UMD News Releases

World-renowned Finnish architect Juhani Pallasmaa and critically acclaimed American playwright Leigh Fondakowski are headlining the University of Minnesota Imagine Fund's inaugural 2010 visiting scholars lecture series. At several events in April, Pallasmaa and Fondakowski will meet for thought-provoking conversations as they explore their fields and share ideas about the creative process. Three remaining events will take place in Minneapolis, MN with the fourth and final event taking place in Duluth on April 22.

Imagination and Compassion

3 p.m. Thursday, April 22

Teatro Zuccone, 222 E. Superior St., Duluth

"The University of Minnesota provides a thriving arts, design and humanities community where creative expression, innovative thinking and dialogue are valued and encouraged," said Tom Sullivan, University of Minnesota provost. "We are excited to see what the juxtaposition of these two accomplished creative thinkers will unearth and bring to light."

Pallasmaa is widely regarded as Finland's greatest living architect. His exhibits on Finnish architecture have been shown in more than 30 countries, and he has written extensively on architectural, environmental and cultural theory. Among Pallasmaa's many books on architectural theory is "The Eyes of the Skin - Architecture and the Senses," which has become a classic of architectural theory and is required reading at schools of architecture around the world.

Fondakowski was head writer of the critically acclaimed play, "The Laramie Project," which dramatizes the reaction to the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student, in Laramie, Wyo. Her internationally recognized work highlights the experiences of society's outsiders and of individuals in tragic public events. Fondakowski's latest work is The People's Temple, a theatrical examination of the 1978 Jonestown massacre (Guyana).

Established in 2009, the university's Imagine Fund program is supported by a grant from the McKnight Foundation and is a system-wide effort designed to support the arts, humanities and design.

The series is free and open to the public. Discussion dates and themes are:

Reality and Fiction

7 p.m. Monday, April 12

Bell Auditorium, Bell Museum of Natural History, 10 Church St. S.E., Minneapolis

Time and Timelessness

7 p.m. Wednesday, April 14

Shepherd Room, Weisman Art Museum, 333 East River Parkway, Minneapolis

Expression and Anonymity

7 p.m. Monday, April 19

Varsity Theater, 308 4th St. S.E., Minneapolis

Imagination and Compassion

3 p.m. Thursday, April 22

Teatro Zuccone, 222 E. Superior St., Duluth

For more information about the Imagine Fund and the lecture series, visit http://www.artsandhumanities.umn.edu/