Street art has a contentious history: some see these public works of art as “interventions” into the fabric of a city, celebrating the reclamation of public spaces, while others see these unsanctioned works as vandalism. In this lecture, I will address prominent street artists, with a focus on the notorious British artist Banksy. We will explore the functions of and various approaches to understanding street art — critically thinking about whether it is an aesthetically driven activity or a method of raising awareness for social and/or political issues. The discussion will focus primarily on England’s street art scene, where Banksy has been most prolific, but the lecture will take us from the streets of London to the West Bank Barrier of the Israeli-Palestinian border to America’s epicenter for street art, New York City.

Presented by Kristin Brockman of The Ohio State University’s Department of Art History.

Got fines? Got food? The UAPL will waive $1.00 of your fines for every nonperishable food item that you donate to the Mid-Ohio Food Bank up to a total of $10. Drop off your nonperishables anytime between 12:30 and 4:30 p.m. in meeting room A and receive a coupon to remove your existing fines.

Don’t have any fines but want to donate anyway? Bring your food items to us and we’ll be glad to get them delivered for you.

Most people, and particularly journalists, believe that they know what happened when the United States adopted the Prohibition Constitutional Amendment after World War I and was laterrepealed in 1933. In fact, this commonplace historical memory is based largely on myth and misunderstanding. What really happened turns out to be more interesting and with different current significances than one might expect.

Presented by John Burnham who is research professor of history at The Ohio State University. He is the author of a dozen books in the fields of medical history and social history, including Bad Habits: Drinking, Smoking, Taking Drugs, Gambling, Sexual Misbehavior, and Swearing in American History. Dr. Burnham has taught at various universities in Australia as a Fulbright Lecturer, and at Bowdoin College as Tallman Professor. Before coming to Ohio State, he was a faculty member at Stanford, Claremont McKenna College, and San Francisco State University.

Lauri L. Wolf is not your average single, working parent. She’s also a parent who has been living with Multiple Sclerosis for many years. MS interrupted her quest for higher academic and professional levels of achievement as a clinical pharmacist and forced her to adjust to a dramatically altered lifestyle. Along the way, she has raised three well-adjusted teenagers and developed a new career as a writer. Lauri recently published a book called “The B.S. of My M.S.” Lauri will join us for a candid talk about the progression of her symptoms and the physical and social impacts that this serious condition has had on her life. In addition, she will talk about the many ways she has discovered that have allowed her to cope, stay sane, and remain productive despite obstacles that she had to overcome.

Lauri is a native of Lakewood, Ohio and has been a resident of Upper Arlington for nearly 25 years. She is currently working on her second book.