CFA Spark - Volume 2 Issue 1

BOSTON UNIVERSITY THEATRE ARTS PRO

MANFREDI ARCHITECTS W: CO M M O N W E A LT H AV E N U EV I E W: CO M M O N W E A LT H ELKUS AV E N UE

Go Big (or go…)

>> MIKYOUNG KIM ELKU DE BU Theatre Center (Opening 2017).

BOSTON UNIVERSITY THEATRE ARTS PRO

MANFREDI ARCHITECTS W: CO M M O N W E A LT H AV E N UVEI E W: CO M M O N W E A LT H ELKUS AV E N UE

>> MIKYOUNG KIM EL DE

You’ve heard it a million times before: start small. But why start small when you’re in a vast community bursting at the seams with big ideas and abundant enthusiasm?

Suffice to say, small isn’t our thing. This year, we’re putting the pedal to the metal, building colossal new spaces, playing gig after gig, collaborating on plays and prints, and contributing our two cents* to this world. Around here, we start with art, but then we go bigger. Let’s do this.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY THEATRE ARTS PRO

*Okay, maybe a few more than two.

MANFREDI ARCHITECTS W: CO M M O N W E A LT H AV E N U EV I E W: CO M M O N W E A LT H ELKUS AV E N UE

IN THIS ISSUE

>> MIKYOUNG KIM ELKU DE

volume two, issue one 01 06–07

Go Big (or go...)

Fall Events

08

02

Charged Conversations

Acting the Part

855 Commonwealth Avenue Boston, MA 02215

09

03

Blood Sisters

Curtain Call Collaborations 10

Doctor's Orders

11

04

Hardest Working Band

Designing Community

11

05

Behind the Baton

Queen of Skiffle 12 Overdrive

2

SPARK

Charged Conversations BUAG explores the fluidity and complexity of identity in three upcoming shows.

by Brooke Yarborough

In the twenty-first century, it is now common to confront shifting Martine Gutierrez, Real Dolls (Raquel 1), 2013; Archival inkjet print, 8x12" (image), 12x16" (paper) each. Edition of 10.

paradigms in cultural identity, as well as race, gender, and sexuality.

The digital age has brought with it a myriad of opportunities for breaking down traditional binaries, a creative process well-suited to contemporary artists who are eager to advocate for social change.

Boston University Art Galleries, headed by Artistic Director Lynne Cooney and Managing Director Josh Buckno, have programmed a season around the thematic framework of “performing visibilities” engaging in this sometimes provocative conversation: unveiling the work of artists whose work challenges the viewer to consider the politics of being seen; forcing us to reflect on who we are...and how we are perceived.

Ebony G. Patterson, Where We Found Them (detail), 2014; Cotton, plastic, lace, glitter, and mixed media.

Courtesy of the artist and Monique Meloche Gallery, IL. Commissioned by the John Michael Kohler Arts Center.

The galleries are excited to present a series of exhibitions that respond to our contemporary moment. “It has always been our interest for the galleries to work together thematically; to create connecting threads through all of the exhibitions,” says Cooney. “‘Performing Visibilities’ offers a useful interpretative lens and curatorial framework in which to approach the exhibition season.”

September 2016 Ebony G. Patterson: Dead Treez September 23–December 4 808 Gallery When Managing Director Josh Buckno first saw the work of Jamaican-born artist Ebony G. Patterson, he knew immediately he wanted to bring her work to Boston. “Monique Meloche

October 2016 Martine Gutierrez: True Story October 4–December 10 Faye G., Jo, and James Stone Gallery

Gallery from Chicago had a booth at the Untitled Art Fair in Miami, and I couldn’t help but be struck by the raw

True Story presents video and photographic work from

emotional power of the work: an installation of fifty full-

Martine Gutierrez, a Brooklyn-based performance artist

sized coffins, ornately decorated and brightly patterned,”

who regularly crosses the constructed boundaries of gender

says Buckno of the earlier work, created by Patterson to

identity. Her body of work is diverse and eclectic, reaching

address death, mourning, and visibility.

across the full spectrum of the creative world. “Gutierrez

Spring 2017 Occupancies 808 Gallery and Faye G., Jo, and James Stone Gallery

explores gender through idioms of popular media,” says “Patterson’s work is visually and conceptually provocative,”

Cooney of the multi-media artist. “She also composes music,

In the spring, the BU Art Galleries will present a

says Lynne Cooney, Artistic Director. “And the artist herself

and just released a new EP, “Blame the Rain.’” She has also

group exhibition curated by Cooney herself linking to

is gaining visibility in the art world. In the past year, Dead

risen to prominence in fashion.

complimentary themes. Through artistic acts and artworks

Treez has been shown at the Museum of Art and Design in

from over 20 artists and across two galleries, Occupancies

New York City, receiving critical acclaim by The New York

Drawn to her androgynous personae, Yves Saint Laurent

seeks to explore how individual and collective bodies

Times and attracting the attention of São Paulo Biennial

tapped Gutierrez for its 2012 Cruise Collection, using her

create, negotiate, and inhabit space.

organizers, which opens later this month in Brazil.”

then unreleased single, “Hands Up,” as soundscape for the runway show. Since then, Gutierrez has attracted the

“Like Ebony and Martine, the artists involved are

Originally curated by Karen Patterson for the John Michael

attention of several other fashion powerhouses including

responding to our current cultural and political climate,”

Kohler Arts Center in Wisconsin, Dead Treez is a raw and

Christian Dior and Acne Studios.

continues Cooney of the exhibition that will reflect upon

complex meditation on the presiding systemic racism found

the confluence of the personal and the political; how

in Jamaica and the United States in the form of an elegy for

Curated by Jordan Karney Chaim, PhD candidate in the

children that suffered violent deaths; Jamaican girls killed

Department of Art and Architecture and Raymond and

for attracting male attention in Kingston, and the police

Margaret Horowitz Foundation Fellow in American Art,

Initiated as a meditation on and response to recent

killings of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, and Tamir

much of Gutierrez’s work is about losing personal individuality.

political demonstrations, public assemblies, forms of

Rice in Cleveland, Ohio.

She explores gender as a fluid medium, and looks to the

non-violent resistance, and many other individual and

audience to create the dialogue. “In a recent photographic

collective acts against systemic injustices, the exhibition

Employing the bling and flamboyance of Jamaican

series, Real Dolls, Martine used her own body to break down

will assemble artists working in all media and using formal,

dancehall culture, figures and tapestries are adorned with

constructions of gender, asking the audience to consider

representational, conceptual, and performative strategies

colorful baubles, glitter, and children’s toys, provoking

‘Who is the real girl?’” says Karney.

to direct our awareness to the movement of the body in

contemplation into what it means to be a child of color and

individuals advocate and articulate their identities.

and through space.

carefully considering the link between adverse perceptions

In each of her projects, Gutierrez casts herself in different

of black children in underserved communities and the

roles—from pop star, to Italian heiress, to exotic dancer.

Cooney hopes viewers “consider the body as both

resulting casualty of youthful innocence.

“While her characters appear familiar, they are not

performed and demarcated through four intersecting

representations of reality; rathetr, they are hyperbolized

and mutually interacting frameworks—the political body,

“The exhibition will feature one large-scale installation,”

manifestations of feminine glamour, desire, and sexuality,”

the archival body, the mediated body, and the absent

adds Buckno, “as well as several floor pieces that serve

adds Karney. “Her work, always narrative, calls attention to

body—to articulate, assert, advocate, and activate corporeal

in many respects as memorials for those who have been

the fictions that surround and define us—those we internalize

presence as responses to current social, cultural, and

victims of some sort of violence.”

through daily life and those we create for ourselves.”

political conditions.”

