We begin 2009 with a return to the arts, showcasing new exhibits at Anne Arundel Community College, Muskegon Community College, and Lane Community College. As the fourth year of Innovation Showcase begins, we invite you, in future issues and through the new comments feature, to share the creative and innovative ways your college connects to its community. For more information, contact Cynthia Wilson, wilson@league.org.

Lorry Salcedo at Anne Arundel Community College

Internationally acclaimed photographer, author, and filmmaker Lorry Salcedo will exhibit his works at Anne Arundel Community College February 2-28. "Looking at Afro-Peru Through the Lens" on exhibit at AACC's Pascal Center for Performing Arts Gallery documents Afro-Latino life in South America using black and white photography. Many of Salcedo's award-winning photos are set in El Carmen, Peru, a town set amidst farm fields about 125 miles south of Lima.

Salcedo has published several books, including "A la Sombra del Guarango" (In the Shade of the Guarango Tree) published in 2007, "Cuerpos Fotografiados por Salcedo" (Corporal Photography by Salcedo) published in 2003, and "El Eterno Retorno" (The Eternal Return) published in 2002. Among the five films listed on his website (http://www.lorrySalcedo.com) are a long-form documentary "The Fire Within" (2008) and a short documentary "My Beautiful City" (2005), both of which he directed and produced.

Born in Peru, Salcedo's fascination with different ethnic groups in his country began in his teenage years and strengthened as an adult, leading to photographic and film studies of these communities. He trained as a photographer at the International Center of Photography in New York and learned filmmaking at Newsreel, New York University, and Armando Robles Godoy's academy in Peru. Salcedo has produced both documentaries and short films for the film industry. He worked in 1987 as the Peruvian correspondent in New York for El Comercio newspaper and Caretas magazine, the same year in which he gave his first solo exhibition. He worked in the early 1990s as a photo researcher and staff photographer for two New York agencies.

Salcedo's photos have appeared in exhibits worldwide in countries such as Argentina, Egypt, Norway, Peru, and the United States. Recent local exhibits include a 2003 show at the Gomez Gallery in Baltimore. His works also appear in permanent collections in museums such as the Corcoran Museum of Art in Washington, D.C. and Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York as well as the Library of Congress and numerous university collections. Salcedo lives and works in New York City and Lima, Peru.

Exhibit hours are 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays and 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Fridays. For information on the exhibit or the artist's talk, call Wilfredo Valladares Lara at 410-777-2771 or e-mail wvalladareslara@aacc.edu. The AACC Pascal Center for Performing Arts Gallery is on the Arnold campus at 101 College Parkway.

Information provided by Anne Arundel Community College, http://www.aacc.edu/newsonline/2009/01/release09131.cfm.

"Out of Africa" and "Discovering Ancient Egypt" at Muskegon Community College

Muskegon Community College's Overbrook Art Gallery dual exhibits "Out of Africa" and "Discovering Ancient Egypt" opened Monday, January 12, and run through February 25. This exhibition consists of two separate exhibits, both on loan from the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts: "Out of Africa" is made up of authentic African masks, fabrics, jewelry, and ceremonial objects that highlight the integral role that art plays in traditional African cultures; and "Rediscovering Ancient Egypt" contains mixed media paintings by artist Judith Barrowman. Barrowman's work is inspired from her travels to Egypt, and the imagery in her paintings is based directly on scenes from the walls of ancient Egyptian tombs.

The exhibition is co-hosted and held in conjunction with Muskegon Community College's Global Awareness Festival. The Global Awareness Festival has events pertaining to the theme of Africa scheduled throughout the week of February 9-13. More information about the festival will be posted soon on the Muskegon Community College website.

There will be a free public reception on Monday, 9 February 2009 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. with Greg Waskowsky, outreach/education coordinator at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, lecturing on "How Africa Changed Art." The lecture will focus on the influence African sculpture has had on Picasso and other artists of the early 20th century as well as the similarities between tribal and Post-Modern Art.

Overbrook Gallery hours are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, and the exhibits are always free to the public. For more information, call the MCC Creative and Performing Arts department at 231.777.0399.

Information provided by Muskegon Community College, http://www.muskegoncc.edu/pages/110.asp?item=2230.

Ian McNicol at Lane Community College

The Lane Community College Art Gallery presents "Some Aspects Of Soundscape," a collective body of work by Oregon artist Ian McNicol. In discussing his upcoming show, McNicol says, "This series (of work) is inspired by music. This body of work is a dimensional response to the intangible. It is not only a visual exploration from sine waves and the motion of sound in space, but an interpretation of musical works and a listener's relationship with the musicians who have created them."

The show runs February 2-19. There will be an artist's talk on Thursday, February 12, at 3:00 p.m. with a reception immediately following at 4:00 p.m. Both events are located in the LCC Art Gallery in building 11 on main campus, 4000 E. 30th Avenue. There is no charge for admission. The Art and Applied Design Department phone number is 463-5409.

Information provided by Lane Community College, http://www.lanecc.edu/mpr/news/rel01084.htm.