New Mural by Scherezade Garcia on View in the Miller Theatre Lobby, Beginning Today

The Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary artist Scherezade Garcia is transforming the Miller Theatre lobby into an all-encompassing work that will surround viewers with water-like drawings flowing through the space.

In Transit/Liquid Highway will be unveiled tonight, September 15, 2015 at a reception from 5:00-7:00 p.m. The event will include a brief Creative Conversation with the artist, co-sponsored by the University's Arts Initiative.

This new work will explore migrants' willingness to face what Garcia calls "the liquid frontier," the wildly dangerous and unknown ocean that stands between them and a new life.

In Garcia's own words: "The land we inhabit is surrounded by water. My mural uses paint and silkscreened images of water. Entitled In Transit/Liquid Highway, its imagery alludes to the liquid route that migrants from all over the world must take to reach another land of opportunity on their journey."

Garcia's immersive large-scale work will be displayed throughout the 2015-16 season, greeting thousands of concertgoers as they arrive for performances over the course of the year.

This exhibit marks the third annual collaboration between Columbia's two major artistic presenting spaces, The Wallach Art Gallery and Miller Theatre. Garcia's mural succeeds the energizing and electrifying piece from Maya Hayuk's Chem Trails series that adorned the walls last season.

From Miller Theatre Executive Director Melissa Smey: "This September at Miller Theatre is a month full of new creations. As Simon Steen-Andersen composes his piece for Opening Night using Miller Theatre as his instrument, artist Scherezade Garcia will be installing her brand new mural in the Miller Theatre Lobby. We are opening our doors (and walls and ceilings) to artists to help them realize their visions, and we could not be more proud to be a space where creation is never limited to a stage or a rehearsal room. This residency marks our third collaboration with Deborah Cullen and The Wallach Art Gallery, and I can't wait to see how Scherezade transforms our lobby and makes it her own."

Deborah Cullen, Director and Chief Curator of the Wallach Art Gallery, adds: "I am extremely proud to have this opportunity to present Scherezade's work on campus. I first met Scherezade in the 1980s, shortly after her arrival in New York, at Robert Blackburn's Printmaking Workshop, and I have been following her work ever since. As the Dominican population has grown to be the largest Latino group in New York, it's become ever more important that we learn about the richness of this culture and the many, many active Dominican artists in the city."

Located on Broadway at 116th Street, the Miller Theatre lobby is open to the public Monday through Friday, from 10am to 6pm, and beginning two hours before each scheduled performance. Directions and information is available online at www.millertheatre.com or via the Miller Theatre Box Office, at 212.854.7799.

About Scherezade Garcia (scherezade.net) - Scherezade Garcia was born in the Dominican Republic and has lived in New York since she arrived in 1986 to attend Parsons The New School for Design on a full merit scholarship. She received her AAS from the Altos de Chavon School of Design (an affiliate of Parsons) in La Romana, Dominican Republic; her BFA from Parsons The New School for Design, NYC; and her MFA from The City College of New York. Garcia is currently a faculty member at Parsons The New School for Design.

Her work frequently evokes memories of a faraway home and the hopes and dreams that nurture the roots planted in a new land. Garcia's work is represented in the permanent collections of The Smithsonian Museum of American Art (Washington, DC); El Museo del Barrio (NYC); The Housatonic Museum of Art (CT); and El Museo de Arte Moderno (Santo Domingo, DR).

Garcia has exhibited at institutions across the tri-state area, including Sugar Hill Children's Museum of Art & Storytelling, El Museo del Barrio and The Nathan Cummings Foundation (Manhattan); BRIC and Long Island University (Brooklyn); Lehman College Art Gallery (the Bronx); and Governors Island; as well as Jersey City Museum and Newark Museum of Art (NJ); The Smithsonian Museum of American Art (Washington, DC); and El Museo de Arte Moderno (Santo Domingo). Her work has been included in the Havana Biennale, Cuba and the Caribbean Biennial, Santo Domingo, and she is represented by Lyle Reitzel Art Gallery in Santo Domingo, DR. Scherezade Garcia's work has been reviewed in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Art Nexus, and El Diario NY, among others.

About The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery (www.columbia.edu/cu/wallach) - The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery advances Columbia University's historical, critical, and creative engagement with the visual arts. Serving as both a laboratory and forum, The Wallach Art Gallery offers opportunities for curatorial practice and discourse while bridging the diverse approaches to the arts at the University with a broader public. Established in 1986, The Wallach Art Gallery is Columbia University's premier visual arts space. The gallery is a platform for critically acclaimed exhibitions, a dynamic range of programming, and publications that have made lasting contributions to scholarship.

About Miller Theatre at Columbia University (www.millertheatre.com) - Miller Theatre at Columbia University is the leading presenter of new music in New York City and one of the most vital forces nationwide for innovative programming. In partnership with Columbia University School of the Arts, Miller is dedicated to producing and presenting unique events in dance, contemporary and early music, jazz, opera, and performance. Founded in 1988 with funding from John Goelet, Brooke Astor, and the Kathryn Bache Miller Fund, Miller Theatre has built a reputation for attracting new and diverse audiences to the performing arts and expanding public knowledge of contemporary music. Columbia University's Miller Theatre is located north of the Main Campus Gate at 116th St. & Broadway on the ground floor of Dodge Hall.

Pictured: Scherezade Garcia with In Transit/Liquid Highway (2015) in Miller Theatre's lobby.