1/13/97

Contact: Ann Matlock, School of Art, at 614-593-1677

ATHENS, Ohio -- Tim Rollins, who has captured the art world's attention as an innovator in combining art and education, will deliver a free, public lecture about his renowned arts program for New York City youths at 7 p.m. Thursday (Jan. 16) at Mitchell Auditorium in Seigfred Hall on the Athens campus. As part of his visit, Rollins also will hold a free, public seminar about his work from 10 a.m. to noon Friday in 401 Seigfred Hall. In 1984, Rollins founded a South Bronx after-school program for artistically talented youths who had trouble learning in a standard school environment. The students in Rollins' workshop, who named themselves Kids of Survival (K.O.S.), range in age from 13 to 23 and are required to stay in school and avoid crime to remain in the program. Rollins and K.O.S. read and discuss classic works of literature, which then become the basis for collectively produced paintings. The paintings are created upon the pages of such literary works as Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and Kafka's Amerika. The pages are applied to large canvases, which then are painted by members of K.O.S. The group gained success after being noticed by New York art galleries, and sold its first work for $5,000 in 1986. The students' works now hang in New York City's Museum of Modern Art, the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Rollins and K.O.S. have been featured in several major art publications and People magazine, and are subjects of a documentary film. Rollins' visit to campus is made possible by the Visiting Artist Fund of the School of Art and the College of Fine Arts at Ohio University. - 30 -