3:40 p.m., Feb. 28, 2011----Renowned sculptor Melvin Edwards and famous poet and performance artist Jayne Cortez will be the featured speakers for the 2011 Paul R. Jones Lecture, which is scheduled at 6 p.m., Monday, March 7, in the Trabant University Center Theatre.

The free public program, “Visual/Verbal Dialogue,” is a ratre collaborative presentation, providing an exceptional opportunity for their personal, political and artistic voices to come together in celebration of the arts.

Both speakers bring with them years of experience and impressive resumes.

Edwards, one of America's most widely collected and sought after contemporary sculptors, has regularly exhibited sculptures and prints since the 1960s. Drawing inspiration from Africa, where he currently spends several months each year working as a sculptor in Sengal, Edwards has created a politically and aesthetically profound body of art. His sculptures are in the permanent collections of several major institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City; the Houston Museum of Fine Arts; and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Cortez has written 10 books of poetry and performs her poetry with music on nine recordings. President of the Organization of Women Writers of Africa Inc., she has presented her work and ideas at universities, museums and festivals in Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, the Caribbean and the United States. She is well known for her political, surrealistic, dynamic innovations in lyricism and visceral sound. Her many honors include awards from Arts International and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as the International African Festival Award, the Langston Hughes Award and the American Book Award.

The lecture, sponsored by the Paul R. jones Initiative of the University of Delaware, is held in conjunction with the University Museums' Bodyscapes exhibition at Mechanical Hall Gallery and is part of the Art of Liberation Visiting Artists Lecture Series, which is funded by the Interdisciplinary Humanities Research Center and the Delaware Humanities Forum. For more information, visit www.udel.edu/art and www.udel.edu/museums.

Article by Greta Gibboney