Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts // 2014
Aspire is published annually by the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts, Indiana University South Bend, for our alumni, students, friends, faculty, and staff. Dean Marvin V. Curtis, Ed.D. EDITOR Michele Morgan-Dufour designER Tiffany Goehring
// Mission Statement
assistant editors Sarah Duis Neil King
The IUSB Arts Foundation supports the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts at IU South Bend by sponsoring or providing funds for special events and community outreach programs, with particular emphasis on educating, entertaining, and involving young people.
Photography Adam Horton Lynnette Nettrouer Randy Roberts Matthew Ridenour Peter Ringenberg Ryan Stutzman
// IUSB Arts Foundation, Inc. David Kibbe, president June Edwards, vice president Joe Mancini, treasurer Durleen Braasch, secretary Cynthia Antos Linda Bancroft Cheryl Barker Pam Beam Sandra Collins Marvin V. Curtis, ex-officio Robert W. Demaree Jr.* Frederick B. Ettl Judy Ferrara Robert Frank Kitty Gunty
Chris Kelly Alice A. Martin* Paul McLeod Cyndi Miller Sara Miller Kendrick Morris Carmi Murphy* Ned North Fred Nwanganga Ernestine M. Raclin* Randolph Rampola Valerie Sabo Stephanie Schurz Melissa Seyboldt Janet Thompson*
*Emeritus Member The Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts thanks the IUSB Arts Foundation for their long standing service and support to the school. Their efforts make it possible for us to present special events including the 20th Anniversary Celebration, Toradze Piano Institute, and Summer Arts Camp, among many other projects. If you are interested in working with the IUSB Arts Foundation on future projects, please contact the school of the arts office at 574.520.4134 for more information. FRONT COVER Lecturer in Fine Arts Casey Lard instructs a painting student. Photograph by Peter Ringenberg Copyright © 2014 Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts, IU South Bend
copy editor Geoff Lesar Writers Kathy Borlik James Bowyer Sara Duis Moira Dyczko Kevin Gillen Sean Hottois Izza Jatala Neil King Geoff Lesar Taylor Lincoln Ryan Lohman Tricia McCann Joshua Miller Barbara Mocuilski Susan Moore Taylor Neff Bekka Oxley Jason Resler Cecelia Roeder Melissa Seybolt Luis Vargas Sarah Ward // PRODUCTION NOTES PAPER Cover pages printed on 80 lb. Ariva Value Gloss Cover. Body pages printed on 70 lb. Ariva Value Gloss Text. NOTE: Ariva has achieved Tri-Certifcation with the follwing: Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC), Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI), and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC). Printing Four color process with spot Gloss UV Coating on cover.
Marvin V. Curtis
letter from the dean
“Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.” - Anton Ego, Ratatouille It is amazing how the lessons of art and creativity can speak to us even in the fictional characters in a Disney movie. Anton Ego is the pretentious food critic in the animated feature film Ratatouille and writes these words when he discovers that talent and artistry can come from what is perceived to be the lowest life form in the world. You hold in your hands our sixth edition of Aspire magazine, and as dean I am made more aware everyday of what these pages demonstrate. Here you will find stories about students who, regardless of their backgrounds, work with creative faculty and a supportive staff and become great artists. Our list of accomplishments
this year continues to grow as our students command national and international attention. One of our biggest accomplishments is graduating almost one fifth of the students in the School of the Arts. Aspire is about the power of the creative spirit. I have spoken about this many times in our monthly newsletter and in other issues of Aspire. For me, it is that creative spirit that allows us to be truly human. It allows us to see the world without the cynicism of a critic looking for the tiniest flaws, but as a fellow traveler through the maze of sound, light, color, and wonder. Ah, wonder…that thing we had as a child that we somehow lost as an adult. It was wonder that allowed us to take crayons and color, to hear music and dance, to read and imagine ourselves in faraway lands, to fear nothing and absorb everything. This is what Aspire is all
about, and you hold in your hands the wonder of our students, guided by our faculty and supported by our staff. We have opted to take away the cynicism of a world void of the possibilities and place in your hands, that which is possible…the power of the creative spirit. I invite you to read about what our students have done. I invite you to allow yourself to imagine, once again, that which we urge our students to do. I invite you to be amazed at what students, who are perceived to come from ordinary backgrounds, can do. Our students are extraordinary and they inspire us so we can help them aspire to be the best they can be. The lesson of Anton Ego is true, for not everyone can become a great artist but a great artist can come from anywhere, especially the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts.
Sublimo Mechanique, oil by Jeffery Barrick // student
inside // Communication Studies
// Theatre & Dance
47
Mass communication grads thriving
20
A thread of opportunity
71
Communications plans Master’s degree
22
Happy birthday William Shakespeare
75
Time bridges
34
Pontius’s A Beautiful Doll
38
Later, Pops
// Music 6
Motorcycles, bodybuilding, and piano
46
Actor profile: Jeremy Weyer
8
An American night with Jorge Muñiz
61
Celebration of Dance
14
Morningstar publishes Miller’s music
28
Summer in the spotlight
1
Dean’s Welcome
43
Vargas leads thriving viola studio
7
Fall highlights
60
Composing with the Kingsmen
16
A timeless performance
70
A venture of affirmation
21
Raclin receives Wells Award
74
Pep band fires up the crowd
36
Arts graduates a record class
40
Arts Foundation board helps students
// New Media
// School of the Arts
30
Into the 3rd dimension
42
Farewell to good friends
32
Professor Karen Ackoff retires
49
New Performance Hall welcomes audiences
35
New media thriving in new facility
50
Euterpe’s Gift
45
Planting the seeds of possibility
52
Community generosity completes hall
57
Technology meets art
53
Honor roll
62
Chancellor honors Louise Addicott Joshi
// fine Arts 3
Constantly creating, Maclovio Cantu
64
Come to the island
12
Professor Alan Larkin retires
68
Art Gallery’s inaugural year
14
Art education degree wins final approval
76
News
18
Visual culture class goes virtual
66
From the classroom to the gallery
72
Beautifying the Bend
The Band, linocut
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Constantly Creating Student profile: Maclovio Cantu Maclovio Cantu is a printmaking major in his fifth year at IU South Bend. His journey into printmaking and Chicano artwork has gained him recognition locally and internationally. Cantu’s artistic style has many inspirations, from José Posada, a Mexican illustrator known for his use of skeletons in art as political satire, to fourteenth century printmaker Albrecht Dürer, who “paved the way” for generations of printmakers to come. But what really shapes and inspires Cantu is the Chicano art movement. “It’s pretty disciplined,” says Cantu. “You don’t make art just for art’s sake. You make art as a tool against injustice. You become a voice. There’s an underlying message that needs to get out there.” Another element Cantu derives from the Chicano movement is the underlying political theme. His art series entitled Political Circus draws upon contemporary political issues, including Election Day and gun violence. Yet Cantu wasn’t always a printmaking major, or even an art major. He began as a psychology major with an art minor, intending to be an art therapist. However, in his junior year, he had a life-changing experience in class. “One day, I just drew the professor,” Cantu recalls. “He was easy to draw because all he did was sit and press a spacebar for the PowerPoint. He was basically a stilllife, so I just drew him. I looked down at it, realized how bored I was. I left that class and changed my major on the spot.”
Another path entirely would lead Cantu from fine arts major to printmaking, an art he describes as “the gem I stumbled upon.” While working for the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame he was able to delve into and experience Chicano art, through Professor Gilberto Cardenas’ collection of Chicano art, one of the largest in the world. Through the institute, Cantu met Joe Segura, an internationally-known printmaker who eventually became his mentor. During a weeklong printmaking lab at Notre Dame with Segura, Cantu was able to meet a variety of well-known printmakers. Segura invited him to mingle with the other printmakers and make his own prints. “I had never carved linoleum before,” Cantu admits “I was using Juan Fuentes’ tools. He’s known world-wide. Nobody ever shares their tools, but he was like ‘Here, you can use mine, you don’t have your own.’” Cantu was able to sell his first prints during the one-night pop-up art gallery that featured the artists from the printmaking lab. All of Cantu’s prints sold within three hours. “I was one out of only one or two people, out of all these internationallyknown printmakers, that sold all of their stuff. After that, I was like ‘This is it,’ I went and switched my major again, this time to printmaking,” says Cantu. Cantu’s involvement and experience with printmaking continues to grow. This year, he’s been featured in nearly a dozen exhibits. One of his most recent projects is through La Calaca Press, a project promoting printmaking and connections with artists and printmakers
around the world. Through La Calaca, Cantu’s art was exhibited in Australia. While Cantu still has a semester or so left at IU South Bend, he looks forward to his future after undergraduate studies. He plans to attend Minneapolis College of Art and Design to obtain a graduate’s degree in printmaking. After that, he intends to return to the classroom in a different capacity. “My goal is to be teaching printmaking by the age of 25 or 26,” Cantu reveals. “I want to be a professor of printmaking. I’d also love to take a year off and teach at Washington High School in South Bend, my old high school.” Cantu’s advice for young printmakers is to keep busy and stay devoted to the art. “A lot of people just don’t understand how much work you have to put into it,” says Cantu. “I’m here in the printmaking lab every day until two or three in the morning. I’m constantly creating. That is the single most important thing I’ve learned throughout the whole time. There is no time to stop. I don’t watch TV, I don’t watch movies, I don’t go out. I make art. Making these prints is larger than me. I feel that they have a message that needs to be out. If I’m not making them, these stories aren’t being told.” WRITTEN BY Cecelia Roeder
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Motorcycles, Bodybuilding, and Piano
Premier pianist Leon Bates is coming to the Lerner Theatre this fall for a benefit concert to help Elkhart students attend the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts at IU South Bend. As one of America’s leading pianists, Leon Bates has earned for himself a place on the international concert circuit. However, the man whose fingers will dance across the ivory is anything but your average pianist. Bates is a custom motorcycle enthusiast. He’s a fan of bad boy Jesse James and the legendary Arlen Ness. “I have a great appreciation for motorcycles,” says Bates. “I think it’s such a unique and interesting artistry.” In Bates’ eyes there’s a similarity between playing classical piano and creating a custom motorcycle. “In classical music you start with this song that is all laid out for you. It’s not like jazz where there’s room for improvisation,” Bates explains. 6
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“You need to play the notes exactly the way they are on the page, and yet it is very important to put your own stamp on the music. You should try and play the music as if you wrote it.” Bates says that the similarity is that with a motorcycle a custom builder starts with a factory body such as a Harley-Davidson or an Indian. There are certain things like pipes or the raise of the rake that are the same on every model of the motorcycle the builder begins with, much like the notes on the page for a pianist. “People take that and they’ll work to customize that,” Bates says. “What you get in the end is a bike that looks like no other.” In both art forms Bates says that there is a necessary ability for the artist to connect on an individual level with his audience. Bates is also a disciplined body builder. “It’s very much a part of my lifestyle at this point,” Bates says. “I
try to get to the gym every day. It’s a vital part of my existence.” Bodybuilding, much like motorcycles, has a strong connection with playing the piano to Bates. “Learning the mechanics of lifting weights is important to build your body the way you’d like it to be, which is after all the goal of bodybuilding,” Bates says. “Learning the mechanics of playing piano is very much the same. I understand the importance of mechanics in each.” Bates will perform November 9, 2014 at the Lerner Theatre in downtown Elkhart. Proceeds from the concert will provide scholarships for Elkhart students to study the arts at IU South Bend. Visit the Lerner’s web site at www.thelerner.com to reserve tickets. WRITTEN BY Neil King
fallhighlights Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts
Translations Exhibition aug. 11 – sept. 20 arts gallery Education & Arts 5-9 PM Sept. 5 artists reception Visit this special collection of prints by the Consejo Gráfico, an independent network of printmakers that has formed to advance the legacy and viability of Latino printmaking in the United States. Ramiro Rodriguez, exhibitions coordinator at the Snite Museum, University of Notre Dame, will curate the exhibit.
Vocal Duets 4 pm sept. 28 performace hall, northside hall Students from IU South Bend and other local campuses will perform a recital of vocal duets as part of the Louise E. Addicott and Yatish J. Joshi Performance Hall dedication weekend. Guest vocalist Robert Sims will coach the students in a masterclass, open to the public, at 10 am on Saturday, September 27. Students will then present their works in this collaborative event embodying the gift of the Georgina Joshi Foundation.
Execution of Justice by Emily Mann 8 PM oct. 16-18 2 PM oct. 19 campus auditorium northside hall Execution of Justice depicts the case of Dan White, who assassinated San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and openly gay City Supervisor Harvey Milk in 1978, and received a seven year sentence. With the theme Common Ground: the Human in All of Us, the IU South Bend Theatre and Dance Company opens its season with this highly emotional drama.
“An Evening of Gershwin” with Leon Bates, piano 4 PM Nov. 9 Lerner Theatre, Elkhart Leon Bates presents a scholarship benefit concert of Gershwin’s repertoire, featuring “Rhapsody in Blue” with the IUSB Philharmonic and members of the South Bend Youth Symphony Orchestra. Performance $20. Performance and artist reception $50. Bates will present a masterclass open to the public on Friday, November 7 at IU South Bend.
Tickets available for $3-$12 and free to students/children*
For a complete schedule of events, visit arts.iusb.edu or call 574.520.4203 to request a season calendar. *Unless otherwise noted.
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On a spring night composer Jorge Muñiz debuted a concerto that brought together the nightlives of three very different cities in a joyful expression of music. Illia Ulianitsky of the Toradze Piano Studio played alongside the South Bend Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Tsung Yeh to bring Muñiz’s piece to life. Muñiz’s piece, Concerto No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra “American Nights,” begins with the first movement portraying Chicago after dark. “The piece starts with street musicians beginning to perform on a street corner,” says Associate Professor of Music Muñiz. “Then slowly other musicians come in and help to build the music into a jam session.” The first movement features elements of hip-hop music and blues to capture the musical pulse of the Windy City. In the second movement of the concerto, the music drifts to St. Joseph, Michigan to reflect a quiet night by the river and then reinvigorates itself again in Miami with reflections of salsa and merengue vibrantly closing out the performance. “This was about my personal impressions of the night in these places,” Muñiz says. “I wanted to capture the essence of the cities without quoting any music from them. I wanted to be more ambitious than that. I wanted to integrate the musical styles of these cities within a larger composition.” Martin Endowed Professor of Piano Alexander Toradze says that Ulianitsky was the perfect choice to play Muñiz’s piece and it also allowed the pianist to expand his skills. “I’m delighted that “American Nights” was in the concert, and I
think we found the exact right person to perform the piece in Ulianitsky,” Toradze says. “When we started to work he had never played jazz, or blues, or salsa. He played them very well. I’m delighted that he was able to play these very necessary styles and have a sense of what they are.” Several other Toradze Piano Studio members had the opportunity to perform pieces surrounding “American Nights.” Natasha Stojanovska opened the concert with a piece by Carl Maria von Weber, Senior Lecturer in Music Ketevan Badridze followed with a Chopin selection. Finally, Alexander Toradze and his student Siwon Kim brought the concert to a close with a piece by Tchaikovsky. Toradze enjoyed all of the performances, but says that Muñiz was the star of the show. Toradze says that the audience’s reception of the piece was loud, very cheerful, and that there had to be an encore to satisfy the ecstatic audience. “This program was special because this new piece was surrounded by these old warhorses,” Toradze says. “It’s a rarity that someone composes such a piece for piano. So many are moving toward writing contemporary pieces for the orchestra. What Muñiz has done here is really special. He has written such a contemporary and evolved piece of music and it is extraordinary. For me and my students to get to participate in the performing of the concert was fantastic.” WRITTEN BY Neil King Photography by Daniel Holm 9
Music earns
NASM accreditation
After five years of hard work the Department of Music received accreditation in July from the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM). This achievement is the culmination of a process that involved an in-depth self-study of the department’s policies and procedures, several clarifying followup and progress reports, and two campus visits from evaluation teams. NASM describes accreditation as “signifying that an institution has successfully demonstrated compliance with the procedures, standards, and guidelines of the Association. Integral to this voluntary process is ongoing, regularized selfevaluation and peer review.” The music department recognizes the importance of such periodic review and by achieving accreditation from NASM ensures that it’s meeting 10 arts.iusb.edu
national standards for music education. “We have known for a long time that we are doing good work here in the music department,” Department Chair and Associate Professor of Music History Jeffrey Wright says. “This decision from NASM just provides further evidence of the quality education that we provide our students.” With its accreditation, the music department joins an elite group of institutions that uphold the highest standards in music education. “This step for the Department of Music signifies that the Raclin School of the Arts is on track to have all of their programs nationally accredited,” Dean Marvin Curtis says. “This is a monumental step in the life of IU South Bend as our music program has been recognized for achieving and
maintaining national standards. It is a source of pride for our faculty, staff, and students. As dean, I look forward to continuing the process for the rest of our programs.” Because this is the department’s first accreditation, it has been granted associate membership in NASM for five years. The department will have to craft another self-study in preparation for a campus visit during the 2019-2020 academic year. For our students, this means opening doors for them for graduate study,” Curtis says. “They can take pride in knowing that their school is a NASM school. No one can doubt the quality of our programs.”
