Sept. 17, 1998 Contact: Charlotte Crystal (804) 924-6858 VIRGINIA FILM FESTIVAL AND BAYLY ART MUSEUM CO-SPONSOR BEAT GENERATION REUNION: UNFORGETTABLE PERFORMANCE SERIES Mention the "Beat Generation" and Jack Kerouac's stream-of-consciousness novel, On the Road, and Allen Ginsberg's epic poem, Howl, spring immediately to mind. But there was much more to the flowering of creativity nurtured by the controversial Beat movement in New York City and San Francisco in the 1950s and 60s. Art, music, poetry, prose, photography, filmmaking: the Beat Generation did it all. The Bayly Art Museum is celebrating this creative period in the American arts by co hosting an exciting series of performances and events with the Virginia Film Festival. The centerpiece of these programs will be "Glory Days: The Beat Generation Photographs of Fred W. McDarrah," a Bayly Art Museum exhibit that will run from Oct. 2 through Dec. 23. Picture editor of the Village Voice for 35 years, McDarrah produced a photographic chronicle of the Beats. Many of McDarrah's evocative photographs -- reflecting the "glory days" of poetry readings, jazz, cafe life, parties, performances and the ordinary life of extraordinary Americans -- will be on display. Other events include: * First Fridays Reception -- Reception for the "Glory Days" exhibit at the Bayly Art Museum on Friday, Oct. 2, 4:30-6:30 p.m. * Exhibition lecture -- "The Beat Period: What Was Happening, What It Meant and How It Significantly Related to American Artistic Tradition, Far Eastern Art and Thought, and European Phenomenology and Existentialism," by Neil Chassman. Chassman was a member of the New York poetry scene in the 1960s and curator of the ground-breaking exhibition "Poets of the Cities: New York and San Francisco, 1950-65." Thursday, Oct. 22, 5:30 p.m., Campbell Hall 158 * Lecture and performance -- "The Art of Hans Hofmann," a slide presentation by filmmaker Ken Jacobs, former student of Hofmann. Friday, Oct. 30, noon, at the Bayly Art Museum MORE 2 * Retrospective Screening: The Jack Smith/Ken Jacobs Collaborations, including "Blond Cobra" and "Little Stabs at Happiness." Saturday, Oct. 31, 11 a.m., Campbell Hall 158 * Panel -- "The Art of Spontaneity," a group discussion by Beat Generation artists Ken Jacobs, composer and musician David Amram, writer and musician Ed Sanders, poet and novelist Diane di Prima and Fred McDarrah and his wife Gloria. They will explore the artistic and spiritual movements of the postwar avant garde: jazz improvisation, Beat poetry, underground film, Abstract Expressionism and Zen Buddhism. Saturday, Oct. 31, 1 p.m., Campbell Hall 158 * Performances -- A special screening of Robert Frank and Alfred Leslie's 1958 classic film, "Pull My Daisy!" will open the evening. Then, "A Beat Generation Reunion," an unforgettable gathering of legendary Beat Generation artists, David Amram, Diane di Prima and Ed Sanders (of the Fugs), will follow. Di Prima will read her poetry to an accompaniment by Amram; Sanders will sing and read his poetry accompanied by several of his invented musical instruments; and Amram will perform "From Cairo to Kerouac: Jazz and World Music," accompanied by a local bassist and percussionist. Saturday, Oct. 31, 7 p.m., Culbreth Theatre, $15 * Gallery Tour -- Fred and Gloria McDarrah will conduct a gallery tour of the Bayly Art Museum "Glory Days" exhibit. Sunday, Nov. 1, 2 p.m., Bayly Art Museum * Performance -- "Nervous System Performance: Two Wrenching Departures," Ken Jacobs bids farewell to his late friends Jack Smith and Bob Fleischner. Sunday, Nov. 1, 1 p.m., Vinegar Hill Theatre. Tickets are $6 in advance; $7 after Oct. 29 This year marks the 11th annual Virginia Film Festival, co-sponsored by the University of Virginia, which brings internationally recognized film industry figures to Charlottesville. The theme of this year's festival, which runs from Oct. 29 to Nov. 1, is "Cool." ### For more information about the Bayly Art Museum exhibit, call Jill Hartz, museum director at (804) 924-3592. For more information about the Virginia Film Festival, call Richard Herskowitz, director, at (804) 982-5277. For tickets to "A Beat Generation Reunion," and "Nervous System Performance," call the Virginia Film Festival at (804) 982-5277 or 1-800-UVA-FEST. Visit the film festival website at http://minerva.acc.virginia.edu/~vafilm Television reporters should contact the TV News Office at (804) 924-7550.