Wax Museum
Recently anointed as Boston’s Americana Artist of the Year (2010 Boston Music
Awards), the David Wax Museum has been called “pure, irresistible joy” (Bob Boilen, NPR) and hailed by TIME.com for its “virtuosic musical skill and virtuous harmonies.”It is no surprise that its acclaimed performance at the 2010 Newport Folk Festival was hailed as one of highlights of the entire weekend by NPR. The Museum fuses traditional Mexican folk with American roots and indie rock to create an utterly unique Mexo-Americana aesthetic. Combining Latin rhythms, call-and-response hollering, and donkey jawbone rattling, they have electrified audiences across the country and are “kicking up a cloud of excitement with their high-energy border-crossing sensibility” (The New Yorker). Learn more about the band at www.davidwaxmuseum.com.

About Ari Folman
Award-winning Israeli filmmaker and director, Ari Folman, completed his military service in the mid-1980s and set off to travel the world. Two weeks into the trip, Folman abandoned his dream, settling into a Southeast Asian guesthouse—inventing tales of his global adventures for friends back home through letters. The experience of writing down his fantastical travels over the course of a year convinced Folman to return to Israel and study cinema. Folman is widely acclaimed for his animated feature documentary Waltz With Bashir, which won the 2009 Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film and was published as a graphic novel by McMillan in 2009. Other films include Comfortably Numb (1991) and Saint Clara (1996), which he both wrote and directed. Folman has written for several successful Israeli TV series, including Saturdays & Holidays, Parashat Hashavua, and the award-winning In Treatment (BeTipul), which was the basis for the acclaimed HBO series with Gabriel Byrne.

Tickets
Single event tickets are priced at $10 general admission, $5 students with valid ID. Subscription prices for two events are priced at $15 general admission, $8 for students with valid ID. To reserve tickets in advance call 773-302-8080 or visit the box office, Mon-Fri, 10am-5pm, 5720 S. Woodlawn Ave. Tickets can be purchased at the door if available. Receptions with the artists follow all Artspeaks events.

For Images and Promotional Material: 

David Wax Museum
http://davidwaxmuseum.com/Site/Photos/Photos.html

Ari Folman
http://www.blueflowerarts.com/images/stories/images/galleryimages/folman1.jpg

For Additional Information Contact:

Brian LaDuca
Managing Director, Program Coordinator & Instructor
Theater & Performance Studies and University Theater
taps.uchicago.edu

Phone: 773.702.9315
Fax: 773.834.9154
Email: bladuca@uchicago.edu