The art of the sale It takes more than artistic talent to be a successful artist. Great artists also need the business acumen to turn their latest creation into cold hard cash. In 2013 the annual Scholarship Art Sale, traditionally organized by student volunteers, became part of the BFA Capstone course curriculum, guaranteeing graduating students practice the business skills necessary to pursue careers in art. Students in Assistant Professor of Art Education Jane Cera’s BFA Capstone class had ten weeks to organize the sale. “Having students organize the sale gave them the very important real-world experience of organizing and promoting an art event,” Cera says. “The BFA capstone class has as one of its major goals, that of helping students learn the business side of art. It was terrific to see students doing interviews with TV crews, and it is always a joy to watch an artist sell a piece of their work.” Director of Community Outreach Michele Morgan-Dufour helped the class get started by sharing what student volunteers and staff had done in previous years to bring the sale together. She then served as their mentor during the planning process. The class members divided themselves into committees: artist recruitment, marketing, and volunteer coordination. Fine Arts student Katherine Corpe chose to be in the marketing group and says that her experience radically changed her viewpoint on what it takes to be an artist. “It was a big revelation to the entire class as to just the blood, sweat, and tears involved in marketing yourself as a working artist. It also absolutely takes self-marketing in order be a successful commercial artist,” Corpe says. “It is so important to not give up on yourself just because a business or company slams the door in your face. It took much determination and many phone calls and emails, but in the end we were able to have our work shine through in many local advertisements including an interview on the local news.” “The students learned a lot, and they sold more than $3,500 of artwork,” Morgan-Dufour says. “It was a little stressful for them, and afterwards several students commented that they hadn’t understood how many tasks were involved in putting on a sale. It was great for them to see what is required to take the artwork off the easel and put it out into the world.” WRITTEN BY NEIL KING 11
Apotheosis, oil
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Professor Alan Larkin retires Alan Larkin is grateful for the 37 years he spent teaching printmaking and drawing. “I was lucky enough to get a job at the school, and was always happy to have that job,” he says. “I am even happier that having that job gave me the time to prepare for the career I have now.” “My favorite class to teach was drawing,” Larkin says. “Drawing is revision. It is much like writing where the first draft may be utter trash, but if the kernel of an idea is buried there it can be exposed and examined.” While his post retirement life may not include teaching, the professor emeritus retains his belief in embracing change. His prolific artistic output is evident throughout his historic West Washington Street home, where it is on the walls, leaned against furniture, and scattered across a table. “I’m working through a series of still life drawings that are very involved. I like drawing problems that are hard,” Larkin says, pointing out a newly framed pastel. He describes this new piece as “an accident,” created after he noticed items casually strewn on the table behind him as he worked. “Many abstract artists develop in a flatter plain and avoid spatial anomalies. I worked like that for a long time, so this new series is more interesting to me because it is more three dimensional than much of my work,” he explains.
Larkin purchased his home in 1985 and it has been lovingly renovated from its previous life as a bar. The home has four bedrooms he once rented to graduate students, the start of his second career as a landlord. We walk through the backyard grape arbor, past thriving tomatoes, to Larkin’s diminutive print studio. In the beginning Larkin shared the studio with other printmakers but now he works there alone. The counter is covered with several series of new prints. “I move from one medium to another. I started the year off doing etchings and then moved on to pastels. I may do another one or two in that series and then I’m going to oil painting,” Larkin says. His neighborhood is filled with historic homes; Larkin owns three of them. His own, his parents’ home, and the Peter Studebaker mansion, now converted into apartments. The mansion is in the process of having its slate roof replaced. As we stroll up the walk Larkin waves to a gardener working on renovating the backyard gardens. The old home is clearly a passion for him as he talks about the roof, tuck-pointing, and the patina of the home’s red brick. In the mansion’s carriage house is Larkin’s painting studio where a still life filled with small figurines awaits the artist. He talks about the
mercurial relationships the figures seem to have with one another and it is easy to imagine the painting they will populate. “Everybody has to work for someone at the end of the day. When I bought this place, all the sudden I was my own boss,” Larkin comments. “The project became a major part of my life, and I think my life fundamentally changed because of it.” The Studebaker apartments are rich with leaded glass, hardwood floors, and woodwork harking back to the home’s heyday. The hallway walls, painted in rich colors, are hung with Larkin’s art. “Being a landlord has allowed me to have a very nice life. Since I lived in the historic district I could arrange to have interesting people living with me, often a lot more interesting than I was,” he muses. “I’ve learned a lot from the people that have come and gone from my home and apartments.” Larkin’s future, both as an artist and a property owner, looks bright. He recently won several awards for his work and has many pieces placed in exhibitions and galleries. Follow Larkin’s work at www.larkinstudio. com. WRITTEN BY MICHELE MORGAN-DUFOUR
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MorningStar publishes Miller’s music
junior music major Julius Miller, will always remember a Sunday afternoon in 2009 as the day his career in music took root. “I sat down after church service and wrote this piece on a rustic, mini-grand piano,” Miller says. “The whole piece is based upon the word ‘love,’ and it’s my belief that true love is something that’s all around, but it’s up to the individual to let it into their heart.” Miller’s composition, “Set Me as a Seal,” was published in September 2013. “When I got the letter from MorningStar saying that they wanted to publish my piece, I literally shouted,” Miller says. Miller’s achievement made the music faculty proud. “Julius is the first student we have ever had to have a musical composition published by a major publishing company,” says Marvin Curtis, dean of Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts. “This is just a beginning as Miller expands his work to other musical forms – not just choral music, but instrumental and solo works. This is a great achievement, but just the beginning.” Miller has also written music for choral groups in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan. In response to “Set Me as a Seal,” Miller has received positive feedback from numerous directors expressing a desire for their choirs to learn it. Listen to a sample of “Set Me as a Seal” at MorningStar Music Publishing’s website, www.morningstarmusic.com. WRITTEN BY Taylor Paige Neff Photography By Adam Horton
Art education degree wins final approval After a two-year process there is a new degree available at the school of the arts for those hoping to become an arts educator. The Bachelor of Art Education won approval late last year with the Indiana Council of Higher Education, which was the final hurdle in its journey. Assistant Professor of Art Education and Fine Arts Chair Jane Cera wrote the degree proposal and fought for its passage every step of the way. The degree requires courses in fine arts and in education, and as with other education degrees, students must complete a student teaching requirement. Students who complete this degree will be fully-licensed teachers, qualified to teach art in preschool through 12th grade. The education degree includes much of the instruction in fine arts required for an art degree, with a focus on technology, media, and contemporary art. “I think one of the things that’s important about this program is that it’s state-of-the-art,” Cera says. “That’s something that sets us apart a bit from the crowd who are still finger-painting.” Cera hopes that the Raclin School of the Arts degree will be set apart by its focus on technology and what she calls visual culture. 14 arts.iusb.edu
“There’s an emphasis on visual culture in the program, which helps students understand the visuality of society – how bombarded we are with imagery these days,” Cera says. That emphasis has students interested. Some have already switched to the new major, like freshman Sophia Zovich. It kept her from transferring to another school, a move that would have been necessary had the degree not been developed. “When the spring semester arrived, I had been in an art class for about a month-and-a-half before finding that art education had just been made a major. So I denied the other schools I had applied to transfer to,” Zovich explains. In the past, students seeking a career in art education had to study elsewhere, often at more expensive private schools in the area, or even out of state. Now, aspiring art teachers across Michiana and beyond can gain a competitive and well-rounded education that’s affordable and close to home. WRITTEN BY Ryan Lohman
born to be
dramatic Prepare for the performance of a lifetime with hands-on creative experience guided by a faculty of practicing theatre and dance professionals. The theatre and dance program at IU South Bend combines academic learning with practical experience so you learn the art of theatre from every angle. Our theatre degrees serve as a pre-professional foundation for careers in acting, directing, playwriting, design, crafts, technology, theatre management, marketing, and audience development.
2014-15 Season
The Execution of Justice October 16-19, 2014 A Christmas Carol December 2-4, and 6-7, 2014 Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse February 7, 2015 The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee April 9-12, 2015
For degree offerings and more info about theatre & dance at IU South Bend, visit us on the web at arts.iusb.edu/.
a timeless performance
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The South Bend Symphony Orchestra was joined onstage by the IU South Bend choirs and dance company to celebrate the music of Leonard Bernstein in a fall concert.
Let dreamers dream What worlds they please Those Edens can’t be found. The sweetest flowers, The fairest trees Are grown in solid ground…. We’ll build our house and chop our wood And make our garden grow. Candide, “Make Our Garden Grow” “This text, which is very meaningful to me, set to Bernstein’s beautiful melody, performed by the soloists and choir, and played by the South Bend Symphony, is one of the highlights of my career,” says James Bowyer II, assistant professor of music. Boyer sang selections from Bernstein’s Candide during the concert.
Assistant Professor of Voice Jessica McCormack was also featured in the performance. Other soloists were students Tamara Garret, Lawrence Mitchell-Matthews, Julius Miller III, Carmelo Rosario III, and Katie Andrysiak. The Chamber Choir, the IU South Bend Chorale, and the South Bend Symphonic Choir also lent their vocal talents for the performance. The concert celebrated two of Bernstein’s most influential works in Candide and West Side Story. “Bernstein was a masterful composer who, after Aaron Copland, opened the world to a whole new American sound,” Bowyer lauds. “Candide and West Side Story are two American stage works that elevated musical theatre to the level of opera.” Assistant Professor of Dance Carolynn Hine-Johnson, who along with Karen Pajor, David Seymour, Halana Hattery, Kelly Morgan, Amorena Ruffolo and Ryan Hafron choreographed the performance, says that the persistence of Bernstein’s pieces come from a relevance to modern day. “West Side Story is timeless. There are still instances of poverty, gang wars and racial tensions in the world today,” says Hine-Johnson. “Also, there are those who dare to share their love for each other, as did Tony and Maria when their families disapproved.” West Side Story is dancer Bekka Oxley’s favorite musical by Bernstein. Oxley says that she was awe-struck during the experience. For many members of the IU South Bend Dance Company performing on a stage as grandiose as the Morris Performing Arts Center was a new experience. “Since we were performing at the Morris, which was a first for a lot of us, we knew we had to work hard and do our best simply because of the venue,” Oxley says. “I know a lot of us were incredibly excited about the fact that we were performing on a stage that has seen so many amazing talents. In the holding room, we were looking up at the walls where posters from a number of different shows hung, and I knew I would never forget the experience.” WRITTEN BY NEIL KING PHOTOGRAPHY BY PETER RINGENBERG
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Visual culture class goes virtual
Imagine a world where gaming in class is not only acceptable — it’s encouraged. For some students at IU South Bend, using gaming software during class is anything but imaginary. Jane Cera, assistant professor of art education and department chair of fine arts, uses Second Life as a teaching tool in her visual culture class. In a nutshell, Second Life is a virtual world where different organizations can buy land. Indiana University owns an island in the program called Indiana University Second Life (IUSL) where all the regional campuses are represented. “Visual culture is paramount in identity formation. We are the images we see and they influence us in social ways,” Cera says. After students create an account with Second Life, they start with a basic avatar to represent themselves in the game. Users can change their 18 arts.iusb.edu
avatars any way they want, from altering its eye shape to dressing it in fashionable clothing. Cera says students will sometimes adopt a different gender or skin color just to see what it’s like to walk around as a different person in a virtual world. “Most students, however, want their avatars to look as much like them as possible and I think that’s very interesting,” Cera says. “They’ll change some things and not others. Like, they’ll go to great lengths to get hair color, eye color and fashion the way they want it, but they’ll still leave them in a skinny little Barbie figure.” The Campus Gate is a starting point for users new to IUSL. There’s a map that shows students the different places they can go on the island. If users make their avatars walk down the brick road past the Campus Gate, they will find Campus Row, where every regional campus has its own building representing their school.
For IU South Bend, it’s the Franklin D. Schurz Library. Students are required to explore IUSL and complete certain assignments as they do so. “One of the things that my students do for class is pull up the search window and search for art galleries or museums, then they take virtual field trips,” Cera says. Afterwards, they report back to their peers on what kinds of art they saw if they would recommend that field trip for others. “My objective is that they use visual culture to create an online identity and that they become familiar with some of the possibilities of technology that they might not already know about,” Cera says. WRITTEN BY Bekka Oxley
Top Left // Owl, digital print by Chris Dawson // student
Bottom Left // Old School, digital print by Emil Talic // student
Right // Untitled, acrylic by Katherine Corpe // student
a thread of opportunity
Some lucky students and faculty had the chance to work side-by-side in workshops with Graham Cottenden, a costume technician who’s made clothing for movies like Back to the Future and Rocky Horror Picture Show and for actors like Laurence Olivier and Tim Curry. During his workshops on campus, Cottenden lectured on the history of tailoring and led several costumemaking projects, including pockets and a jacket-front using English bespoke tailoring methods. Cottenden worked with students in the costume shop, offering advice as he watched them work. He brought with him more than forty years of combined experience in higher education and costume design. He graduated in theatre design from Wimbledon School of Art and was a senior lecturer at the Arts University Bournemouth, England. “My goal is to spread the knowledge of tailoring and instill the notion of working in a very precise, ordered and methodical way, and taking care about the garment that you’re making,” 20 arts.iusb.edu
Cottenden said. “My other goal is to make sure the students enjoy it and feel a sense of achievement at the end of it because it’s quite technical and quite challenging work.” Senior Stephanie Wickizer, a theatrical design major with a concentration in costume, said the experience gave her a better understanding of the costumemaking process. “It’s not just a piece of fabric that’s made into a clothing piece. I think it’s more than that. I think it’s a work of art. You don’t know how much work goes into a piece of clothing until you’re actually making it,” she says. Wickizer says she will definitely take what she learned from Cottenden with her after graduation. Cottenden is no stranger to students savoring their educations and wanting to learn more. “I think probably the most rewarding thing is watching students achieve their goals,” Cottenden said. “I’ve got three students working in Savile Row in London which is the place for tailoring. That to me is an
achievement, having started them off with their tailoring and to have them be good enough to work there. So that’s the sort of thing I enjoy, that sort of success.” Shelby Orange, a junior from IU Southeast traveled to IU South Bend for the two-day workshop. “I was so excited because I have never done tailoring, especially male tailoring, so being able to go and learn something new … it’s a great experience,” Orange said. Though semi-retired, Cottenden stays busy giving international workshops and making interactive costumes for the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. With so much experience in the world of theatre, Cottenden had a little advice for aspiring artists: “Always smile and always say yes. Employers will fall as much for your personality as they will for your skill.” WRITTEN BY Bekka Oxley PHOTOGRAPHY BY ADAM HORTON
Raclin Receives Visionary Award Indiana University and the Indiana University Foundation recently honored Ernestine M. Raclin with the Herman B Wells Visionary Award. The award was presented by IU President Michael A. McRobbie and IU Foundation President and CEO Daniel C. Smith as part of the 2013 Partners in Philanthropy event. The Herman B Wells Visionary Award recognizes those whose lifetime volunteer commitment to IU reveals a deep understanding of the power of philanthropy to shape the future of the institution and a determination to see that future realized. More than forty years ago, a strongly held belief in the power of education led Raclin to begin her role as a champion for IU. She is a visionary who helped shape the IU South Bend campus and the wider community it serves. Raclin’s contributions to the university include her influential leadership, wise counsel, and charitable giving, all of which resulted in the 2002 christening of the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts at IU South Bend.
She and her late husband, O.C. Carmichael, were forceful negotiators for a regional campus of IU in South Bend during the early 1970s. They worked toward land acquisition during the critical developmental phase of the campus that now educates an average of 8,000 students annually. Among Raclin’s numerous volunteer engagements with IU and the South Bend community, she chaired IU South Bend’s first capital campaign in 2002, helping to achieve and exceed the $5 million goal by five percent. Raclin is chairman emerita of the 1st Source Corp. She holds several honorary degrees, including a Doctor of Laws from IU South Bend. IU South Bend Chancellor Terry L. Allison accepted the award for Ms. Raclin.
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Happy Birthday,
Wil iamShakespeare
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IU South Bend offered quite the ‘Shakespearience’ as one of the most famous playwrights in history was the focus of the campus theme this academic year: “Much Ado about Will: 450 Years of Shakespeare and Counting!”
