isiting book artists explore nuances of childhood memory

Our relationship with memories will be the subtext of a visit by two internationally acclaimed artists who will be on campus this month.

Peter Sís and Carmen Lomas Garza approach memory from different perspectives, according to Ginny Moore Kruse, director of the UW–Madison Cooperative Children’s Book Center, which is involved in bringing both artists to campus. Kruse says the visitors have the potential to bring unique insights into our understanding of our own histories through their explorations of their own.

Details Peter Sís will speak at 7 p.m. Monday, March 22, in L160 Elvehjem. Carmen Lomas Garza will speak at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, March 25, in 160 Elvehjem. A book signing will follow.

Both Sís and Garza produce books for children; however, Kruse says, the artists also appeal greatly to adults.

“Sís is one of the very few ‘cross-over’ authors who produces books for both children and adults,” she says. “And Garza often starts her books from her paintings rather than illustrating her books.”

Kruse says it would be difficult to imagine more cross-disciplinary speakers than Sís and Garza. “Both knew as children they wanted to be artists, and both were restricted by ideologies beyond their control,” she says. “Free expression was impossible in Czechoslovakia when Sís was a boy. Garza, growing up in Texas at almost the same time as Sís, was punished for speaking Spanish and made to feel ashamed of her culture. Today, their art pays homage to their experiences and the geography of their childhoods.”

Peter Sis

Peter Sís: A childhood illness laid Sís low when he was about 6. But something else may have been taxing his psyche: the disappearance of his father, a renowned Czech filmmaker, while teaching abroad during the 1950s.

A construction accident separated Vladimir Sís from the rest of the crew in Tibet, a country then almost totally closed to outsiders. The senior Sís eventually was rescued and returned to his family, full of wondrous tales, “all of which I believed,” says Peter. His father also brought back a journal of his travels, which, along with Peter Sís’ memories, laid the foundation of “Tibet: Through the Red Box,” the 1999 Caldecott Honor Book winner.

As an adult, Sís has become a celebrated filmmaker in his own right, as well as an author, illustrator, essayist, muralist and more. While in town Monday, March 22, he will deliver a lecture and meet informally with UW–Madison faculty, staff and students.

In addition to the UW–Madison International Institute, CCBC and Friends of the CCBC, Sís’ visit is sponsored by the UW–Madison Elvehjem Museum of Art; the Global Cultures Program; the Center for South Asia; the Center for Russia, East Europe and Central Asia; the School of Education; and the Departments of Art and English. Information: Ronnie Hess, 262-5590.

Carmen Lomas Garza

Carmen Lomas Garza: The warmth and happiness of day-to-day Chicano family life find visual voice in Garza’s paintings and illustrations. Her most recent children’s book, In My Family/En Mi Familia, won the Américas and Pura Belpré Awards for outstanding Latino literature for children.

Garza will create a series of prints while in residence at Tandem Press, the university’s fine arts press, March 22-26.

The lecture is part of UW–Madison’s project, “Sin Fronteras: Building Bridges Between Wisconsin and Mesoamerica,” which also involves area public schools, the Madison Children’s Museum and the community. Garza’s visit also is sponsored by the UW–Madison Chicano Studies and its César Chavez Student Services program.

Tandem Press invites the public to join Garza for a special dinner at the Wilson Street Grill Thursday, March 25 at 7:30 p.m. The cost is $36, which includes a $5 donation to the press; for reservations call 251-3500. Information: Tandem director Paula Panczenko, 263-3437.