Marywood University Events

Marywood University Featuring Graduating Students’ Artwork

The work of graduating Bachelor of Fine Arts students in the areas of graphic design, photography, illustration, and painting is on display in Marywood University’s Mahady Gallery through May 6. Additionally, the work of graduating Bachelor of Arts students in the area of art therapy is featured in the Suraci Gallery through May 6.

The Senior Art Exhibit is free and open to the public. The Mahady and Suraci Galleries are located in the Shields Center for Visual Arts on Marywood University’s campus, and hours for both galleries are: Mondays, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Tuesdays-Fridays 10 a.m.-4 p.m., and Saturdays, 1-4 p.m.

Ribbon Cutting for the Living City Lab at Marywood University Set for May 4

A ribbon-cutting ceremony will formally kick off the Living City Lab at Marywood University on Thursday, May 4, 1 p.m., in the Insalaco Center for Studio Arts, where the Living City Lab at Marywood University is located. Along with Sister Mary Persico, IHM, Marywood president, Center for the Living City Executive Director Maria MacDonald, invited dignitaries, and guests will be in attendance at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, including Kimberly Dowdell, incoming president of the American Institute of Architects; current and former Mayors of Scranton and Dunmore; and members of the Board of Trustees of Marywood University and the Center for the Living City.

The date of the event is significant, because it marks the birthday of Jane Jacobs and also commemorates “Jane Jacobs Day” and the 2^nd Biennial Observe Scranton: Jane Jacobs’s First City Festival in Scranton. Jane Jacobs (1916-2006), a Scranton native, was an urbanist and activist whose writings championed a fresh, community-based approach to city building. She had no formal training as a planner, yet her 1961 treatise, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, introduced groundbreaking ideas about how cities function, evolve, and fail. The impact of her observation, activism, and writing has led to a planning blueprint for generations of architects, planners, politicians, and activists to practice.

The Center for the Living City holds the singular distinction of being the only urbanist organization founded in collaboration with Jane Jacobs. In the years since its 2005 founding by a group of activists, practitioners, and academics, the Center has become a leading global urbanist organization. Maria MacDonald, program director of interior architecture at Marywood University, serves as the executive director of the Center for the Living City. The mission is to inspire civic engagement and leadership development, invite creative urban solutions, and expand the understanding of the ecology of cities. Keeping the next generation and activists engaged with community and actively participating in their cities is at the heart of the Center’s mission—by everybody, for everybody.

The Living City Lab at Marywood University is a co-created space for experiential learning, where students address global challenges on a local scale. It consists of three key components: education, projects, and networking. Through integrated coursework rooted in urban ecology and sustainability, students across all disciplines create action-oriented local impact, work on real-life public design projects, connect with and learn from community leaders and mentors, and develop strong interdisciplinary career-connected pathways and local relationships.

Image ID: A line of colorful Adirondack chairs is the latest visual addition to the Living City Lab at Marywood University, located in the Insalaco Center for Studio Arts, also pictured. A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Living City Lab at Marywood University is set for May 4 at 1 p.m