VOLUME TWO, ISSUE ONE

3

Curtain Call Collaborations BU playwrights and directors take center stage at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre.

by Brooke Yarborough

The Director, Adam Kassim

Long considered the home of new plays in Boston,

For Yeh, writing about an icon of art and design hasn’t

Boston Playwrights’ Theatre (BPT) has dedicated itself to

come without its challenges. “I had been considering

supporting the development, production, and promotion

the idea of writing about her [Lin] for a long time, but

This February, BPT will present The Honey Trap,

of new works for the stage for more than three decades.

was hesitant because she is a public figure, and it felt

written by playwriting student Leo McGann, and

Now in its 35 season, BPT continues to offer new,

too intrusive,” says Yeh. “But, after seeing her at BU,

directed by MFA Directing candidate (and School of

innovative work from emerging voices in the theatre.

I decided she is too amazing not to write about. She

Theatre Production Manager) Adam Kassim. Centered

seems so confident. It’s hard to imagine she ever

on the ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland,

doubted herself as an artist.”

The Honey Trap is the story of Dave, a former British

th

This season, as part of the new BU New Play Initiative, BPT shall present five BU MFA playwrights. The

soldier, who must confront old unhealed wounds that

initiative, a commitment from the School of Theatre

At first, Yeh was reluctant to have Lin as the main

to support the collaborative creation of new work,

character of the piece. It was only when she hit

provides playwrights, directors, designers, and actors

the development phase that she felt encouraged

For Kassim, the first step of directing is to find a way in,

with a variety of developmental opportunities, and

by her professors and peers to push the play in a

and for him, the concept of memory and its faultiness

the freedom to workshop their productions on campus,

more biographical direction. “Lin is the one who

was of particular interest. “The play itself is about

utilizing the creativity of the rehearsal room.

has something to lose,” adds Yeh. “She is the most

finding justice,” says Kassim. “It’s about finding revenge,

interesting character from the audience perspective.”

and coming to terms with your complicity in an event.

This sort of collaboration is the heart of the MFA

send him back to Belfast in search of answers and revenge.

It’s about memory and how you choose to remember

Playwriting degree program—a niche program of BU’s

In working with 3 year MFA Directing candidate

things.” He was also drawn to the shifting timeline of

Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and College

Kelly Galvin to develop Memorial, Yeh discovered the

the play, which takes place in both 1979 and present day.

of Fine Arts (CFA) that accepts only four to five students

ability of directors to see plays from a very different

“This play references a tumultuous time where violence

every two years. MFA playwrights work hand-in-hand

perspective. “She has just been instrumental in the

and factional fighting were parts of daily life. In many

with actors, directors, and designers from the School

development of the play,” says Yeh of Galvin. “It’s hard

ways, the piece feels very topical in 2016.”

of Theatre and the professional theater community

as a playwright to see things differently. Directors

throughout the creative process.

live outside of it, and can really observe and provide

McGann’s play has already won acclaim. Earlier this

feedback and recommendations. It is very much her

year, McGann received the KCACTF National Partners

play as it is mine.”

of the American Theater Playwriting Award. For its

Collaboration is also critical to the mission of BPT

rd

and CFA. Just last year, BPT and the Boston Center

debut at BPT, Kassim finds that the collaborative process

for American Performance (BCAP), the professional

Memorial runs October 13–23

allows the Director and Playwright to test material live,

extension of BU’s School of Theatre, partnered to bring

at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre.

ironing out kinks and improving the flow. “The great

works from two acclaimed Boston playwrights to

thing about working with Leo is that I can show him

the stage: Robert Brustein’s Exposed and Michael

a problematic scene in real time,” adds Kassim. “This

Hammond’s Uncle Jack.

process gives us both tangible material to react to.”

The Playwright, Livian Yeh

As they move towards the final (performed) iteration of the play, Kassim and McGann have developed new and

Opening the BPT season is Memorial, a new play

supportive language to allow them to encourage each

by Kennedy Center American College Theater

other while accepting each other's feedback. As Kassim

Festival (KCACTF) Paul Stephen Lim Playwriting

says, “Any artistic collaboration won’t be fruitful if it

Award co-recipient Livian Yeh. Memorial offers an

isn’t grounded in honesty. You can’t skirt around the

introspective glimpse into the trials and triumphs

issues or worry about hurt feelings. At the end of the

of architect and artist Maya Lin while designing

day, it’s so great to be able to turn to the playwright in

the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington,

the room and ask, ‘what did you mean by that?’”

D.C. Set in 1979, the playwright was drawn to her protagonist after attending a talk given by Lin at

The Honey Trap runs February 16–26

BU’s George Sherman Union in fall 2015. Inspired

at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre.

by Lin’s story and encouraged by the faculty, Yeh felt compelled to bring this story of adversity and accomplishment to the theater. For Yeh, “Lin’s story is one of believing in yourself, but Memorial is a story that is larger than Lin—it is about art, and the identity of this country.”

2016-2017 New Play Initiative Productions Tickets available at bostonplaywrights.org

October 13–23

December 8–18

February 16–26

March 23–April 2

April 20–30

Memorial

Faithless

The Honey Trap

Franklin

Every Piece of Me

by Livian Yeh Directed by Kelly Galvin

by Andrew Joseph Clarke Directed by Stephen Pick

by Leo McGann Directed by Adam Kassim

by Samantha Noble Directed by Stephanie LeBolt

by Mary Conroy Directed by Zohar Fuller

4

SPARK

The Hardest Working Band in Boston Talking Hockey, Hollywood, and Time Management, with the leaders of BU Bands.

by Emily Wade

deeply embedded in the University landscape, they

of Music alum Eytan Wurman (CFA’10, CAS’10), who was

are also a face of BU around the city, performing at

working to reestablish a marching band program for the

Fenway Park, Faneuil Hall, and on the Esplanade.

school. The partnership has included student-to-student

“We can go just about anywhere. We’ll be playing

mentoring, a used instrument gift program, and several

a rowdy pre-game party outside Boston Garden one

performances at English High football games and Boston

night, and performing at a white-tie soirée at

University athletic events.

President Brown’s home the next,” says Goldberg.

“It’s a big sibling, little sibling relationship,” says

“We’re so honored to be the on-the-road ambassadors

Goldberg. “We just ended the school year with them.

for BU and the College of Fine Arts,” adds Goldberg.

Our summer Scarlet Band went over, they learned one of our songs, we learned one of theirs, they had their

BU Bands has also had opportunities to extend their Aaron Goldberg and Mike Barsano have a kinetic

reach far beyond the city. In 2014, the Marching Band

energy that is infectious. As the leaders of BU Athletic

made its second silver screen appearance in Black

Bands and University Ensembles, they spend every day

Mass, the Whitey Bulger biopic starring Johnny Depp

knowing that the next performance is always around

and Benedict Cumberbatch. “We get calls all the time,

the corner, or down the street.

but getting one from Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank,

drumline, we had our percussion group, and at the end of the school day, the students streamed out of the building and we performed as they cheered. It was amazing.”

For Goldberg and Barsano, the popularity of the band programs across the University and city is rewarding,

California, well that was a huge honor,” says Goldberg.

“For many years, we’ve been called the hardest

The Marching Band has also gotten the chance to

working band in college athletics,” says Goldberg,

perform onstage with Foster the People, and most

Director of BU Athletic Bands.

recently with The Dropkick Murphys on their song

but there’s an ever bigger motivation for excellence: the student performers themselves. “We always have conversations about who we serve,” says Goldberg.

