January/February Abridged Spotlight

JANUARY/FEBRUARY

2021

Image by Tim Miller

FACULTY OF Dr. Carol Frierson-Campbell January Faculty of the Month Department of Music

1. How does it feel to be January’s Faculty of the Month?

I’m honored to be asked to tell a bit about myself. Of course, with the pandemic and related uncertainties, this is an uneasy time, but I feel optimistic about the future - for our state and country, and for the Music Department at William Paterson University!

2. How long have you taught at William Paterson University?

This is my 21st year of teaching at William Paterson University.

3. You’ve been an educator since 1985. What do you enjoy about teaching?

The best part of being an educator is that you are constantly learning. To be a good teacher, you have to be open to learning new things and facing intellectual challenges. Those challenges may come from your students, or from colleagues at the university and elsewhere. An amazing part of being an academic educator is having colleagues around the world who are always pushing you to learn.

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The best part of being an educator is that you are constantly learning.

-Dr. Carol Frierson-Campbell 2

THE MONTH Dr. Diana Peck

February Faculty of the Month Department of Communication 1. How does it feel to be February’s Faculty of the Month?

After almost a year of not being able to be with my students and colleagues on campus, I’m grateful for this opportunity to connect with our community. I miss the daily interactions of campus life!

2. How long have you taught in the Department of Communication?

It’s been my privilege to teach here for the last 44 years. When I started, Hamilton Hall (then Hobart Hall) was half its current size. I was the Department chairperson as we planned the addition and renovation to upgrade our building and provide state-of-the-art television production and film screening facilities.

3. What is your most memorable teaching experience at William Paterson University?

There are two types of teaching experiences that I never forget. One is when I see the eyes of a student light up with excitement as something clicks - how that student sees and experiences the world has shifted a little, a door has opened, an interest has been sparked. The second is when a student realizes how capable he or she is by meeting a challenge and producing their best work. These moments inspire me. But perhaps the most memorable moments are when I learn from my students. I got interested in community media because of a student who was very excited about it. Ultimately, it became the basis for my dissertation.

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When I see the eyes of a student light up with excitement as something clicks - how that student sees and experiences the world has shifted a little, a door has opened, an interest has been sparked.

- Dr. Diana Peck 3

ADJUNCTS OF Cristina de Gennaro

January Adjunct of the Month Department of Art 1. What course(s) do you teach at WP? I teach ARTS 1050, Drawing Studio, the foundation drawing course and ARTS 2050, Life Drawing, which is drawing from the figure.

2. What do you enjoy about teaching in the Department of Art? Our students! They are a diverse and talented group and they bring a wide experiential base to our class community that manifests itself in our engaging course discussions and critique sessions. I really enjoy getting to know the students personally and helping each in the process of developing their own artistic sensibilities.

3. You were awarded the 2020 Pollock-Krasner Award in which you continued to work on your series, Sage Drawings. Tell us about this award and your series.

I’m so pleased to have been awarded a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant. The Foundation was established in 1985 by Lee Krasner, one of the foremost women abstract expressionist painters of the 20th Century and also the wife of Jackson Pollock, to provide financial resources for artists to better pursue their art practices.

The grant allows me to continue working on my current series, Sage Drawings, which are large-scale charcoal drawings, 42 inches X 8 feet each. The drawings depict life-size realist details of the New Mexican high desert floor, showing entropic spaces comprised of eroding sagebrush, weeds, and soil, referencing both decay and regeneration. I photograph the plants with an iPhone on panoramic mode and as I walk across the scene, the phone scans the forms below. Later, working from the photographs, I draw the organic systems, exploring the tensions between pattern and complexity, beauty and chaos.

These landscapes are informed by my experience of aging, which is complex and contradicted: while this time of my life is meaningful and fulfilling, it also has brought loss and fragility, and my drawings reflect that. Rather than depict a sublime New Mexican sunset, I have turned my gaze towards the ground: these uncomfortable spaces mark the daily erosion of time, the sublime they explore is one tempered by the abject and yet, I find them filled with movement, pattern, grace, and beauty.

Image credit: Cristina de Gennaro Sage Drawing VIII. 2017. Charcoal on mylar. 42X96 inches.

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F THE MONTH Frank Fagnano

February Adjunct of the Month Department of Music 1. How does it feel to be February’s Adjunct of the Month?

It feels great to be honored by my peers this way.

2. How long have you been an adjunct professor in the Department of Music?

I graduated from the Music Department in 1985 as one of the first two Music Management majors. At that point, I had already been working professionally as a musician since my teens and I was also working as a recording engineer in a studio owned by a recent WP Jazz Piano grad. That studio was filled with synthesizers, samplers, drum machines and some of the early MIDI sequencers. I was programming nearly every day.

So, I designed a 12-week course to teach professionals about this blossoming technology. I got the idea to call Dr. Stephen Marcone, who was Chair, to suggest I bring some gear into Shea to do a demo/master class on modern production techniques.

He brilliantly countered my offer by suggesting we get some money together, build an Electronic Music Lab, and that I’d be the first Electronic Music adjunct. I believe I began teaching a few classes a week in Spring 1987 based on that original 12week course and was the lab tech and monitor while students worked on projects.

3. What do you enjoy about teaching at William Paterson University?

I’ve been here a long time. WP is like a second home. Since I began teaching in 1987, I only took one break from teaching for a few years because my music career had gotten incredibly busy. I started driving to the WP campus as a music student in Fall 1981. This Fall 2021, I’ll be making the trip for 40 years!

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ALUMNI OF Dave Maltese

January Alumni of the Month Department of Communication 1. What was your major?

