The UCCS Visiting Artists & Critics Series features a lineup of presentations by artists and critics of national and international significance. The program’s goal is to foster understanding and appreciation of contemporary art through dialogue and critical conversations. Each VACS lecture takes place in the Chapman Foundation Recital Hall, next door to the Marie Walsh Sharpe Gallery in the Ent Center for the Arts. High-quality video recordings of each lecture are made public and archived on GOCA’s digital content platform within two weeks of each event (GOCAdigital.org).

Over the past decade, the series co-produced by the UCCS Galleries of Contemporary Art and UCCS Visual Art & Art History programs has invited artists and scholars to the UCCS campus to present public lectures and meet with undergraduate students in classes and workshop settings.

2026-2027 EVENTS

Friday, June 26th, 2026, 6 - 7 p.m.

Chapman Recital Hall, Ent Center for the Arts

Join us for a very exciting summer VACS with Simulacra artist, Etsuko Ichikawa! Etsuko Ichikawa is a Tokyo-born artist with an international practice spanning installation, sculpture, drawing, film, and performance. She received her BFA from Tokyo Zokei University in 1987, attended Pilchuck Glass School in 1993, and soon after relocated to the United States. After eight years as a studio assistant to Dale Chihuly, she established her independent practice in 2003.

Describing her work as “visual poetry,” Ichikawa explores memory, perception, and the fragile relationship between human experience and the natural world. She is recognized for her Glass Pyrograph series, in which she uses molten glass and fire as a drawing medium, merging gesture, material transformation, and temporality.

Her work has been exhibited internationally at institutions including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Seattle Art Museum; and the Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo, and is held in the permanent collections of the Toledo Museum of Art; the Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv; the Oriental Museum at Durham University; and the Museum of Glass, Tacoma.

She has received support from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation and the Artist Trust Arts Innovator Award. Her exhibition NACHI was supported by the Andy Warhol Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Recent projects expand her practice into immersive installations, incorporating light, glass, and moving image to reflect on ecological urgency, spiritual perception, and the lasting impact of human intervention in the environment.

Thursday, April 16, 2026, 6 - 7 p.m.

Chapman Recital Hall, Ent Center for the Arts

The Visiting Artists and Critics Series (VACS) presents a panel discussion with UCCS Visual Arts Faculty members, Claire Rau and Mariah Dekkenga, and will be moderated by Corey Drieth. This semester closes the final academic year before Claire Rau’s retirement from teaching. This year also welcomes Mariah Dekkenga as a new visual arts professor. To celebrate the wonderful work Claire has provided UCCS, and welcome Mariah to the community, we are pairing them in a panel discussion to talk about their art practices and ruminate on being a teaching artist. This conversation feels timely as it corresponds to the  UCCS Visual Art Seniors Exhibition, opening at GOCA April. Join us for this celebration of the UCCS faculty and learning about Claire and Mariah’s extraordinary art practices.