AU in the Neighborhood

February 2022

Contact Us

202-885-2146

communityrelations@american.edu

Community Relations 4400 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington, DC 20016-8033 United States

In This Issue

Message from Maria Barry, Director of Community Relations
AU Neighborhood Partnership Virtual Open House
Community Liaison Committee Meeting
Men's Basketball Holds 8th Annual Sustainability Themed Game
American University Museum Now Open to Visitors, Featuring Spring Exhibits
Upcoming Events

Message from Maria Barry, Director of Community Relations

Dear Neighbors,

As American University returns to in-person learning, we would like to assure our neighbors that every precaution has been considered and taken to ensure the safety of our students, faculty, staff, and the community that surrounds us. The academic calendar, including spring break, will remain as originally scheduled.

Safety precautions, policies, and procedures instituted by AU include:

Testing, Contact Tracing, and Isolation

COVID-19 testing is available to students, staff, and faculty at AU testing facilities.
All AU staff, students and faculty members are required to have a PCR test within 48 hours of the first time they have presence on campus or in any affiliated building – whether to live on campus, visit the library, go to the office, etc.
Individuals who test positive are required to self-isolate at once and fill out a required form.

Masks

KN95, N95, or KF94 masks, which provide the highest level of protection, are required in all indoor common spaces on campus, regardless of vaccination status.

Vaccines and Boosters

All AU students, faculty, and staff who come to campus for any reason or who participate in university-sponsored activities, must receive and report COVID-19 vaccination and booster.

Workplace

Building on our workplace approach from the fall, AU staff will resume a hybrid work schedule.

Events and Visitors

Visitors are not permitted on campus until February 14, with limited exceptions including admissions, advancement, and in-person class purposes. Visitors after February 14 must follow the visitor guidelines.
We are planning an in-person commencement in May.

We realize that this has been yet another period of uncertainty. COVID-19 continues to evolve, and we must adapt as we look forward. More importantly, we are moving to an operational approach that will allow us to live, work, and learn safely and effectively while the virus continues to circulate. AU has continued to address each challenge, stay focused on our priorities, and contribute to our community of care, which is critical for supporting one another and our overall well-being.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me at mariab@american.edu or at (202)-885-2146.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Stay well,

Maria Barry signature Maria Barry
Director of Community Relations
American University

AU Neighborhood Partnership Virtual Open House

Be sure to attend the AU Neighborhood Partnership Virtual Open House at 6 p.m. on February 17! You must register/rsvp, the link is below.

We invite all neighbors living near American University to join in the work of the AU Neighborhood Partnership. The open house will be an opportunity to learn more about the Partnership and how you can be involved in the progress of AU and your community.

Now that the 2021 campus plan has been approved by the DC Zoning Commission last year, the Partnership will work collaboratively to ensure the implementation of the campus plan is done in a mutually beneficial manner for both the university and surrounding neighborhoods. 

Founded in 2018, the purpose of the Partnership is to provide a consensus-based forum for resolving issues affecting the communities next to the American University. Interested members of the community can join one of the Partnership’s five standing working groups, comprising community stakeholders and AU leadership.

Through its working groups, the Partnership actively engages with senior university administrators to discuss issues involving – Student Life & Safety; Facilities Planning; Transportation & Parking; Engagement & Communications; and Data & Metrics. Working Groups examine pertinent issues and make recommendations to the Partnership Steering Committee, which operates through a consensus-based process to advance the implementation of mutually agreeable principles and proposals.

The Partnership Steering Committee provides guidance and support to each of the Working Groups, and comprises each Working Group’s co-chairs, as well as representatives from ANC (Advisory Neighborhood Commission) 3D, ANC 3E, and four neighborhood associations – Fort Gaines Citizens Association, Spring Valley Neighborhood Association, Ward 3 Vision, and Westover Place – that represent several hundred households neighboring American University and came together to facilitate the Partnership’s initial formation.

To register for the Virtual Open House, please sign up here: https://forms.gle/jhf4BvtqNph26BVy6.

To learn more about the AU Neighborhood Partnership, please visit our website.

We look forward to you joining us.

