The Sandspur Volume 122 Issue 18

Issue 17, Volume 122 Thursday, February 25, 2016

Issue 18, Volume 122 Thursday, March 10, 2016

Once upon a class time...

Students and faculty dive into the similarities and differences of day and evening classes. pages 4 & 5

Page NEWS Page #2 •• SECTION OPINIONS

Established in 1894 with the following editorial:

Thursday, September 11, 2014 Thursday, March 10, 2016

Letter from the editor: Micah Bradley Editor in Chief

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Dear Readers, The Sandspur has recently received several opinion pieces and letters to the editor from members of our community regarding the upcoming Annual Summit on Transformative Learning which was critiqued in an article we published by Dr. Maurice O’Sullivan in our February 18 issue of The Sandspur.

Dr. O’Sullivan’s article, entitled “Professor Questions Rollins’ Multicultural Efforts,” examined the college’s commitment to diversity and the decision to hold the opening day of the upcoming summit on St. Patrick’s Day. The QR code to the right provides a link to his original opinion piece.

The 11th Annual Summit

on Transforming Learning will be held Thursday, March 17 through Friday, March 18, 2016.

This year’s theme is “Advancing Racial Justice: Rollins & Beyond.”

RSVPs are due by March 14.

Due to a high volume of responses to this topic and a limited space in our opinions section, The Sandspur has chosen to print three of the letters and opinion pieces we received in this week’s print issue of our paper. The remaining pieces have been published on our website. We would like to encourage any community member, faculty, staff or student who is interested in this topic to read Dr. O’Sullivan’s original article and the responses and to publish a comment on our website in order to further the discussion of diversity on our campus.

-Micah Bradley

Responses from the community: Meghan Harte Weyant

AVP of Student Affairs/Dean of Students

Dear Editor, On Wednesday, February 17, The Sandspur published Professor O’Sullivan’s opinion piece about Rollins’ multicultural efforts and more specifically the College’s upcoming Summit on Transforming Learning and the nationwide conversation on the Black Lives Matter movement.

The premise of the piece called to question the sensitivity of the College in hosting a debate on March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, as a kickoff to the March 18 Summit, which includes several sessions that focus on advancing racial justice at Rollins and beyond.

The claim was that this is an attempt to “address the issue of cultural insensitivity with an act of cultural insensitivity”.

As a white person, one of the 34.5 million Americans of Irish descent, I found myself compelled to reply.

As white people in this conversation, have a great deal of power. We can choose to remain silent, or we can engage and stay in it. We can choose to use our own lived experiences and privilege in order to more deeply understand, or we can use them as tools to divide. We can provide credence to mattering, or sum it up to insignificant.

This conversation, engagement in the Summit, and understanding of racial injustice require me to be empathetic and

participate in the conversation.

It requires me to use my own lived experiences to more deeply understand the lives of others in a way that is contextualized by the complexity of our educational community. My lived experience matters, but this conversation is not about me, or white people like me, or my Irish American family who came here as immigrants.

This conversation is about advancing racial justice on our campus, the advancement of Black Lives Matter, and the importance of racial history in this country.

It is about the lived experiences of people of color in a way that is distinctly and historically different than my lived experience.

As I read the initial piece and grappled through my own privilege, I became acutely aware of the impact it may have on our peers, colleagues and students of color.

Our community members of color, who have long tried to share their story on campus and who have been silenced, whose experiences have been reasoned away, whose feelings have been stonewalled and held in contempt. Our community members of color who have had racial slurs thrown at them on our campus, who are repeatedly subjected to micro-aggression inside and outside of the classroom, and who may spend their time at Rollins toeing the line of either being a credit to their race

or confirming a stereotype.

I want our peers, colleagues, and students of color to hear and see in print that they matter, that their experiences matter, that their voice matters, and that nothing about my lived experience makes them matter less.

Each and every time we exclaim that All Lives Matter over Black Lives Matter, we are missing the point and we are minimizing mattering. The Summit on Transforming Learning, our campus commitment to racial justice, and the Black Lives Matter Movement are not about our lived experiences as white people.

It is about stepping into a space where our privilege often keeps us from going, and even worse, empowers us to minimize the experiences of people of color.

As white people, I urge us to examine the privileges of whiteness, and to engage both our heads and our hearts about how we might understand more fully the depth and nuance of this conversation and the Black Lives Matter movement, the experiences of racial injustice on our campus and in our world, and how we might stay in this conversation.