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The 2013-2014 school year was filled with a variety of events and performances celebrating the many works of William Shakespeare and their worldwide influence. Associate Dean Randy Colborn and Julie Elliot, associate librarian, were the campus theme coordinators that chose the Shakespeare theme. “It was his 450th birthday in April. We thought it was worth acknowledging his huge impact on the world,” Colborn says. Colborn was involved with many of the campus themed activities from overseeing events, co-directing productions, as well as performing in the King Lear production as King Lear himself. He says this year offered a complete Shakespeare theater season showcasing productions either written by or inspired by the timeless playwright including King Lear, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), a children’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the musical Kiss Me, Kate, based on The Taming of The Shrew. Other events included the Shakespeare-themed radio essays and a traveling exhibit on “Shakespeare and His Humors,” presentations by Michael Potts, Broadway actor, and Miriam Gilbert, a leading expert on the teaching of Shakespeare. One of many interesting aspects of these productions came from not only the performances, but from the technical side as well. In King Lear a rake stage was used. A rake stage is angled and sloped upwards to direct the gaze of the audience to certain points of view. At one point raked stages were used in ancient Greece and Rome; however, variations of the raked stage were also used during Shakespearian times. Greg Demetrakis, scene shop manager and technical director, says it was a four-foot rake which started from about three inches from the flat stage surface gradually lifting at an angle up to four feet. Colborn explains that some of the student actors had never used that high of rake stage before, but they quickly learned how to work the stage into their performance. He says these technical challenges, as well as other performance challenges created a well-rounded experience for many IU South Bend theatre students this year. Justin Amellio, assistant professor of theater, notes that some of his most memorable moments with the Shakespeare campus theme revolved around his students’ involvement and engagement with the celebration. “Shakespeare is relevant today because of his masterful storytelling techniques and ability to authentically create timeless situations, places and worlds onstage in a way that somehow still speaks to performers and theatergoers today,” Amellio says. Amellio co-directed King Lear, with Colborn. He also directed The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), and Kiss Me, Kate. 24 arts.iusb.edu
“Shakespeare is relevant today because of his masterful storytelling techniques and ability to authentically create timeless situations, places and worlds onstage in a way that somehow still speaks to performers and theater goers today.� - Justin Amellio
“Being a part of this wonderful campus theme has really allowed me to find depth in my work as an actor.” - Jeremy Weyer Amellio says students have been able to work alongside Shakespeare this entire year in a way that, “directly adds to their ongoing educational experiences.” He says he really enjoyed working on The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), the threeperformer production parodies the many works of Shakespeare in series of short humorous skits. Amellio thinks students truly benefited from the open and collaborative approach and that they enjoyed the close character creation work they achieved throughout the process. “Actors were able to experiment with character voices, impressions, body carriages and comic timing,” Amellio explains. Theatre student Jordyn Nutting was cast in every production this year including The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). “It was a lot of fun to be cast in a show that took all of Shakespeare’s works and turned them into a short, comedic show that was much easier for the audience to understand,” she says. Nutting has been involved with many IUSB theater productions but says she had never been cast in a 26 arts.iusb.edu
Shakespeare play until last fall and that it was equally challenging as rewarding in testing her abilities as a performer. “At times it felt like I was learning a new language, but once I did my research and got the hang of it, it became a lot easier. I have definitely gained even more respect for his works,” she comments. Jeremy Weyer, senior and theater major, directed A Midsummer Night’s Dream, this year’s children’s play. “Midsummer was a huge challenge. I had to find a way to make this seemingly difficult material relatable and enjoyable to a very young audience. It was very rewarding to hear and see the kids’ reactions, and to know that they took away a valuable experience with live theatre,” he recalls. This year’s campus theme kept theater students like Weyer and Nutting busy. Weyer says he was cast in nearly every Shakespeare themed theater production this year, including King Lear and Kiss Me, Kate. He also attended the themed events like the presentation given by actor Michael Potts, a performer in The Book of Mormon on Broadway. “He [Potts] has a rich pool of knowledge and skill
that blew my mind. He’s an amazing gentleman,” Weyer says. Weyer says Shakespeare’s work means almost everything to him and that he is the inspiration for almost all of the stories we see today. He values his experience with Shakespeare this year. “I wish we could do Shakespeare every year, “he says. The yearlong celebration concluded on April 23 in the campus mall with the final event, One Sonnet, One Campus recitation of sonnet 18. “The idea behind the recitation is to celebrate Shakespeare and to promote the many mental benefits of recitation,” Colborn explains. Shakespeare is, “without argument, the greatest playwright” as well as the most influential. According to Amellio Shakespeare has touched and inspired almost every bit of modern drama we now have.
Shakespeare knew that theatre is made up of the “stuff of life” and that it is a “mirror on society in the most direct way,” Amellio says. Colborn believes that those who participated or attended events from this year’s campus theme were able to take part in a unique experience that explored a timeless artist’s insights into the human condition. After almost 450 years students, and everyone else, are still learning from one of the theatre’s greats. “I know I liked Shakespeare before this year, but now I know I love him,” says Weyer. “Being a part of this wonderful campus theme has really allowed me to find depth in my work as an actor.” WRITTEN BY Izza Jatala PHOTOGRAPY BY ADAM HORTON AND LYNNETTE NETTROUER 27
Summer
in the
spotlight Lawrence Mitchell-Matthews is sitting in a lobby in Northside Hall with the sun shining down on him like a spotlight. He’s speaking about excursions he took as a sophomore during the summer of 2013 to Singapore and to Chautauqua, New York. He’s grinning freely. He should be. He went both places to sing on big time stages, and to work on his musical talents with seasoned veterans. In Singapore Mitchell-Matthews sang alongside the Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO) and renowned American pianist Leon Bates under the baton of South Bend Symphony Music Director and Conductor and SCO Music Director Tsung Yeh. Tsung Yeh asked MitchellMatthews to perform selections from George Gershwin’s beloved Porgy and Bess with the SCO after the two worked together on the same pieces in South Bend the previous fall. “Tsung Yeh asked me if I’d ever been to Singapore. Shortly after I was signing a contract to perform,” Mitchell-Matthews says. “It was paid. They treated me like a professional. It was just a really great experience.” The new experiences for MitchellMatthews didn’t end at the edge of the concert stage in Singapore. 28 arts.iusb.edu
“I got to sing and I even did a news interview afterward. It was my first international TV interview,” he says. “Singapore was just awesome,” he raves. “It was like New York City with a rainforest in the city. There was no liter anywhere. It was very beautiful. And the food there was just amazing.” Mitchell-Matthews says he also had the honor meeting with some of the world’s elite in both Singapore and Chautauqua. “In Singapore I met the former Prime Minster and his wife,” he says. In Chautauqua, New York to perform at the prestigious Chautauqua Institution, Mitchell-Matthews stayed in the Hagen-Wensley House where guests included CNN broadcasters. He smiles and offers that they came to watch him sing too. On the stage of the Chautauqua Institute’s amphitheater MitchellMatthews performed five spirituals arranged by Dean Marvin Curtis. The Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra was conducted by Metropolitan Opera’s assistant conductor, Steven Osgood. Mitchell-Matthews says that Osgood did more than just lead the orchestra; Osgood also worked with Mitchell-Mathews to help guide him in his singing.
“It was just a really fantastic experience. The Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra is just so unbelievably talented. We had so little rehearsal, and just for them to be so precise and so crisp with the music was really amazing.” “What last summer did for me,” Mitchell-Matthews says, “Was solidify that I love being in front of a large audience and connecting with them through music.” WRITTEN BY NEIL KING PHOTOGRAPHY BY PETER RINGENBERG
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Into the 3rd dimension Three-dimensional (3D) printing has finally hit the mainstream consciousness, although most people and students have yet to experience the techniques and possibilities first hand. Twelve students under the supervision of Assistant Professor of New Media Sean Hottois took part in a class that gave them that experience. Three-dimensional printing has been a reality since the early 1990s when it was a very expensive process known as stereo lithography. At the turn of the century, mid-priced alternatives were developed and a new phrase, rapid prototyping, was born. In the last five years, inexpensive desktop solutions were devised. These sub-$2,500 printers were dubbed 3D printers and snagged the public’s imagination. In the spring semester of 2014, Integrated New Media Studies launched a class in 3D desktop printing. Students joined Hottois to create digital 3D models and print them on a MakerBot 3D printer. The class used the program Blender, available for free download 30 arts.iusb.edu
at www.blender.org, to learn the fundamentals of 3D modeling, 3D printing, and even some basic animation in a simple, whatyou-see-is-what-you-get platform. While well-known for animation, Blender has more to offer, including the ability to create a digital 3D model that can be rendered directly into reality. Any student with some experience and creativity can begin creating objects with Blender. With the assistance and supervision of Hottois, students were able to create MakerBot-ready print files. “Three dimensional printing allowed me to explore a new medium that I have always wanted to try,” says student Allison Dale. “I am now able to see things I created in a 3D realm
come to life right before my eyes.” The print process can be hypnotic to watch as one paper thin layer of plastic after another is laid down. The MakerBot takes anywhere from 1 hour to print a single chess piece to 70 hours for a project the size of a honeydew melon. “As a sculpture major and new media minor, this class has been the match made in heaven for me,” says sculpture student Daniel Wolters. “The skill set of how to manipulate 3D space and how to create something in the round remains the same between digitalization and actuality. The medium is what changes. I can sculpt a figure out of actual clay, or out of digital clay,” says Wolters. “I feel privileged to have been part of this venture.” WRITTEN BY SARAH DUIS
Top Left // Untitled, photograph by Roberta Strachan // student
Top Right // Beautiful Apparatus Pt. 1, charcoal by McCayla Comby // student
Bottom // Pity Sex, oil on canvas by Jeremy Jones // student
Professor
Karen Ackoff ret i res
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Professor of Fine Arts Karen Ackoff retired in December and today chatters happily about her many plans. “The first thing I’m going to do is make art,” says Ackoff. She is known in art circles for her petite silverpoint works, created by drawing with a silver rod on a surface prepared with gesso. Most silverpoint has the appearance of a soft pencil drawing, but Ackoff uses a very tight network of tiny lines that set her pieces apart. Professor of Mass Communication Michael Lasater owns one of her silverpoints. “It is characteristically small and extremely detailed, a really well-wrought piece of work.” Ackoff earned degrees from Philadelphia College of Art and Rochester Institute of Technology. She began her career doing illustrations for children’s educational publications and later taught illustration at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Perhaps Ackoff’s most interesting professional experience was as a scientific illustrator at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History. She worked on large publication projects and curators also used her acute visual observations on forensic projects involving bone markings. “What I enjoyed the most were homicide investigations,” she says. “We had the top of a skull from a man who had been murdered with a hammer. We drew illustrations of the hammer hits to explain how the murder occurred.” Ackoff joined IU South Bend to head the graphic design program in 1997. “I chose IU because the program was wide open to me developing it,” she says, “that was a big challenge and made me feel very invested.” “Karen demanded quite a lot from
her students,” recalls Associate Dean Randy Colborn. “Those who responded, who worked hard, and listened to her advice and criticism, understanding that she intended to make them the best they could be, were and are among the best students I’ve encountered.” Ackoff loves teaching because “students surprise you. It makes you stay sharp because just about the time you think you know something, you don’t. You aren’t a walking encyclopedia and shouldn’t expect to be.” “A teacher is ideally teaching the students not to need her anymore,” says Ackoff. In at least one case, she taught a student who stepped into her shoes. Visiting Lecturer in New Media John Thompson graduated from IU South Bend’s graphic design program and today teaches here.
“As a student, Karen gave me an appreciation of the craft of design and expected a level of performance at the professional level,” says Thompson. “As a mentor in education, she has inspired me to strive for the highest degree of effort from myself and my students.” Ackoff is busier than ever since her retirement in December 2013. The Raclin School of the Arts own Dr. Doolittle, she presides over a household full of animals, more than half of them rescued. With three dogs, two cats, and fifteen birds, there isn’t a quiet moment. A cacophony of joyful chirps, barks, and purrs greet visitors to her beautiful home. Her menagerie began with a canary named Max she received as a gift. “He got lonely and needed a mate,” she says “Then I began to take in birds that no one wanted. It just grew. Some were behavioral problems, others had health problems.” The enormous commitment she has made to this lucky group of birds is clear. They hurry to greet her as she steps up to their cages, and even shy birds respond to her encouragement. Three dachshunds make up a happy pack that wiggles with excitement, hoping for a treat or a visitor’s attention. She rescued both of her cats. Her first cat turned up on her front porch
with an abscess on his head. “I didn’t want a cat, but my dad had just died and I couldn’t put a cat down, so I took him to the vet and nursed him back to health,” explains Ackoff. “After about a year, he was pretty lonely living in my studio and there was a very skinny female kitten hanging around, so I took her in as well.” Lately, she’s been spending a lot of time with her guitars. Ackoff played guitar as a youth and was inspired to return to the instrument after attending a concert in Chicago. “I am taking guitar lessons from Matthias Stegmann (an IU South Bend instructor). He is phenomenal,” says Ackoff. “I only play for my own entertainment,” she says with a laugh. “I won’t be performing any concerts.” Take playing the guitar, rescuing animals, add a bit of traveling (to Alaska), teaching workshops, and catching up on her own artwork, and it’s easy to see that Ackoff’s retirement doesn’t include slowing down. WRITTEN BY Michele Morgan-Dufour Photograhy Supplied
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Pontius’s A Beautiful Doll Theatre student Brad Pontius stepped off the train and into heat of summer in the Big Apple. Standing on Broadway, he asked himself, “What do I do first?!” For the theatre student, there is nothing that compares to Broadway. Pontius was there to participate in an intensive sixweek program at the Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York. Only 11 other students were accepted into the program. The theater major made the most of his time in New York and wrote the short play, A Beautiful Doll, that was published through the Ensemble Studio Theatre and later performed at IU South Bend. Both having a play published and having it performed on stage were firsts for Pontius, who credits New York for pushing him forward. “My experience in New York was thrilling and it inspired all of my writing,” Pontius says. “I got to work with professional artists and writers from around the country and because of that my writing improved immensely. I would not be half the playwright or actor I am today without that program.” A Beautiful Doll is about a crippling fear of dolls that plagued Pontius as a child, but he says that without New York and the friends he met there the play never would have come to fruition. “My time in New York really colored this play. In fact I would have never come up with the idea without going there,” Pontius says. “I was chatting with friends from there about my childhood fear of dolls and they encouraged me to make a play around it.” A Beautiful Doll premiered at IU South Bend in April 2014. Senior Marlon Burnley directed Pontius’s play featuring theatre students Jordyn Nutting and Crystal Ensz. Pontius says that the play received rave reviews from the audience and that he’s proud of the cast and director for giving his work such vibrant life. WRITTEN BY Taylor Paige Neff PHOTOGRAPHY SUPPLIED
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New Media thriving in new facility
With brand new classrooms, iMacs, 3D printers, extended-hour computer labs, and a new art gallery, the Department of Integrated New Media Studies is growing faster than ever. These new amenities are just a few that came with the new Education and Arts Building. Shayna Shelton, a new media student, is excited about the changes. “The new labs, facilities, and lounges in the new building are amazing,” Shelton says. “You have no idea how stressful it was having art classes inside of a cramped Northside computer lab or a deteriorating room in the old arts building.” The facility was formerly the Associates Building before $22 million in renovations were completed in 2013. During renovations, new media and fine arts students used the East
Lounge in Northside Hall to exhibit their work. Assistant Professor of New Media Eric Souther spoke with enthusiasm when talking about the new facilities. “The Education & Arts building is an amazing addition to the campus of Indiana University South Bend,” said Souther. “The Department of Integrated New Media Studies has three new classrooms in the building with all new equipment, and we also have a new art gallery in the building that I am thrilled about.” New media students and faculty can now present their work in a professional atmosphere, preparing them for real world experiences. The new equipment is also helping students create their projects faster and more efficiently. To those who worked and studied
in the old facilities, the change is like night and day. Classrooms have new video screens and sound systems along with new computers capable of handling video and animation work. Michael Lasater, professor of mass communications and department chair of new media, has high hopes for what’s next. “The program is all about the future, and this building is so new and really so well equipped and such a pleasure to physically be in that it can’t do anything but help us,” said Lasater. “I think they pulled off a small miracle.” WRITTEN BY Sarah E. Ward photography by Peter Ringenberg
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Arts graduates a record class The Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts celebrated Commencement in May with a record class of graduates. Nearly ninety students earned arts degrees during the 201314 academic year, with 67 of those graduates participating in Commencement ceremonies. “The record number of graduates this year is a reflection of the faculty and staff’s involvement with our students,” says Dean Marvin Curtis. “We set high expectations and pushed the students to excel. They rose to meet every challenge, and I couldn’t be prouder of our 2014 graduates.” “It feels great,” says Helen Pappas, a violinist completing her Bachelor of Arts in music. “I’ll miss all of my professors. They really have been amazing.” Pappas is among 16 Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts students chosen for this year’s Arts Excellence Awards. Recipients were recognized at the annual awards ceremony for outstanding academic achievement in their respective disciplines. Winners include Marlon Burnley, theatre and dance; Katherine Corpe, drawing and painting; Lillian Hubbard, 36 arts.iusb.edu
graphic design; Jeremy Jones, drawing and painting; Ashley Katlun, mass communication; Natalie Mills, photography; Helen Pappas, music; Cecelia Roeder, writing; Kelly Sadural, printmaking; Kathryn Smith, communication studies and leadership; Mark Sniadecki, integrated new media studies, Natasha Stojanovska, music; Alyssa Utter, speech communication; Sarah Ward, writing; Jeremy Weyer, theatre and dance; and Dan Wolters, sculpture. “Everybody has their struggles to get through with college,” says junior Cecelia Roeder. “For them to think I was worthy enough for this award was very humbling.” Over 200 Raclin School of the Arts students were honored during the Arts Excellence Awards ceremony for their accomplishments, including attaining the Dean’s List, receiving a scholarship for 2014-15, or accepting an Arts Excellence Award. WRITTEN BY NEIL KING PHOTOGRAPHY BY RANDY ROBERTS
born to be
creative Take your place in a community of artists to explore the theory and practice of fine art. From the fundamentals of 2D and 3D art to in-depth study of a single medium, IU South Bend students develop their creative and critical skills. Enjoy personal attention from an inspired faculty of recognized painters, printmakers, photographers, and sculptors. Expand your experience by traveling with the faculty to study art in Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance, while immersed in the history of art and architecture.
