News: May
Click here to read the Spring 2009 Virginia Living Magazine article about VCUarts.
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• The 2009 US News & World Report Visual Arts and Design rankings have been released and VCUarts is once again ranked as the #1 public university school of arts and design in the country. Click here for our ranking information.
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Tara Donovan (1999 VCUarts MFA) has been awarded a $500,000 MacArthur Foundation "Genius" award. Read about her in the New York Times. Ms. Donovan is the third VCUarts graduate in five years to receive this prestigious award. The others are Teresita Fernandez (2005) and Daisy Youngblood (2003).
• VCUQatar held its eighth graduation ceremony on May 2, 2009 at The Ritz Carlton hotel. VCUQatar graduated its eighth class of new designers whose work will impact the development of Qatar for years to come. The 8th Commencement brings the number of VCUQatar alumni to 217 with 14 more students graduating after the summer.
• TheatreVCU alum Jason Butler Harner was recently featured in Richmond Magazine. Harner discusses his recent movie roles in The Changeling and The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3.
• Roberta Smith's May 1article in the New York Times touts VCUarts on the 2nd page of her article, Humble Fabric Takes Center Stage.
• Sculpture students Nataliya Slinko and Ian McMahon have each been awarded a prestigious Javits Fellowship, two out of only six total arts fellowships awarded nationally for the coming year! VCUarts Sculpture currently has three additional Javits awardees in the process of completing their fellowships, as well: Angie White, John Blatter, and Sami Ben Larbi. Our congratulations to Nataliya and Ian!
• The annual awards for the Anderson Gallery's Juried Student Fine Arts Exhibition have been announced. Juror David McFadden chose the following pieces from the 82 student works included in the exhibition:
Dean's Award: Timothy Rusterholz for his work entitled Machokos Kenya
Craft/Material Studies: Jill Rich, for 3 pieces from her Introductions Series
Painting & Printmaking: Marshall Hawthorne for two works entitled Josh and Jeremy
Photography and Film: Jacob Cunningham for Fear, Anxiety, Trauma
Sculpture + Extended Media: Beth Hertzler for Puppy Calendar
• The 2009-10 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship Awards have been announced; 20 of the 33 recipients have ties to VCUarts! Congratulations to the departments of Photography and Film (6 connections), Painting and Printmaking (5 connections), and all individual Fellowship recipients on this tremendous honor!
Fellowship Award recipients in the VCUarts community include:
Professional Awards:
Sonali Gulati, film/video
Heather Harvey, sculpture
Paul Ryan, painting
Heide Trepanier, painting
Hilary Wilder, painting
Graduate Awards:
Sam Hunter, mixed media
Carolyn Porter, art history
Lana Waldrep, painting
Undergraduate Awards:
Joshua Bennett, sculpture
Shane Butler, photography
Ashleigh Hobson, photography
Meagan Jenigen, sculpture
Grace Johnston, sculpture
MyungSun Lee, drawing
Patrick Phillips, photography
Charles A. Ponticello, sculpture
Melanie Seeger, crafts
Arlie Trowbridge, photography
Rachael Wheeler, mixed media
Janpim Wolf, photography
• Four VCUarts students have been awarded 2009 VCU Summer Research Fellowships. This summer's fellowships will provide student and faculty support for mentored research and creative scholarship experiences. Congratulations to Phillip Cardwell, Music; Blue Clements, Sculpture + Extended Media; Melanie Seeger, Craft/Material Studies; and Bonnie Gabel, Theatre.
• On May 4, the One Club, the world's foremost non-profit organization for the recognition of excellence in advertising and design, awarded VCUarts and The Martin Agency a "bronze pencil" in the category of public service poster campaign. Only 60 pencils and 1 best of show were awarded in this inernational design competition. The winning campaign was created as part of The We Campaign, a project of The Alliance for Climate Protection — a nonprofit, nonpartisan effort founded by Al Gore. Jamie Mahoney is art director and designer for 2 of the 3 posters. Christine Coffey is the art director and designer for the third poster. John Mahoney is the copywriter.
Students and Alumni
• Music's Jessica Harika (BM '11) will sing the role of Cherubino (The Marriage of Figaro) in Rome, Italy at the Operafestival di Roma.
• Three TheatreVCU alumni have been cast in the musical Peter and the Wolf that will open at Imagination Stage in Washington, DC in January 2010.
• Music's Phillip Cardwell (BM '10) has been awarded an Undergraduate Summer Fellowship by the University for jazz guitar studies.
• Music's Jason Connell (BM '09) was accepted with scholarships to San Francisco Conservatory, The Peabody Conservatory and New England Conservatory and will attend NEC.
• Music's Jodi-Ann Russell (BM '07) has won a Piano Faculty appointment at Richmond Music Education Center.
