Jichen Zhang, from Weihai, China, earned a doctoral degree from the University of Iowa (UI) in 2023 and was named one of Slingshot's 2023 Artists to Watch by National Public Radio (NPR).  

Join us on Thursday, September 19, for “Art and the Face of War: Goya and Tolstoy,” the first program in the new season of WorldCanvass. While Spanish painter and printmaker Francisco de Goya and Russian writer Leo Tolstoy were separated by time and space, the two created incomparable masterworks centered on the tragic events of the more than decade-long Napoleonic Wars. We’ll view that momentous period of human struggle and suffering through Goya’s shocking collection of prints called “Disasters of War” and Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace,” exploring not only the original works but also later interpretations through film and opera. WorldCanvass is free and open to the public. The program is held at MERGE, 136 South Dubuque Street, in Iowa City from 5:30-7 p.m. with a pre-show reception from 5-5:30 p.m.

On Thursday, March 1, from 5:30-7 p.m., the internationally acclaimed Elias String Quartet will take WorldCanvass inside the process of music-making. In a performance-filled program called Translating Music, members of the quartet and Elizabeth Oakes, director of the University of Iowa String Quartet Residency Program in the School of Music, will discuss what it takes to bring a piece to life by focusing on two themes—nationality in music and storytelling through music. WorldCanvass takes place at MERGE, 136 South Dubuque Street, and the program is free and open to the public. Please come early for a pre-show catered reception from 5-5:30 p.m.