In the Land of Pasaquan

Eddie Owens Martin, who called himself St. EOM, was the visionary artist behind Pasaquan, his home and created environment in Buena Vista, Georgia.  His mind, body, and soul went into every facet of creation behind this utopian complex. St EOM began his artistic journey as a painter, but then quickly became a self- taught, multifaceted artist who created a style composed of many artistic traditions including influences from Meso-American, African, and Eastern art and philosophies. 

Martin envisioned Pasaquan as a place where the past, present, and future could thrive under one roof, and St. EOM’s art work reflects these ideals. 

Pasaquan is currently under restoration by the dedicated workers of Kohler Foundation Inc. An introductory preview of this unique culture will be displayed on the first floor of the Simon Schwob Library August 10th to September 10th on Columbus State University’s main campus. Venture into the Land of Pasaquan!

Cultural Collaborations: Collecting and Preserving our Valley’s Cultural Heritage Panel Discussion

On April 30, 12:30-1:30pm, the Columbus Museum and the Columbus State University Archives will present a panel discussion of the city’s Jewish history with local residents. This panel is in conjunction with the Museum’s exhibition Shalom Y’All: The Valley’s Jewish Heritage, which is on view through July 13.

CSU history students have been collecting oral histories as part of this exhibit and for placement in the CSU Archives, which recently received a significant donation of archival materials from Temple Israel. This program is free and open to the public. Seating is limited. Lunch will be provided on a first come, first serve basis.

Muslim Journeys Book Discussion Group

Muslim Journeys Book Discussion Group

This fall, Paula Adams, Associate Professor of Library Science, will host a book discussion group in conjunction with the cultural event program, Muslim Journeys, hosted by Assistant Professor of Library Science, LuMarie Guth. Muslim Journeys is a grant awarded by the NEH & ALA to help public audiences in the United States to become more familiar with the people, places, history, faith and cultures of Muslims around the world and within the U.S. The grant includes the award of 25 books with 3 DVDs. One of the titles, House of Stone by Pulitzer Prize winning author, Anthony Shadid, will be the feature reading.

To join, please contact Paula Adams, CSU Main Library, Reference Suite 1^st floor(706.507.8685 or adams_paula@columbusstate.edu) no later than Friday, September 13^th to pick up a copy of the book. 15 copies will be given away with 7 copies available in the library for check out.

Muslim Journeys Book Discussion Group

Group meetings will take place at the CSU Libraries on main campus in the Reference Suite. Dates and times are listed below:

        September 25^th @ 5:30pm
  October 9^th @ 5:30pm
    October 23^rd @ 5:30pm
      November 6^th @ 5:30pm
        November 20^th @ 5:30pm

 House of Stone : A Memoir of Home, Family and a Lost Middle East  by Anthony Shadid

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (2012) 

“In the summer of 2006, racing through Lebanon to report on the Israeli invasion, Anthony Shadid found himself in his family’s ancestral hometown of Marjayoun. There, he discovered his great-grandfather’s once magnificent estate in near ruins, devastated by war. One year later, Shadid returned to Marjayoun, not to chronicle the violence, but to rebuild in its wake.

So begins the story of a battle-scarred home and a journalist’s wounded spirit, and of how reconstructing the one came to fortify the other. In this bittersweet and resonant memoir, Shadid creates a mosaic of past and present, tracing the house’s renewal alongside the history of his family’s flight from Lebanon and resettlement in America around the turn of the twentieth century. In the process, he memorializes a lost world and provides profound insights into a shifting Middle East.

 Pulitzer-Prize winner Anthony Shadid died on February 16, 2012, from an acute asthma attack while running behind camels, to which he was allergic, while attempting to leave Syria.