By Brett DeNeve:
What comes to your mind when you hear his name? Academy Award nominee? Medium Cool back in ‘69? The distinguished Max Cherry character from Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown, whose role received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor? Or even more recently Ed (leading image) in Breaking Bad?
Regardless of the passing of time, Forster has been getting formally recognized for his passion and abilities. He is currently taking the opportunity to share some of this knowledge and expertise with students, specifically those involved with the Theater Department, at Buff State during his week here as an Artist in Residence, but this evening however, all are welcome.
Forster’s residency commences tonight with an hour-long discussion packed full of insider movie and theater information. This event, A Conversation with Robert Forster, will kick off at 7:30 p.m. in the Burchfield Penney’s Peter and Elizabeth C. Tower Auditorium. Admission is free for students and $10 for the general public. After this presentation, it’s back to work.
Carlos Jones, an assistant professor, will led the students from the theater department as they receive Forster’s guidance towards the development of a single performance, titled The One Man Show. Jeffery Hirschberg, associate professor and director of the television and film arts program, will co-lead this collaboration.
Forster plans to present the efforts of his residency, The One Man Show, on Saturday, November 2nd, at 8 p.m. The act will be open exclusively to members of the Burchfield Penney and Buff State students, faculty, and staff. Tickets are free for Buff State students and $10 for Burchfield Penney members as well as Buff State faculty and staff.
Although there is room for confusion, this artist in residency is not affiliated with Buff State’s recently developed “Burchfield Residencies.” This residency in specific was merely an opportunity that had to be taken advantage of, via relations between the executive director of the Burchfield Penney, Dr. Anthony Bannon, and Forster.
This model of residency will hopefully provide some precedent for another one of it’s kind in the future, but moving forward are the “Burchfield Residencies.” This model, put into action this past January, looks to artists who can use the Burchfield Penney’s collections and archives to further expand on their work, as well as increase their knowledge and understanding of Charles Burchfield as a person and an artist. The first artist ever selected for this residency model is photographer Janelle Lynch. Her work, sharing in Burchfield’s with nature-driven images, has been widely exhibited including but not limited to the Burchfield Penney, George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film, the Brooklyn Museum, the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo in the Salta Province in Argentina and more.