Community Liaison Committee Meeting

American University’s Community Liaison Committee (CLC) will hold a quarterly meeting on Tuesday, March 8th. The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom.

To register for the meeting, visit the registration page.  Prior to the meeting, each registrant will receive an email and a calendar invite from Justice & Sustainability Associates with information on how to access the meetings.

The CLC was established to foster positive relations and to maintain regular communication between the university and its neighbors. As specified in the D.C. Zoning Commission Order for AU’s 10-year Campus Plan, the CLC comprises individuals from neighboring community organizations and representatives from the university.

Additional information on the CLC, including meeting agendas and minutes can be found at the CLC website.

Mens Basketball Holds 8th Annual Sustainability Themed Game

WASHINGTON - "Go Green," but wear red, white, and blue to Bender Arena to cheer on the American University men's basketball team at the 8th Annual Sustainability Awareness Game against Navy on Wednesday, February 16 at 7 p.m. Attendees will support the Eagles as well as spotlight AU’s environmental goals and accomplishments. The matchup is planned each year by AU Athletics, Facilities Management's Energy & Engineering and Grounds teams, and the Office of Sustainability.

This year, the game will focus on how the AU community can reduce waste, specifically food waste. In September, AU announced a historic grant from the National Science Foundation to study wasted food. A video titled Multiscale Resilient, Equitable, and Circular Innovations with Partnership and Education Synergies (RECIPES) for Sustainable Food Systems will highlight the project. In addition, the jumbotron will present facts about energy conservation, features of the campus arboretum, and information about how AU reduces campus waste.

Attendees also will be able to engage with environmental student organizations, including the Kogod Sustainability Club, Engineers for a Sustainable World, and AU’s Sunrise Hub. A bicycle will be given away to a lucky random student, along with bike accessories provided by the Office of Sustainability.

Also at the game:

Zero Waste students on hand to help fans sort their waste into either compost, recycling, or landfill trash bins.
A zero waste-themed student ‘bottle-bowling’ competition on the court.
Recognition of AU’s student Compost Crew and Zero Waste Office.

"As a source of university pride and school spirit, the annual Sustainability Awareness Basketball game is always a fun event and educational experience for our students and fans to learn about the great advances in sustainability and energy efficiencies all across campus," said Robert Sherman, Assistant Athletics Director for Marketing and Corporate Partnerships.

AU’s Director of Sustainability Megan Litke added, "This ongoing partnership with Athletics and Facilities Management provides a fantastic opportunity to celebrate and share the recent sustainability accomplishments that people from across our campus have made. This past year, we released a new sustainability plan which guides us in our next steps after achieving carbon neutrality. We’re also so thrilled that AU received a five-year, $15 million grant from the National Science Foundation under principal investigator, Sauleh Siddiqui, to study food waste.”

The game is co-sponsored by AU Athletics, Office of Facilities Management, and Office of Sustainability, along with the support of corporate partners Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions, The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company, The Fulcrum Group, Aramark Higher Education, DC Sustainable Energy Utility, E.C. Ernst Electrical Contractors, and E-Finity.

Doors to Bender Arena open and the pre-game environmental clubs fair begins at 6 p.m., while the game on the court versus the Midshipmen tips off at 7 p.m. Admission is free for AU undergraduate, graduate, and WCL (Washington College of Law) students with valid AU ID. Visit AUeagles.com/Tickets and use the coupon code GREEN22 at checkout to receive and save $5 off each adult priced ticket.

American University Museum Now Open to Visitors, Featuring Spring Exhibits

The American University Museum is open now and invites neighbors to visit its latest exhibitions during its spring hours of operations. Now through May 22, the museum will be open Fridays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Reservations are not required, and admission is always free. Groups may email museum@american.edu to schedule a tour outside of regular operating hours (15 people maximum).

To enter the museum, visitors must agree to the terms in the visitor form which includes showing proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 test, masks and social distancing, and contact tracing. The visitor form may be filled out either upon entry or on the same day prior to your visit. Only one form is required per household.

For more information, visit the AU Museum’s Plan Your Visit webpage. Email museum@american.edu with questions about your visit. Support our work by becoming a member.