For degree offerings and more info about IU South Bend fine arts programs, visit us on the web at arts.iusb.edu/.
later,
Pops 38 arts.iusb.edu
In May IU South Bend lost an inspirational student and friend. Jerry Sailor, known as Pops to his classmates, died after his motor scooter collided with a truck near campus. Sailor, at 60, was a non-traditional student majoring in theatre and mass communication. He was a high-energy person with a zest for getting to know the people around him. “We would often arrive for class at the same time and take the elevator together,” Danielle Miller, mass communications student, says. “He would always ask how I was doing and ask about my family. He talked to people as if they were already friends.” “I remember working with him on productions of King Lear and Kiss Me, Kate and how crazily enthusiastic he was about them,” says Sophia Zovich, art education student. “I thought he was doing it for the productions — to keep people ‘alive’ — but I found out later that it was just Jerry being Jerry.” Creativity was an integral part of Sailor’s make up. “At any given time, Jerry Sailor had at least 50 ideas for art he wanted to bring to life,” says theatre student Megan Jerrils. “From commercials to comic books to, from stage
to television, Jerry had an intensely creative, and often hilarious, mind.” After graduating from Penn High School in 1973, Sailor went into the Navy, followed by years working in the RV industry. According to Associate Dean Randy Colborn, Sailor often said he wished he had followed his heart years earlier to pursue a college degree and become a professional actor. Sailor was well known on the local theatre scene where he had been active in community theatre for decades as well as appearing with several regional dinner theatres. His stage and musical experiences ranged from, The Importance of Being Ernest, to Norman… Is That You? and Rock’n’roll Cabaret. At IU South Bend, he thrived. Sailor began as a freshman in 2009 and started to contribute immediately, working in the scene shop and on
the stage. He performed as part of the ensemble cast and as a featured performer. He even competed as a member of the Debate Club. His passion and dedication towards school moved not only fellow classmates but teachers as well. Yuri Obata, associate professor of communication studies says Sailor proved that it is never too late in life to do what we want to do. Sailor didn’t just follow his own dreams, he also encouraged his classmates. Theatre student Emily Beck remembers him as a great theatre mentor. “Without his encouragement and words of wisdom I wouldn’t have had the courage to pursue my dreams in the theatre,” she says. He received an Arts Excellence Award in 2011, and was a recipient of the Greg Petry Memorial Scholarship, the Frank O’Bannon Higher Education
Award, and the Broadway Theatre League Scholarship. He expected to graduate in December 2014. Sailor had just been hired by the American Civil War Center, Richmond, Virginia, to help create and portray, as “living history,” Confederate general, civil engineer, and industrialist Joseph Reid Anderson. He was also in talks with the Carpenter Science Theatre in Richmond to play Nicola Tesla. Shortly after Sailor’s death his niece, Julie Geving, said “his family had never seen him happier than at this point in his life.” WRITTEN BY NEIL KING PHOTOGRAPHY BY LYNNETTE NETTROUER
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Falun
Edinburgh
Cardiff
Grand Forks
Fredericton
Macinac Island
Florence Madison
Oviedo Cambridge
Chautauqua South Bend
Lleida New York
Snowmass Village Fayette
Las Vegas Knoxville Greenville
Charleston
New Orleans
Tampa
During the 2013-14 academic year students and faculty traveled to 4 continents, 11 countries, and 15 states in pursuit of their studies.
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Arts Foundation Board
helps students
see the world
Students learn many lessons in the classroom, but sometimes the most memorable educational experiences happen halfway around the world. Thanks to summer grants by the IUSB Arts Foundation Board, students are traveling the globe, experiencing the art, history, music, and culture they study on campus. The Arts Foundation Board began funding student summer travel two years ago. Board member June Edwards, recipient of the 2011 Governor’s Arts Award, is a staunch supporter of the travel grants. “Giving students the opportunity to go out and get that training they just couldn’t receive in a classroom is very important,” Edwards says. “We send students to all different locations. We just sent a student to New York to learn about stage design and a student is going to Argentina this summer.” In 2013, students received grants to travel both abroad and within the United States. Toradze Studio pianist Natasha Stojanovska traveled to Lleida, Spain to participate in the distinguished Ricard Viñes International Piano Concurs. “The Richard Viñes is one of the most prestigious piano competitions in Europe. Its standards are very high and I was honored to be part of it,” says Stojanovska. “I got quite a few encouraging tips for my future as a pianist, both as a competitor and as a performer,” she adds. “Being a part of this highly competitive setting for one week was a real push for me on a personal level as well.” Theatre student Jillian Westplate received aid to go to Cardiff, Wales to the World Stage Design Conference where she acquired hands-on experience working behind-the-scenes at an important theatre conference. She received a second grant that allowed her to work in a professional summer theater‘s costume shop in Kent, Ohio. Natalie Peterson, a mass communication major, went across the pond to London, England and Edinburgh, Scotland using her travel grant. Peterson took classes focusing on eighteenth century England and Scotland. “We learned about significant people, places, and events of the time so that when travelling in those areas we had previous knowledge and then could understand the importance they held,” Peterson says. “I thought the classes were extremely necessary to focus attention on specific aspects of the UK.” At New York City’s Ensemble Studio Theatre, Brad Pontius authored a play that went on to be published and ultimately produced by fellow students at IU South Bend. Ryan Stutzman went to Europe on a ten-week photography expedition with the help of the board. In preparation for his trip, he learned Italian. While in Europe, he focused on photographing the walls, castles, and fortifying city structures of Italy and surrounding European countries. The images he captured were the focus of his B.F.A. exhibition. The summer of 2014 is just beginning. With summer comes a new group of students packing their bags for travel. They are off to South Korea, Florida, Colorado, Los Angeles, and Peru. When fall arrives, they too will have stories to tell their classmates. -
a
WRITTEN BY NEIL KING 41
Farewell to good friends At the beginning of the fall semester, there will be some familiar faces missing from the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts. Lecturer in Fine Arts Casey Lard, Assistant Professor of Music Geoffrey Duce, Dance Instructor Vladimir Sorokin, and Department Chair and Senior Lecturer in Communication Arts Alec Hosterman are looking forward to new challenges. After 13 years at IU South Bend, Hosterman has had a profound impact on the students that were lucky enough to take his classes. Mass communication student Danielle Miller says Hosterman made it evident that he cared about his students as individuals and expected the best from them. “My favorite thing about him is that he is no-nonsense and full of nonsense at the same time,” 42 arts.iusb.edu
Kate Smith, mass communications student, says. “He uses all kinds of real-life examples and makes learning a two-way process.” Hosterman has accepted a position at Virginia’s Longwood University as assistant professor of communications studies. “I will miss the people,” admits Hosterman. “I have some amazing colleagues that I love teaching beside and learning from. The staff in the school of the arts is top-notch.” Hosterman continues, “I will miss the students. I’ve seen quite a few graduate and luckily have kept in contact with them on social media.” Casey Lard, who joined the Department of Fine Arts two years ago, is moving to Pennsylvania to be closer to her husband-to-be. She will be teaching part-time and echoed Hosterman’s feelings about the
faculty and staff at IU South Bend being extraordinary. After three years at IU, Geoffrey Duce is venturing to Illinois State University where he will teach piano. He says that he had a wonderful experience with the music department at IU South Bend and lauded their grace and helpfulness. Vladimir Sorokin, flamenco dancer extraordinaire, will be moving north to Toronto in hopes of putting his talents to use in the business field. The Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts thanks them for their contributions and wishes them success in their future endeavors.
Vargas leads thriving viola studio
There has been a lot of interesting activity in the viola studio during the past year. “First, the studio has a lot more students than usual, which beefed up the viola section in the IUSB Philharmonic,” says Lecturer in Music Luis Enrique Vargas with a chuckle. Vargas is a member of the Euclid Quartet, the university’s resident quartet, and heads the viola studio. His experience as a former member of the world-renowned El Sistema, a successful large-scale music program in Venezuela, has brought a fresh prospective to his approach to teaching the viola. The studio currently includes students from Russia and Puerto Rico, as well as from our regional community schools. “Every one of them has a strong personality and is in the process of learning to channel it through their playing, even as they work on
improving technical challenges,” Vargas says. As part of his outreach efforts in the local community, Vargas offers at least one viola studio class to the public every semester. In the spring 2014 semester, LiKuo Chang, the assistant principal viola of the Chicago Symphony, was a guest for one of the open classes. He has served on the faculties of Northwestern University and the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. “I was very happy that Chang accepted my invitation to teach two masterclasses on campus,” Vargas says. “We were honored to have him here.” Vargas also invited some of the best local high school violists to perform at the masterclasses, extending the value of Chang’s visits into the community. Chang’s first masterclass in March was dedicated to viola solo repertoire. His second masterclass
was dedicated to orchestral excerpts for viola auditions. “For the second masterclass, I wanted the students attending to be able to see Chang’s suggestions so that they could take notes,” Vargas says. “Thanks to help from the Instructional Media Department, I was able to show the sheet music on a screen for everyone to see. The students were able to take advantage of Chang’s vast experience in orchestral literature and to learn important tips for orchestral auditions.” Jose Rodriguez, a viola student, says Chang’s teaching was simple yet enjoyable. “Chang told me a few technical tricks that improved my playing right away,” says Taisiya Sokolova, viola student. “This was an experience my students and this community will never forget,” Vargas says.
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Three Beggars, oil on canvas by Jeremy Jones // student
Planting the Seeds of Possibility
Technology is at the heart of new media. From high-tech cameras and editing software to tablets and green screen, new media practitioners must master technologies quickly and apply them to their work. Unfortunately, the cost of these technologies often puts them out of reach for college students. That’s where opportunities in the classroom – and the library – make a difference. The introduction of tablet computing brought fingertip access to artwork and photographs and a major step forward from the pen technology previously available to artists. In the classroom new media students receive hands-on experience with Wacom’s Cintiq Pen Display, a graphics tablet that incorporates an LCD screen into the digitizing tablet itself, allowing the user to draw directly on the display surface. Intermediate Photoshop students use a Cintiq digitizing tablet and pen as a tool to create a seven-foot-long
collaborative painting from their collective imaginations. During class students are often found gathered around the tablet, checking progress on the project and sharing input. “I really enjoyed learning about the Cintiq tablet,” says new media student Alyssa Neece. “It made my creative process flow so much smoother with the ability to electronically draw right into the software, just like I would with a pencil and sketch pad.” From Sesame Workshop to Skechers and Sony, creative professionals now utilize this exciting technology in the workplace and schools are making it increasingly more available for student learning. “The experience was a lot of fun and also taught me the potential of using Photoshop in my art in a new way,” notes new media student Sky Santiago. “It lets me experience Photoshop seamlessly and fluidly as if I were painting or drawing with fine art tools and canvas.”
Tucked away in IU South Bend’s Schurz Library is the Multimedia Production Studio, open to all of the university’s students and faculty, and a great place to test drive exciting technologies. It is here that new media students work with green screen technology using a Reflecmedia screen and light ring. “As a video and motion media student, I was very excited to learn about the Reflecmedia green-screen, along with all the other convenient media tools accessible to students,” student Alyssa Neece says. “Being surrounded by professors who want to see their students thrive, along with access to the latest software and technology is absolutely life-giving. It makes me 100 percent proud to be an IUSB new media student.” WRITTEN BY Barbara Mociulski, Lecturer in New Media 45
Actor profile | Jeremy Weyer
Jeremy Weyer is ready for a larger stage. The 26-year-old theatre major has performed in 17 stage productions at IU South Bend since 2009. When he wasn’t acting, he was managing and directing. As he was finishing up his final semester in spring 2014, Weyer traveled south for the biggest job interview of his life. He performed 90 seconds of acting and singing in front of an audience of hiring theatre companies at the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC) in Mobile, Alabama. “These opportunities are a real ticket to a job,” he says. Like most college graduates, Weyer wants to put his major and experience to use in the professional world. But making a living as a paid actor is hard. “Like, astronomically hard,” Weyer says. Weyer made the most of his time at IU South Bend. His performances range from King Charles in Pippin to Napolean in Animal Farm and Miss Wilson in SMASH. His understanding of how to play a range of characters has improved 46 arts.iusb.edu
since he first began acting, he says. “You can walk in the door with the ability to play a woman as a man, or a big gruff guy, but actually becoming that character is where the difficulty lies,” Weyer says. “To actually be that character and understand that you can do that, that’s where you’re going to be successful.” Weyer gives thanks to IU South Bend and its small class sizes for allowing him to pursue acting. He first attended Ball State to study acting, but found that the size and competition of the theatre group was “too big, too fast.” He left and worked for a couple of years. Then a friend convinced him to audition for a play at IUSB called After Juliet. He wasn’t enrolled at the time, but he got a part. “After I got cast in that play I saw how awesome the program was and got convinced to come to school again,” Weyer says. He said the real advantage of IU South Bend’s theatre program boils down to quality training on an individual scale. “It’s kind of like a best kept secret, because you could go to a big theatre school and hope and pray and train
all you want, but the hard fact of theatre is that your best teacher is experience,” Weyer says. He competed for roles at IU South Bend, he added, but the competition pool was smaller. “Even if I didn’t get a part that’s necessarily amazing, I had a better chance of getting a part, period. And any experience is good experience.” After his audition in Alabama, Weyer received a call-back for a role in an off-Broadway production of Elf, and then traveled to New York City to audition. He didn’t landed the role, but he remains positive. Over the summer, Weyer performed several roles in the Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival. He’s now traveling to Chicago, diploma and resume in hand, to pursue more acting opportunities. WRITTEN BY Sarah Duis PHOTOGRAPHY BY ADAM HORTON
Journalism students and alumnae call local media home. Ashley Henderson, BA’11, newscast producer, WSBT-TV
This just in | Mass communication grads thriving in Michiana From reporting breaking stories to directing news programs, graduates of IU South Bend’s mass communication program are flourishing in local media. “Seeing so many of my former students and student newspaper employees find career opportunities is very gratifying. I teach ‘real’ and I believe it has helped them be prepared for the challenges they face in any branch of the media,” says Ken Klimek. Klimek is a former editor and writer for the South Bend Tribune, adjunct professor of journalism at IU South Bend, and adviser of the school’s student newspaper, The Preface. Many of today’s local media leaders have passed through his classroom and gained their first bylines under his tutelage. “It is an incredible feeling to have some media outlets simply call and say ‘We need one more.’ We suggest a talented student and soon they are hired,” Klimek says. Michiana is a unique hotbed of news organizations — with several newspapers, TV news programs and radio stations, students continue to land reporting, editing, producing, and social media jobs. And as more IU South Bend students go out into the media workforce, they continue to impress. “Students from here have done well at the local media outlets, and that just increases the chances for more to be hired. Reputation and credibility goes a long way,” Klimek says. He credits IU South Bend’s journalism and communication professors for equipping students with the digital tools and know-how to navigate the ever-changing landscape of news reporting. “Much credit should go to their other professors who have enabled them to handle the rigors of that first media job. The professors here gave them the tools needed to work in today’s digital and new media world,” he says.
Taylor Neff, BA’14, director, ABC-57 Mandi Steffey, writer, Michiana Entertainer, video editor, ABC-57 Judi Lykowski, BA’98, freelance on-air correspondent, WNIT Jessica Schliska, digital content producer, WSBT-TV Jennifer Zellers, BA’10, production assistant, ABC-57 Krystal Vivian, BA’12, digital producer, The Elkhart Truth Sarah Duis, BA’14, county reporter, The Elkhart Truth Alisenne Turner, BA’14, sports desk clerk, The Elkhart Truth Tom VanNevel, photographer, South Bend Tribune Courtney Seanor, BA’12, page designer, South Bend Tribune Jason Overholt, BA’09, lead digital producer, WSBT-TV Erin Blasko, BA’03, reporter, South Bend Tribune Danielle Miller, BA’14, freelance writer, South Bend Tribune Joseph Graf, BA’13, multi-media journalist, Techie.com 47
Generous friends and hardworking craftsmen
made our dream come true.
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New performance hall welcomes audiences IU South Bend is now officially home to the Louise E. Addicott and Yatish J. Joshi Performance Hall. The 224-seat performance venue replaces the aging Northside Recital Hall, originally built as a lecture hall. The new hall will be the site of chamber music, small ensembles, and solo performances. The renovation was made possible by a generous gift from the Georgina Joshi Foundation to honor the life and vision of Louise Addicott and her daughter Georgina Joshi, who was a student in the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University in Bloomington. Georgina sang at the Recital Hall at IU South Bend, and the Joshi family attended many performances there. New features include a revamped lobby and box office, an outdoor garden, green room and dressing rooms, a Steinway piano, a deeper stage, comfortable seating, and handrails. Jorge Muñiz, assistant professor of music, says the new hall has already made an incredible impact on the music department.
