“It’s Not What You Think It Is,” oil on canvas, 88 by 108 inches, by Art Rosenbaum, 2005. Fine artist and musician Art Rosenbaum will visit Western Carolina University for an artist’s presentation Nov. 19 and a documentary screening Nov. 20.

The multitalented Art Rosenbaum, painter, illustrator, muralist and collector and performer of traditional American folk music, will be on the campus of Western Carolina University in November as part of the School of Art and Design’s Visiting Artist Series.

Events planned are:

- An artist’s presentation from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19, in Room 130 of the Fine and Performing Arts Center. Rosenbaum’s slideshow presentation will focus on his artwork, although he may showcase music that serves as background to some of his work.

- A screening of the documentary “Sing My Troubles By” from 2-3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20, in the Mountain Heritage Center auditorium. “Sing My Troubles By” was directed by Neil Rosenbaum, Art Rosenbaum’s son, and pays homage to women in Georgia carrying on traditional music. Art Rosenbaum will be on hand for the screening and afterward will participate in a question-and-answer session.

All events are free and open to the public.

Rosenbaum earned a master of fine arts in painting at Columbia University and painted in France as a Fulbright Scholar. An artist for more than six decades, Rosenbaum has exhibited his work throughout the United States – including the Corcoran’s 41st Biennial of American Painting – and abroad. His work is represented in many collections, and he has created murals in public venues including the including the University of California at Los Angeles’ School of Law.

Rosenbaum and his wife, Margo, a photographer with whom he often collaborates, live in Athens, Ga., where he is a faculty member emeritus of painting and drawing at the University of Georgia’s Lamar Dodd School of Art. In 2003, he received a Governor of Georgia’s Award in the Humanities.

Rosenbaum also is a musician who both performs and collects traditional American folk music. He appears at folk festivals, has released his own recordings, and has written and illustrated instructional books on the banjo style. His fieldwork collecting folk music in the South and Midwest has yielded more than 14 documentary recordings, and inspires his fine art. In 2007, Art and Margo Rosenbaum released a compact disc set called “Art of Field Recording: Volume I,” traditional American music accompanied by a book with essays, photographs and illustrations.

The Visiting Artist Series is made possible by the Visiting Artists Fund of the Office of the Provost with support from the College of Fine and Performing Arts, the School of Art and Design, the Fine Art Museum, the Ward Endowment Fund for Ceramics, the Godfrey Seminar on the Business Crafts, and friends of the School of Arts and Design.

For more information about Rosenbaum’s visit, contact Marie Cochran, assistant professor in the School of Art and Design, at (828) 227-3599 or mcochran@email.wcu.edu.

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Last modified Friday, Nov. 8, 2008.