AU Museum: Spring Exhibits

Paper Light

Now through May 22

With her inventive darkroom experiments, DC artist Claudia Smigrod takes the camera-less photogram into new realms that defy easy categorization. Organic forms from nature and inorganic man-made objects are transformed magically into abstract, incandescent, and deceptively complex images that are visually mesmerizing and conceptually compelling. This exhibition brings together several serial projects in which the artist has been immersed during the past decade: Paper Light, Under Study, Paper Patterns, Time and Space, Conversations, Opacity/Translucency, Proof Print and Every Thing. 

Gallery Talk: February 17, 7 p.m.

Featuring the artist and curator Wendy Grossman. Register for the gallery talk. This event will be held virtually. Please register to receive updates.

Positive Fragmentation: From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation

Now through May 22

Drawn from the collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation, Positive Fragmentation includes more than 150 works by 21 contemporary artists who use fragmentation both stylistically and conceptually. Through their prints, they question the status quo and suggest new perspectives. For some, the result is enough, pulling apart images and ideas exposes what lies beneath or heralds the value of each part. Other artists assemble fragments to create a new whole defined by its components. This exhibition explores these creative approaches in the work of some of the most important contemporary artists.  Artists in this exhibition fragment, and often reassemble, elements including shape, color, perspective, text, idea, or stereotype. Featured artists include: Betye Saar, Wendy Red Star, Lorna Simpson, Ellen Gallagher, Jenny Holzer, Louise Bourgeois, Wangechi Mutu, Nicola López, Sarah Morris, Polly Apfelbaum, Jennifer Bartlett, Christiane Baumgartner, Cecily Brown, Judy Chicago, Nicole Eisenman, Julie Mehretu, Judy Pfaff, Swoon, Barbara Takenaga, Mickalene Thomas, and Kara Walker. 

Fields and Formations

Now through May 22

This exhibit brings together approximately 70 works by 12 distinguished women and non-binary artists from the Mid-Atlantic region who infuse abstract paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures with emotional and metaphorical content. The artists, who span five decades in age, share interests in luminous color, repeated forms, the power of materials, and the meditative aspects of making labor-intensive works. The exhibition celebrates artists who have developed a significant part of their careers in a region bounded by Philadelphia to the north and Washington, DC to the south. The exhibit also demonstrates that the broader Mid-Atlantic area’s diverse contributions to the story of American abstraction continue to be vibrant and profound during the beginning decades of the 21st century. Featured artists include Natessa Amin, Arden Bendler Browning, Carol Brown Goldberg, Alex Ebstein, Alexis Granwell, Jesse Harrod, Maren Hassinger, Jae Ko, Linling Lu, Linn Meyers, Maggie Michael, and Jo Smail.

Gallery Talk: February 21, 7 p.m.

With an artist panel, featuring curator Kristen Hileman. Register for the Gallery Talk. This event will be held virtually. Please register to receive updates. 

In Place of a Missing Place

Now through May 22

This exhibition of Israeli art from the AU Museum’s permanent collection will unpack landscape depictions in a range of media. It offers a historicized consideration of mythmaking, forced migration, displacement, erasure, and trauma as showcased in the works of artists whose singular nationality envelops the entirety of land encompassing two nations – Palestine and Israel.  Works include gifts of Nancy Berman and Alan Bloch and those drawn from the Rothfeld Collection of Contemporary Israeli Art. 

Gallery Talk: March 14, 7 p.m.

Featuring curator Noam Segal. Register for the Gallery Talk. This event will be held virtually. Please register to receive updates.

Two Places on Earth

Now through May 22

Chan Chao’s photographic portrait series is based on the idea of open societies, interconnection, and the world’s contraction. It features global citizens and is meant to acknowledge how beautiful the concept of an open society can be, but not in a utopian sense. This five-year project consists of multinational UN peacekeepers in Cyprus along with multinational prisoners in Peru, incarcerated for smuggling cocaine out of Lima. Chao’s intention is to blur all lines that define cultural differences, emphasize each subject’s dignity, and make portraits with restraint and quiet tenor. He presents the subjects as individuals that viewers can relate to. 
 
Gallery Talk: April 11, 7 p.m.

Featuring the artist. Register for the Gallery Talk. This event will be held virtually. Please register to receive updates.