“Students auditioning this spring had the opportunity to perform at this new venue, and it was very clear how impressed they were with its acoustic qualities and the wonderful visual experience of performing on its stage,” he says. Perhaps the most unique aspect of the space is a state-of-the-art sound system called Constellation. Through design features like movable walls, drapes, orchestra shells and secondary chambers, technicians can use an iPad to adjust the room’s acoustics. This adjustable algorithm means each performance is tailormade for its audience. The company that designed the system is owned by John Meyer, a former sound technician for The Grateful Dead. “When we perform, the space will help each person sound their best to an audience,” says Kendrick Morris, a master’s student studying cello. Assistant Professor of Music James Bowyer is delighted with the hall. “The performance hall is one of the finest in the country,” Bowyer says. “I am most looking forward to
presenting our choral concerts in the state-of-the-art space. The first-rate acoustical design is perfect for choral ensembles.” Jennifer Muñiz, assistant professor of music, performed in the first concert held in the hall. She describes the new space as “spectacular.” “It is visually breathtaking and exudes the sense that we take musicmaking very seriously here,” she says. “There is a certain pride that comes with performing in a beautiful, special hall, like you want to do it justice. I had the same feeling when I performed at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall.” Although a few small performances were held in the hall during late spring, the official dedication ceremony will be September 26, 2014. WRITTEN BY SARAH DUIS PHOTOGRAPHY BY PETER RINGENBERG AND ADAM HORTON
Euterpe’s Gift The brilliant renovation of the Louise E. Addicott and Yatish J. Joshi Performance Hall is working its way out into Northside Hall. Patrons will now walk into renovated hallways and restrooms near the performance hall, and be able to enjoy a garden just outside of the north doors where a bronze statue of the mythological muse Euterpe will have its home. Northside Hall was built in 1972 and Dean Marvin Curtis is excited to see a facelift to compliment the new hall. “The performance hall is a beautiful space that was in an old building before the renovation,” Curtis says. “We wanted to create an atmosphere that when you arrive you’re coming to a special place.” Michael Prater, director of facilities management, says that the walls of the hallway stretching from the northern doors to the exit near the library have been refurbished to cover the painted block walls with wood grains and textures to compliment the performance hall. 50 arts.iusb.edu
The floor is finished in a terrazzo, much like the floors of the Student Activities Center, and there are also be new ceilings to greet patrons. Thematic appeal hasn’t been the only thing that was updated during the renovations. In an effort to make the restrooms more accommodating both men’s and women’s rooms have been expanded, and a family restroom has been added.
“It’s about activating the space within the garden and moving us from within just as music does,” Natella said. A garden was also planted in which benefactor Yatish J. Joshi hopes patrons will stroll and contemplate the performances they have enjoyed in the hall. Associate Professor of Fine Arts Dora Natella created the sculpture of Euterpe that will rest in the garden. She is excited about the fitting choice for the character of the statue and
about getting to work on the project. “Euterpe is the Greek muse of music and dance. Literally her name translates into the giver of much delight,” Natella says of Euterpe. “So the piece will be named Euterpe’s Gift.” Natella says that the statue is seven feet tall, weighs about 500 pounds, and is full of movement. Euterpe thrusts a lyre up towards the heavens with her bronze dress rippling in the wind. “The statue is about implied movement,” Natella explains. “The dress of the statue is moving in the wind so there is this feeling of how music moves us. It’s about activating the space within the garden and moving us from within just as music does.” The completed sculpture will be installed in the garden in late fall, completing the performance hall renovations. WRITTEN BY Neil King
Euterpe’s Gift, bronze by Dora Natella // faculty
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Community generosity
brings completion of the Louise E. Addicott and Yatish J. Joshi Performance Hall
There is an old adage that it takes a village to raise a child. At the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts we are in the business of developing, mentoring, and encouraging young minds. That is why we find it so gratifying that the community has embraced the school of the arts similarly to how we embrace our students. The Raclin School of the Arts recently completed the renovation of the Louise E. Addicott and Yatish J. Joshi Performance Hall thanks to the overwhelming support of the community. Patron and seat purchaser Beth North says the new performance hall “will continue to launch careers for IU South Bend students, provide fellow students with incredibly high caliber live entertainment.” The new performance will help the school of the arts to “grow and expand in depth and breadth, quality and notoriety, in this new millennium.” Through community donors large and small, many hands have had a meaningful part in the completion of this venue. In 2010 the school was awarded a $150,000 matching grant from the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County to upgrade 52 arts.iusb.edu
the Recital Hall and Upstage Theater. That award prompted the development of a full renovation plan for the Recital Hall, well beyond the originally modest goal of new seats and carpeting for the space. The Georgina Joshi Foundation provided substantial support toward the renovation with a gift given to commemorate the love of the arts, and a desire to see art thrive in this community, held by both Georgina Joshi and Louise Addicott. In the memory of his wife Peggy, William Soderberg gave a $10,000 gift. Peggy had been a longstanding member of the South Bend Symphonic Choir as well as a member of the IUSB Arts Foundation. “She would feel very honored and happy to support the arts in this community,” says Soderberg. “This hall raises the bar to a wonderful level for everybody to experience the arts, and have a wonderful place to perform and present; it’s a great place to share.” Two notable campaigns were part of the fundraising efforts: Crescendo and the Buy a Seat program. In 2011 the school celebrated its 20th anniversary with a great party. Crescendo was held at the
LaSalle Grill, featuring three floors of entertainment provided by students and faculty, and fine food through the course of the evening. Income from Crescendo went toward the matching grant from the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County. The Buy a Seat program, which will continue until all seats are sold, allows campus supporters and the greater community to assist in the renovation through more modest gifts that are still profoundly important. Community buy-in cements the value a venue of this caliber. Retired vice chancellor and seat buyer Alfred Guillaume notes, “The Addicott/Joshi gift assures the continuing excellence of IUSB arts within our community. IUSB arts add immeasurable value to the quality of life within Michiana.” We look forward to developing, mentoring, and encouraging our students, as well as serving the greater community through the use of the Louise E. Addicott and Yatish J. Joshi Performance Hall. After all, it takes a village. WRITTEN BY Moira Dyczko
Honor Roll The Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts’ students, faculty, and staff offer our heartfelt thanks to the hundreds of donors who have supported our programs over the years. Under the leadership of Dean Marvin Curtis, we have been particularly fortunate to benefit from generous gifts, both large and small, which directly impact the quality of education our students receive. Since 2008 our friends, alumni, families, businesses, and charitable foundations have given $2,118,240 to support and sustain arts excellence at IU South Bend. We are profoundly grateful for your generosity.
1st Source Bank 1st Source Foundation, Inc. Sara B. Abbott Nikita and Ekaterino Abrosimov Raymond Addicott William and Virginia Albanese Terry L. Allison Alpha Graphics Ann & Gordon Getty Foundation Frank Antonazzi Eve A. Arnett Peri and Beverly Arnold Robert and Bette Asplund Ayco Charitable Foundation Antonia N. Baldoni Bruce and Linda Bancroft Seymour and Cheryl Barker David R. Barkmeier David and Evie Barton Beacon Health System Robert and Pam Beam Darryl K. Beasley Clellan and Joanne Becker Joan M. Beesley Harvey and Eileen Bender John J. Bentley Mary A. Bentley Abram Bergen and Harriet Hamer Jeanne H. Blad Nicole S. Bogard Kent and Rebecca Bontreger James Bowyer Peter and Durleen Braasch Paul and Caroline Breslin Sadie Bridger Todd and Lorraine Bruce John C. Bryant Allen and Cathy Buckman Alan Bunner Sondra J. Byrnes Barbara J. Byrum Margaret G. Carmen Carmichael Foundation, Inc. Casteel Construction Corp.
Vern Casteel Darlene A. Catello CGW Direct Jack Champaigne Isabel Charles Doug Church and Pamela Land Christopher and Karen Clark Classic Interiors Incorporated Kay M. Cochrane Randy and Nancy Colborn Thomas Coley and Kathleen Twyner Coley Sandra D. Collins Community Foundation of St. Joseph County Jameson Cooper Conny and Peggy Copeland David Cortright and Karen Jacob Crowe Horwath LLP Elizabeth M. Cullity Marvin V. Curtis William and Anna Cushwa Matthew J. Daniel Arthur J. Decio Robert B. DeCleene Eleanor S. Dedek Kathryn E. Demarais Lynn and Robert Demaree Jr. Gail A. DeSomer Mary B. Dickey Anne P. Diggory Bettie L. Dippo Michael and Lynn Disbrow Sharon G. Donlon Roger and Carol Dooley Linda A. Drake Mary L. Drake Anthony and Cecilia Droege David and Michele Dufour Joseph and Joyce Dunfee Moira and Tim Dyczko Robert F. Easley Robert and Roseann Eddy Erwin and Lynn Edelman 53
Naomi J. Edwards Lucas D. Eggers Elkhart County Community Foundation, Inc. Roy and Sara Elkin Alan and Michelle Engel Arlen and Carol Epp Diona C. Eskew Frederick and Breeze Ettl Euclid Quartet Faegre Baker Daniels, LLP Amy B. Felman Randolph and Kimberly Ferlic Judy Ferrara Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund Priscilla E. Filos Donald and Jeanine Fisher Florence V. Carroll Charitable Trust Charlotte A. Ford Esther Fox Elaine P. Frey Frick Limited Liability Co. James W. Frick Gary and Lois Fulmer Emerson and Irene Funk Patrick J. Furlong William and Krista Furry Patrick and Beth Gallagher Lawrence and Carolyn Garber Georgina Joshi Foundation, Inc. Steve and Lisa Gerber Bradley Gering William and Lucille Gering Marian Gering Rocco and Betty Germano Gordon and Ann Getty William and Sylvia Gibbs Ann K. Gibson Dale Gibson William and Leslie Gitlin Steven and Margaret Goldberg John and Lori Gordon William and Jean Gordon Marsina K. Gowdy Todd and Julie Graham Granger Violin Academy Gerard and Susan Griffin Daniel Groteke Alfred Guillaume and Melanie Smith-Guillaume Teresita Guillaume Walter and Nancy Gunn Christen and Patricia Habegger John and Mary Hagen Walter H. Halloran Denny Hanback 54 arts.iusb.edu
Robert and Sandra Hanis Al and Mary Harding Mary A. Hardy Hartzell Propeller, Inc. Harvey R. & Doris Klockow Foundation Thomas and Sally Hauch Bonnie Hay William Heimann Richard L. Hendricks Sally T. Hendricks Candace A. Henkler Eugene and Alice Henry Phyllis A. Henry Helen L. Hibbs Bruce and Susan Hiebner Inez Hiebner Lowell and Susanne Hiebner John and Catherine Hiler Donille Hoevel Robert Hohl Tara L. Holloway Daniel and Lois Holm Lyle M. Houser Christopher and Brook Howard David and Diana Howard Angela D. Huff Douglas and Marlene Hunt Elisabed Imerlishvili INOVA Federal Credit Union David J. Isban IU Credit Union Donna Jacobs Erica L. Janovsky Brian Janzen Ruby Jazayre Paula J. Jenkins Janet L. Johnson Yatish J. Joshi Thomas J. Kapacinskas Craig and Carol Kapson Stephen Karakashian Roger Kaufman Karen S. Kazmierzak John and Dianne Kelbel James and Christine Kelly Kevin Kelly Michael Kelly Vincent and Margaret Kenney Susan Y. Kiang David and Bridget Kibbe Bob and Pat Kill Larry and Patricia Knight William and Julia Knight Vakhtang M. Kodanashvili Ronald R. Kronewitter
Jean H. Lahargoue Bruce D. Lambright Glenda G. Lamont Sau and Tsung Yeh Frances L. Lanciotti Norma J. Lanz Alfred and Kathryn Large Robert and Margaret Laven Gregory and Mary Lawson Timothy W. Ledford Leighton-Oare Foundation, Inc. Charles S. Leone Margaret P. Lewis Lexus of Mishawaka Kenneth and Cheryl Little E. P. Lonieski Nancy T. Lucey Steve and Peg Luecke Judi A. Lykowski Elizabeth J. Lynch Ellen L. Maher Joe and Gail Mancini Joan Mansfield Margaret and Nora Mansfield Donald and Gail Marti The Martin Foundation, Inc. Robert and Gail Martin Jose and Tami Martinez Donald O. Maylath Carol J. McDougal Anne D. Mc Graw Laurence and Barbara McHugh John and Char McIntosh Paul M. McLeod James and Ann McNamee Stephen and Connie McTigue Nancy L. Menk Meridian Music Company, Inc. Edgar Midgett Tamar Mikeladze Janette Burkhart Miller Sara B. Miller Ronald Monsma William and Margaret Moor The Morrow Family Trust Elizabeth N. Morrow Ian Morrow Michael and Judy Morrow Jorge and Jennifer MuĂąiz Zae Munn Chris and Carmi Murphy Eileen A. Murphy John Murphy and Elizabeth Dunn William Murray and Dina Harris Susan E. Nagel Danny and Lori Nisley
Christopher and Susan Norborg Ned and Beth North Gretchen L. Nulty William J. O’Donnell James and Nancy Olson Nicole Omans Jeannine A. Oren Donna M. Pandori Joseph and Theresa Parker Adam Parkhouse Ara and Kathleen Parseghian Joan E. Pauley Thomas and Mary Peck Frank A. Perri Arden D. Peters Marlene E. Peters Carolyn J. Peterson John V. Peterson Frederick and Carolyn Pfotenhauer John and Barbara Phair Thomas and Kathy Platt Ted and Julia Pliske Benjamin S. Plotkin Barth and Helen Pollak Jon R. Pontzius Michael Popp Billy and Alma Powell Edith M. Pratt Paul and Elli Price Leo and Alexandra Priemer Progressive Insurance Foundation R & R Transporation Ernestine M. Raclin Raytheon Company William and Catherine Reidy Raymond G. Reimer Lucky and Shirley Reznik Theodore Ribbens and Robin Miller Peter Richards Victor and Marjorie Riemenschneider Judith A. Robert Lawrence and Suella Roberts Claude and Lynn Robertson Kathleen F. Rodosovich Randolph and Mary Ann Rompola Dennis and Gail Rossow Andrea Rusnock Robert and Mary Rust Dennis and Valerie Sabo Arnold and Vivian Sallie Georgi Samadalashvili Sam’s Club Foundation Tinatin Saralidze Cheryl L. Schairer Karen Schnittker Roy Schreiber and Linda Chen
Sally G. Schreiber Schurz Communications, Inc. Todd and Stephanie Schurz Rodney M. Sciba Danny B. Scott Adam Seessel Thomas Seiffert and Faye Magneson Jo E. Sharp Marilyn J. Shaul Richard and Ilene Sheffer Barry and Cari Shein William and Nancy Shephard Kathryn L. Shields Thomas H. Singer David and Virga Smith Gregory and Lisa Smith Kenneth Smith and April Lidinsky Chantelle C. Snyder Charlotte B. Sobel Bill and Peggy Soderberg South Gateway Improvement Assoc., Inc. Lois Spellman Richard and Joyce Stifel Robert L. Streby Merl and Edna Swihart Jurgen and Kathleen Switalski Mary B. Sylvester Daniel Szilagyi Patricia A. Taplick Charles and Donna Taylor Laurence and Jeanette Taylor Abby W. Thomas Douglass and Anna Thompson Larry and Janet Thompson David and Debra Thornburg Matthew and Meagan Thornburg Mary E. Toll Patricia Tollens Alexander D. Toradze Mary T. Treanor Richard and Genevieve Trench Edward and Maureen Trubac Charles J. Tull Mildred M. Tull Paula B. Turk David and Linda Turnock Mary K. Uhrig Lawrence and Crystal Underwood University of Notre Dame Robert and Helen Unruh Dominic Vachon and Mary Murray Vachon Raymond A. Vander Heyden Arvind and Karen Varma Loretta Vinson
David A. Vollrath Barbara K. Warner Washington Mutual Foundation Harvey and Carin Weingarten Michael and Beverly Welber Wells Fargo Whirlpool Foundation Barbara L. Williams Dolores Wilson Lester M. Wolfson Gloria G. Wolvos Caitlin G. Worm Jeffrey M. Wright Sue A. Wright Roy D. Young Dimitri Zhgenti Harold and Doreen Zisla Paul and Debra Zisla Anton Zotov
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Tech
nol ogy
The Integrated New Media major in the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts was introduced in the summer of 2008 and one student enrolled. In spring 2014, there are 181 in the program. It is a major that is in the right place at the right time. The graduates are in demand by business and industry as the needs grow for a visual presence whether it is in graphic design, web, video, programming and production. Current employers actively seek new media practitioners who are able to participate in every phase of project development, from brainstorming and planning through design, programming, and distribution. The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Integrated New Media Studies can either have a focus in design, music, or video and motion media; or a concentration in graphic design or informatics. Shortly, more concentrations will be added in interactive media design and video/motion media. With the growth in the degree program, three new 3-D printers are in residence in the Education and Arts Building. The printers allow more students to experience working with this cutting-edge technology. IU South Bend is not alone in the IU system when it comes to new media. At Bloomington, it is housed with telecommunications and journalism. At IUPUI it is more informatics based. At Kokomo is part of communication arts. IU Northwest has a computer information systems and fine arts interdepartmental major.
meets art Michael Lasater, professor of mass communications; Sean Hottois and Eric Souther, both assistant professors of new media, all say the degree is flexible, creative and desirable in today’s marketplace. Students are working locally in advertising, television and publications. >>
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Jenny Deneen
Front: Jenny Deneen and Lillian Hubbard; Back: Mark Sniadecki and Alexandria Lechlitner
Barbara Mociulski, lecturer in new media; and John Enrique Thompson, visiting lecturer, are the two other members of the department. Students take to new media and technology like breathing, Lasater says. It fits into their creative side. “The students are excellent and no one has ever asked me how they can apply the degree,” Lasater says, because they understand the opportunities are there. “Why is the degree successful? There are a dozen reasons.” Hottois says he is taken by the creativity of students and how they tend to approach a problem in a variety of angles, for example in developing a webpage or applications. Souther agrees that the students are attracted to the degree for both sides of the coin - the creative and the technology. The students learn the basics of design and then the technology. “It is an exciting field. Graduates will have the tools to do the work. Every company needs to 58 arts.iusb.edu
have visuals to show who or what they are. There are jobs out there and people know that and that is why the enrollment is high. It can also be called serious fun to test and push new technology, and still be creative.”
