Activist Artist Jay Critchley

The University Galleries will host a public artist's lecture by activist artist Jay Critchley on Tuesday, March 31, from 7 to 8 p.m. in the Performing Arts Building, room 101 (next to the Schmidt Center Gallery), 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton campus. Critchley's presentation, "Don't Be Crude: Art and the Energy Grid," will focus on his art activism pertaining to environmental issues. From 6 to 7 pm the Galleries will host a meet and greet event with Critchley for representatives from local, regional and student activist organizations. The presentation and meet and greet are free and open to the public.

Critchley is a multi-disciplinary artist known internationally for his humorous conceptual and performance art, videos, films and theatre works that respond to the ecological, cultural and political concerns of local communities. In collaboration with activists and community stakeholders, the Provincetown, Massachusetts-based artist has tackled issues such as HIV/AIDS, climate change and corporate domination, often resulting in real-world consequences that benefit and enrich communities.

Critchley's work has been exhibited and performed throughout the United States, Europe, South America and Japan. He has received numerous awards and artist residencies from institutions such as the Smithsonian-Cooper Hewitt Museum, Harvard University and Fundació?n Valparaiso (Mojacar, Spain). His works have received extensive media coverage, including reviews in Newsweek, The New York Times, NPR, CNN and Utne Reader.

Critchley's visit to FAU comes a year before the scheduled opening of the exhibition "Jay Critchley, Incorporated," a survey of the artist's 30-year career, which will be shown at FAU's University Galleries in spring 2016. The exhibition will originate at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum in May 2015.

During his related visit to the FAU this March, Critchley will meet with FAU faculty and students as well as with activist communities in South Florida to discuss possible project and programming collaborations for next year's exhibition.

This program is made possible by the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County. The Galleries exhibition and education programs are supported in part by the R.A. Ritter Foundation and Beatrice Cummings Mayer. The University Galleries' Museum Education Programs are made possible by The Kaye Arts Integration Endowment.

For more information, call the University Galleries at 561-297-2661 or visit www.fau.edu/galleries.