The UNLV departments of art and dance have collaborated for a very special event - "Rita Asfour: Her Way" - at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct.11, in Artemus Ham Concert Hall. Robert Tracy curates the "Her Way" exhibition featuring ballet and showgirl costumes currently installed in the Peter Lind Hayes - Mary Healy Lobby Gallery of Ham Concert Hall. The event also features a panel discussion with Tracy, dance department chair Louis Kavouras, and dancer and Pilates instructor Dolly Kelepecz-Momot, as well as a very special dance department performance. The event is free and open to the public.
Rita Asfour was born in 1933 of Armenian-American heritage. A dynamic impressionist artist, Asfour was trained at the renowned Leonardo Da Vinci Academy where she earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in 1959.
Asfour's traditional, signature style is inspired by her various travels throughout Europe, the Americas, and the South Seas. After earning her fine arts degree, she traveled throughout Europe, supporting her creative exploits with a successful career as an illustrator. A magazine illustrator for five years at a popular Lebanese magazine in Beirut, Asfour's illustration work has graced several magazine covers, children's magazines, art books, and advertisements.
Rita Asfour experiments in several mediums including oil on canvas, pastel on board, and paper relief. Her sentimental oils and pastels enkindle the romantic ambiance of traditional art and consequently maintain her constant appeal. Several of Asfour's works are romantic images of women or children occupied by simple day-to-day frivolities. She paints life with such comfort and genteel spirit that she negates the distracting realities of today.