“I have seen (in publications) that new media has been called the new business degree for its versatility and the way it educates students in methods to solve problems,” Souther says. Versatility, creativity and employability were the most often used words by new media students to describe their major. Jenny Deneen of South Bend had been in the commercial world of photography. She had her own studio in Goshen and worked for Sears Photography Studio. With the economy shifting, photography
changes and studios closing, Deneen looked for another way to be creative. That brought her to new media. “The program is a good mix of graphics with digital.” She says she was a bit concerned at first about the return to school after raising four daughters. That feeling disappeared quickly with the relaxed atmosphere. She adapted. “I’ve never been intimated.” As she approached her spring graduation, she knew there were jobs out there. Her goal is to create websites. Deneen says the degree has prepared her for the future. Lillian Hubbard of South Bend was always interested in art and fonts. “I know I have a better opportunity to get a job” with the new media degree. “I have learned a lot working with video. It is very exciting, very enjoyable.” She adds that the spirit of the other students is appealing. “It is very collaborative. We have critiques and we talk about the work. The
Lillian Hubbard
Alexandria Lechlitner
Mark Sniadecki
feedback has helped. We talk about what we’ve done. “There is great energy in the program.” Her dream is to work in a magazine publishing office doing page layout. The strong appeal of type and fonts has continued but now with a digital component. Alexandria Lechlitner of Wakarusa is an artist who was looking for a more employable route. She loves fine arts and painting. However, she sensed that was not the direction she needed to go. “I needed more structure.” New media was a perfect fit for her. There was early return on her investments. She had two internships in the spring with the South Bend Museum of Art in marketing and with the Raclin School of the Arts in video. “I was never involved in video and I didn’t see that on the horizon,” she said. But she has taken to video as well as photography. She sees the possibilities of using the skills in graduate studies. “With new media, you are using art to communicate and to get the message
out. The digital message has taken on a new importance. This degree speaks volumes.” For Mark Sniadecki of South Bend, the new media degree will be his second degree from IU. The first was an B.A. in English from Bloomington. After a few part-time jobs he was working in a large office in the finance section. And that did not make him happy. Always interested in art, he decided to return for a graphic design degree. Taking classes with Eric Souther, he found a comfort zone in video and animated GIFS. “I’ve always loved movies; but I shied away from technology. I decided to dive in. In three years, I’ve learned so much, so many new skills – with shooting and editing. New media is a new form of art.” Sniadecki adds that the faculty members have been mentors to him. “They really get students engaged.” For example, Eric (Souther) wants us to push the boundaries, to explore.”
Sniadecki wants to continue his education and get a master’s degree so he can teach at the college level. “This has been amazing. I’ve learned to think and express artistically and to use technology. This has been the right place for me. I have skills that will carry through to the future.” To see examples of new media at work visit artscodec.blogspot.com New Media blog at: www.iusbnewmedia.com New Media student gallery at: vimeo.com/channels/ inmsiusb#gallerystudent The work of IU South Bend new media students has been featured on Michiana Access TV. A 30 minute experimental program is broadcast on Comcast Channel 99 at 9 p.m. on Fridays. WRITTEN BY kathy borliK PHOTOGRAPHY BY PETER RINGENBERG
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Composing with the Kingsmen
Over the course of eight months, a handful of local high school students worked side-by-side with an internationally known and highly esteemed composer – IU South Bend’s own Jorge Muñiz. Associate Professor of Music Jorge Muñiz’s compositions have been performed by orchestras and ensembles around the world. This year he shared his composition skills locally with the Penn High School Composers’ Forum. The student composers worked to hone their skills and their music with Muñiz. He provided feedback and suggestions to each student, and they had the chance to hear each other’s work. The forum cultivated “conversations between them that revolve around their compositions,” says Elizabeth Cravens, music theory teacher and assistant director of orchestra at Penn. Evan Bennet, a senior at Penn, regularly participated in the forum and showed a lot of appreciation for the opportunity. “It really is a privilege,” he says. “There are a lot of music directors who are old-fashioned … And they 60 arts.iusb.edu
don’t really feel the music. It’s nice to find a composer who has this crazy vision with music, kind of like I feel like I do sometimes. It’s good having a composer I can connect with.” Austin Ray, also a senior, says it was nice to have Muñiz’s advice on how to get the sounds he wants out of a piece. The way I write music is I hear it and then I write it down – I don’t think about the techniques, “He’s very good about transferring the sounds I hear to techniques that have been used before. He’s like a database,” Ray laughs. To Muñiz, they aren’t his students. They are fellow composers. “We have an idea in here,” Muñiz says, gesturing to his head. “But it’s hard to communicate that to musicians. That’s our job. How do we transfer our idea? Is there a better way of doing that or more effective way? So that’s what I try to do with the students.” The Penn High School students also watched the South Bend Symphony prepare to premier Muñiz’s own composition, Concerto No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra, “American
Nights,” during a rehearsal prior to the May 3 concert. Cravens is pleased with the opportunity her students had to collaborate with Muñiz, and she enjoys seeing music composition come into the mix at Penn. “It’s just an excellent resource,” she says. “I’ve done composition myself, but I’ve never taught it, and so it’s really nice to have someone here because I also benefit from listening to him work with the students. I think it really helps them to grow a lot as musicians.” Penn has a wonderful music program, but Craven says composition is often overlooked in many music education programs. “To add that layer on top of music theory is really excellent,” Cravens says. Muñiz agrees. He says he’s amazed at the level of music theory some Penn students are studying at. “The composition layer is just all that more enriching for them. Kids want to compose, so to have that inspiration and that drive at this level is even better,” he says. WRITTEN BY Melissa Seyboldt
Celebration of Dance From the dance studio in Northside Hall, all the way to the stage at the Morris Performing Arts Center, IU South Bend’s dance program has made enormous leaps over the past several years. The Department of Theatre and Dance has added a dance company, more dance classes and new styles of physical expression. Carolynn Hine-Johnson, assistant professor of dance and the dance company director, has been an integral part of the program’s growth. “We now have a BFA in theatre with a concentration in dance as well as a dance minor,” says Hine-Johnson. This year we had a dance concert called “Celebration of Dance” instead of a lecture demonstration. The change was made because so many IU South Bend dance students have reached the level of expertise necessary to put on a full concert. The performers consisted of the dance company and students chosen by faculty for their excellence in dance. “We will continue to offer auditions for students interested in joining the dance company and also offer concert and performance opportunities,” says HineJohnson. The new programs and degree are exciting new additions to the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts which already offered performance degrees in music and theatre. As the reputation of the IU South Bend Dance Company grows with each performance, more concerts are expected in the future. Hine-Johnson says the program benefits the larger community in more ways than one. “Some dance instructors from local dance studios and high schools are interested in sending their students to us after they graduate from high school. Also, the community enjoys attending our concerts,” she says. The company regularly performs in local venues such as Art Beat, Fridays at the Fountain, and the Lerner Theatre in Elkhart. Hine-Johnson says the program will continue to grow, offering a wider variety of dance classes, more performance opportunities, and ultimately a dance major. WRITTTEN BY Tricia McCann PHOTOGRAPHY BY LYNNETTE NETTROURER 61
Chancellor Honors Louise E. Addicott Joshi Louise E. Addicott Joshi was the 2013 recipient of the IU South Bend Chancellor’s Medal. Accepting the award from Chancellor Terry L. Allison was her husband, Yatish Joshi. The medal recognizes contributions that have advanced the university and its mission. Recipients demonstrate outstanding support of IU South Bend and serve as exceptional advocates. Past winners included Kurt Simon, Franklin Schurz Jr., Art Decio, Barbara Warner, and Robert Deputy. Mr. Joshi spoke emotionally of his wife’s love of the arts, community, and family. Together, the two moved to South Bend in 1979 where they raised children Georgina, Tenzing, and Avatar and operated their business, GTA Containers, Inc. Mrs. Joshi’s passion for music and her vision has created strong ties to Indiana University. Through the Georgina Joshi Foundation, established by Louise in 2007, many students at the Jacobs School of Music, IU Bloomington 62 arts.iusb.edu
and IU South Bend have received scholarships, fellowships and other support and have participated in masterclasses to further their music education. She enjoyed spending time with music students and supporting local performing groups like the pianists from the Toradze Studio at IU South Bend, the South Bend Chamber Singers, and the Fischoff Chamber Music Association. She organized numerous fundraising events for Fischoff and housed performers during the annual competitions. In addition to scholarships, IU South Bend students, faculty, and community residents now enjoy the Louise E. Addicott and Yatish J. Joshi Performance Hall. The 224-seat hall, formerly known as Recital Hall, was remodeled and reopens with a formal dedication scheduled for September 2014. The venue will be used for chamber music, soloists, and small ensembles.
born to be
heard Immerse yourself in communication studies at IU South Bend. We are passionate about teaching and your success. We keep up with the latest media trends and incorporate new ways of learning in our classes to better prepare you for an ever-changing, fast-paced work world. Choose from concentrations in interpersonal and organizational communications, public relations, and mass media; then get the real world experience you need in our popular internship program.
For degree offerings and more info about communication studies at IU South Bend, visit us on the web at arts.iusb.edu/..
Come to the Island of Rhythm and Soul
In a celebration of our global culture Paul McLeod and the IUSB Arts Foundation hosted a festive party at McLeod’s home. Guests were invited to view Dr. McLeod’s extensive art collection, dine on wonderful food, and enjoy a variety of entertainment through the course of the evening. Paul McLeod was a gracious host, who said “I hope people remember the entertainment and think of IUSB.” As guests entered the rotunda of Dr. McLeod’s home, they were immediately immersed in his beautiful collection of Caribbean, African, and American artwork. From there, they were encouraged to view the artwork throughout the residence which includes bronze figures from Nigeria, oil paintings from Jamaica, musical instruments from Kenya, and a decorated ostrich egg from Jordan, to name a few. Moving from room to room to the island inspired sounds of a steel drum, guests were greeted with several serving stations offered by Noa Noa Wood Grill of Warsaw, Indiana. The
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Caribbean cuisine lent authenticity to the evening’s theme, with treats like sweet chili and cilantro shrimp, plantains, and keylime bars. The IU South Bend African Dancers performed in the rotunda with an audience surrounding them, winding their way up the staircase, and looking down from the balcony above. The highly energetic dancers performed to live drummers and did a fabulous job getting guests from the party engaged in their performance. Dance instructor David Seymour led guests onto the patio for a truly interactive Salsa presentation. The experienced dancer had no problem getting his pupils to relax and participate in his dance instruction, leading to guests removing their shoes so they could take full advantage of the lesson. IUSB Arts Foundation President David Kibbe says, “In my opinion, it was one of our best parties yet! The food was delicious, the entertainment was captivating, Paul’s art collection is amazing, and even the weather was perfect. It was a wonderful evening!” The events committee of the IUSB Arts Foundation created this event, led by chair Pam Beam. Committee members included Cheryl Barker, Judy Ferrara, Chris Kelly, Cyndi Miller, and Valerie Sabo. Proceeds from the event will be directed toward outreach programs of the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts as supported by the IUSB Arts Foundation. WRITTEN BY Moira Dyczko PHOTOGRAPHY BY RYAN STUTZMAN 65
From the classroom to the gallery | BFA shows From the moment an artist creates their first piece they begin to build a collection of work that reflects their artistic personality. Near the end of each semester graduating fine arts students of IU South Bend get a chance to show family, friends, and the general public their best works. Three Bachelor of Fine Arts Student exhibitions were held during spring semester in the new Art Gallery. The BFA exhibitions include works by fine arts, new media, and graphic design students. For Katherine Corpe, a drawing and painting major, her own BFA exhibit meant everything. “It will have taken five years to get my bachelor’s — and just looking back at where I started with some of those first drawings… they look kind of funny and you’re just learning and you’re growing. To have a BFA show and be able to look back on all of that, it’s just a great reminder of how much I’ve grown,” she says. The last three semesters of a BFA degree involve thesis classes that allow students to explore their area of expertise individually rather than in a classroom. These classes also require them to form a collection of works for their exhibit. Professors in each area keep students in check with their artistic progress throughout these final semesters, and help them decide what to include in their exhibit. “I work with the students to determine what would make the strongest show,” says Ron Monsma, associate professor of drawing and painting. “Not everything out of the BFA classes necessarily goes into the exhibit, but certainly much of it does. For the most part, it’s a combination of their work from BFA classes, from some upper level classes and from 66 arts.iusb.edu
upper level classes in other areas of fine arts.” During the renovation of the Education and Arts Building fine arts and new media students exhibited their work in different venues around campus, like Northside Hall’s East Lounge or the Administration Building. This year is handsomely different, as the new Education and Arts Building brings with it a quality art gallery. “Now the students have a really fabulous top drawer, world-class gallery space I would say, to exhibit their work in — brand new space, and with plenty of space on the walls, although we do manage to fill it all up,” Monsma says. “Josh Miller, the gallery director, has been doing a terrific job with helping students prepare and put up their exhibitions.” Along with the exceptional art gallery the building provides BFA students with private studio space each semester to prepare for their exhibition. In Corpe’s studio paint is splattered on a desk strewn with brushes and jars, which contrasts with the clean lines of her drawings and paintings that blanket the room. She pointed out a few paintings that may end up in her exhibit, including one she calls Clean up that shows a Syrian refugee mother and her child cleaning up dishes after dinner. She added that they’re “trying to find stability in an unstable environment.” Monsma is visibly proud of his students. “The BFA exhibit is the culmination of all that they’ve achieved, and it’s a satisfying moment for them to be able to exhibit that work.” WRITTEN BY Melissa Seyboldt PHOTOGRAPHY BY PETER RINGENBERG
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Art Gallery’s Inaugural Year
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The Art Gallery opened its inaugural season with a series of exhibitions featuring university and community artists. Located in the newly-renovated Education and Arts Building, the Art Gallery serves a broad audience through the exhibitions, art sales, recitals, receptions, and workshops held there. The space has become an intersection of the arts on campus.
The inaugural exhibition schedule featured work by our students, alumni, faculty, and regional high school students, as well as Local Perspectives: Art in the South Bend Area (1850-2000), an exhibition of more than sixty works from private and institutional collections, which would typically never be shown in a cohesive exhibition. Graduates were invited back to campus to display their current works in the first-ever Alumni Exhibition. “The gallery is absolutely stunning,” says Brandon Briggs, BFA ’07, after participating in the show. “I hope to have the honor of exhibiting work in the gallery again in the future.” The Art Gallery also offers practical experience to students. Graduating BFA students must prepare and install their artwork in a shared exhibition as part of their capstone
project. Student workers also assist the gallery director with daily gallery operations, including installations. Adam Horton, photography student and gallery assistant notes, “Having the opportunity to work in the gallery as a student gave me valuable professional experience, which I used to land a job after graduation at a community arts center.” “IUSB now has a first-rate exhibition and performance venue, much more than one normally encounters on university campuses,” says Professor of Mass Communications Michael Lasater. “For our students, the gallery underlines the level of professionalism and artistic quality that we intend in our degrees.” The Art Gallery shines as an evening performance venue for small ensembles such as the Flute Ensemble and the Euclid Quartet String Studio.