“It always comes down to the fact that we’re here for

“I'm Shipping Up to Boston.” Goldberg laughs, “From

the students. In turn, those band members serve the

The numbers are remarkable: last year, the bands held

this Boston kid’s perspective, that was a dream come

over 125 performances, and were viewed by nearly

true.” He adds, “Every band student graduates with a

a quarter of a million people. “I have not encountered

great extracurricular experience, and a great story to tell.”

University by producing a product that is extremely high-

a band program that does as much as we do,” says Barsano, Manager of University-wide Ensembles.

“We’re performing 46 to 50 weeks a year.” Goldberg adds, “But for us, BU Bands is about more than just socializing and school pride...for us, it’s an opportunity to be the outward face of music at Boston University.”

And the bands get a lot of face time. On any given Friday night, Pep Band is playing for 7,000 cheering fans at a hockey game, or a packed gym for basketball, and they always have room for another performance. “When Aaron came onboard five years ago, BU Bands began supporting Women’s Ice Hockey,” says Barsano. “We’ve made a real effort to celebrate all sports at the University equally, which is great.”

It’s not just the number of performances that impresses; it’s also the scope. BU Bands is composed of nine ensembles containing several hundred students representing nearly every University major and college. Pep Band plays for every accepted student open house, and nearly 1,000 people a week during summer orientation sessions. Though the Bands are

BU Bands By the Numbers Background photo by Natasha Moustache.

quality.” For some students, music making also means schedule juggling. “Not long ago, I spoke with one of our section leaders," says Goldberg. “He’s a neuroscience

We're a big strong band program

major and he’s in five University ensembles. I took him aside and asked him how he manages to find the time—

at a big strong university.

his response was, ‘I need these ensembles...otherwise I’d be in the lab 24 hours a day,’” Barsano adds. “None of

This fun often serves a bigger purpose. BU Bands is

these students have to be in these ensembles. They do

also a training ground for future music educators in

this for the love of performing.”

the College of Fine Arts. Classes like Marching Band Pedagogy* serve to teach Music Education students how

Though their schedules are intense, Goldberg and

to be Band Directors by making the students members

Barsano feel lucky to lead a program that is beloved

of the marching band for a semester. This course, which

and respected. “Some other schools of music around

features a mix of experiential and classroom learning,

the country demonize their athletic band programs,

gives students a full range of skills from show design to

but at BU we feel so supported and promoted because

starting a parent booster group, making them attractive

we serve the University so well by performing at a

candidates for a career in band directing. Ensembles

very high level,” says Goldberg. He continues, “For me,

like the Boston University Big Bands serve music majors

personally, it’s about the students first and foremost.

interested in jazz performance and education.

BU students do everything at a higher level. We push these students hard, but they push themselves harder."

As the School of Music’s most visible off-campus ensemble, the Marching Band also serves the community

“It never ends,” Goldberg chuckles, “in a good way.”

in palpable ways through its partnership with The English High School in Jamaica Plain. Now in its third year, the partnership began when Goldberg reached out to School

140

80

30

PEP BAND

MARCHING BAND

SCARLET BAND

25

7

21

BIG BANDS (EACH)

3 JAZZ COMBOS

PERCUSSION

14

60

55

COLOR GUARD

CONCERT BAND

ORCHESTRA

*A class so fascinating that we’ll be writing a full-length feature for the next issue of Spark.

PERFORMANCES PER YEAR PEOPLE PER YEAR

2

MOVIE CAMEOS

2003 MYSTIC RIVER

2014 BLACK MASS

VOLUME TWO, ISSUE ONE

5

Ken-David Masur: Behind the Baton Five Questions with the Assistant Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

by Brooke Yarborough You have conducted concerts all around the world. Can you tell us what makes Symphony Hall in Boston and Ozawa Hall at the Tanglewood Music Center such inspiring places?

From a personal standpoint, can you tell us how classical music continues to be relevant and vital in the 21st century?

Growing up, the idea of music as entertainment was non-existent for me. I see music as being at the heart of how the community I live in connects on an intimate level. Music has the power to bring order, and gives

There are countless reasons why artists are inspired

us moments to make sense of the world around us.

by these architectural masterpieces. Symphony Hall

It gives us immediate joy and satisfaction, and the

and Ozawa Hall boast some of the best acoustics in

needed consolation and healing in the most devastating

the world, creating an intimate experience that gives

moments. Music gives us community when there is

a performance immediacy and warmth. Both venues

isolation, and it makes us contemplate our ideas and

are filled with a “special aura” from all of the great

build our imagination like nothing else can.

artists that have performed there, the countless premieres that have taken place, and the historical significance of their surroundings.

What advice would you offer to students as they look toward 21st century careers in classical music?

The spirit of earlier performances endures—every

I would tell them to make sure they love music and are

event in these buildings feels as though it will be special

unafraid of the process of becoming a professional

somehow because the music that resounds today is

musician. This includes a good amount of mistakes,

somehow connected with that of the past.

failures, and rejections. If they unconditionally serve the music by finding joy in the process, they can look

In your opinion, why is it important for School of Music and BU Tanglewood Institute students to experience performing

for ways to relate their art to the people around them regardless of where they are in their careers.

at Symphony Hall and Ozawa Hall?

When you tap into that joy, your music can be unleashed To know that you’re stepping onto the same stage as artists you admire, past or present, gives you a sense of respect, inspiration, and wonder. Performing in these spaces gives the younger generation the experience of having the same viewpoint from one of the great stages as a professional musician, and gives them the opportunity to perform in front of a large audience.

with not only excellence, but with the sincerity of your performance. Musicians need to stay constantly curious and open to new sounds and ideas, and be on the lookout for music that wants to be found, new and old. It’s such a gift to be a musician today—in any capacity whether as performer, teacher, entrepreneur, ambassador—and to allow great music to build our character as well as the community around us.

In your role as conductor, having worked with some of the most seasoned musicians in the world, how do you adapt your style for student musicians?

I’m not sure I “adapt” per se, because it’s ultimately about conveying the spirit of the music, but I am of course aware of some of the challenges for preprofessional musicians in getting to the highest level of performance. Students at this stage of their artistic lives need to experiment with style, from baroque to contemporary music, to convey a great range and “vocabulary” of music character and expressiveness on their instruments, and to understand what a piece needs both mentally and physically. Honestly, it is not much different than what I look for in any other situation.

Ken-David Masur (BUTI’96) is the Assistant Conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and studied conducting primarily with his father, Kurt Masur. A Grammynominated producer, Ken-David also serves together with his wife, Melinda Lee Masur, as Artistic Director of the Chelsea Music Festival, lauded by The New York Times as a “gem of a series.”

An alum of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, the premier summer program for aspiring high-school age musicians, Masur conducted the 50th Anniversary Celebration concert in Lenox, MA, this past summer, and will lead the BU Symphony Orchestra in the performance of Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 95 in c minor, Paul Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler Symphony, and Béla Bártok’s Concerto for Orchestra (November 21) at Symphony Hall.

Background photo by Beth Ross Buckley.

9/28 + 11/16

10/13 — 10/23

Boston University Chamber Orchestra

Memorial

September 28, 8pm Performing works by Felix Mendelssohn, Ottorino Respighi, and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tsai Performance Center • Neal Hampton, conductor November 16, 8pm Performing works by Béla Bartók, Manuel de Falla, and Roberto Gerhard. Tsai Performance Center Neal Hampton, conductor, with Student Conductors

9/29

Telling New Stories September 29, 2pm Workshop with comic book artist Joel Christian Gill (CFA’04) whose celebrated graphic novel Strange Fruit, Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History brings to light nine little-known African American stories. Presented in collaboration with the Department of African American Studies, the workshop will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Mary Anne Boelskevy on African American Storytelling in Sequential Art.

