Wege Center for the Arts Launches David T. Hanson Artist Lecture Series with Storytelling Performance by Milbre Burch
The Wege Center for the Arts at Maharishi International University is pleased to announce the creation of the David T. Hanson Artist Lecture Series, a new annual program highlighting accomplished artists, curators, and art historians whose work explores creativity, culture, and consciousness.
The inaugural presentation will feature an oral storytelling performance for adult listeners by internationally recognized storyteller Milbre Burch on Saturday, January 17, 2026, at the Wege Center’s Ross Theater.
Titled “What Happens When You Really Listen – Oral Storytelling in the 21st Century,” the hour-long performance begins at 2:30 pm CST and will take place in the auditorium of the Wege Center for the Arts on the campus of Maharishi International University in Fairfield.
During the performance, Burch will share global folktales, original stories, and character monologues drawn from her nearly fifty-year career. Between stories, she will explore the visual and co-creative aspects of oral storytelling, as well as the phenomenon known as the storytelling trance. A Q & A session will follow the performance.
Milbre Burch is a GRAMMY-nominated spoken-word recording artist, internationally known storyteller, published writer, poet, scholar, and produced playwright. Since 1978, she has performed and taught throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia, using storytelling as a tool to explore social justice themes and human connection. She currently serves as a guest lecturer on folklore and performance as a Research Collaborator in the American Studies Department at the University of North Carolina. Burch made her ninth appearance at the National Storytelling Festival in 2023 and was a teller-in-residence at the International Storytelling Center in 2025. She holds a PhD in Theatre and Performance Studies from the University of Missouri.
The lecture series is named in honor of David T. Hanson, a photographer, environmentalist, writer, and educator best known for his work examining the contemporary American landscape. Hanson taught Photography and Landscape Architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design from 1983 to 2000 and has received numerous honors, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and two National Endowment for the Arts fellowships. His work has been exhibited internationally, with five monographs published to date, most recently The Cloud of Unknowing (2019). A selection of Hanson’s photographs from India will be included in an upcoming exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
Event Details
Wege Center for the Arts
111 Dr. Robert Keith Wallace Dr., MIU
Fairfield, IA
Hours: Monday–Friday, 10:00 am–3:30 pm | Saturdays by appointment
Contact: Susan Metrican, smetrican@miu.edu
Website: wegecenter.org
Department of Art, Consciousness, & Creative Practice