The addition of a lunchtime music series encourages students and faculty to step in and relax, while providing music students with much appreciated additional performance opportunities. The reaction from the community has been enthusiastic. They have come out in support of local art and student artists. Students and teachers alike are excited to take ownership of the Art Gallery. “For me, one of the most meaningful parts of making art is displaying that work upon completion,” says Associate Professor of Fine Arts Susan Moore. “Having a dedicated space to show work makes this possible.” WRITTEN BY Joshua Miller Photography by Adam Horton 69
A Venture of Affirmation
Tamra Garrett boarded a plane at five in the morning after performing with the South Bend Symphony Orchestra the night before. Garrett was headed to Charleston, South Carolina to perform in the first annual Color of Music Festival. She says that the experience gave her a sense of the whirlwind a professional performer’s life can be. It was also a trip that helped to affirm her identity as a singer. “When I was beginning to sing opera I had people that tried to talk me out of it,” Garrett says. “They just didn’t think that there were black opera singers. They wanted me to sing R&B or something. So getting to perform in the festival really helped me in two ways. It helped me as an opera singer and as an AfricanAmerican. It was very affirming working with other African-American talents and realizing just how many there are in classical music.” Garrett took the trip to Charleston with Lawrence Mitchell-Matthews 70 arts.iusb.edu
to perform in the Colour of Music Festival. The festival celebrates the influence of black classical musicians. Garrett felt she passed an important boundary by performing in the festival. “I thought that maybe because I was a student I would get treated differently. We were performing with some really well known people,” says Garrett. “It wasn’t like that though. I was treated as an artist and not a student. I felt that I belonged alongside the professionals.” The performance, Garrett says, which featured pieces arranged by Dean Marvin Curtis for the two students and also included songs from George Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess, went wonderfully. The audience’s gratitude for Garrett and Mitchell-Matthews singing moved both students greatly. “Many of the people who came up after our performance to talk to us had tears in their eyes,” Garrett says. “They were so appreciative of younger
people singing these songs. It was such a great feeling as a performer. They were gleaming with happiness. They said we gave a voice to their lives.” “We learned so much while we were there,” Garrett lauds. “We even learned about African-American composers that we didn’t know existed before Charleston.” Mitchell-Matthews and Garrett made some solid contacts and received some powerful but simple advice from the other performers at the festival. “We exchanged business cards and social media information. Really though, everybody told us to just keep singing. It wasn’t them telling us that we should have done this here or that there in our songs it was just them saying, ‘Keep singing.’” WRITTEN BY NEIL KING PHOTOGRAPHY BY PETER RINGENBERG
Communications Department Makes Way for Master’s The Department of Communication Studies will soon debut a brand new master’s program. The Master of Arts in Communication Studies is a 36-credit program with four tracks: health communication, interaction and social processes, media studies, and strategic communication. The degree has been in the works for about five years, spurred by demand from mass communication undergraduates who want to earn their master’s without having to travel far from home. Each track has been carefully designed by IU South Bend’s communication faculty for local professionals looking to bring their education and professional qualifications to the next level. “It’s a flexible degree that allows for personalization it, but it’s still got
rigor. We want it to be rigorous,” says Alec Hosterman, department chair. The health communication track is meant to be a local and affordable higher education option for local professionals. “In Michiana, we’re in a very large healthcare market. We also have a lot of nearby hospice organizations and state agencies, so we figure this track would be good for people in the industry who want to reach that second level,” Hosterman says. The interaction and social processes track is geared toward students who plan to eventually earn a PhD in rhetoric or human communications. Classes will focus on persuasion and interpersonal communication. Media studies will explore the media’s relationship with gender, globalization, and social change.
Hosterman said this track will be ideal for people who work in the news industry. “Reporters, for instance, or communications management would be suited for it. With outlets like the South Bend Tribune, WNDU, and WSBT, we’re hoping to see people from local media,” he says. The strategic communication track will be ideal for public relations specialists, offering courses on public relations campaigns. If all goes according to plan, the master’s program will be open to students by fall 2015. A testament to the qualified departmental faculty, current professors will be able to teach many of the courses. WRITTEN BY Sarah Duis
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Beautifying the Bend
A South Bend bridge got a colorful facelift last summer, and fine arts student Samantha Davis-Stackowicz was a driving force behind it. In spring 2013, Davis-Stackowicz’s husband Christopher Stackowicz was commissioned by Memorial Hospital to transform the drab pedestrian bridge that runs across State Road 933 on South Bend’s north side into a vibrant landmark. As the local artist got to work designing a mural, Davis-Stackowicz stepped into the role of volunteer coordinator and began recruiting people from across Michiana to lend a hand for what became known as the 933 Bridge Project. She said the job involved “answering lots of emails, doing interviews for the news and the newspaper, being the go-to person out at the site, and knowing everything that needs to be done and where everything needs to go — sort of like site manager.” 72 arts.iusb.edu
Her efforts paid off. Over the course of the summer, more than 960 volunteers helped out with the project. Some were local residents volunteering in their spare time, and others were organizations that came out in full force. The mural imagery features architecture from around South Bend including the State Theater, the Morris Performing Arts Center, the St. Joseph River and the South Bend Civic Theatre. The bridge, which runs across U.S. 31 between Angela Avenue and Northshore Boulevard, is a major entry point into South Bend. “I think this area is really unique, and I think that there is a lot of need in South Bend to take a personal, vested interest in redefining the city,” Davis-Stackowicz says. Davis-Stackowicz also served as lead painter for the project. Though the contents of the mural were predetermined, she played a crucial role in teaching volunteers correct
painting techniques. “This project was a bit of a surprise, but before that I had already been pretty involved in South Bend and had a heart to want to be a part of the renaissance that’s going on here,” she says. Davis-Stackowicz’s experiences as an art student at IU South Bend have “absolutely” helped her develop the skills she needed to take on a project of this size. She and Stackowicz plan to continue “beautifying” areas in South Bend through their non-profit business CStack Studios LLC. “I want to see people drive downtown and move downtown. I just want to see awesome things happening, so the more colorful we can make it, the better,” DavisStackowicz says. WRITTEN BY Sarah Duis Photo supplied
born to be
in tune Study music at IU South Bend for personal attention from a faculty of professional musicians, innovative educators, cutting-edge scholars and active composers. Whether you hope to play in a major symphony orchestra, tour the world as a jazz musician, run a high school music program, or compose your own magnum opus, IU South Bend has a program for you! Four bachelor and master degrees along with more than a dozen major ensembles provide the education you need for a career in music.
audition dates Saturday, November 15, 2014 Saturday, March 7, 2015 Saturday, March 28, 2015
For degree offerings and more info about IU South Bend music programs, e-mail musicsb@iusb.edu or visit us on the web at arts.iusb.edu/. 73
Pep Band fires up the crowd There’s a new branch of the band on campus playing their music at sporting events, and they’re looking to draw recruits from the student body. Kenneth Douglas, assistant professor of music education, was approached by members of the athletic committee in 2013 about bringing a pep band to sporting events on campus. “We wanted to play a nice variety of events. We didn’t want to play just women’s basketball games or just men’s,” says Douglas. “We accomplished that goal. We played at various events, including women’s volleyball and men’s and women’s basketball. One of the really nice things about the times we have played at games is that people consistently stayed after the games to listen to the band.” The Pep Band was founded with members of the IU South Bend Wind Ensemble, also led by Douglas, but they are looking for musicians beyond that group. Even though all of this year’s Pep Band members were music majors, Douglas says non-music majors are encouraged to lend their musical talents as well. Douglas is organizing Pep Band so that some students, even non-music majors, could get a scholarship for taking part in it, and says that the band is an educational experience foremost. “I want to make the band more visible on campus,” Douglas says. “I have this incredible feeling that there is a lot of musical talent at IU South Bend, and I want those students to know we want them in the band.” Douglas’s ultimate goal for drawing more students into fold is for the pep band to attract enough performers to be its own unique group of musicians, separate from the IUSB Wind Ensemble. “The Pep Band could consist of thirty to fifty people, or it could stay really small if we had more brass players specifically,” he says. Douglas says that the biggest way the Pep Band can help itself, and the music department in general, is to do what a band does and play music for an audience. “Honestly, there is no better recruiting tool for the music department than the band being out in public and making music,” says Douglas. If you are interested in becoming a member of the Pep Band, contact Kenneth Douglas at kendougl@iusb.edu. WRITTEN BY Taylor Paige Neff PHOTOGRAPHY BY ADAM HORTON 74 arts.iusb.edu
Time Bridges JFK, 1963, and Me Time bridges. This is what I call those moments when it occurs to you that you are at the other end of two separate, yet connected moments in time. For example, the day you turn 30 and realize that is the exact age your mom was when you were born. In the autumn of 2013, I crossed a cultural time bridge. I was aware that the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy was approaching. In my personal collection, I have a book titled The Torch is Passed, one I remembered my family buying way back then. In the opening pages, the book is addressed to the “people of the future” to help them understand the shock, grief and tragedy of JFK’s assassination. It hit me. It was me who was the person in the future, holding a book about an event that I remembered from childhood. I was at both ends of time. This time bridge moment compelled me not to re-mourn that awful day in America, but to honor that moment in 1963, viewed through the lens of communication and culture. After acquiring permission from Barbara Simpson, assistant circulation supervisor at the Franklin D. Schurz Library, I planned, designed and installed an exhibit in the library lobby to commemorate this moment in our cultural history. Gathering objects, artifactual text and images, my Cross-Cultural Communication class went about researching and aiding in the installation of the display. High-resolution color copies of original 1963 documents such as Time magazine and the Chicago Tribune became the backdrop for the display. Aimee Cole, lecturer in theatre, took on the task of recreating Jackie Kennedy’s iconic pink suit and pillbox hat. Being a stickler for authenticity in period films, I carefully created the exact bouquet of red roses from that fateful day—down to the green fabric ribbon. As my class and I began to assemble the display, passersby were drawn in and volunteered to help by contributing additional circa 1963 artifacts. Dean of Library
and Media Services Vicky Bloom and Elizabeth Bell, library acquisitions technician, contributed a vintage radio, vinyl albums of the day and numerous magazines and current articles about the anniversary. Simpson and her staff went about styling “Jackie’s wig” just so. The display took on a life of its own. But what did we all learn from this? Part of the class’s requirement was to interview people with living memory of the event. The common theme of their interviews was connection with loved ones. As for me, I sought my teacher from fall of 1963, the one who first gave me and my classmates the news. Just like a time bridge, I connected with her these 50 years later — we hadn’t seen each other since. Now we have struck up a friendship. And this brings us to the other end of the bridge. The torch has been passed in more ways than one. My family donated the book that is now a permanent part of the collection at the Franklin D. Schurz Library. And we, the people of the future, have moved through time in a way that we can remember without the pain of tragedy, and embrace new bridges — reconnecting with important people in our lives. Good things happen too. WRITTEN BY Kevin M. Gillen Senior Lecturer in Communication Arts
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schoolNews IU South Bend’s Euclid Quartet held a string workshop in the newly renovated Education and Arts building. The workshop was a fantastic opportunity for high school level students to learn from and work with a worldclass string quartet. Students learned from the Euclid Quartet how to get the best sound from their stringed instruments.
justin Amellio received Awards for his work. Juried by a quorum of Richmond, VA theatre critics, the 2013 Richmond Theatre Critics’ Circle Award was presented to the cast of Bare: A Pop Opera in the categories of Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical and Best Actress in a Supporting Role. The musical was directed and choreographed by Assistant Professor of Theatre Justin Amellio. Bare highlights honesty to self, to others, and the struggles of personal sexual identification and religion experienced by two high school boys and their peers. “The struggles of coming to terms with one’s own identity, dealing with peer, parental, and societal pressures, being true to you – no matter what the cost, these are all very real, very relevant issues in society and this show artfully tackles them head on,” says Amellio. Richmond Triangle Players is the oldest continuallyoperating LGBT theatre in the mid-Atlantic region.
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The workshop included demonstrations and exercises on sound production, a masterclass about tone, and a miniperformance with the group. A few members of the class then were invited to perform solos during the masterclass. The Department of Communication Studies hosted speech nights in both the fall and spring this past school year. In the fall first place honors went to Nicholai Stuckwisch, second place went to Jennifer Remenih, and third place went to Emily Phillips. Other finalists in the fall competition were Angela Rice and Stephen Salisbury. In the spring speech night Mercy Sheeley took first place, Katherine Meyers took second, and Kat Hamlin took third. Other finalists in the spring competition were Keri Oursler, Colton Fleckner, and Danielle Swift. The Arts Lecture Series hosted by the communications studies department featured Elizabeth Williams in October. Her lecture was titled Leading and Communicating in Contemporary Organizations and was in the lecture hall of the Education and Arts Building. In March Sean Zdenek also spoke for the Arts Lecture Series. His lecture was titled Reading Sounds: Accessing Popular Culture Through the Lens of Closed Captioned Media.
Anthony Droege, professor emeritus of fine arts, received the IU President’s Medal for Excellence. The award was presented by IU President Michael A. McRobbie at the university’s academic excellence dinner in October 2013. The President’s Medal is the highest honor IU’s president can bestow. The honor recognizes, among other criteria, distinction in public service, service to IU, and extraordinary merit and achievement in the arts, humanities, sciences, education, and industry.
Boo to You welcomed more than 300 trick or treating children to campus for a Halloween party sponsored by the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts and student group Helping Other People. The party featured a haunted house in Northside Hall’s theatre scene shop, face painting, Quidditch, a maze, and crafts in the University Grill. “We sent a call out to students in the school of the arts,” Dean Marvin Curtis says. “It turns out we had quite a few students interested. Theatre and Dance Chair Tim Hanson opened the doors to the scene shop, which turned out to be the perfect spooky venue.” IU South Bend students decorated the haunted house and performed as the friendly ghosts.
Droege recently donated sixty pieces of his work to the permanent collection of the university. These pieces are featured in a fall 2014 exhibition Anthony Droege: Three Decades of Portraiture. About his career at IU South Bend Droege says, “To say that I was fortunate is an understatement. After 37 years at IUSB and 47 years living in Michiana to leave a collection of my art with the university is most gratifying.”
Boo to You also collected food donations for the Food Bank of Northern Indiana. Four voice students participated in the Collegiate Honor Choir of the American Choral Directors Association’s Central Division Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio in March 2014. Julius Miller, Lauren Desrosiers, Brooke Janowski, and Josiah South represented Indiana University South Bend in a festival chorus of the finest choral singers of midwestern colleges. Students were first nominated by Dr. James Bowyer and then selected by the convention committee based on their outstanding musicianship, sight-reading, and vocal skills.
the third annual Doloris C. Cogan IU South Bend Summer Theater Series was held at the Lerner Theatre in Elkhart and began with a showing of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield. The series included two fully staged productions, which included a children’s version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and concluded with “A Celebration of Dance.”
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Ketevan Kartvelishvili won first place at the American Protege International Concerto Competition. The Toradze Piano Studio member had the honor of performing at a winner’s recital on May 26 at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York. Ruthmere will host new performance series premiering September 18 in the Elkhart house museum. The concerts will feature music students and faculty from the Raclin School of the Arts. Each performance will be in two parts, with one performance during day for senior citizens and local school students, and a second performance at night that will be open to the general public. A short lecture will accompany each performance. The concerts are September 18, December 4, February 19, and a fourth concert in April. Seating is limited to 75 patrons.
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The world stage design conference in cardiff, wales, was the destination for Jason Resler, assistant professor of costume design, and theatre student Jillian Westplate. The conference, which took place at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, drew talents from around the globe to discuss all things theater such as lighting, stage design, costumes, and even puppetry. Westplate was there to work as part of the stage crew as well as learn more about costume design. “The growth I experienced as a result of my attendance at the World Stage Design,” Westplate says, “was unforgettable and something I will build on for many years of my career.” Much like Westplate, Resler says that the experience of Cardiff was invigorating. “I was able to meet and discuss topics in our field with some of the most respected practitioners in the world and came away with ideas and techniques that will influence me in years to come,” says Resler.
World renowned trumpeter Rodney Mack joined the South Bend Symphonic Choir and IU South Bend Gospel Choir at IU South Bend for a concert celebrating black history month. The performance was titled “Lift Every Voice: Celebrating the African American Spirit.” Mack also led a symposium and gave a masterclass concerning brass while on campus. The choirs proudly premiered a composition written by IU South Bend student Julius Miller; “Set Me as a Seal.”
the student Photo League attended the Society for Photographic Education (SPE) conference in Baltimore, Maryland. “My favorite part of SPE Baltimore was making connections to other students from around the country. I was able to get some honest first-hand feedback on potential graduate programs,” senior Adam Horton says. Meeting photographers and hearing them speak is about their work is one of the main attractions of the SPE conference. Elizabeth Hooser and Wendi Replogle were especially interested in photographer Haley Morris-Cafero’s presentation. “Working to inform the viewer through imagery, she uses her photography to function as a form of social activism. I am now inspired to approach my own work in this way,” Hooser says. SPE is also great place to learn about new software and hardware from the experts. Software giant Adobe sends its best creative specialists to the conference. Student photographers bring portfolios of their work to the conference to be reviewed by experienced photographers. “The portfolio review helped me to assess my work and my future goals,” says Natalie Mills, a graduating senior in photography.
music students celebrated the installation of Chancellor Terry Allison with a “Student Spotlight Recital.” The recital included performances by students Tamara Garrett, soprano singer; Taisiya Sokolova, viola; Illia Ulianitsky, piano; Kendrick Allenson, cello; Dimitri Zhgenti, piano; Julia Beebe, viola; and Siwon Kim, piano. The recital also featured guest soprano Sonya Baker and Toradze Piano Studio member Ketevan Kartvelishvili.
