News Release

Ohio Wesleyan Exhibits, Public Events Feature Multicultural Themes
February is Black History Month

February 7, 2011

DELAWARE, OH – Ohio Wesleyan University invites the public to attend the following free exhibits and events featured in February during Black History Month:

Through Feb. 20 in the Richard M. Ross Art Museum, 60 S. Sandusky St.
The museum is open Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

• “Branch Rickey & Jackie Robinson: A Partnership in Vision & Courage,” featuring memorabilia related to Branch Rickey (OWU Class of 1904), Jackie Robinson, and Major League Baseball. As president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Rickey signed Robinson to a professional contract, effectively breaking baseball’s color barrier.
• “Winfred Rembert: Memoirs in Paint,” featuring original hand-tooled and dyed leather artworks by African American folk artist Winfred Rembert. His images of life in rural, pre-Civil Rights South are hand-tooled onto sheets of leather and dyed vibrant colors.

Feb. 10 – Artist Winfred Rembert participates in three special public events:

• 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. – Rembert will hold a studio demonstration to show how he creates his hand-tooled leather artworks, in Edgar Hall, 35 S. Sandusky St.
• 7 p.m. – A panel discussion with Rembert, in Room 312 of the R.W. Corns Building, 78 S. Sandusky St. Artist and educator Willis “Bing” Davis of Dayton, Ohio, will moderate the discussion.
• 8 p.m. – A reception for Rembert and his exhibition, “Winfred Rembert: Memoirs in Paint,” at the Ross Art Museum, 60 S. Sandusky St.

7 p.m. Feb. 15 – Nationally known AIDS activist Jonathan Perry discusses the impact of HIV and AIDS on African American and other communities, in the Benes Rooms in Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave. Perry is the first black, openly gay, HIV-positive student to speak out about these topics at a historically black college. A recent graduate of Johnson C. Smith University in North Carolina, he has been interviewed by national media and recently profiled by CNN.com, POZ Magazine, and The New York Times.

7 p.m. Feb. 24 – Nationally known political and social commentator Marc Lamont Hill discusses leadership and legacies in the African and African American communities, in the Benes Rooms in Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, 40 Rowland Ave. An activist, scholar, and cultural critic, Hill is one of America’s leading hop-hop generation intellectuals. He has lectured widely and provided commentary for national media including NPR, Washington Post, Essence Magazine, and The New York Times. Hill is currently a political contributor for Fox News Channel. He also is an associate professor of English education and anthropology at Columbia University.

Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier small, private universities, with more than 90 undergraduate majors, sequences, and courses of study, and 23 Division III varsity sports. Located in Delaware, Ohio, just minutes north of Ohio’s capital and largest city, Columbus, the university combines a globally focused curriculum with off-campus learning and leadership opportunities that translate classroom theory into real-world practice. OWU’s close-knit community of 1,850 students represents 45 states and 52 countries. Ohio Wesleyan earned a 2009 Presidential Award for Excellence in General Community Service, is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” and is included on the “best colleges” lists of U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review. Learn more at www.owu.edu.