Artwork by Neha Kulkarni on view through November
There are only a few weeks left to see illustrations by Neha Kulkarni, a sophomore majoring in architecture.
The William R. Jenkins Library exhibits artwork by UH students throughout the year. Ms. Kulkarni’s exhibit, Velvet Interiors, aims to capture ordinary environments through a colorful and exaggerated lens. The artworks ‘A Crisp Morning’ and ‘Over the Hills’ have a very warm, cozy, and inviting atmosphere which were created with prismacolor pencils on paper to optimize the variety of textures ranging from the smooth sofa fabric to the coarseness of a knit throw. The vibrant colors and textures aim to amplify the already existing harmony of details and scenery, transforming mundane rooms and objects into dreamlike landscapes. The generalization of the spaces invites the viewer to seamlessly insert themselves into the art and imagine occupying and interacting with the world around them.
“We often overlook our surroundings and fail to realize just how healing and beautiful these environments can be if we give them a chance,” writes Ms. Kulkarni, “How many times have you slowed down and just taken in, for instance, the beauty of when the light hits an object a certain way? Or how a reflection projects onto a piece of furniture so perfectly? Life comes at us too fast and too aggressively for us to really pause and enjoy these seemingly insignificant details, so I wanted to permanently capture these fleeting moments. My art centers on common interior spaces, focusing on ordinary elements like a regular couch or window. I then transform these objects and their surroundings in a way that entices the viewer to find the space not only attractive, but also wish to be present in that moment to experience it themselves.”
Students who wish to submit work for consideration, may apply: https://libraries.uh.edu/jenkins/student-art-exhibit
Booksgiving 2024!
BOOKSGIVING 2024!
To celebrate the season, we are inviting our patrons to share their knowledge and enthusiasm for particular learning resources with other instructors and students.
Is there a book about art, architecture, or design that you love and would recommend to others? Help us give thanks for those titles by participating in our inaugural Booksgiving event, to be celebrated the week prior to and the week of Thanksgiving.
We ask that you, our patrons, choose one favorite book from our extensive collection and email us the choice (Title and Author, if possible), along with a brief paragraph explaining why you chose the book in question. Please send your choice to the following email address with the subject line “BOOKSGIVING 2024” – [email protected] .
The choices will be pulled from our shelves and displayed anonymously in our Library, along with the descriptions provided. If the title in question has already been checked out, or is otherwise unavailable, then we will be unable to display it as part of Booksgiving 2024.
We will collect the first 40 submissions we receive and notify you of your pick’s inclusion in our display. Should any of these selections be checked out by our Library Patrons, the person who picked it will receive a Library Gift Bag!
Please provide us with your choice by November 15th at the latest. Any choices received after this date will not qualify. Thanks, and we look forward to receiving your selections!
Recent acquisition in the Kenneth Franzheim II Rare Books Room: Los recintos del espíritu: la biblioteca de Luis Barragán
The Kenneth Franzheim II Rare Books Room holds the only library copy of in the United States, according to WorldCat. The bibliography of books from the library of Mexican architect Luis Barragán features essays by Juan Palomar Verea, Alfonso Alfaro, Álvaro Mutis, Vicente Quirarte, and Jorge Esquinca.
Books and Bytes talk with Rafael Beneytez-Duran
Introducing new staff members Gisella De La Portilla and Roberto Torres-Torres
This semester the William R. Jenkins Architecture, Design, and Art Library welcomes two new colleagues, Library Supervisor Gisella De La Portilla and Library Manager Roberto Torres-Torres.
Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Houston, Roberto is a graduate of the University of Houston, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art/Painting with a minor in Art History. He worked previously at the MD Anderson Library and the UH Graduate School. Roberto has shown his art in solo and group shows and continues to draw and paint. At our library, Roberto will be managing our service desk, facility maintenance, training the staff and student workers, interlibrary loan and paging, supplies, and budgeting.