See you at the Summit.

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The opinions on this page do not necessarily reflect those of The Sandspur, its staff or Rollins College.

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Page 3 • OPINIONS brings together scholars, practitioners, and students to engage in dialogue centered around mission-driven pedagogy and practice that elevates a contemporary liberal arts ethos and environment.

The Diversity Council stands in gratitude to the organizers of the Summit for focusing the theme of the event on diversity and inclusion for the past two consecutive years. This event is an opportunity to challenge ourselves to move toward a more socially just and inclusive community.

Conference-style sessions at the Summit will include a widerange of topics from Hispanic diversity to the tenure process for faculty of color, racism in education, white privilege, and many more. For some, it will be the beginning of a crucial conversation that, for others, has been ongoing on this campus for more than 20 years.

The Diversity Council fully supports and endorses the Summit and this year’s focus on advancing racial justice at Rollins, in the nation, and throughout the world. The Summit is not an obstacle to be overcome, but rather an opportunity to create understanding, learning, and growth.

All faculty, staff and students are invited to participate and more information on the summit can be found on Rollins website.

Abby Hollern

on campus by a trip to Disney World, we honor Dr. King each year through a week of events spotlighting the legacy of his work and encouraging students, staff, and faculty to reflect on the work that remains. This year’s annual Vigil directly addressed the state of the nation with remarks from President Cornwell, a keynote address from Clint Smith, and reflections through song and dance. It was an incredibly meaningful experience for the audience at Tiedtke Hall.

At that event, I was trying.

In 1965, King delivered the Oberlin College commencement address titled “Remaining Awake through a Great Revolution”. “The time is always right to do right,” he said. I agree with Dr. King. There will never be a perfect time to stand for racial justice. There will always be another event, another holiday, perhaps another fear standing in the way. The Summit on Transforming Learning is a step toward doing what is right. I challenge the notion that hosting a debate on free speech and racial justice somehow distracts from St. Patrick’s Day. It seems to me that hosting the debate actually honors the history of Irish Americans shared by Dr. O’Sullivan, just as it acknowledges the current state of the nation and the lives of people of color. I hope you will join me in attending the Summit. I will be there, trying.

Director of CICI

Dear Editor, After reading the opinion piece “Professor questions Rollins’ multicultural efforts”, I thought about an event that the Center for Inclusion and Campus Involvement hosted in November. After the protests at the University of Missouri, we held a Tars Talk about the topic of race on campus. In an effort to respond and promote the event quickly, I created and sent a flyer campus-wide with two spelling errors. The response from multiple students and colleagues of color was gratitude for having the conversation. The response from multiple white colleagues was to point out the typos.

In that moment, my colleagues missed the point. I know this because I, as a white woman, very often miss the point in race conversations. I say the wrong thing. I feel pushback because I want to resist my own privilege.

I want to be the good white person and so often, I have to admit that I am not. I could fill a book with my own flaws in this area but I can sum up my strengths in three words: I am trying.

I am trying to be a better professional, trying to be a better ally, trying to be a better friend, trying to be a better mom to my sons: I am trying. Unlike Dr. O’Sullivan’s belief that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is celebrated

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The Rollins Diversity Council is an organization representative of both faculty and staff.

While the council has existed in different forms on and off throughout the past 20+ years, it has had a steady and influential presence in the campus community since 2008.

The Diversity Council seeks to foster and model a campus environment that is welcoming, safe, and inclusive to all of our administrators, faculty, staff, and students. We view differences (e.g. nationality, race, gender, age, sexual orientation, socioeconomic class, physical ability, learning styles, perspectives, etc.) not as obstacles to be overcome, but as rich opportunities for understanding, learning, and growth.

Our Statement of Purpose is one that directly supports Rollins’ institutional mission of educating students for “global citizenship and responsible leadership”. The empowerment of students to “pursue meaningful lives and productive careers” is inarguably the inherent objective behind the delivery (and pursuit) of a comprehensive liberal arts education, for which Rollins is nationally recognized.

The Rollins mission reads as such: “We provide opportunities to explore diverse intellectual, spiritual, and aesthetic traditions. We are dedicated to scholarship, academic achievement, creative accomplishment, cultural enrichment, social responsibility, and environmental stewardship. We value excellence in teaching and rigorous, transformative education in a healthy, responsive, and inclusive environment.”

