Andrea Polli, Mesa Del Sol endowed chair of digital media and director of the Social Media Workgroup at the University of New Mexico, will present the 20th annual Deem Distinguished Artist Lecture in the West Virginia University College of Creative Arts, on Thursday, Jan. 23.

She will speak at 5 p.m. in the Creative Arts Center’s Bloch Learning and Performance Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

This year marks the 20th Anniversary of the Deem Distinguished Artist Lecture, sponsored by Alison and Patrick Deem, of Bridgeport, W.Va. Polli’s exhibition, titled “Breathless,” is also on view in the Creative Arts Center’s Mesaros Galleries, along with works by other artists who have been Deem lecturers during the past 20 years.

Considered among the leaders of the so-called “extreme” ecological art movement, Polli presents a series of works based on the scientific measurement of air quality. In “Breathless,” atmospheric pollution, melting glaciers, global warming, and a simple storm, are a living testimony to the climate change happening in the world today.

Polli was born in 1968 and is an artist working at the intersection of art, science and technology whose practice includes media installations, public interventions, curating and directing art and community projects, and writing. She is currently an associate professor of Art and Ecology with appointments in the College of Fine Arts and School of Engineering at the University of New Mexico. She holds the Mesa Del Sol Endowed Chair of Digital Media and directs the Social Media Workgroup, a lab at the University’s Center for Advanced Research Computing.

Among other organizations, she has worked with the NASA/Goddard Institute Climate Research Group in New York City, the National Center for Atmospheric Research and AirNow. She holds a doctorate in practice-led research from the University of Plymouth in the United Kingdom. Her latest book is “Far Field: Digital Culture, Climate Change and the Poles,” published by Intellect Press. For more information, see Polli’s website at http://www.andreapolli.com/.

Over the years, Alison and Patrick Deem have been true leaders in advancing the arts at WVU, and most especially, the education of students. Their Distinguished Visiting Artist Lecture Series has brought internationally recognized artists and their work to the WVU campus, fostering not only student and faculty engagement, but also free public lectures by these artists, providing community access to thought-provoking examples of contemporary art.

For more information about the lecture, contact the College of Creative Arts.

-WVU-

cl/1/21/14

CONTACT: Charlene Lattea, College of Creative Arts
304-293-4359, Charlene.Lattea@mail.wvu.edu

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