THOUSAND OAKS : University to Salute Women in the Arts

Cal Lutheran University will spotlight local women artists, writers and composers during its all-day Festival of Women today.

“Often in the past, women artists have been unheralded,” said Kathryn Swanson, director of the Women’s Resource Center at the university’s Thousand Oaks campus.

“Historically, women had to sign their brother’s or father’s names to get their work published or hung in an art gallery,” Swanson added. “Their work needs to be uncovered and applauded. This is really a neat show.”

Today’s festival includes three hourlong shows, all free.

At 10 a.m., nearly 20 female students and faculty members will read poetry, play music and perform snippets of drama and dance in the Preus-Brandt Forum. A noon show will feature mostly poetry in the more intimate setting of the Forum’s foyer, Swanson said.

Finally, Prof. Larkin Higgins will discuss the links between sight and speech in a 3:30 p.m. performance exploring the relationship between visual objects and the stories they evoke. Her presentation will be in the Scandinavian Room of the Pearson Library.

A gallery show exhibiting the drawings, sculpture, painting and photography of 10 local women, mainly Cal Lutheran students, will run today through May 10 in the Pearson Library.