Georgia Museum of Art exhibits works by alumnus Charles Ritchie Suburban Journals: The Sketchbooks, Drawings, and Prints of Charles Ritchie, an exhibition that brings home one of the University of Georgia’s most innovative artists, will be on view at the Georgia Museum of Art through Aug. 14. Charles Ritchie, a contemporary Maryland artist, has spent much of the past two decades filling journals with written notations and watercolor studies of subjects he has encountered from his suburban home. The exhibition comprises a collection of his works from journals from 1983 to the present and is divided into three thematic sections—still lifes, landscapes and self-portraits. Working primarily in black and white, Ritchie places emphasis on dark and light contrasts. Shadows engulf his compositions, obscuring details and evoking a sense of subtle drama. The paintings and prints he derives from his sketches are small, often the size of a postcard. In each of the small-scale works, Ritchie invites the viewer to participate in an intimate scene from his environment and, in this exhibition, to understand the resulting process. “The pictures begin with the scene but aim to move deeper,” Ritchie says. “Over years of scrutiny, my subjects have accrued greater meaning and mystery for me.” One of the most telling examples of this is Ritchie’s 1983 work Rocking Chair. Originally it began as a journal study in black watercolor, and it became the basis for a drawing done in watercolor, graphite, and pen and ink. It was translated into a mezzotint print more than a decade later, and Ritchie eliminated almost all detail to accentuate space. Ritchie, who is currently a curator at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., typically observes his subjects in the early morning hours. The dawning of a new day helps illuminate his subjects in a unique and beautiful way. Ritchie earned his B.F.A. from the University of Georgia in 1977 and immediately embarked on his career as an artist. He earned an M.F.A. from Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh in 1980 and is a three-time recipient of the Maryland State Arts Council’s Individual Artist Award. Some of his work is now part of the public collections of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; the Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio; and the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University. —Johnathan McGinty

Art exhibitions.
Suburban Journals: The Sketchbooks, Drawings, and Prints of Charles Ritchie. Through Aug. 14. Georgia Museum of Art. Open 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m.–9 p.m. Wednesday; and 1–5 p.m. Sunday. 542-4662.

Diane Arbus: Family Albums. Through Aug. 14. Georgia Museum of Art. Open 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m.–9 p.m. Wednesday; and 1–5 p.m. Sunday. 542-4662.

The exhibition’s title refers to Diane Arbus’s desire to produce an extraordinary family album. Arbus was interested in compiling metaphorical images of the 1960s American family, and she spent the decade gathering pictures from different individuals with the ultimate goal of preserving a mixture of modern American lifestyles.

Sacred Art, Secular Context: Objects of Art from the Byzantine Collection of Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C., Accompanied by American Paintings from the Collection of Mildred and Robert Woods Bliss. Through Nov. 6. Georgia Museum of Art. Open 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m.–9 p.m. Wednesday; and 1–5 p.m. Sunday. 542-4662.

Discoveries at Carthage: Works of Carved Bone and Ivory. Through Aug. 14. Georgia Museum of Art. Open 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m.–9 p.m. Wednesday; and 1–5 p.m. Sunday. 542-4662.

Photography from the Permanent Collection. Through Aug. 14. Georgia Museum of Art. Open 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m.–9 p.m. Wednesday; and 1–5 p.m. Sunday. 542-4662.

Circling the Muse. Through July 30. Hill Atrium, Georgia Center. Sponsored by Georgia Center for Continuing Education. 542-9334.

Exhibit.
Feast Your Eyes: The Unexpected Beauty of Vegetable Gardens. Through Aug. 14. Conservatory. Open Tuesday–Saturday, 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m.; Sunday 11:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Sponsored by State Botanical Garden. 542-1244.

Feast Your Eyes: The Unexpected Beauty of Vegetable Gardens, a Smithsonian traveling exhibition, traces the visual appeal of vegetable gardens across centuries, continents and cultures, from the floating gardens of the Aztecs and the highly manicured potager of Louis XIV’s Versailles to the emergence of World War II victory gardens in America.

The exhibition, the second in the American Garden Legacy exhibition series, will remain on view through Aug. 14 and then continue on a national tour through 2007.

Feast Your Eyes brings together images from the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Gardens, as well as images and documents from other museums and repositories, to chart the history of vegetables’ exclusion from ornamental gardens to their surprising comeback during the past 20 years. The exhibition concludes with “vegettes,” whimsical tales of vegetables now popular in both public and private gardens.