September

African American Studies Center

Livian Yeh, playwright • Kelly G

“untraditional” memorial is sel

Vietnam veterans on the Nation

old Maya Lin finds herself defe

and even her own parents. A B

co-produced by Boston Playwri

and the Graduate School of Arts Theatre • Ticketing Code: NPI

10/14 — 10/28

20th Annual Fring

Hydrogen Jukebox Composed af

composer and Beat poet Allen Gi

Ginsberg’s poetry come together

the 1950s–80s that touches on m

issues. Philip Glass, composer • A

and Matthew Larson, music dire

Mad Forest (A Play from Roman

turmoil focusing on two familie

totalitarian regime and what ha

9/30 + 10/18 + 11/30

Caryl Churchill, playwright • Ju

9/6 — 10/2

Center for New Music

The Werther Project A semi-sta

2016 Fall Student Showcase

September 30, 8pm Sound Icon performs works by Rick Burkhardt

score that concentrates on the i

and Richard Carrick, as well as Fred Lerdahl’s Time After Time,

poet Werther, Charlotte, and Al

Featuring work by undergraduate students in painting, sculpture,

culminating one of two residencies with the American composer

readings from the original text.

graphic design, and printmaking. Commonwealth Gallery + Stone Gallery

and music theorist. CFA Concert Hall

Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet, and

William Lumpkin, music direct

9/20

October 18, 8pm Electric guitarist Giacomo Baldelli performs works

Center for Beethoven Research

CFA Concert Hall

September 20, 5pm Piano Conference and Performance.

CFA Concert Hall

9/21

Muir String Quartet

by Steve Reich, Tristan Murail, Fausto Romitelli, and Davide Ianni.

Steven Ansell (viola), and Michael Reynolds (cello).

Tsai Performance Center

Erin Gee, Hannah Lash, and Horatiu Radulescu. CFA Concert Hall

October 10/4

The Price of Memory Film screening presented in conjunction with Ebony G. Patterson:

9/22 + 9/27 + 11/15

Music Faculty Recital Series September 22, 8pm Composer and pianist Rodney Lister with

Dead Treez. CFA Concert Hall • 7pm

10/6 + 11/17

Boston University Wind Ensemble

of the 100 Anniversary of his birth. Tsai Performance Center

October 6, 8pm Performing works by Charles Rochester Young, John Harbison, John Plant, Peter Graham, and Ingolf Dahl.

September 27, 8pm Violist Michelle LaCourse performs chamber music masterworks. Tsai Performance Center November 15, 8pm Pianist David Kopp performs works

by Milton Babbitt and Arthur Berger. Tsai Performance Center

9/23 — 12/4

Ebony G. Patterson: Dead Treez An immersive meditation on Jamaica’s dancehall culture, Dead Treez showcases mixed-media installations and jacquard-woven photo tapestries that explore class, gender, and race through the lens of popular culture, social media, dress, and personal adornment.

Opening Reception: September 23, 6-7:30pm • 808 Gallery

9/26 + 10/25

Boston University Symphony Orchestra

& Lane-Comley Studio 210 • T

10/14 — 12/11

Martine Gutierre

Using various media idioms suc

photography, and music videos,

imagery explores the constructi

her projects, the Brooklyn-based

different roles—from pop star, t

While her characters appear fam

of reality; rather, they are hyper

glamour, desire, and sexuality. O

(in conversation with curator Jo

faculty guests perform vocal music by Virgil Thomson in celebration th

Fringe Festival performances

November 30, 8pm JACK Quartet performs works by Iannis Xenakis,

September 21, 8pm Grammy Award-winning string quartet comprised of Peter Zazofsky (violin), Lucia Lin (violin),

Jerrold Pope and Allison Voth, d

Tsai Performance Center • David Martins, conductor

6-8pm • Stone Gallery

10/14 — 12/11

JR Uretsky: Wha

Looking to Sara Ahmed’s writin

the effects of pain and melanch November 17, 8pm Performing works by Paul Hindemith,

puppetry combined with etherea

Justin Casinghino, Anthony Iannaccone, and Frank Ticheli.

Tsai Performance Center • David Martins, conductor

10/8 — 10/30

Good CP Taylor, playwright • Jim Petosa, director In 1930s Germany, Professor John Halder (Michael Kaye (CFA’95’99)), draws the attention of the Nazi Party with his novel on compassionate euthanasia. Despite the pleadings of his Jewish friend Maurice (Tim Spears (CFA’06,’16)) John is tempted by the changing worlds

10/17

Contemporary Pe Lecture Series: J

Constantly pushing the bounda

materials and methods, 76-year

to the burgeoning tendency of “

which embeds social issues wit

Jacob Sleeper Auditorium • 6:30

around him. An expressionist play that poses questions all too familiar in today’s politics. Co-produced by New Repertory Theatre and Boston Center for American Performance. • Arsenal Center for the Arts • Ticketing Code: New Rep/BCAP

10/20 — 10/26

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are

September 26, 8pm Performing works by Johannes Brahms, Jean

Tom Stoppard, playwright • Ste

Sibelius, and Dmitri Shostakovich. Tsai Performance Center • Stefan

The fabulously inventive tale of

Asbury, conductor

view of the bewildered Rosencr

characters in Shakespeare’s ma October 25, 8pm Performing works by Maurice Ravel, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Tsai Performance Center • Ching-Chun Lai, conductor

Galvin, playwright When her

lected to commemorate fallen

nal Mall in Washington, D.C., 21-year-

ending it to veterans, the US Congress,

BU New Play Initiative production

ights’ Theatre, CFA School of Theatre,

ts & Sciences. • Boston Playwrights’

ge Festival

fter a chance meeting between the

insberg, Glass’s minimalist style and

r to create a portrait of America from

many of America’s enduring social

Allen Ginsberg, librettist • Allison Voth

ectors • Emily Ranii, stage director

nia) An incisive portrait of society in

es to reveal what life is like under a

appens when the regime collapses.

Ticket Information 10/21

Concert Band, All Campus Orchestra, + Big Band October 21, 8pm University ensembles come together for annual Parents’ Weekend concert. CFA Concert Hall

10/21

Baltimore Kirsten Greenidge, playwright In this encore performance of this BU New Play Initiative production, Greenidge explores the complexity of racism from the perspectives of eight culturally diverse college students. Co-produced by the Boston Center for American Performance and New Repertory Theatre • Boston University Theatre • Ticketing Code: New Rep/CRC

10/22 — 10/23

Romeo and Juliet and The Scarlet Letter

aged presentation of Massenet’s lush

10/28

lbert combined with narrations and

When Patients Heal You

. Jules Massenet, composer

October 28, 7pm Arts|Lab presents music by patients of the

tor • Nathan Troup, stage director

dramaturgists

s held at Boston University Theatre

Department of Neurology at Boston Medical Center. CFA Concert Hall

November

Ticketing Code: Fringe

ez: True Story

ch as classic Hollywood film, fashion

11/7

Exhibiting Gender Panel discussion presented in conjunction with Martine Gutierrez: True Story. Stone Gallery • 2pm

, Gutierrez’s hauntingly seductive

ion of gender and self. In each of

d performance artist casts herself in

11/11

to Italian heiress, to exotic dancer.