And yet, while our mission embodies a social justice framework and tradition, the 2014 Student Campus Climate Survey on Diversity & Inclusion revealed that at least a quarter of our students have experienced harassment or insensitive treatment on campus based on some aspect of their identity.

The percentage of students reporting harassment or insensitive treatment with respect to race/ethnicity is higher among African American/Black (38%), Bi/Multiracial (32%), Asian/ Asian American (22%), and Latino(a)/Hispanic/Chicano(a) (19%) students than among White/ Caucasian/European American (5%) students across all three schools.

When students were asked specifically about their feelings of non-belonging, they spoke

to persistent micro-aggressions that they experienced or witnessed as a result of their race/ ethnicity/nationality in addition to other factors.

As Rollins moves forward with its goal of creating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive campus, it is increasingly important to consider the experiences of our own community members as well as the status of the national landscape as it relates to prominent social movements based on issues of race, ethnicity and nationality.

There is no better time than now to challenge ourselves to move toward a more socially just and inclusive campus—for the sake of our community, yes, but most importantly, for the sake of our students. The Council fully supports and stands in solidarity with those students, staff, and faculty who live, work and operate on the margins of our community daily.

The Council raises its collective voice in support of those who have been silenced. It must be acknowledged that the impact Dr. Maurice O’Sullivan’s piece had on many students and colleagues of color was unfavorable. People of color, both nationally and on Rollins’ campus, are experiencing fear and pain that many in our community are sufficiently privileged to never have to understand.

In his opinion piece, Dr. O’Sullivan critiqued the scheduling of the Summit for beginning with a free speech debate on March 17, which is also St. Patrick’s Day. His piece brought to light the importance of inclusivity, but also missed a significant point: the Summit is an opportunity for celebration and education of cultural heritage. The points raised in his article on the history of St. Patrick’s Day align entirely with the topic of ‘Racial Justice at Rollins and Beyond’.

Additionally, the history of “a colonial effort to force the Irish to become more British” sounds incredibly analogous to the current state of our nation with respect to the forced assimilation and conformity of blacks along with all immigrant communities of color.

In the 21st century, we can replace “Irish” with “Black Americans” and “British” with “white” and the cyclical nature of history quickly becomes clear.

The Summit on Transforming Learning gives us an opportunity for open dialogue, an opportunity to initiate healing, and an opportunity to support and learn from one another. It has been an annual event in the Spring for the past 11 years. It

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The Rollins Diversity Council

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Page Page #2 NEWS 4 •• SECTION FEATURES

Thursday, September 11, 2014 Thursday, March 10, 2016

Reconsidering traditional class times Rollins students and faculty dive deep into the similarities and differences between the day and night classes. Benefits seems to include diversity and flexibility, but some community members question the length of classes.

Sianna Boschetti Staff Writer Is it better to take a short class multiple times a week, or to take a long class once a week?

The Hamilton Holt School, Rollins’ evening college program, provides opportunities for students to take both undergraduate and graduate classes. While the A&S schedule is comprised of 50 to 75-minute classes starting early in the morning and available throughout the day, Holt offers fewer courses that meet less frequently but for longer periods of time, accommodating those with different scheduling needs.

Members of the Rollins campus have differing opinions on whether they would rather participate in Holt or A&S courses, and it is clear that each system has its pros and cons, particularly when it comes to class length.

While the infrequent meeting times of Holt classes broaden the diversity of students able to enroll in Holt classes, some report that the timing can be restrictive for both day and night students.

“I find that only meeting once a week can be a problem, because it’s easy to forget about the course,” said Dr. Ted Gournelos, who is currently teaching Intercultural Communication as a Holt and A&S hybrid class.

“This is especially the case if you miss a class because you’re sick, or if there’s a holiday.”

With fewer weekly meetings, Holt classes are generally longer to compensate for time.

To make a class worth four credit hours, there must be a total inclass time of two and a half hours.

Some classes meet for two blocks of an hour and fifteen minutes, some meet for three sessions of fifty minutes. Many of the night classes are offered from 4 to 6:30 p.m. or from 6:45 to 9:15. Some students and teachers think this

schedule enhances the learning experience, and some think it calls for too much continuous time in the classroom.

Many see these long classes to be a double-edged sword, as the amount of material covered in a single class can be simultaneously overwhelming and supportive of more in-depth discussions.