Like all members of the department, Gisella and Roberto’s primary tasks will be helping our patrons access information and master research methods.
Provost Chase interviews students Alex and Dave Schuman in the Kenneth Franzheim II Rare Books Room
The William R. Jenkins Architecture, Design, and Art Library was pleased to welcome Provost Diane Z. Chase to the Kenneth Franzheim II Rare Books Room, where she interviewed students of the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design in the latest installment of her Provost Profiles series. The students, Alex and Dave Schuman, are also a father and son. Click here to listen to the interview.
MD Anderson Library Service Desk Hours
University of Houston Libraries welcomes new and returning Coogs for the start of a spirited fall 2024 semester. This academic year, effective Monday, August 19, MD Anderson Library will offer new Service Desk hours. The new schedule is:
Monday – Thursday: 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: 12:00 noon to 8:00 p.m.
The new hours pertain only to the Service Desk on MD Anderson Library floor 1. Building hours will remain the same as in previous semesters.
During times when MD Anderson Library is open and the Service Desk is closed, Coogs have the following self-service options:
- Self-checkout machines on MD Anderson Library floor 1, located across from the Service Desk, enable users to check out books. The self-checkout machines require an active Cougar Card to borrow books.
- Group study rooms in the Red and Brown wings on floors 3, 4, and 5 are open on a first-come-first-served basis. No reservation or room keys are required to use these rooms during hours when the Service Desk is closed.
- Individual study carrels in the Blue wing on floors 3, 5, and 6 and in the Brown wing on floors 2 – 5 are open on a first-come-first-served basis. No reservation or carrel keys are required to use these carrels during hours when the Service Desk is closed.
- Printing, scanning, and copying options are available for those with active Cougar Cards.
Hours of operation for special libraries and service points are as follows:
Special Collections
Monday – Friday: 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Digital Research Commons
Monday: 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Tuesday: 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m.
Wednesday: 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Thursday: 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Architecture, Design, and Art Library
*Re-opening on Monday, August 26* Monday – Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Health Sciences Library
Monday – Thursday: 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Saturday – Sunday: 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m.
Medical Library
Monday – Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (staffed); the space is open 24 hours for medical students
Music Library
Monday – Thursday: 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Friday: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Questions? Contact us.
Selections from the Kenneth Franzheim II Rare Books Room on Display
Featured Artist Adrienne Simmons
The Architecture, Design, and Art Library proudly presents the work of featured artist ‘23-24 Adrienne Simmons. Her exhibit, A Landscape, Shifted, will be on view until July 2024.
Statement
Do you ever feel a distinct type of pain when reflecting on a place in your past? The Welsh have a word for this feeling called hiraeth, which translates to “distance pain.” It’s not quite a nostalgic yearning, but the true pain of loving a place. Having moved frequently around the US, I often experience this sense of place-pain.
My work responds to the landscapes I visit. I’m drawn to the way the land shapes our personal histories and memories. I collect the fragments of our lives—domestic textiles, collected water, crushed seashells, clumps of earth, and vines to make homemade charcoal. These found materials are collaged with satellite imagery, cyanotype, and acrylic mediums in an intuitive and alchemical practice. This multimedia exploration allows me to establish a sense of place, map ideas of collective memory, and attempt to embed the landscape into the surface of my work. Ultimately, the connection made with the land and the resulting work reconciles my hiraeth.
Bio
Adrienne Simmons is a multi-disciplinary artist currently based in Houston, TX. She explores ideas of cartography and memory with found materials to untangle the relationship between people and their environments. Drawn to real and imagined landscapes, she uses printmaking, cyanotype, found objects, textiles, and abstract imagery in an attempt to understand how memories are embedded into spaces and places. Her work has been collected by UTMB and MD Anderson, and she has shown at the Houston Center for Photography, the Print Museum, and the Blaffer Art Museum, while pursuing her MFA at the University of Houston (2024).