Tamar Zinguer, assistant professor of Architecture, is the recipient of the Forum Public Fellowship for the 2022-2023 academic year. Awarded by the Arts and Humanities Forum at the University of Oklahoma, the fellowship’s purpose is to foster an interdisciplinary intellectual exchange among a diverse group of scholars around a shared theme.
The theme for this year’s fellowship is “Porous,” and Zinguer applied to the fellowship in order to further develop her book manuscript Model Desert: A Cultural History of the Sandbox. With the Forum Public Fellowship’s support, Zinguer is writing the introductory chapter, entitled “Grains of Sand.” This introduction focuses on the porous nature of the physical material sand as well as the use of sand as a common literary allegory for experimentation, transformation, and becoming.
Children playing in sandbox at Tulare migrant camp, California, 1940.
Arthur Rothstein, FSA/OWI Collection, Library of Congress.
Another part of the fellowship’s mission is to engage the larger community and the public sphere. Professor Zinguer will present a public lecture about the history of the sandbox, a public space that is almost always shared. The lecture will bridge the disciplines of education and pedagogy, architecture and its history, urban design and landscape architecture, as well as art and art history.
The talk will encompass notions of childhood and creativity, play, architecture and the city, and art. It will also discuss literary pieces that involve aspects of sand. It will appeal to a diverse audience. Anyone who has ever played in a sandbox and remembers the experience fondly will enjoy the lecture.
The lecture will take place on May 4, 2023, at ARTSPACE@Untitled, 1 NE 3rd Street, Oklahoma City, in the Deep Deuce District. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. for refreshments. The lecture will start at 6 p.m., followed by a reception at 7 p.m.
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