Arts and Ideas in Action

miliar, they are not representations

Artists, business leaders, scientists, academics, and students come

rbolized manifestations of feminine

Opening Reception + Artist Talk

ordan Karney Chaim): October 13,

at I Found Out There

ngs on queer grief, Uretsky explores

holia on the body through monstrous

al video and emotional song. The Annex

erspectives Jack Whitten

aries of a medium through innovative

together for a symposium highlighting activity at the intersection of Art + Business + Social Impact. Presented in collaboration with the Questrom School of Business Center for Entrepreneurship, the BUzz Lab, and the BU Arts Initiative, the morning session will include mini-presentations with Boston-based ventures that exemplify the creative economy, followed by Design Thinking workshops in the afternoon. Graphic Design Studio

11/14

Printmaking Lecture: Sister Sheila Flynn Founder of the Kopanang Community Trust for women in South Africa affected by HIV/AIDS, Sister Sheila shares the story and mission of the organization that provides a sustainable way

“Social Abstraction” in American art,

0pm

d e Dead

ephen Pick, director

f Hamlet as told from the worm’s-eye

rantz and Guildenstern, two minor

asterpiece. TheatreLab@855

NPI $30 general admission; $15 CFA Membership; $10 students. bostonplaywrights.org • 866.811.4111

Fringe $7 general admission; $3.50 CFA Membership; free with BU ID at the door, day of performance, subject to availability. bostontheatrescene.com • 617.933.8600

New Rep/CRC $20 general admission; $15 BU Community and BU Alumni, CFA Students, and groups (10+); $10 CFA Membership, New Rep Subscribers, BU Friends & Family; free with BU ID at the door, day of performance, subject to availability. bostontheatrescene.com • 617.933.8600

Venues Boston University Art Galleries 808 Gallery 808 Commonwealth Avenue Commonwealth Gallery 855 Commonwealth Avenue Faye G., Jo, and James Stone Gallery 855 Commonwealth Avenue The Annex 855 Commonwealth Avenue

Boston University Performance + Lecture Venues African American Studies Center 138 Mountfort Street, Brookline Arsenal Center for the Arts 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown Boston Playwrights' Theatre 949 Commonwealth Avenue Boston University Theatre & Lane Comley Studio 210 264 Huntington Avenue CFA Concert Hall 855 Commonwealth Avenue Graphic Design Studio and Book Arts Studio 808 Commonwealth Avenue, 4th floor

forward generating income through handmade embroidery, clothing, wall hangings, and bags. Book Arts Studio • 6pm

r-old Whitten is a major forerunner

thin personal modes of expression.

Members and BU Community. newrep.org • 617.923.8487

Hawthorne and William Shakespeare’s classics. Boston University Theatre • Ticketing Code: New Rep/CRC

d Georges Hartmann, librettists

New Rep/BCAP $25–59 with discounts available to CFA

Clay Hopper, director 90-minute renderings of Nathaniel

udy Braha, director

intense drama between the troubled

All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. Visit bu.edu/cfa/events for more details.

11/21

BU Symphony Orchestra November 21, 8pm Performing Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 95 in c minor, Paul Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler, and Béla Bártok’s Concerto for Orchestra. Symphony Hall • Ken-David Masur, Guest Conductor

11/30

Contemporary Perspectives Lecture Series: Jeffrey Gibson Native American artist Gibson blends his cultural heritage with geometric abstraction in vibrant richly detailed sculptures, paintings, and installations. Jacob Sleeper Auditorium • 6:30pm

Jacob Sleeper Auditorium 871 Commonwealth Avenue TheatreLab@855 855 Commonwealth Avenue Tsai Performance Center 685 Commonwealth Avenue

8

SPARK

Acting the Part McCaela Donovan on the new BU Theatre Complex, advice for students, and more.

by Brooke Yarborough & Emily Wade

You’re opening a New Theatre

Can you talk a bit about how the Professional Theatre

of Showcase, they’ll go to New York right away. But

complex, opening in 2017…

Initiative (PTI) serves as a training ground for students?

there’s also a lot of New York contacts that you can

Yes! We’re very excited! I’m a bit anxious

PTI is great for the students, and something that makes

that we’re going to have so many applications,

our programs stand out. Theater is very process-oriented,

that we’ll be overwhelmed! This year, we had 1,200

and our students have an innate sense of that, but it’s also

applications for the Performance side of the program...

about allowing them to be exposed to the professional

the most we’ve ever had...

theater community while they are here with us.

This encourages a variety of voices and experiences.

That sounds like a good problem…

(laughs) Definitely!

Many core PTI partners—like New Repertory Theatre, Boston Playwrights' Theatre, and Huntington Theatre

meet here, contacts that you wouldn’t meet in New York because you’re local. There are pros and cons, but a lot of students have been staying because they are making good connections and building their resumes before going to a bigger city where they have to hoof it.

So, it’s important for students to have realworld experience beyond the typical Acting or Performance training.

Company—offer a wealth of opportunities for our

Absolutely. Our training is heavily process focused,

students each season. And, in the past two years

but there is also another side of what our students will

alone, we've had current performance students cast at

encounter when they leave us. It is important for them

Central Square Theater, Actors' Shakespeare Project,

to have a resource to talk about union affiliations like

I think the program will likely just get more selective.

Company One, and ArtsEmerson, and have had design

Actors’ Equity and Screen Actors Guild, how to read a

In the past few years, our programs have gotten more

and production students employed at Gloucester Stage

contract and speak with an agent or casting director,

competitive. But recruitment is the most enjoyable

Company and American Repertory Theater (ART), just

or to discuss graduate school. Because all of our faculty

part of this job for me. You get to meet all these really

to name a few. This is on top of endless internship and

and staff are working professionals, I encourage

fascinating people, and see what a generation’s voice is.

employment opportunities we help connect them with.

the students to use us as a resource to ask us these

With the new theatre, and the increase in applications, does School of Theatre think they will be accepting more students?

questions that extend beyond the classroom and into the What do they look for in a student?

First, it’s important to get a sense of their energy in

Diversity of experience is so important.

Things like Music Theatre…

the space. So much about how we recruit at BU is about

The Music Theatre concentration has had a huge bump.

discovering who they are as a person, not just their skill

All of the classes for next semester are not only full, but

level. We see many incredibly talented students, but

overloaded. And a lot of our alums are working in Music

everyone in our program must also understand

Theatre. Most of our alums who went to Showcase in NYC

the importance of the ensemble. A lot of the time,

this year got calls for Hamilton right out of Showcase.

we can get that sense from the way we conduct our auditions and portfolio reviews.

We have so many theater companies in this city.

Do you think there are things that make the Boston

That means a lot of auditions…

Yes. It’s a lot to go through. We also get about 25-30

logistical side of the lifestyle of an artist.

market more attractive to students, than going to New York or Chicago?

Professional development in an education environment is incredibly important. It is not useful for us to simply place them in an internship, but to teach them how to develop ownership over their trajectory and not be afraid to reach out to possible collaborators.

Through PTI and working alongside our faculty, BU School of Theatre students and alums are artistic creators and generators, not simply people who consume and execute. That is why students choose to study with us, and why the majority of alums are

video submissions, and conduct 200-300 design and

Yes, well I think that because of PTI, they’ve had the

portfolio interviews as well. The rest we see in person.

chance to develop connections, so they know how to

I am in every city for every session. And then,

navigate the system here. Our students always know

School of Theatre Assistant Director McCaela Donovan is an

depending on who is available from the faculty, I have

when auditions are happening. And they get to meet

Elliot Norton and IRNE award-winning actress, theater educator,

one to two other people with me. I alone probably see at

people. Our students meet Artistic Directors through

and audition coach. She is also a founding member of Bridge

least half of the auditions myself. I love it. I could do it all

Mary Buck and Judy Braha’s classes. I would say

day. I think it’s really fun.

that most students, if they get an opportunity out

McCaela’s top 6 pieces of advice for students building a life in theater:

1 2 3

Stay Hungry. Always know that you can do more.