Several students have voiced their opinions. Alannah Brow ’17 find the extensive class periods too long. “The 4:00 to 6:30 classes aren’t bad, but the 6:45 to 9:15 classes are the worst,” she said.

Some professors disagree, preferring the conversational flow generated by the lengthier weekly meetings. Dr. Emily Russell of the English Department noted the value of these discussions. As Russell explained, “The extended time allows for more leisurely discussions and ates a much richer experience. the ability to develop a series of In Intercultural Communication themes over time.” in particular, this is amazing.

The variety of students in People come night classes seems from all over, to be an important and they part of the unique, have a lot to rich academic disI prefer day offer.” course that takes D r . classes over place during the Russell also class meetings, night classes appreciates according to Dr. because most of the diverGournelos.

“The sity of Holt best things about the jobs classes; she teaching night stated, “The I work began classes is that the mix of stustudents tend to after hours; I dents with a be a lot more open variety of exand speak more— would rather perience and no one is afraid to backgrounds sacrifice sleep be wrong or sound makes for dumb—and there’s than time or a rich and a larger diversity complex conmoney. of students,” he sideration explained. “This is of literature best when it’s a mix and culture. of day and Holt stuI know that I responded very dents, though. Having a 60-yeardifferently to the sentimental old woman with grandkids and call of Uncle Tom’s Cabin when I a 20-year-old thinking about was forced to imagine my own rushing a fraternity actually crechild snatched away; similarly,

“

students who have spent time working or living abroad or in romantic partnerships can offer a different lens through which to view the text at hand.”

The Holt students have traditionally been older than A&S students, but Dr. Kimberly Dennis noted a change in this demographic in recent years. “One thing that the college is struggling with is the relationship between Holt and A&S/CPS,” she said.

“A lot of Holt people traditionally work nine to five, so they can’t take a class at 11:00 in the morning,” Dr. Dennis said.

“But the Holt population is shifting a lot right now. It’s becoming younger. It used to be mainly for people who had jobs or people who are older, but now a lot of the Holt population is [younger], so that’s changing.

They are more available during the day.”

Sam Holcomb ’17 found this to be true. He is a student of A&S, and explained that day class-

es are more suited to his work schedule. “I prefer day classes over night classes because most of the jobs I work begin after hours; I would rather sacrifice sleep than time or money.”

Despite his preference for A&S courses, Holcomb finds that a combination of both programs works best for him. “Taking both day and night classes helps make my schedule flexible,” he says.

“I can work two jobs, possibly three now, and concentrate all my classes into mornings or nights. This also helps with living off campus, since I do not have to go back and forth to campus throughout the day.”

Members of campus have different feelings on whether they would prefer to participate in day or night classes, but it seems clear that the night classes offer more flexibility and diversity. Right now, the biggest question seems to be about the length of the classes, and whether or not one concentrated weekly class is a good thing for a student’s education.

Page 5 • FEATURES

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Class Cover Contest Dr. Dana Hargrove’s Graphic Design class worked closely with ‘The Sandspur’ design team to create this week’s cover. Here’s a few of the alternative designs.

Design by Joanna Atanasiu

Design by Ansley Lowerey

“

I wanted to invoke a sense of unity with one single focal point to demonstrate that despite the differences in schools, we are all part of Rollins College.

I chose a whimsical theme to invoke the reader to dive deeper into the paper.

- Rachel Perry

Design by Tara Gallagher

“ Design by Adriana Talbot

Design by Lisa Worley

Design by Momo Sakuragi

I approached the design with the background of someone who loves comics and superheroes, and felt that it would be an exciting and engaging way to visually define the article.

- Anna Wenzel

“ Design by Manuel Romero

Design by Ardel O’Garro

Design by Taylor Burdine

The experience of working for a client taught my students the real-world professionalism needed in the graphic design business and how to listen to clients’ needs.

- Dr. Dana Hargrove

Page 6 • FEATURES

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Dr. Nordstrom talks poetry techniques English professor Dr. Nordstrom shares advice, including the importance of using a pencil and reading traditional poetry aloud.

Shelby Thigpen

Writer

“How do I know what I think until I see what I say?”

Dr. Alan Nordstrom often asks himself this question—originally posed by E.M. Forester—before writing a poem. Every morning, Nordstrom pours a cup of coffee, meditates or prays, and writes a sonnet.

For over twenty years, he has performed this ritual as a means of tapping into his subconscious and uncovering stimulating thoughts buried deep within the folds of his mind. Part of the adventure of poetry for Nordstrom is the discovery of new ideas.

