Vintage Beatles Guitar Collection to ‘Invade’ Babbidge Library.  That is what Ken Best, Senior Writer for UConn Communications, proclaimed in the UConn Today article about the exhibit in the Babbidge Plaza Gallery.  His article, and his interest in the story and the guitars has resulted in some great press.  Here is a list of the places we are aware of where it was republished:

• Willimantic Chronicle 8-1-13
• Patch

• NBC 30 Connecticut 8-1-13,  5 p.m.

• Hartford Courant 7-30-13

Ken Best and UConn Photographer Peter Morenus met with Carlo Cantamessa in his home, filling out the story as well as getting the great photograph you see above.  Several staff have asked where we came across this exhibit.  Carlo is better known to the staff as the guy from PSI.  PSI is the company that has designed and installed the new style furniture we have – the serpentine and bench-style seating on Levels 1 and 3.  I would take credit, but it would be wrong of me.  Dave Avery pointed me in Carlos’ direction as a great potential opportunity, and the rest is history.  He is an alumni of UConn (CLAS ’83) and this is the first time he has displayed his guitars like this. They are typically in cases in his home, and are only taken out when his show “The Cast of Beatlemania” is on tour.  When he left here a few weeks ago he said it was like leaving his children at college, knowing it would be months before he had a chance to see them again.

The other two exhibits include a stunning selection of works by women artists from the artists’ books held in the archives.  Located in the Dodd Center Gallery, Kristin Eshelman teamed up with fine arts student Sara Jamshidi (who works both for Michael Bennett and the Public Outreach Team) to chronicle the journey of women through the fine press and printing scene.  Titled “A Private and Sensuous Encounter: women’s fine press books, deluxe books and bookworks, 1980-present,” the exhibition is filled with some amazing and often unconventional approaches to the book form.

The third exhibition is a celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Asian American Cultural Center on campus.  As many of you who attended the programs sponsored by the Diversity Team know, the impetus of the forming of the Center on campus is a result of a terrible incident on campus.  The Center, and the accompanying Asian American Studies Institute, are now a respected and very active part of the UConn community.  At the time of writing this, the exhibition is not quite finished, but will be in the next few days.

A reception for all of these exhibits will be held on Sunday, September 29th from 3-5pm.  We hope you will join us.