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Elina Moon Student Publications
Barter your bride
Patty Irwin, music theater/vocal performance junior, and Stewart Ottersberg Enriquez, vocal performance senior, perform in The Bartered Bride. The opera ran from March 2-4 in Burg Theater in Kirkpatrick Fine Arts Center. Above: Kyle Rudolph and Hannah Kilpatrick, vocal performance juniors, embrace during rehearsal of the opera, The Bartered Bride. Kilpatrick’s character, “Mařenka,” was forced into an arranged marriage, but Rudolph’s character, “Jeník,” won her back by tricking the marriage broker with a barter. The music school’s season finale musical will be On The Town at 8 p.m. April 20-21 and 3 p.m. April 22 in Kirkpatrick Auditorium in Kirkpatrick Fine Arts Center.
Oklahoma sculptor teaches art classes through series Mallory Scheidel
STAFF WRITER
The School of Visual Arts will host a workshop titled “Modeling the Face with LaQuincey Reed” on Saturday. Attendees will learn the basics of working with clay and how to sculpt a human face under Reed’s supervision. Reed is a native Oklahoman from Lawton. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2005 with a degree in studio art. “I have been making art for as long as I can remember. I love making things and using my mind to solve artistic problems,” Reed said, “I started as a painter, but slowly realized I’m a much better sculptor and that most of my training was geared to being a sculptor.” Reed has a teaching certificate and teaches art at middle and high schools in Oklahoma City. “If people grow up without an appreciation of art on some basic level, then the works I love and hope my kids get the chance to see may not be cared for properly,” he said. “I think back to myself as a child, and art was my escape to be my true self. I think that some kids have that feeling too, and it needs to be nurtured.” It will be Reed’s first time teaching on a college campus. “I’m surprised anytime anyone is interested in what I do,” Reed said. “You often learn by exposure to different voices, experiences and techniques. Hopefully I can provide a new voice and insight with my experiences.” Reed was asked to teach the workshop by Holly Moye, director of the School of Visual Arts. Moye was a juror for the Paseo Arts Funding Emerging Artists with Sustainable Tactics (F.E.A.S.T.), where she first heard about Reed. “Artists submit to the F.E.A.S.T. The jurors choose a select number to present their projects, and they win funds for it. I first heard about LaQuincey during the F.E.A.S.T. He was absolutely
Submitted Oklahoma sculptor LaQuincey Reed forms the face of a clay sculpture. Reed will teach a workshop about figurative modeling with clay Saturday at OCU.
my No. 1 top choice, and he ended up winning,” Moye said. Moye said she found Reed’s work particularly interesting because of its use of traditional mediums and themes to convey the lesser known histories of our world. “I think it’s really exciting work that he’s doing,” she said. “And it’s beautiful.” Reed said his work is figurative and more traditional. “In my art, I want to use the figure as a way to connect the viewer with abstract feelings and ideas,” he said. “My need to make my ideas tangible and seeing other people’s art motivates and inspires me. No one else can make my art, and, if I don’t make it, then it will always only be an idea.” The workshop is part of the Visual Arts department’s ongoing artist series where local artists are invited to teach once a month throughout the semester. Last month highlighted papier-mâché artists. Next month will feature a local videographer and documentary artist. Reed’s workshop is about figurative modeling with clay and modeling the human face realistically. “We want to offer something to the student population that
wouldn’t be offered through a course,” Moye said. Each month’s artist is chosen to teach a different form of artistic expression, including performance art, indigo dying and sculpture. Moye considers this particular workshop well received. “All of the workshops always sell,” Moye said. “There are some workshops, though, that fill up quicker, and this was definitely one of them.” Capriana Campo, music theater senior, and Anastasia Conyers, studio art sophomore, signed up to attend the workshop. “I have a very open mind about this workshop. I expect I will learn a new skill that I’ve never done before,” Campo said. Conyers owns a bakery, which specializes in edible art and is learning how to pull sugar and make sugar sculptures. “I do some fondant sculpting, but would like to up my game a bit and start doing sculpted cakes,” Conyers said. “You never know what you will walk away from a hands-on workshop with, so I always try to keep an open mind. If it helps my sculpting at all, it will benefit me in school and in my business.” Workshops are open to students and anyone who wants to attend. Moye said they attract a variety of people. “We get students, but we also get a lot of other faculty members or staff members as well,” Moye said. “I think it’s just a really great opportunity for people on campus if you don’t have time to take a class, or if it doesn’t fit in with your schedule, or you’re not registered to take courses. You can just come.” Workshops are from 1-4 p.m. once a month in Norick Art Center. Attendance is free and materials are provided. Workshops are reserved via email on a first-come, first-served basis. Spots are limited, and class sizes vary. Students may email Moye at hmmoye@okcu.edu to reserve a spot.