Reading classical poetry was the catalyst that first inspired Nordstrom to write his own.

Great poems from the likes of William Shakespeare and Francesco Petrarch are Nordstrom’s greatest influences. He is inspired by the metrical rhythms and rigid forms that mold the rhyme schemes of these classic poems—he views them as guidelines to keep from wandering off on tangents. Nordstrom noted, “It’s a game . . . having a form to fill allows me to argue, debate,

and exercise with the poem as I figure out how to navigate the form’s limitations and rules.”

Conquering this “game” can only be accomplished through practice, so Nordstrom suggests that students who wish to master poetry start early and write often.

Students should also read over examples of classic poetry and consider how they too can play that game. They should not only read these verses, but read them out loud and with fervor. Saying, as well as hearing, rhythms and rhymes drills patterns into the brain and allows words to come more readily when writing poetry.

For those who struggle with what to write about, Nordstrom’s greatest piece of advice is not to be afraid. Writer’s block is a form of anxiety; therefore, students must stop worrying and relax in order to beat it. Nordstrom also advocated the ancient advice “sleep on it”, as sleeping lets the unconscious do the thinking and makes the mind available to new ideas. When brainstorming, Nordstrom often looks to exterior sources or catalysts. He finds that personifying the muse is helpful, and he sometimes even converses with it.

Students often get caught up with perfecting rhyme schemes and meters on the first draft. This obsession binds students to their original rhyme scheme and forces them to use inadequate words simply because they rhyme.

Instead, Nordstrom suggests, “Don’t be afraid of revision. You can always go back and change a word if you can’t find the proper word to rhyme with it.”

“Poetry is nothing but a fun game,” as Nordstrom said, so play around with it and have fun—but always remember to use a pencil.

Photo courtesy of Minoska Hernandez

Rollins conducts a field study in Peru

Several Rollins students headed off to a field study in Peru called “Global Middle Ages” during spring break.

They reflect on this life-changing experience.

Minoska Hernandez

Section Editor

From February 26 to March 4 Dr. Jana Mathews and Dr. Emily Russell took a group of ten Rollins students to the beautiful country of Peru for a spring break field study.

The field study and class, “Global Middle Ages,” gave these students a new perspective on Incan and Spanish culture and their influences, which are still felt today.

The bulk of the trip took place in Cusco, an appealing tourist city with beautiful sites.

Here, women still dress in traditional Peruvian clothes made with alpaca wool and vibrant colors.

The city is filled with plazas, and it is home to some of the most incredible Spanish landmarks, including the famous Cusco Cathedral.

The students were then taken into the mountains to visit amazing sites such as Saqsaywaman and Machu Picchu, one of the Seven Wonders of the

World. In these locations the students not only learned specifically about Incan and Spanish culture, but were also able to see for themselves this culture’s rich history. The ruins, colonial art, and other fascinating works truly helped the participants grow as scholars.

Kate Stefanski ‘17 stated, “On the field study to Peru, I thought that I would learn most about the Incan culture and how it morphed with Spanish culture into the Peruvian culture, but really I learned more about myself.

I learned that if I set my mind to something and decide I can do it, it’s true. In the same respect, if I decide I can’t do something, then I won’t be able to.”

In addition to discovering Peruvian culture and history, students got the chance to speak with local people and learn what life is like in a country different from their own.

“In a place where I thought I would be getting to know other people from other worlds, I learned so much about myself and the experience was totally

life changing.

“No matter where you’re thinking about going, definitely go. And push yourself to try things that are outside your comfort zone. That’s the only way you’ll have experiences that you’ll remember forever,” said Stefanski.

With a wonderfully enthusiastic tour guide and passionate professors, there was never a dull day in Peru, and all the students became closer to each other and this magnificent place.

Katie Deisler ’18 stated, “The Peru field study 100% exceeded my expectations. One of the best parts was the new friends I made and how much closer I got to the friends I already had. I learned so much about myself and the importance of stepping outside of my comfort zone and trying new things!”

She added, “I have a whole new appreciation for the world and my place in it—all of my problems seem so insignificant when you’re surrounded by mountains. It’s definitely a trip I’ll remember forever!”

Page 7 • ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Acclaimed author visits Rollins Best-selling author Bill Bryson visited Rollins as a part of the Winter Park Institute. He read passages from several of his works and shared personal experiences from his travels.

