Join College of Western Idaho’s (CWI) Visiting Artist Series in welcoming artist and dancer, Amy O’Brien, to Nampa Campus Academic Building (NCAB) on Thursday, April 6, and Friday, April 7, for a presentation and workshop.
O’Brien grew up in La Jolla, California, and danced professionally in New York City, appearing in numerous Broadway productions, including the Tony Award-winning musical, Anything Goes, at Lincoln Center. Her concert dance work includes four years with Twyla Tharp’s company, highlighted by an appearance on the PBS series, Dance In America, in a filmed performance of Tharp’s acclaimed work, In the Upper Room.
O’Brien toured with Mikhail Baryshnikov and his White Oak Dance Project. Baryshnikov later commissioned O’Brien to choreograph a work for his company, which premiered in New York and was performed throughout Europe and the United States. She was resident choreographer to the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival for five seasons and collaborated with acclaimed singer/songwriters and recording artists Suzzy and Maggie Roche on a theatrical project based on their album, Zero Church, which was performed at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn, New York. O’Brien most recently choreographed a new musical, The Show on the Roof, which premiered at Boise Contemporary Theater Spring of 2022.
O’Brien developed The Art Space, an installation-based gallery, housed within The Eagle Performing Arts Center, and was co-curator for the Modern Art Event at The Modern Hotel in Boise for six years. She is co-founder of The Atlanta School, an Art and Architecture School located in the rugged mountain town at the foot of The Sawtooth Wilderness Area. She has a love of authentic environments, creating experiences for people in those spaces, and has been saving, restoring, and revitalizing historic buildings in Atlanta, Idaho since 1998.
O’Brien is currently creating installations and performative pieces inspired by nuclear waste superfund sites, anti-nuclear activists, and nuclear non-proliferation.
Join us as O’Brien presents a lecture about the idea of an artist working as a preservationist and the work she does in Atlanta, Idaho restoring and revitalizing historic buildings.
Nampa Campus Academic Building (NCAB), room 106
In addition to a lecture, O’Brien will also host a dancing workshop that relates to her experience performing and choreographing around the world. All are welcome to attend, no previous experience is required.
Participants are encouraged to wear comfortable clothing and sneakers.
Nampa Campus Academic Building (NCAB), room 206
CWI’s Visiting Artist Series is made possible through a grant from the Idaho Commission of Arts, which is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts. Visual Artist Series events are free and open to the public.
For those with questions or in need of more information, please contact Goran Fazil at goranfazil@cwi.edu.