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E-mail your alumni, student, or faculty news to artsiusb@iusb.edu.
Tell us your story The Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts will be celebrating its 25th anniversary during the 2016-17 academic year. In celebration of this milestone the school will mount an exhibition at the Northern Indiana Center for History during the 2016-17 academic year. In preparation for the exhibit we are collecting stories, memories, and comments about the Raclin School of the Arts. If you are a current or former student, faculty member, guest, or community member with ties to the school, please take a moment to share your story with us. Please email your story to artsiusb@iusb.edu. The exhibition will depict highlights of the school’s history from the creation of the Division of the Arts in 1991. In addition to the exhibit taking place in the Carroll Gallery, we are planning to hold a variety of events in Wiekamp Auditorium at the Northern Indiana Center for History. The year-long celebration will demonstrate our commitment to the community and desire to grow as the needs of the community change through time. Please tell us your story. artsiusb@iusb.edu 80 arts.iusb.edu
ALUMNI JOEL BAZZELL, BA ’12 Mass Communications, is working on a graduate certificate in non-profit management at IUPUI and a Master of Public Affairs while also employed with Fifth Third Bank in Indianapolis. BRANDON BRIGGS, BFA ’07, was accepted into the Works on Paper competition at Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati, Ohio. KELLY COLLINS, BA ’05 Mass Communications, is the corporate sales manager for the Inn at Saint Mary’s and the Hilton Garden Inn. THADDEUS CUTLER, BA ’99 Fine Arts, is the downtown coordinator for the Greater LaPorte Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau, LaPorte Urban Enterprise Association, Greater LaPorte Economic Development Corp., and the city of LaPorte. He and his wife Laura opened the Thaddeus C. Gallery in 2004. LAUREN DESROSIERS, MM ’14, was selected to study in Greece with Grammy Award-winning soprano Cheryl Studer at the North Aegean Music Festival. Desrosiers was able to take master classes and opera workshops with Studer. TAMRA GARRETT, MM ’14, won third place in the Indiana Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing in her division. Garrett has attended the Druid City Opera Workshop Young Artist Program in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Over 100 singers auditioned with only 21 being selected. JUDY LYKOWSKI, BA ’98 Mass Communications, is a communication specialist at Nautic Global Group and
WNIT on-air correspondent. SIDNEY SHAFER, BA ’13 Speech Communications, is working as a member of the Main Street Daily Operations team at Disney World, Orlando, FL. MICHELLE TORRES, BA ’11, MM ’14, Tamara Garrett, MM ’14 and Lauren Desrosiers, MM ’14 presented sessions at the Graduate Student Conference on vocal health and pedagogy.
STUDENT ANDREW BERGER, TERESA BERGER, YALID YILLA, JORDAN MILLER, MICHAELA PRATT, SHADDON POROWSKI, and MOLLY SHEETS, all members of the IU South Bend Dance Company, performed the tap dance to the song “Cool” from West Side Story with the South Bend Symphony. MARLON BURNLEY, JORDYN NUTTING, KALA ERICKSON, TRISTAN CONNER, and JEREMY WEYER participated in the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival at Saginaw Valley State University, in the Irene Ryan Scholarship Audition Competition. All five were nominated for their performances. Brunley and Weyer were also cast in the Notre Dame production of William Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor. KATHERINE CORPE, BFA ’14, Fine Arts, has accepted an offer to study for her Master of Fine Arts at Memphis College of Art and Design with an assistantship and full tuition waiver. JAMIE DEPRIEST, fine arts student, won the Rookie Blacksmith of the Year award at the Indiana Blacksmithing Association’s annual meeting. She sculpted a metal mare and foal titled “Nature and Nurture.”
SARAH DUIS, BA ’14 Mass Communications, joined the Elkhart Truth as a reporter covering the Elkhart County beat. For the past two years Duis was the assistant editor of Aspire magazine for and editor of IU South Bend’s student newspaper, The Preface. JEREMY JONES, BFA’14, has accepted an offer to study for his Master of Fine Arts at Tulane University with a full tuition and housing waiver. NEIL KING, mass communications, is serving as a writing intern with the South Bend Tribune this fall in the sports department. King is also working as the outreach assistant for the Raclin School of the Arts. JULIUS MILLER III, music (voice), won first place in his division in the Indiana Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Miller also won second place at the National Association of Teachers of Singing - Great Lakes and went on to sing at the national competition in Boston. Miller also was invited to participate in the 2014 Audrey Rooney Vocal Competition. NATALIE MILLS, fine arts, was awarded a scholarship to study photography with renowned photographer Amy Arbus in a weeklong summer course entitled The Narrative Portrait at the prestigious Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass Village, Colorado. Mills was selected for this award based on a portfolio of photography and an accompanying essay. LAWRENCE MITCHELL-MATTHEWS, music (voice), won first place in his division in the Indiana Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. He also was a first place winner and winner of the Jessye Norman prize for most outstanding junior/senior in the region at the National Association of Teachers of Singing - Great Lakes and took third place in his division at the national competition in Boston.
KENDRICK MORRIS, BM ’13 and graduate music student, and music students JULIA BEEBE, JACOB MARQUARDT, and HELEN PAPPAS performed Mendelsoohn’s famous “Octet” at area high schools with the Euclid Quartet.
KEN DOUGLAS, assistant professor music, was accepted to give two presentations at the 2014 California All State Music Educators Conference. Douglas was also selected to present at the 2014 California All State Music Educators Conference.
HELEN PAPPAS, BM ’14 music, received a full graduate fellowship to continue her violin studies at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Pappas’s graduate assistantship will be as a part of the graduate string quartet.
GEOFFREY DUCE, assistant professor of music, gave a masterclass at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Duce, with Assistant Professor of Voice Jessica McCormack also gave a lecture, Canadian at Heart: A Lecture Recital Featuring the Works of Canadian Composers from Across the Country to open the 2013-14 Lorenzo Society Series at the University of New Brunswick. Duce performed Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Dundee Symphony Orchestra in the Caird Hall in Dundee, Scotland. While in Scotland he also performed in a benefit concert for the mental health charity Support in Mind, Scotland.
FACULTY & STAFF KAREN ACKOFF, professor emeritus of fine arts, was co-coordinator of an international conference for the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators. Ackoff also was invited to present and gave a lecture on newsletter design. MATTHEW BENEDICT, adjunct theatre lecturer, had a staged reading of an original play, Outside Providence, at Butler University as part of Butler’s festival Indiana New Works. He gave a staged reading of his two-act play A False Lie at The Firehouse Theatre in South Bend. JAMES BOYER III, assistant professor of music, presented the workshop Pathways to Musicianship: A Sight Singing and Ear Training Boot Camp, for choral and music education students at Mahidol University’s College of Music. He also collaborated with the choral and music education faculty to map out curricular courses based on the Kodàly Concept. MARVIN CURTIS, dean of the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts, was appointed Repertoire & Standards Chair for Community Choirs for the Central Division of the American Choral Directors Association. Curtis was also elected to the Board of Directors of Michiana Public Broadcasting Corporation (WNIT). Curtis appeared as a guest on Economic Outlook broadcast on WNIT discussing the impact of the arts in the Michiana region.
KEVIN GILLEN, senior lecturer in communication arts, is the arts representative and panel member for the Core Transfer Library (CTL). The CTL enables college students to transfer college credit among all Indiana colleges and universities. Gillen’s students nominated him for Educator of the Year Award. This Indiana University South Bend award is presented annually to the faculty member who has made exceptional contributions to the learning environment on campus during this academic year. ALEC HOSTERMAN, senior lecturer in communication arts, had the honor of being selected to serve on the review board of The Journal of Social Media in Society, a peer-reviewed online journal that focuses social media and its impact on society. SEAN HOTTOIS, assistant professor of new media, had his new media sculpture Memory Makes Time Persistent - A metric Clock accepted into the nationally juried exhibition The Machine at the Union Street Gallery in Chicago Heights. 81
REBECCA HOVAN, adjunct music lecturer, led the IUSB Flute Ensemble as it visited local schools giving a twenty-minute concert and conducted a minor clinic with flute players. The ensemble also did a community service Christmas tour performing small concerts of Christmas favorites at several health-care facilities. RUBY JAZAYRE, dance instructor, and her dance troupe, Sisters of the Nile, performed at several events including at Lang Lab, at the Greene Celebration for world Refugee Day, Mishawaka Summerfest, Coveleski Stadium, and St. Mary’s College Summer Fine Arts Camp. Jazayre presented a seminar class and performance at the Las Vegas Bellydance Intensive and Festival. Jazayre hosted a seminar and performance on Stagecraft and Theatrical Bellydance in Mishawaka, and presented a class on Egyptian Dance to a group of teenage girls at Bashor Children’s Home. SAMANTHA JOYCE, assistant professor of mass communication, gave a public talk about her research at the University of Brazilian’s School of Communication. Joyce was also asked to judge the annual Organizational & Community Communication Video Awards. LARRY LAMBERT, associate professor of communication arts, gave a presentation at the National Communication Association’s annual convention in Washington, D.C. pertaining to the ethical and political implications of computer algorithms making decisions in human activity, the renegotiation of neoliberal educational choices, and the need for increased carnivalization of rhetorical criticism. CASEY LARD, lecturer in fine arts, was included in the exhibition Marks, a national juried exhibition at the Madelon Powers Art Gallery. Lard also was accepted into the Works on Paper competition at Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati, Ohio, and exhibited Carburetor #3 & Carburetor #4 at the South Bend Museum of Art in the Community Gallery. Lard mentored students in the Museum’s Summer Studio College Residency Program. 82 arts.iusb.edu
MICHAEL LASATER, professor of mass communications, won the Swope Museum of Art’s Sherry Deailey and Tom Tucker Award of Merit. His composition Epiphany will be was included in the 2013-2014 international season of animation festivals and exhibitions. Lasater also had a solo show at the Kansas City Artists Coalition Charno Gallery. His piece Epiphany was included in “A Virtual Memorial Vilnius 2013”, an international exhibition curated by art videoKOELN. Videofocus, a European art publication, published an interview with Lasater in its February 2014 issue. BROOKE MARKS-SWANSON, adjunct instructor, had her work exhibited at River Gallery in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and appeared in the magazine Edible Michiana. Marks-Swanson’s multi-media piece The Space in Between, was exhibited at the Midwest Museum of Contmporary Art’s 35th Juried Regional Exhibition. She recently had her jewelry represented in a two-person show at Taboo Studio Gallery in San Diego, California and was a juror for the Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) student slide show presented at the SNAG Conference. JESSICA MCCORMACK, assistant professor of voice, was the soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem at Notre Dame University. McCormack also sang in Turkey, New Brunswick where she also taught a masterclass, and presented her scholarship on the The teaching of Pauline Viardot (18211910): The first vocal administrator at the Conservatoire de Paris in Newfoundland. She also presented two recitals in Toronto with Assistant Professor of Music Geoffrey Duce for the Nine Sparrows Arts Foundation. RON MONSMA, associate professor of fine arts, exhibited two new works in the Contemporary Realism Invitational at Miller Gallery in Cincinnati, Ohio. Monsma and Brandon Briggs, BFA ’07, will also be exhibiting in the Figurative Invitational at Miller Gallery in Cincinnati, Ohio. Monsma also was accepted into the Works on Paper
competition at Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati, Ohio, and has been selected as a finalist in Manifest Galleries INDA 9 print drawing competition. He will have his work published in the upcoming book. This annual publication showcases contemporary drawings from the United States and Europe. Eighty-two works were selected for the book from over 1,500 entries. SUSAN MOORE, associate professor of fine arts, was featured in Somewhere There, a photography exhibit at the South Bend Museum of Art. The exhibit was of local photographers concurrent with the work of master photographer Ansel Adams. JENNIFER MUÑIZ, assistant professor of music, gave a masterclass and recital at the University of TennesseeKnoxville. Muñiz presented at the Fifty-Sixth National Conference of the College Music Society in Cambridge. Her demonstration was entitled Roll Over, Mozart: Improvisation and Composition Exercises that Bring Creativity to Piano Instruction. She also performed in Greenville, North Carolina, at The Music House with violist Hillary Herndon in a program featuring works by Brahms, Vasilenko, Le Beau and Piazzolla. JORGE MUÑIZ, associate professor of music, was honored with a 2013 ASCAP Plus Award. He also premiered Piano Quintet No. 2 in Oviedo, Spain. Pianist Javier Perianes performed the piece. His work “Funk” for guitar and violin was given its premier in Philadelphia. JACOB MURPHY, lecturer in music, wrote an article that appeared in the January issue of Strings magazine, the United States’ leading magazine for professional and amateur string players. DORA NATELLA, associate professor of fine arts, had a sculpture accepted into the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club’s 117th Annual Juried Open Exhibition in New York City. Natella also had her piece, Venere, selected by jury into the 35th Elkhart Juried Regional Exhibition. Natella was profiled in the National Sculpture
Society News Bulletin and an image of her sculpture Sentinel was published in Sculpture Magazine. The sculpture is part of Sculpture Tour, organized by Gwen Frostic School of Art at Western Michigan University, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Sentinel was also a part of a collection of largescale outdoor sculptures in Knoxville, Tennessee. Natella’s artwork, Torso of a Princess #1, was chosen by a jury to be included in The Kinsey Institute Juried Art Show 2014. Three of her sculptures were included in the 2014 Krasl Biennial Sculpture Invitational in St. Joseph, Mich. ASSISTANT PROFESSORS JASON RESLER AND JUSTIN AMELLIO participated in the Indiana State Thespian Conference in Indianapolis. Resler also presented his designs for La Cage aux Folles in the USITT Design Expo in Ft. Worth, Texas, and presented, with the assistance of Assistant Professor of New Media Sean Hottois, a costume poster session on the wearable technology used in the IUSB production of King Lear. MARJORIE RUSCHE, adjunct assistant professor, took part in Chicago’s Ten x Ten 2013. The project paired ten works of visual artists with ten short compositions by composers. The final product was debuted at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art. Rusche also received an Associate Faculty Grant backing her trip to New York City for a performance of selected songs from her song cycles “Songs of Love and Death” and “Comments” in the Underworld Productions Opera CrossCURRENT series. She was also honored with a 2013 ASCAP Plus Award. Rusche’s solo piano composition “Piano Portraits: Nightwatch 1. In Memoriam 2. Bluesy Cantabile” has been accepted for the College Music Symposium. DAVID SEYMOUR, adjunct theatre and dance faculty, led an interactive dance seminar with elementary education students at IU South Bend. He also took part in the Brazilian Cultural Fair, sponsored by Notre Dame Brazil Club, by teaching a variety of samba dance lessons.
ELIZABETH SCHLEICHER, adjunct music lecturer, was the soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah at Ancilla College. Schleicher also performed with the Grant Park Festival Chorus and was a singer and teacher at the Naked Voice Teaching Institute at Northwestern University. Schleicher participated in the NOA/NATS Winter Workshop Opera & Musical Theater in the 21st Century. She sang in a masterclass on contemporary singing styles with classical technique. Schleicher appeared in recital as a part of the concert series at the Church of the Master Methodist Church in Westerville, Ohio. Elizabeth also appeared as the soprano soloist in Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater as a part of the concert series at St. Vincent De Paul church in Elkhart.
Water: A Universal Human Right at the Robert Morris State Street Gallery in Chicago.
ERIC SOUTHER, assistant professor of new media, exhibited his piece Search Engine Vision “Buddha” in “Art Prize 2013” in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Souther’s work Search Engine Vision “Chair,” book, and 3D-printed model have been added to the New Britain Museum of American Art’s permanent collection in New Britain, Conn. His work was also shown at Jilin University in Changchun, China in “Global Fold -43º.” In addition, Souther work appeared in All About Color at the Arterie Fine Arts Center in Naperville, Illinois, the Minden Video Art Festival in Kalamata, Greece, the Beacons Festival in Skipton, North Yorkshire, UK, and he was selected to be a part of the Fonland Digital Art Festival, in Coimbra, Portugal. ZACH TATE, adjunct lecturer in fine arts, was featured in Americana, a ceramic art exhibition at Kansas State University. Tate then gave a gallery talk at the exhibition’s closing reception. CELIA WEISS, adjunct lecturer in music, performed an organ recital in October on the newly restored Kimball organ at the Lerner Theatre in Elkhart. She also presented a recital of Christmas music in December. KAY WESTHUES, associate faculty in fine arts, photo from her Well Stories project included in the exhibition 83
Left // White Poinsetta, oil by Jeffrey Barrick // student
top Right // I Won’t Bite, life cast by Ashley Hochstetler // student
bottom Right // Thousand Elements, metal by Morgan Medlan // student
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innovate Integrated New Media Studies combines art, design, and communication with contemporary digital and computer technologies. The core curriculum is built on a solid grounding in graphic design, video and motion media, interactive multimedia and web design, and music/sound production. New media skills prepare you for careers in website and graphic design, digital filmmaking and animation, interactive and distance education, and new media art, as well as business applications in product development and training, marketing, sales, and advertising.
For degree offerings and more info about IU South Bend new media and graphic design programs, visit us on the web at arts.iusb.edu/.
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