Stay a step ahead. You can’t get complacent.

You have to work for yourself.

You are your best advocate. You have to develop collaborators so you can help each other. When you’re young, you feel like you have to say ‘yes’ to everything and everyone, and sometimes that’s a good thing, but also— don’t lose yourself. If you stand up for yourself respectfully, people will take you more seriously.

Be Approachable. I always tell students when they audition to ‘Be cool.’ I don’t mean being too cool for school, but being comfortable with yourself, and affable and approachable. People will respond to friendliness and warmth.

successfully making a life for themselves in the field.

Repertory Theatre of Boston.

4 5 6

Find your artistic soulmates! Go to opening nights!

Don’t be afraid to talk to people. Think strategically about how you can collaborate on projects big and small.

Know the places that make you happy. Big cities aren’t for everyone. Theater is a vast community. Find the place that’s right for you.

Keep your own work going. It’s important to keep the professional/business aspects of theater in mind, but it’s also so important to be creatively fulfilled and keep developing your own work.

Photos courtesy of McCaela Donovan.

VOLUME TWO, ISSUE ONE

Blood Sisters The ties that bind artisans from South Africa with Printmakers from BU.

by Brooke Yarborough

While President Nelson Mandela’s democratic election in 1994 marked

as a tool for change. “Printmaking has a huge history in South Africa as an

the end of political apartheid in South Africa, disparities in income, life

instrument for social justice,” says Cornell. “During the apartheid, censorship

expectancy, land ownership, and education prevail, leaving a nation divided

laws banned painters and sculptors from doing political work. But nobody

both socially and economically. A quarter of the population is unemployed,

really knew what printmaking was [except for printmakers themselves]—

living on less than $2.00 a day. Crime and violence are part of everyday life.

it was really under the radar. That is where the powerful protest art was created for decades.”

Inadequate access to health care and education means that one in five adults are HIV positive, along with 200,000 children under the age of 15; three

“Printmakers have the essential ability to reproduce their images,”

times that many are orphaned as a result of the virus. “You may think [the

says Joshua Brennan, Technical Associate and Lecturer in Printmaking,

AIDS epidemic] has receded,” says Deborah Cornell, Head of the Printmaking

“You can get your message out there because you can print it a thousand times.

Department at Boston University. “But it really hasn’t. There are still great

If you make one painting and it gets censored, there goes your message.”

challenges associated with it, like accessing treatment. It’s a very difficult life.

There are no jobs for victims. They haven’t had the opportunity to develop skills.”

Last fall, Sister Sheila and award-winning children’s book illustrator Ashley Bryan facilitated a workshop with printmaking students, soliciting

While on mission in Tsukane, a small township just 30 miles southeast of

and reviewing initial drawings from program participants for future use

Johannesburg, Dominican nun and artist Sister Sheila Flynn saw firsthand the

by Kopanang artists.

ravages of the pandemic and was driven to create a work-oriented program to support HIV/AIDS victims and their families. Founded in 2001, the Kopanang

Following that initial workshop, Cornell and Brennan hosted two

Community Trust operates as a self-help collective, employing more than fifty

additional workshops on creating linoleum block prints based on the

women from surrounding townships, many of whom who have lost entire

drawings the students had created. By the end of January, the students

families to the disease and who must now care for extended family groups.

sent the prints to Africa where Kopanang Trust members created embroideries from the students’ designs.

Designed to give the women a sustainable path through skills, training, and empowerment, the Trust teaches the women to make embroideries, beaded

In April the School of Visual Arts hosted a fundraising event, selling

jewelry, handcrafted bags, and wall hangings. “She [Sister Sheila] decided that

the finished embroideries and raising over one thousand dollars for the

she didn’t want to simply hand out help to these women,” adds Cornell. “She

Kopanang Trust. Through Sister Sheila, students also had the opportunity

wanted to teach them to make things so that they could help themselves.”

to make a special connection to the women who were working on the embroidered pieces, passing messages between artists and artisans.

Perhaps more importantly, women at the Kopanang are able to find solace

“They [the women] were very inspired by our students, just as our students

from the burdens of their everyday lives; forming sisterly bonds that provide

were inspired by them,” adds Brennan. “They sent cards to each student they

emotional support as they confront individual realities of struggle and

worked with. Our students were so touched to receive these handwritten

sickness. “Even in the signs of death, there are symbols of hope,” says Sister

notes. Some of the women loved the designs so much that they made two

Sheila. “That is what AIDS is teaching us: what it means to truly care for

to three embroideries in different colors.”

one another, and what truly matters. Even with all of the materialism that abounds, what really matters is people and relationships.”

Cornell and Brennan hope to continue working with the women at the Kopanang Trust, and are looking forward to future collaborations

For nearly ten years, Boston University School of Visual Arts has welcomed

following Sister Sheila’s visit this fall.

Sister Sheila as she spreads awareness of the Trust and South Africa’s ongoing struggles with AIDS. In recognition of World AIDS Day, Sister Sheila

Sister Sheila will give a lecture to Printmaking students on November 14th at 6pm

has offered printmaking workshops to Visual Arts students, and the school

in the Book Arts Studio at 808 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 404R. All are welcome to

and the printmaking students have hosted a sale of Kopanang goods at the

attend. For more information on the Kopanang Community Trust, please visit kopanang.org.

George Sherman Union. For Cornell, these events speak to the power of art

Julianna Katz (CFA’16) cutting an image into a linoleum block.

Ashley Bryan with Sister Sheila at BU, Fall 2015.

9

10

SPARK

When Moisès Fernández Via (CFA’11) first stepped onto the Boston University Medical Campus (BUMC) in 2012, he found an unparalleled, textured ecosystem and immediately recognized the potential to create a laboratory examining the role of art in society.

Four years later, the Director of Arts|Lab @ Med Campus (A|L) continues to be inspired by the everyday interactions of a community that is in many ways a microcosm of greater Boston.

Just what the Doctor Ordered

to write for the first time, learning English at a rate of five words per month. For the last

Arts|Lab brings art to the heart of the BU Medical Campus.

session, A|L students developed a creative game through a project called Words using music to represent five experiences related to the words, inviting the women to work together to solve the musical puzzle. “It is a better way

by Brooke Yarborough

to do an exam,” says Fernández Via. “It’s an open-ended and creative way to remind us that words have meanings, and those meanings represent experiences that can be felt.” More importantly, the project facilitates conversations between the women, forcing them to speak,

“That richness expresses truth and reality,”

further supporting their English skills.

says Fernández Via, of the campus that is home to BU’s Schools of Medicine, Public Health,

In another project, A|L Artist in Residence,

and Dental Medicine, as well the ten thousand

Julianna Katz (CFA’16) worked with women

physicians, nurses, residents, faculty, staff, and

in the program to create illustrations for

students who comprise Boston Medical Center

My Dreams, a book of their personal journeys

(BMC), not to mention the one million patients

that was published as a culmination of

who are treated there each year. “There are

a yearlong project of writing their stories.

very few places that are truthful to what society is, that are not just partial representations—few

Not all A|L projects are able to employ a

places where there is absolutely everything

different point of view, creating a dialogue with their

working together for the same purpose, and

unborn children through song.

two-way approach. Through Presents, staff and social workers at BMC have the ability to request a

that makes it a very special place.”

visit to a room or a patient from a growing network The model the students developed is built on

of thirty “artists-on-call.” The artist first visits the

Over the years, what started as an outreach project

inspiration—a musician might ask the mother to write

patient, and then returns with an artistic gift in just

between CFA and BUMC has developed into an

a letter to their child; for others it might be an image

48 hours. “The first visit is just a personal encounter,”

experiment in artistic reciprocity where volunteer

or a memory that inspired them. From there, a text

says Fernández Via. “There is no art involved, just

artists and musicians transform their individual ability

is developed, and the music begins to emerge almost

a visit from a student, who tries to sense what is

into collective opportunities. “[At BMC] The artists are

spontaneously with the artists translating the mother’s

happening to make their assessment.” From that

there not to entertain, not for paternalistic justifications,

memories or musings into a melody. “We apply basic

point, the student makes a verbal commitment to

not because people are sick, not to make something better,

models of traditional sound,” says Fernández Via.

the patient to return within 48 hours with an artistic

but just to be part of this society.”

