Fences on Parade
UM student art featured on waymarking site University of Montevallo art student Kirsten Bowman’s dragonfly sculpture, installed at the Ebenezer Swamp and Ecological Preserve, has been established as a waymark on Waymarking.com. David Berenguer photographed the sculpture on a recent visit to the swamp and decided to list it on the site. Bowman, who is pursuing a BFA degree in drawing and sculpture, created the dragonfly sculpture as a class project under the direction of Professor of Art Ted Metz. Her first welding project, the sculpture was inspired by Bowman’s grandfather, who allowed her to collect scraps of metal from his property. Bowman said the sculpture was made in her grandfather’s honor and is now dedicated to his memory. Similar to geocaching, waymarking is a treasure hunt in which the location itself is
Chelsea Park Elementary School took top honors at the Shelby County Arts Council’s third annual Fences on Parade. In the competition, students from every county school are invited to design and create a fence. The elementary school winners include Valley, Oak Mountain and Montevallo. In the middle school division, the winners were Columbiana, Thompson and Calera. In the high school division, the winners were Shelby County, Oak Mountain High School and Chelsea. The first place winners in each age group won $50. Chelsea Park Elementary was awarded $100 for Best of Show. — Nicole Loggins
the treasure. In geocaching, travelers use GPS devices to locate geocaches. When they arrive at a site, the travelers hunt for a hidden container with a treasure and a logbook inside. Visitors sign the logbook and if they choose to take something from the geocache, geocaching rules require them to leave something of equal or greater value in its place. Before leaving, visitors must return the container to its hiding place. Then they describe their journey on geocaching.com. Waymarking is a derivative of geocaching, but its purpose is to share interesting locations throughout the world. Like geocaches, waymarks are located via GPS coordinates. Participants log their journeys on waymarking. com. — Staff Reports
A tribute to tornado victims On Monday, April 23, the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra performed a concert to mark the one-year anniversary of the April 27, 2011 tornadoes. The orchestra played a piece by Beethoven and debuted a new work composed by Dr. Joseph Landers, a University of Montevallo professor. “Ode to Joy: Tuscaloosa Remembers and Rebuilds” opened with Landers’
new piece, “Sinfonia da Requiem,” a 30-minute composition that blends seven movements of music with selections of poetry by Emily Dickinson, according to a press release from UM. “I was incredibly honored and humbled by such a distinction,” Landers said. “I wanted it to be very dignified.” Dr. John Stewart, president of UM, said the university is proud of
Landers’ work. He said the request by the University of Alabama to have a UM professor compose the piece was representative of “the spirit of cooperation and collegiality between the state universities.” “All of the state universities are in this together,” he said. “I think it’s symbolic of that.” — Katie McDowell June 2012
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