Sianna Boschetti

Staff Writer

Best-selling author Bill Bryson recently visited the Rollins campus for the Winter Park Institute (WPI) event, Notes from All Over: An Evening with Bill Bryson. He read an assortment of passages from works spanning his career in this reflective talk.

Earlier in the afternoon, before the WPI event, there was a student-led Q&A panel.

Between readings, Bryson shared anecdotes from his travels to destinations like Australia, various American locales, and, perhaps most famously, the Appalachian Trail. “[I] tried and catastrophically failed to hike down the Appalachian Trail with a catastrophically inappropriate hiking companion,” he recalled.

His experiences hiking on

this trail inspired the 1998 book A Walk in the Woods, which was recently adapted into a film of the same title.

Though he now lives in London, Bryson grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, in what he described as a “very happy, middle-class family.” His mother worked at the local newspaper, and he attributes his sense of humor to his father—a master of puns.

“Anything I can claim to do with humor comes straight from my dad,” he said.

His latest book, entitled The Road to Little Dribbling, is a sequel to his 1995 book Notes from a Small Island chronicling his travels around England. “[The first book was] explaining why I’m so fond of the place,” he said. “This past year, in London, my publisher pointed out to me that it had been

twenty years since I had done [Notes from a Small Island], so would I be interested in going back and traveling around a bit again and seeing how the country had changed or not? I was a little reluctant but I went off and did some experimental, sort of tentative, traveling and decided that actually, it had changed a lot in twenty years, and that I had probably changed somewhat too, so I agreed to do a sequel.”

A question-and-answer session followed Bryson’s talk, during which he responded to audience questions regarding his writing process and his choice to write nonfiction.

“Every book that involves personal memoirs in some way becomes fiction in the sense that it becomes your story,” he explained. “Anyone else who was there would write a largely different book.”

He also addressed the final result of his adventures on the Appalachian Trail, and his future plans to continue them. “I didn’t [finish hiking the trail], and it remains my greatest regret in life,” he said. “The one thing I want to do is Mt. Katah-

din, which is the last summit in Maine. . . . I’ve never even seen Mt. Katahdin, much less walked up it—we didn’t get far enough to do that. So that is the one thing I would really like to do.”

The next WPI guest will be Adam Braun on April 5.

Photo by Scott Cook

CFAM welcomes enticing exhibits this winter This coming winter the Cornell Fine Arts Museum will be hosting two new exhibits that touch upon political and cultural meanings.

Sianna Boschetti

Staff Writer

The Cornell Fine Arts Museum (CFAM) is housing two new temporary exhibits in the winter of 2016. The new collections, Doris Leeper: Hard Edges and Transcommunality: Laura Anderson Barbata, Collaboration Beyond Borders, were introduced to the CFAM on Jan. 16.

Dr. Amy Galpin, the Museum Curator, is pleased to welcome these new exhibits into CFAM. She has followed Barbata’s work in particular for several years, even traveling to Oaxaca, Mexico to see the show at the Museo Textil.

“I was so impressed with the exhibition,” she commented. “For me, there is a sense of awe in Laura’s work, but there are also deep and serious political and cultural meanings. I hope the imaginative stilts and costumes draw people into the exhibition. But the resonance of the project, for me, remains celebrating the evolving cultural traditions in Oaxaca, New York, Trinidad, and Tobago, and thinking about how community

engagement, unity, and protest sage for our contemporary times. can take unique forms.”

We all have unique rituals and Barbata’s exhibit consists of traditions that are important to the props and costumes used in us, but we share more things in her ten-year-long stilt-walking common with people who we project, which involved artists perceive as different than we from communities within New might initially expect.”

The presentation of DoYork, Trinidad, Mexico, and Tobago. Dr. ris Leeper’s work in the Galpin menCFAM overtioned that the We all have unique laps with Orcollaborative ange County’s element of rituals and tradithese works celebration of local 20th makes a statetions that are imment on comcentury artportant to us, but ists. Though mon connecLeeper has tions between we share more had a great cultures. things in common influence in “Cocorite, T r i n i d a d , with people who we our region, Brooklyn, the CFAM New York, perceive as different was careful show her and Zaachila, than we might ini- to paintings Oaxaca, Mexthrough a ico all have tially expect. broader nastilt-walking traditions, but tional lens.