Monday, July 11
Lunch and Learn Seminar.
Teen Challenge Atlanta. $20 ($15 members). 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m. 214 Student Learning Center. Sponsored by Alumni Association. 542-8199.

Teen Challenge Atlanta offers residential and outreach programming designed to help communities deal with life-controlling behavior. The Atlanta branch is part of Teen Challenge Georgia International, an organization that boasts the highest success rates in addiction rehabilitation nationwide.

Representatives will give a brief overview of Teen Challenge and explain how the UGA community can get involved with this meaningful program.

Presenters include Teen Challenge Georgia International directors Tim and Barbara Newborn and program director Alisa Hall Flanery.

Tuesday, July 12
Research Computing Town Hall Meeting.
2–3:30 p.m. 137 Tate Student Center. Sponsored by Office of Vice President for Research. nesmithj@uga.edu.

Brian Savory, executive director of the Southern Light Rail Consortium, will provide an update on ongoing research and opportunities in the Southern Light Rail and National LambdaRail optical research networks.

Other presentations will incorporate updates on high-performance computing and high-speed networking initiatives at UGA, including grid computing, a new HPC Linux cluster, and different techniques for utilizing the connections between UGA and other GRA institutions, research universities, government agencies and national laboratories.

Sunflower Concert on the Lawn.
Tim Easton. $15 (members $10). 7–9 p.m. State Botanical Garden. 542-6014.

Tickets must be purchased in advance and are non-refundable. Bring blanket and picnic; no lawn chairs allowed.

Wednesday, July 13
Last day of class.
School of Law.

Workshop.
“Cooking in the Garden: Vegetables for the Gourmet.” Sheila Bradley, Café Trumps. $25 (members $22). 6:30–8:30 p.m. Café Trumps. Sponsored by State Botanical Garden. 542-6156.

Classic Foreign Film.
Early Summer, by Yasujiro Ozu; in Japanese with English subtitles. 7 p.m. Griffith Auditorium. Sponsored by Georgia Museum of Art. 542-4662.

Ozu’s family tale seems simple, but closer study reveals an intensely structured and emotionally complex story. Early Summer tells the story of the Mamiya family’s efforts to marry off their headstrong 28-year-old daughter, Noriko. Noriko’s late-breaking decision to marry sends unexpected shock waves through three generations of her close-knit family and provides a portrait of liberated womanhood in post-war Japan.

Thursday, July 14
Bulldog Breakfast Club.
Guest host: W. Keith McNeely Sr., ’89, director of human and economic development, Athens–Clarke County. $10 members. 8:30–9:15 a.m. Wray-Nicholson House. Sponsored by Alumni Association. Reservations: 542-8199.

Friday, July 15
ISL Pool Social.
Free lemonade and music; families welcome. 8–10 p.m. Legion Pool. Sponsored by International Student Life.
542-5867.

Saturday, July 16
Family Day.
“Summer Sketchbooks.” 10 a.m.–noon. Georgia Museum of Art. 542-0448.

Charity Golf Tournament.
“Bulldogs Battling Breast Cancer.” 2:30 p.m. UGA golf course. Sponsored by football team. www.bulldogsbattlingbreastcancer.com.

Wednesday, July 20
Drive-in Movie.
National Treasure. $2 (students free). 9 p.m. Legion Field. Sponsored by University Union. 542-6396.

Friday, July 22
Gallery Talk.
Asen Kirin on Sacred Art, Secular Context exhibition. 2 p.m. Odum Gallery. Sponsored by Georgia Museum of Art. 542-4662.

ISL Pool Social.
Free lemonade and music; families welcome. 8–10 p.m. Legion Pool. Sponsored by International Student Life.
542-5867.

Saturday, July 23
Workshop.
“Full Moon Cooperative Farm Tour.” Jason Mann, ecology. $10 (members $9). 8–11 a.m. Meet at shade garden arbor. Sponsored by State Botanical Garden. 542-6156.

Sunday, July 24
Art History Lecture.
“The Legend of Pope Joan.” James Czarnecki, University of Nebraska. 5:30 p.m. Griffith Auditorium. Sponsored by Georgia Museum of Art. 542-4662.

Coming up
Last day of class.
Summer semester and short session II. Aug. 2.

Final exams.
Short session II. Aug. 3; summer semester Aug. 3–5.

Commencement.
Aug. 6, 9:30 a.m. Stegeman Coliseum.

Sunflower Concert on the Lawn.
Grogus. $15 (members $10). Aug. 9, 7–9 p.m. State Botanical Garden. 542-6014.