Students and staff at Willamette University are celebrating African culture throughout the month of February. Hallie Ford Museum of Art is offering two African exhibits. The first is "Yoruba Sculpture: Selections from the Mary Johnston Collection," which will run through March 16. The exhibition includes 24 ritual objects found among the Yoruba people of West Africa. In conjunction WU is offering an evening of free films on Yoruba art and culture on February 7.  The other African exhibit at Hallie Ford Museum of Art is a small group of African prints and related etching plates from Ashland painter and printmaker Betty LaDuke.
Her African work portrays the color, texture and rhythms of African rural life, exploring universal themes such as creation myths, birth and death, food production and the spirit's journey. Other events throughout campus include the unveiling of a mammoth puzzle map of Africa, a slide show and an African market.

Student combines passions of art and bicycling

Marcella Kriebel, who graduated from Willamette University last year, had always wanted to do a mural on campus. Kriebel got the chance to combine her art degree with her passion for bicycling by painting a mural on the wall of the new Willamette University Bike Shop.  The finished mural features a bicycle floating in a sea of clouds, and its parts are neatly diagrammed.  

"The mural serves two purposes," stated Kriebel.

"Obviously, there's an aesthetic component, but
it's also functional."

The bike shop offers a place for Willamette students to learn how to repair and maintain their bicycles, and the diagram will be useful in teaching people about their bikes.

The public is invited to an open house on March 31.