I majored in Radio & Television.

2. In addition to being an alumnus, you also serve on the College’s Advisory Board. Tell us about this.

I was asked to serve on the College’s Advisory Board as an inaugural member. With having such strong family ties to the university, it is an honor to sit on an advisory committee. Being that my father was a former professor at WP for 40 years, we have three scholarships that we award to WP students and we recruit interns from WP for the NY Giants - all of this made it an easy yes to serve in this capacity.

3. While attending WP, you worked as the Assistant Music Director at Brave New Radio.

What are two memorable experiences while working there?

While at WP, I worked many jobs. I served as Assistant Music Director and that was a lot of fun. I mainly called record companies asking for donations for music. I was a DJ on WPSC for 5 years and I had a weekly radio variety show on Saturday mornings. We did a Grateful Dead hour of music that had a very good following and an “unsigned artist series,” where we had local bands come to the studio, perform live, as well as plug their music and upcoming concerts. I also worked at Channel 8, a local cable tv station, and was a bartender and manager at Billy Pats Pub on campus (when we had a bar on campus). I was also president of Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity and worked for hospitality services as a vendor, filling the vending machines across campus. I have so many great campus memories; it’s hard to say which two are my favorite.

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I have so many great campus memories; it’s hard to say which two are my favorite.

- Dave Maltese

Dave Maltese and Michael Strahan, television personality and former NFL player, pose at MetLife Stadium.

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THE MONTH Denzell Littlejohn

February Alumni of the Month Department of Art 1. What was your major and when did you graduate?

I graduated in 2016 with a BFA in Fine Art. 2. What artistic advice did you receive from WP art professors?

I greatly benefited from both Professor Uhlein and Professor Delaura. Each taught me the importance of balance, rhythm, and consistency in terms of design.

3. While at WP, you participated in WP’s Summer Art in China program offered by the Center for Chinese Art and the Department of Art. Tell us about that experience.

The Summer Art in China program was an amazing experience that widened my perspective on many things. Growing up, I’ve seen and heard about cultural differences via books and television, but the vision is so much clearer once you are exposed to it first-hand. One of my most memorable moments was visiting the rural areas where I got a chance to meet the locals and have dinner with them. It was a humbling experience to be invited into their lives with open arms.

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Professor Uhlein and Professor Delaura taught me the importance of balance, rhythm, and consistency in terms of design.

- Denzell Littlejohn

Image by Denzell Littlejohn

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STUDENTS OF Davontae Leak

January Student of the Month Department of Communication 1. What is your major and when will you graduate?

My major is Communication with a concentration in Media Production and I’m scheduled to graduate in May 2023.

2. You’re the program director at Brave New Radio. Tell us about your role.

As program director, my role is to oversee and develop programs and music as well as assist other radio hosts – making sure their shows run well. It’s a constant effort to make sure everything is running smoothly 24/7 as we hold the title of the nation’s #1 college radio station.

3. You’re the co-host of Brave New Radio’s morning show, Morning Commute. Tell us about the show.

Morning Commute is our campus morning show, which airs every Monday morning from 6 a.m. – 9 a.m. Alongside my co-hosts, we present news, celebrity gossip, advice and offer the freshest perspectives on current events. We hope to continue to be a platform for the student body of WP and are always discussing on-campus events and issues. This past October, we had the privilege of interviewing President Helldobler in regard to campus life due to COVID-19.

To watch Davontae’s “Student of the Month” interview, please click on the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_92QPYx6C88&t=6s.

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We hope to continue to be a platform for the student body of WP and are always discussing on-campus events and issues.

-Davontae Leak 8

F THE MONTH Megan Martinelli

February Student of the Month Department of Art 1. What is your major and when will you graduate?

I’m an art major concentrating in photography and I plan to graduate in 2021.

2. Tell us about your work. What inspires you?

Photographers like James Kerwin or Alec Soth inspire me. More specifically, James Kerwin’s adventures across the globe that focus on discovering uncommon locations to photograph instead of the touristy, overly photographed places that most people shoot, makes me love his work. He brings beauty to places that are abandoned and lifeless and inspires me to search out my own forgotten places to do the same. Meanwhile, Alec Soth’s photobook, Sleeping by the Mississippi, inspires and shows that you also do not need to travel far to find a story worth photographing. The work of these two photographers leads me to concentrate my work in urbex photography as well as traveling the lands around me in search of my next photograph.

3. How long have you been doing photography and what prompted you to pick up a camera?

I’ve been doing photography for at least eight years. My first interaction with a camera was when a family member bought one and I was able to borrow it and play around taking landscape photos.

My interest in freezing a beautiful moment in time grew as well as the thrill of adventuring to find hidden and interesting places to photograph. These adventures led me to abandoned places, which in turn, blossomed my love for giving life and attention to these forgotten places.

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Images by Megan Martinelli

College of the Arts & Communication Office of the Dean: Loretta Mc Laughlin Vignier, Interim Dean Dr. Lauren Fowler-Calisto, Dean’s Fellow & Assistant to the Dean & Associate Professor, Department of Music Lavene Gass, Marketing & Community Liaison Amy Nemery, Executive Staff Assistant Rosario Urena, Administrative Staff Assistant Kaeli Brady, Intern: Graphic Designer Tekoa Criddell, Intern: Graphic Designer Megan Martinelli, Intern: Photographer John Conlow, Intern: Videographer Julianne Kearns, Intern: Social Media

Interviews & Edits by: Lavene Gass Layout Design by: Tekoa Criddell To submit news, email Lavene Gass at gassl1@wpunj.edu.

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Image by Tim Miller