OCUImprov troupe announces two final performances of the semester Nicole Waltman
WEB EDITOR
OCUImprov announced their remaining performances for the semester. The next improv show will be a joint performance with Second Act Improv at 10:30 p.m. March 22 in the Great Hall in Tom and Brenda McDaniel University Center. The final shows of the year will feature musical improv performances at 10:30 p.m. April 13-14 in Clara E. Jones
Administration Building. This year’s OCUImprov co-captains are Joanne Hoch, acting senior, and Madison Carey, acting junior. “I really like improv because I enjoy ensemble work,” Carey said. “It’s exciting when everyone’s working together and knowing that, if I look stupid, that someone has my back to make me not look stupid. It’s a cool creative outlet.” OCUImprov has 11 active members, all of whom auditioned for a spot.
“We tend to do more long form and that’s more ensemblebased,” Carey said. “I find that exciting, especially at an arts school where it can be really competitive and sometimes a little ‘me against you’ or ‘me against the world.’” Hoch said short improvisation is what most people consider “acting games,” while long-form improvisation is more about telling a full story or creating an entire play with scenes instead of games. Two classic forms of long-
form improvisation are called “The Harold” and “The Armando.” The Harold involves three “beats” of group games and sets of three scenes. When executed correctly, all scenes interconnect in the end. “I love The Harold because it’s hard but can be so rewarding if it’s done well,” Hoch said. The troupe rehearses two days a week from 10:30 p.m. to midnight. “I love improv because it’s high energy, anything goes, and you get this great mix of true
storytelling and creation, while also being completely zany and wild and funny,” Hoch said. “Some of the funniest stuff I’ve ever seen has happened at improv shows.” OCUImprov hosts auditions at the beginning of every new academic year. “We have lots of fun, exciting things coming on the horizon,” Hoch said. “Not just specifically with shows, but how we plan to interact with the campus at large.” Carey encouraged students
of all majors to come to shows as well as audition for the troupe. “Please come, even if you’re not a theater or music theater major,” Carey said. “We want to broaden the people that come, so then more people will audition.” Students can like the Facebook page “OCU Improv” and message the page via Facebook with questions.
Annual film series concludes with two drama screenings Rodney Smith
STAFF WRITER
Tiffany Kashala Student Publications
Prepare yourselves Hannah Cozart, acting freshman, and Chloe Byars, music theater freshman, perform in The Shadow Collective Playwright Festival’s production of The Four at 10:30 p.m. Friday in Watson Lounge in Bishop W. Angie Smith Chapel. The festival featured three original shows written by OCU students. The second performance was Four Players. The final performance, The Assassin’s Lover, was canceled. It has not yet been rescheduled.
March 7, 2018
Officials are continuing their 36th annual international film series with two more movies. The series started in response to the lack of international films being shown in theaters at the time. It has continued with the OKCU Film Institute, hosting movie showings at 2 p.m. every other Sunday in Kerr-McGee Auditorium in Meinders School of Business. “Back then, in Oklahoma City, there was no place to see these kinds of movies,” said Dr. Tracy Floreani, director of the Center for Interpersonal Studies through Film and Literature. “They weren’t being shown at the mall or theaters, and they didn’t have movies at the art museum yet. There was nowhere else to see these
kind of movies outside of the megaplex.” The film series is free and open to everyone. Audience members are encouraged to stay after the movie to discuss the film with their peers. There is a new theme for the movies being shown each year. This year’s theme is “Picturing Reconciliation.” Floreani chooses the films with assistance from an advisory committee and selects students who help her research movies that pertain to the theme. Kendall Havern, business administration freshman, said she didn’t know about the series until recently, but she is intrigued. “I applaud the school for offering yet another opportunity for students to experience the arts,” Havern said. “I plan to be in attendance soon.”
The next film screening is The Diving Bell and the Butterfly on March 18. It tells the true story of a French man who suffers a stroke leading to locked-in syndrome, a condition in which the body is unable to move but the mind is still aware. The audience follows his struggles as he adjusts to his syndrome. The final film of the series is Paterson on March 25. The drama follows the daily life of a bus driver who writes poems in secret. A full schedule of past and future screenings may be viewed at okcufilmlit.org. The OKCU Film Institute also has Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts under the username “OKCU Film Lit.”
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