“Doris the clothes they wear and Leeper was the specific impetus to wear stilts the founder of the Atlantic Cenvaries within each community,” ter for the Arts and an ardent she said. environmentalist. She was also “To me, it’s a powerful mes- an incredible painter, and our

“

exhibition celebrates this fact by presenting a selection of her paintings,” Dr. Galpin stated.

“Moreover, it was really important for me not to isolate Leeper in a local story, so I borrowed two paintings from Los Angeles to point out that her work fits into a national conversation about hard-edge abstrac-

tion in the 1960s and 1970s.”

At 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 18, CFAM hosted a performance Laura Anderson Barbata and the Brooklyn Jumbies. The Doris Leeper: Hard Edges and Transcommunality: Laura Anderson Barbata, Collaboration Beyond Borders exhibits will be displayed in the museum until April 10.

Page 8 • ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Photo of Raul Castillo’s work for the Winter Park Fashion Week Emerging Designers competition, courtesty of Raul Castillo.

Unique trends coming this fashion week This April’s Orlando Fashion Week welcomes aspiring designers who integrate style and flair into their works in the hope of getting their names out there.

Lea Warren

Columnist

In the month or so leading up to Orlando Fashion Week this April, the show’s designers are gearing up to display their one-of-a-kind collections. For this unique runway show, each designer is challenged to create a collection unique to their personal style and featuring a minimum of ten complete looks. I spoke with two of the designers in the mix: Ciara Rodriguez and Raul Castillo, both of whom are deep into the process of constructing their collections.

For Rodriguez, 22, designing originated from her passion for cosplay. Her line, Fashion Fantasy by Ciara, is an expression of this unique inspiration. With two years of designing under her belt, Rodriguez is ready to take on Orlando Fashion Week as her next challenge. Judging by her fearless designs and fantastic styling, audiences will be in for a treat.

When asked about what she would present on the runway, she said, “My style as an artist is to integrate cosplay and fashion together to create a fun and unique style that’s wearable for anyone to enjoy.”

But don’t worry, even though her clothes are wearable, their wow factor on the runway is not hindered in the least—especially considering her tendency to dress models in elf ears, a

magical addition to her Japanese-inspired clothing.

“It’s even gotten to the point where people know me as the ‘chick with the ears’ and I secretly love that!” she said, showcasing the lively personality that fuels her design concepts. In fact, when asked about her personal process, she said, “A design just comes to me. For example, just by the environment I can envision the perfect outfit that I would wear and sketch it on paper.”

When asked about Orlando Fashion Week in particular, Rodriguez said she wants to showcase her art to gain exposure. “As a young designer, it’s very difficult to get my designs out in the public eye and this is a great way for me to show others my style and what I have to offer as a designer,” she explained.

Similarly, Raul Castillo, 22, said, “What every designer wishes to accomplish is to have their name out there and to have clients. That’s what I want to accomplish.”

Castillo has been designing for about four years now, and says that his style of tailored outfits juxtaposed with flowing garments is greatly influenced by his outlook on art and design.

He described his process in this way: “I’m an artist and [my clients’] bodies are my canvas.…

One of the best feelings as a designer is to see a woman try on a custom-made dress and see

her eyes light up and tears start forming. That’s when you know you did a great job.”

This, and the imagination involved in designing, are what Castillo says he loves best about being a textile artist.As for his process in creating signature looks, he explained, “I usually start with an idea. I use something that inspires me and go from there. Sometimes I do the sketch and sometimes it’s just in my head, and from there I drape the pattern onto a dress form, and then I find the right fabric I need for that design. But most often I already have the fabric in my studio and let the fabric tell me how it wants to be worked.”

As for his preferred fabric to work with, he says silk is definitely the textile he enjoys the most. He cites myriad silks and the endless ways to tranform them as reasons for choosing this fabric as his “all-time favorite.”

While Rodriguez finds her fashion roots in her personal attraction to the world of cosplay, Castillo gains his passion for fashion from his life-long love of clothes and experiences playing with his grandmother’s old Singer sewing machine when he was a child.

No matter where inspiration comes from, it is clear that these two artists have an intense love for what they do. I cannot wait to see what their artistic talent and expertise produces for the runway show this spring.

Photo of Raul Castillo’s work for the Winter Park Fashion Week Emerging Designers competition, courtesy of Raul Castillo.

Photo of Ciara Rodriguez working on her collection, courtesy of Ciara Rodriguez.