Creative Misuse
Vera Klement, Painter Who Saw Both Beauty and Evil, Dies at 93
![UChicago Photographic Archive, [adf1-10271], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collection Research Center, University of Chicago Library](https://humanities.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/styles/medium_retina/public/field/image/Vera-Klement.jpeg?itok=Db38JiKP "UChicago Photographic Archive, [adf1-10271], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collection Research Center, University of Chicago Library")
Ms. Klement, a Holocaust survivor who was known for paintings that combined elements of Abstract Expressionism and figurative art, died on Oct. 20 in Evanston, Ill. She was 93.
Her death, at a retirement home, was confirmed by Max Shapey, her son. It was not widely reported outside Chicago.
Ms. Klement’s paintings — of basic subjects like trees, landscapes and human figures — were influenced by her love of music and literature.
Perspective: An Ode to my BYU Major
My college days of studying humanities almost 20 years ago sprang to mind this week when I read Martha Nussbaum’s essay about her visit to Utah Valley University last year.
Nussbaum, a philosopher and professor at the University of Chicago, had been invited to give a lecture on justice for nonhuman animals, the topic of her new book “Justice for Animals: Our Collective Responsibility.” She wrote in The Chronicle of Higher Education that at UVU, she witnessed “one of the most heartening scenes in higher education that I have ever witnessed in my long career.”
Setting the Scene
Growing up in Kankakee, Illinois, Rich Murray was a Star Wars fan—and not just a casual one. He knew the movies beginning to end. He bought the books. And he especially loved the action figures, which he collected diligently and still owns today.
But there was a problem. “Loved the figures,” says Murray, “disliked the play sets”—the plastic backdrops that accompanied the toys. To his exacting eye, they were never quite right and often didn’t function as advertised. So Murray, AB’94, took matters into his own hands, rebuilding the play sets out of cardboard so he could create the perfect scenery for Luke, Leia, and Han’s adventures.
It was, in retrospect, Murray’s very first gig in set design (unpaid, nonunion). In the years since, he’s swapped scissors and cardboard for paint and furniture, but he’s still chasing the same goal: scenery that makes a story feel real.
Prof. Jonathan Lear To Examine Gratitude in 2024 Ryerson Lecture
Prof. Jonathan Lear, a preeminent scholar of philosophy and ethics, will deliver the 2024 Nora and Edward Ryerson Lecture on April 2 at 5 p.m. in the Rubenstein Forum’s Friedman Hall.
Since 1972, University of Chicago faculty have nominated one of their peers who has made “research contributions of lasting significance” to deliver the Ryerson Lecture to the members of the UChicago community. The event is free and open to the public and will be webcast on UChicago’s digital channels.
“It is an honor to be invited to give the Ryerson Lecture,” said Lear, the John U. Nef Distinguished Service Professor in the Committee on Social Thought, the Department of Philosophy and the College. “I am delighted and very much look forward to trying out some ideas with my colleagues.”
