CLA hosts Art on the Hill to celebrate Art and Humanities Month

People gathered at Pebble Hill University Center for Arts and Humanities to enjoy photography and music for the first installment in the College of Liberal Arts celebration of Art and Humanities Month.

“This is our second annual event and we plan to continue it because of the great reception it has had from the community and the University,” said Brianna Foster, the event coordinator for Pebble Hill. “It’s the kickoff event for College of Liberal Arts' Arts and Humanities month celebration, we have a lot of fun events coming up."

The event is put on for the community as part of an effort to promote community exposure to arts.

The Art on the Hill event kicked off with a photography exhibition by Frank Uhlig, an Auburn-based mathematician and photographer. The exhibition promoted his new book, Alabama Views and Words, which combines Uhlig’s Alabamian photography with the work of local writers and poets.

Many of his pieces focused on how people live in different communities within Alabama, often featuring housing designed by Auburn architecture students as part of their rural studio projects.

“Look at all the stuff they are keeping,” Uhlig said as he pointed to a mound of coolers and toys on the porch of a house in one of his photographs. “You see this a lot in rural communities, they don’t want to let go of things. It is an interesting phenomenon; you want to create an architecture of decency but decency is subjective.”

This was followed by a performance by the Auburn University Community Orchestra. The Orchestra is directed by Professor of Music Howard Goldstein and is comprised of about fifty percent of students and fifty percent of faculty and community members.Viola player Curt Bird is a professor of PathoBiology and has played with the orchestra for 26 years. He said he enjoyed playing at the event because it's far more casual than their usual events. 

"The Orchestra is always on tour because we don’t have a performance space; we are hoping the new Performing Arts Center will help with that," Bird said.

Many people who attended the event are regular attendees of the Orchestra which played a selection of dance music for the day's event.

The event was attended largely by Auburn and Opelika community members. There was also a significant student presence. 

“I love this," said Hannah Schulz, one student in attendance. "Community access to art is so important because it makes everyone come together and be more aware of what’s around them.”