BOONE—The history of the innovative Black Mountain College is the focus of the Oct. 27 Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series at Appalachian State University.

William C. Rice and Katherine Chaddock will read from their published works about the college that operated from 1933-57.

Their reading will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Plemmons Student Union’s Parkway Ballroom. Admission is free and the public is invited to attend.

Black Mountain College combined the study and practice of art as an integral part of students’ general liberal arts education. According to an online history of the college, “it was owned and operated by the faculty and was committed to democratic governance and to the idea that the arts are central to the experience of learning.”

Rice is director of the Division of Education Programs of the National Endowment for the Humanities. His publications include essays, articles, reviews and verse. He and Mark Bauerlein recently republished “I Came Out of the Eighteenth Century,” a memoir by John Andrew Rice, founder of Black Mountain College (University of South Carolina Press). William Rice is the grandson of John Andrew Rice.

Chaddock is a distinguished professor emerita from the University of South Carolina and the author of John Andrew Rice’s biography, “Visions and Vanities: John Andrew Rice of Black Mountain College.”

This program, sponsored by Appalachian’s Watauga Residential College, in collaboration with Carol Grotnes Belk Library and Information Commons, is part of Watauga Residential College’s ongoing series titled The Black Mountain Lectures.

The Visiting Writers Series is named in honor of Hughlene Bostian Frank (class of 1968), 2013 Appalachian Alumni Association Outstanding Service Award recipient, past trustee and generous supporter of the university.

The Visiting Writers Series is also supported by the Appalachian State University Foundation, Appalachian’s Office of Academic Affairs, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of English, the Summer Reading Program, the University Bookstore, Carol Grotnes Belk Library and Information Commons, Watauga Residential College, and the Appalachian Journal. Business sponsors are The Gideon Ridge Inn and The Red Onion Restaurant. Community sponsors include John and the late Margie Idol, Paul and Judy Tobin, Alice Naylor, Thomas McLaughlin and The High Country Writers.

Parking is free on campus after 5 p.m. Event organizers recommend those attending the series use the College Street Parking Deck (from King Street, turn down College Street at the First Baptist Church), which opens to the public weekdays at 5:30 p.m. To reach the student union, cross College Street and follow the walkway between the chiller plant and the University Bookstore, passing the post office and entering the student union on the second floor.

For further parking information or a map, visit http://parking.appstate.edu or call the Parking and Traffic Office at 828-262-2878. A campus map showing Plemmons Student Union is online at http://studentunion.appstate.edu/pagesmith/54.

For additional information on the Visiting Writers Series season, email [email protected]. To receive Appalachian’s “This Week in the Arts” announcements by email, contact [email protected].

About Appalachian State University

As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, cost-effective education. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.

What do you think?

Share your feedback on this story.