“There is a set of tools for the students to draw from.

gift. “That is very important,” adds Fernández Via

For example, the musician may ask a question musically,

remembering a patient who had been in the hospital

The A|L model represents a unique approach to the

and the mother will sing the answer.” The music

for a month with no visitors. “It can give the patient

presence of artists in the clinical setting. The work

students are instrumental in starting the journey, but

a huge morale boost.”

the artists do at BMC eschews traditional art therapy

once there is a musical shape, the mother can continue

approaches in favor of a distinctive formula aimed

on her own creating a sense of ownership.

at creating productive dialogue between the arts and

Looking forward, Fernández Via and A|L advisors hope to apply components of traditional research into their

healthcare. A|L students apply art and creativity

“I think the story of what we do is much more about

work. “The research component has always been part of

through a process known as Artistic Intervention—

individuals connecting, differing realities in dialogue,

the goal, something I planned to infuse once we actually

an Art Cart created by Artist-in-Residence Taylor

creating a context of true communication between

had the projects in place,” says Fernández Via, who plans

Mortell (CFA’16) that provides patients in the

very different groups through a variety of forms,”

to explore the link between creativity and public safety

Pediatric Emergency Department with guided artistic

add Fernández Via. “But the human component is key.

in the coming year. Though it is only hypothesis at this point,

experiences, Poetry Readings during Chemotherapy

The arts become an instrument to facilitate something.

Fernández Via believes that Music at the Heart of BMC,

treatments, or Waiting, a series of carefully planned

It is about seeing, and being seen.”

a series of public lobby concerts at BMC, will directly

musical performances in the Emergency Department

promote public safety within the space. He hopes to

waiting room. “Our work is extremely experimental,”

Other artistic interventions invite people to reorient

says Fernández Via. “The students work to understand

their senses. Silence, a series of curated music performances

how they can use what they know to serve a particular

in the Surgical Unit, aims to reduce unnecessary noises

Fernández Via’s goal is not for A|L students to

need. There are no rules and no mistakes. Yet the artist’s

in a busy hospital. The soothing music helps staff work

transform the medical campus. He wants these artists

sensitivity plays a critical role in how to fill the space,

mindfully, aiding in patients' rest and recovery.

to belong to the campus. “It is much more than bringing

to understand and anticipate what is needed at

prove that “bringing music brings safer public spaces.”

what we do here [CFA] to there [BMC]. It is not about While the majority of projects take place at BMC, A|L

transforming a hospital into a gallery or concert hall.

students have worked with Boston Health Care for the

It is about artists impacting patients without the demand

Projects like Lullaby have a lot to do with this

Homeless, the Solomon Carter Fuller Mental Health Center,

of becoming a doctor. It is about the idea that an artist

sensitivity. Co-created by Ensemble-in-Residence Palaver

Rosie’s Place, and other independent institutions and

can belong to a hospital. That is really the goal.”

Strings, Lullaby is a series of student-led workshops for

shelters that are part of or proximate to BUMC.

a particular moment in time.”

young mothers who are at-risk or in difficult situations.

On October 28th at 7pm, Arts|Lab will present When Patients

The workshops offer patients the opportunity to relate

At Rosie’s Place, A|L students work with women in the

Heal You, a special presentation of music created by patients

to the idea of motherhood and pregnancy from a very

English Literacy program, many of whom are learning

of the Department of Neurology, in the CFA Concert Hall.

Arts|Lab By the Numbers

72% 52

INCREASE IN ARTISTIC PROGRAMMING AT BUMC EVENTS PER SEASON

102 20

CFA STUDENT ARTISTS

7

PATIENTARTISTS

BUMC STUDENTS

6

BUMC STAFF & FACULTY

VOLUME TWO, ISSUE ONE

11

Designing a Community New space means exciting possibilities for Graduate Graphic Design Program.

by Brooke Yarborough

Photo by Brooke Yarborough.

Queen of Skiffle Marshall Lambert (CFA’15), alumna of the BU Graduate Graphic Design program and Spark designer, introduces her new nomadic design practice: Studio Skiffle.

After graduating with your MFA, you began working with metaLAB (at) Harvard. How has your time at the

Crisp white walls. Sun-drenched space. Panoramic

adds Amend. This fall, the School of Visual Arts will

views of the Charles. 13,000 square feet. A new

launch a 1-year post-baccalaureate program in Graphic

agency? Not exactly. A new classroom? Not quite.

Design, with the option for students to continue into

This is Boston University’s new state-of-the-art

the MFA program. "There is an increasing demand to

Graphic Design space—a professional graphic

innovate and expand our Graphic Design offerings," says

design studio and classroom in one.

Jeannette Guillemin, Director of the School of Visual Arts.

“The new studio space allows us to do just that.”

Located on the fourth floor of the historic Fuller building, the new space is large enough to hold up to

“The new studio completely sets us apart,” adds Coogan,

sixty students. It includes dedicated studios for eight

who believes the space will attract more students, making

faculty members, three modular classrooms, and a

the program even more competitive. “I don’t know of any

dual workspace perfect for hosting workshops and

other program with this caliber of studio space."

events. “The idea is to allow our creative community of artists in multiple disciplines to work together,

The space also gives students convenient access to the

fostering, and hopefully enhancing, everyone’s artistic

College’s Photography studios. "The goal is to centralize

ability,” says John Amend, Assistant Dean of Finance and

where students access equipment," says McElroy, who

Administration for the College. Alston Purvis, Chair of

plans to make DSLR cameras and lighting kits more

the Graphic Design Department agrees. “I always try to

accessible for the students. The studio will also have the

encourage the students to work on campus. It is great

latest in design and fabrication equipment, including 3-D

At some point I began thinking about how musical artists go

that they have their own space to interact with other

Print technology, large format print and scan capability,

on tour to share their music, and photographers and artists

students in the program.”

and vinyl cutters for use in the creation of large-scale

lab inspired the path for your new design practice? metaLAB is a family of humble, curious, and creative misfits who get to come in every day to create, think, explore, and dream together. Spending time in that type of open environment has inspired me to really take pride and ownership of my creative ideas and run with them.

typography, including signs. Looking forward, Guillemin

share their work in galleries. But what does it mean—what could it mean—for a designer to go on tour? What might it

Graphic Design professor Kristen Coogan expects to see an

envisions a space that will serve as a resource to those

mean to share work and skills in a non-static environment?

immediate change in student experience. “The new space

across the University, as well as the city of Boston.

How could interacting with different people and

is a real showpiece for the program. For the students,

environments influence my studio work and art practice?

I suspect it will aid in elevating their work, creating a forum

On November 11, the School of Visual Arts will host

for collaborative discourse and symbiotic interaction.”

Arts and Ideas in Action, a symposium highlighting

I've enjoyed three years in Boston, but I'll be relocating to

the intersection of Arts + Business + Social Impact.

