The Leading Edge

Thursday, Oct. 22

Country artist Jackson Michelson and GRAMMY Museum Director Bob Santelli will be headlining this year’s Homecoming

How Country Music Became America’s Popular Music — A multimedia keynote presentation from Bob Santelli, Executive Director of the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles. Santelli will talk about the pervasiveness of country music in today’s popular music scene, and whether country greats like Hank Williams and Johnny Cash are still relevant. Santelli will answer these questions and more in a scholarly talk on the phenomena of country music’s presence in American popular culture. 7 to 8 p.m., The LaSells Stewart Center. Free and open to the public.

Friday, Oct. 23

Alumni Fellows and Young Alumni Award Celebration — The Oregon State University Alumni Association will honor six alumni fellows and one distinguished young alumna at a celebration on 5 p.m., at the CH2M HILL Alumni Center. One of these alumni is Mary Carlin Yates, a 1968 CLA (English) graduate. She lives in Vancouver, Washington, is a former U.S. ambassador to Ghana and has received appointments from three U.S. presidents. Tickets are $30 for OSUAA members, $35 for nonmembers and $15 for students.

Homecoming Concert with Jackson Michelson — American Country singer/songwriter and Corvallis native Michelson returns home to play a concert with the Grange Hall Drifters. 8 p.m., Student Experience Center Plaza. Free and open to the public.

Saturday, Oct. 24

Fairbanks Gallery of Art will be open special hours today, from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Visitors will get to see an exhibit of contemporary Japanese prints. This exhibition offers a glimpse into the diverse world of contemporary Japanese printmaking featuring artists ranging from 26 to 91 years of age, working in Japan and other adopted countries and many of whom have never been exhibited in the United States.