Nancy Evelyn Andrews

	Nancy Evelyn Andrews

Nancy Evelyn Andrews lives in Seal Harbor, Maine, where she makes films and performance pieces. She studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and received a Master of Fine Arts in 1995, and her undergraduate studeis were at the Maryland Institute, College of Art, BFA, 1983. Her work has been presented by the Museum of Modern Art (includiing two solo shows), Pacific Film Archive, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Jerusalem Film Festival, and Chicago Filmmakers, among others; and is in the film collections of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Modern Art. She has been the recipient of grants and fellowships from the Illinois State Arts Council, The Franklin Furnace Fund for Performance Art (supported by the Jerome Foundation and New York State Council on the Arts), and National Endowment for the Arts.

Her film and performance work explores questions like: What is our place in the universe? What do we really know? How do we try to grasp the past, or the future? How can humans interface with the natural world at this juncture in history? She works in a hybrid form combining storytelling, documentary, puppetry, vaudeville, and academia, perhaps as a metaphor for the complexities of these questions. Her characters and stories are synthesized from various sources, including historic diaries and accounts, biographies, womens history, journal articles, and then combined with autobiographical material.

At College of the Atlantic, Nancy teaches performance art, video making and film history. Performance art: (one or two courses a year) sometimes include 3-D combined with performance, like: The Sculptural Object in Performance, and The Art of the Puppet. Performance courses include vocal and movement workshop style classes, creative writing and other approaches to authoring original work, history of the art form, examples of past and contemporary practice.

Video and Animation Studios: (two or three courses a year) Students practice using these media as forms of creative expression, experimentation, and communication. Students work on a project-oriented basis that includes critiques and training in video production skills They study a number of strategies and styles, including; autobiographical works, rhetorical, associational, narrative and experimental genres.

Film history/Film studies (every other year, or every three years) These courses explore the history, and meanings of motion pictures. The films studied include: narrative, avant-garde, documentary, and animation. Students learn and practice concepts of film analysis and criticism. This term I am teaching Film Studies writing focused course, co-taught with Colin Capers

Advanced Projects (every year, taught by various faculty) This course is designed for students who have taken at least two previous arts and design related courses and are prepared to pursue an in-depth project. This seminar combines academic study and studio work, and explores theory and practice related to various visual arts disciplines

Courses across resource areas: Soundscape (with Sean Todd) In this interdisciplinary course we investigate a broad range of acoustic concepts, ranging from a scientific treatment of the nature and behavior of sound both in air and underwater, the biology of hearing, the use of sound by animals in communication, and the cultural applications of sound and music in human society. Students explore methods of composition using sounds as materials for assigned projects.

Nancy's webpage: http://www.nancyandrews.net/