Colorado for a bit this fall, and we'll see where Skiffle takes me from there! I spent a bit of this summer visiting and

The new space also marks a strategic move for the

Sponsored in part by the BU Arts Initiative, and in

hiking around Alaska and Oregon, and I can't wait to explore

Graphic Design graduate program at the College,

partnership with the Questrom School of Business Center

more of the West. Something I'm really looking forward to

which has been geographically separated from the

for Entrepreneurship and the BUzz Lab, the School

is performing pop–up bookmaking and conditional design

graduate painting and sculpture programs for many

has invited local artists, business leaders, and thought

workshops out of the trunk and surrounding space of my

years. According to Madeline McElroy, Graphic Design

partners, including David Delmar (CFA’06), Founder of

car! I love meeting new people and sharing skills, so the

Technical Associate, “The new space allows for a

Resilient Coders, Susan Rodgerson, Executive Director

pop–up workshops are going to be a lot of fun and will

collective cohesion between the programs.” In addition

of Artists for Humanity, and Liz Powers, Co-Founder of

be an important addition to my creative practice.

to proximity, which will allow for rich collaborations

ArtLifting, for a full day exploring the impact of art and

I've practiced freelance work through graduate school and in

between graduate students of all disciplines, the space

creativity in business.

addition to my full time jobs over the last ten years, so I'm very

has other tangible benefits. With a modern design and a

excited to dedicate my energy to focusing soley on buildling

clean and minimalistic aesthetic, the new studio features

“We’ve reached out to thought leaders to conceptualize

and promoting Studio Skiffle while also being able to focus on

an open layout intended to mimic the surroundings of

what the day might look like,” says Guillemin, who is

other creative curiosities and outputs, like the workshops.

a professional workspace. “For graduate students, it is

organizing the symposium. “We are considering the

especially important to have experience in a real-life

challenges and possibilities, looking at arts organizations,

environment,” McElroy says. “We have a responsibility

as well as hybrid models of art and business that are

to bridge the gap between academia and the professional

sustainable from an economic perspective.”

What other creative outputs are you interested in exploring and spending more time with?

For the last few years there have been a few characters

world, and in graphic design, students learn by doing. The

I've been writing stories about and creating illustrations

only way to get better is by showing work and opening it

Open to the Boston community, the morning session

around—one is a French marshmallow named Hooky Hands,

up to critique. This new space facilitates just the sort of

will bring in artists and art advocate speakers for short

constructive verbal communication that will help students

presentations, while the afternoon will pivot to Design

grow as designers.”

Thinking workshops to focus on idea generation.

The new studios are located on the same floor as the

“The goal is to deepen from the idea to the action

College’s Printmaking facilities, which include one of the

phase,” continues Guillemin, “To consider the role of

last remaining letterpress machines in Boston, as well as

the arts in leading innovation, and how BU can be an

dedicated studios for lithography, silk screening, etching,

incubator of this type of thinking.”

and another is The Girl with Long Bangs. They crept into my subconscious and I've been haunted by them in the best way.

I'm so enthusiastic to get them more exposure and attention, and I've also been working on a travel entertainment book for designers that I'm hoping to produce late this fall.

One last question: What in the world is a "skiffle?"

Skiffle is a genre of music often played using improvised

and digital printmaking. “This is a great opportunity

instruments—which pairs perfectly with my improvisational

for Graphic Design and Printmaking students to work

For Purvis, who has served on the design faculty

together,” says Amend who recognizes the importance

since 1981, these developments offer an exciting new

of also educating students in handmade arts in an

opportunity to further burnish the department’s deeply

ever-growing digital landscape.

respected program. “Graphic design,” he says, “changes

and experimental design methodology. Lonnie Donegan was known as the King of Skiffle, and I'll be playing both new and old skiffle music from my car during the pop–up gallery space and workshops! Skiffle is also a super fun and memorable word. No one is ever too familiar with it, and I really enjoy hearing what folks think it means before I tell them.

every six months. While the same principles always apply, "This new space makes it possible to expand our

you have to keep up with what is current.”

enrollment in the Graduate Graphic Design program,"

For more information on Studio Skiffle and Marshall's curiosities, visit StudioSkiffle.com.

Background photo by Emily Wade.

Overdrive Distinguished Alumni Awards

Watch It Live!

Join us as we honor:

The new BU Theatre Center is taking shape here on the Charles River campus.

» Joel Christian Gill (SVA’04), Graphic Novelist, Strange Fruit

When complete, the building will feature a state-of-the-art multi-functional

» Beth Morrison (SOM’94), Creative Producer, Beth Morrison Projects

studio theatre with a full complement of support spaces and design labs for

» Peter Paige (SOT’91), Co-Creator and Executive Producer, The Fosters

teaching and producing student theatre. This vast (over 75,000 gross square feet) complex will greatly enhance the center of the campus by uniting the College’s acclaimed Theatre program on Commonwealth Avenue.

Learn more at bu.edu/alumniweekend September 30, 5:30–7:30pm • Trustee Ballroom, 9th Floor, One Silber Way

Can’t wait for Fall 2017? Tune into the live webcam at bu.edu/facilities/project/boston-university-theatre-center.

BuiLdinG dESiGn

25

Joel Christian Gill

Beth Morrison

Peter Paige

BU Theatre Center (Opening Fall 2017).

BOSTON UNIVERSITY THEATRE ARTS PROJECT

V I E W: CO M M O N W E A LT H AV E N U E

Celebrating 50 Years of BU Tanglewood Institute

ELKUS MANFREDI ARCHITECTS >> MIKYOUNG KIM DESIGN

Remembering Phyllis Curtin

By far the highlight of the CFA summer was the BUTI 50th Anniversary Celebration on August 6th at Seiji Ozawa Hall.

BU College of Fine Arts and the Howard Gotlieb

Emceed by Lauren Ambrose (BUTI’94,’95) of Six Feet Under and The X-Files, and conducted by Boston Symphony

Archival Research Center invite you to join us

Orchestra Assistant Conductor Ken-David Masur (BUTI’96), students and faculty from BUTI’s Young Artists Programs

as we celebrate the remarkable life and legacy of

and alumni guest artists from across the country came together to celebrate the legacy of BUTI. Program highlights

Dean Emerita Phyllis Curtin. Through music, words,

included the world premieres of Nico Muhly’s (BUTI’96,’97) Pulses, Cycles, Clouds, and Timo Andres’ (BUTI’00,’01)

and imagery, we will reflect on the work, reach,

Land Lines, both commissioned especially for the anniversary. Following the event Dean ad interim Lynne Allen

and spirit of an exquisite artist, a gifted teacher,

and Executive Director Hilary Respass announced the establishment of the Phyllis Hoffman Scholarship Fund in

and a masterful leader. October 1, 5:30pm (with

recognition of the longtime former Artistic Director at a reception emceed by WGBH Radio Host Ron Della Chiesa.

reception to follow) • Tsai Performance Center

Photo by Natasha Moustache.

Photo courtesy of the Met Opera Archive.

Experience the innovative talent of the next generation of theatre, music, and visual artists when you purchase a CFA Membership! $25 per household entitles membership holders to unlimited half-price tickets to all CFA events held at the Boston University Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, and Symphony Hall. Become a CFA Membership holder today by calling the Boston Theatre Scene Box Office at 617.933.8600.

Congrats to the Spark team for winning a 2016 UCDA Design Award of Excellence!

Spark Editorial Team volume two, issue one CREATIVE DIRECTION + DESIGN Studio Skiffle EXECUTIVE EDITOR Brooke Yarborough ART DIRECTION Brooke Yarborough, Emily Wade INTERVIEWS + ARTICLES Brooke Yarborough, Emily Wade COMMUNICATIONS Laurel Homer, Brooke Yarborough, and Emily Wade