• Music's Ryan Schell (BA '08) has been appointed as Assistant to the Executive Director of the American Bach Soloists in San Francisco, CA.
• TheatreVCU alumnus John DeBoer (MFA, 2007) is the winner of the 2009 VASTA Clyde Vinson Memorial Scholarship. John is a first year faculty member at the School of Theatre and Dance at the University of Montana.
• Craft/Material Studies student Roberto Celis was elected as Vice President to the VCU Student Government Association of the Monroe Park Campus. Roberto was also awardeda series of awards and scholarships including one to attend Penland this summer, a $2500 License Plate Affinity Award, a $2500 Multicultural Diversity Award, and the Green Award at the Planet E(art)h exhibit in the Student Commons Gallery.
Other Planet E(art)h winners include Kristina Totoritis (Dean's Award) and Elaine Butcher (Student Choice Award).
• Craft/Material Studies students Brittany Felter, Cathy Nault, Barbara Dorrough, and Meg Christensen were awarded scholarships to attend Peter's Valley Fiber classes this summer.
• Craft/Material Studies student Lenora Mesnard received the Outstanding Student award from the Surface Design Association.
• Craft/Material Studies student Melanie Seegere received a university-wide Summer Undergraduate Fellowships for 2009. Melanie also received a $300 Peachtree award and and $300 Eastman Award for her work in glass. Other Peachtree award recipients include Ryan Tanner and Brenna Rondeau.
• Craft/Material Studies student Kent Perdue received an Artist-in-Residence at Arrowmont in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Kent's "Sling Table" and "Just one more minute," nominated by William Hammersley, were accepted and will be on display at the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts as part of FURNITURE09: Industrious--The Design, Craft & Commerce of Furniture Making at Appalachian State University. His pieces will also appear in an online showcase linked from the Furniture Society’s website.
• Gabriel Craig, Craft/Material Studies MFA candidate, has an 8-page full-color article, "Seeing Green: Towards Sustainable Jewelry Practices," in Metalsmith Magazine this month. Gabriel's work is on display at the Stuff: Jewelry for the People exhibit at Sub-Octo Gallery in Philadelphia from May 20-23. Gabriel and Amy Weiks, a former 5th year student, were recently awarded a 12 month joint residency at the Houston Center of Contemporary Craft in Texas.
• Keith Mendak, Craft/Material Studies MFA candidate, was accepted in the Bearing Witness exhibit in Chicago's ARC Gallery for the month of June. Keith was also featured in the April issue of Richmond Magazine for an altar he installed at Lumpkins Jail.
• Keith Mendak and Eum Youn Seal, Craft/Material Studies MFA candidates, have had their collaborative necklace, Couple, from the condom jewelry series, Play it Safe selected for the Kinsey Sex show at Indiana University.
• Adam Welch, Craft/Material Studies MFA alum, has works featured in the new Lark Books publication, 500 Ceramic Sculptures.
• Katie Hudnall, Craft/Material Studies MFA alum, received the first ever University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Art, Wood/Furniture Area Resident Artist Program for $15,000.
• Travis Townsend, Craft/Material Studies MFA alum, is in the exhibit, Penland: Great Teachers, Great Artists at Habatat Gallery in Tysons Corner, VA from April 28th to July 17. Traviswill be included in the Cedarhurst Wood Project at the Cedarhurst Center for the Arts in Mt. Vernon, Illinois and the "Transformations" Raphael Prize show at Pittsburgh's Society for Contemporary Craft.
• Heath Matysek-Snyder, Craft/Material Studies MFA alum, is in a one year residency at Designed Objects Tasmania in Hobart. Heath was in a juried biennial exhibition entitled the "Tasmanian Wood Design Collection Biennial Acquisitive Exhibition" which opened in Hobart and moved to Launceston. Heath has also been a visiting artist at the University of Tasmania Art School in the Furniture Design Department. He proposed and was selected for a public art commission Tasmania for the new pediatrics wing of the Royal Hobart Hospital.
• Nanda Soderberg, Craft/Material Studies MFA alum, is working at the Pilchuck Glass School in Washington state as a gaffer for artists Whitfield Lovell and Elizabeth Turk this summer.
• Sarah Holden, Craft/Material Studies BFA alum, has work in her first international exhibition where she is eligible for 3 different awards at The Port Moody Art Awards in Port Moody British Colombia, Canada. Sarah also has work in the Fibers Expanded exhibit at the Luke and Eloy Gallery in Pittsburgh, PA.
• Patrick Storey, Sculpture BFA 1996, is Production Designer on film "HERE," by Singaporean artist Ho Tzu Nyen. "HERE" has been officially selected to screen at the prestigious 41st Directors' Fortnight (Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) at the Cannes Film Festival this May 2009.
The film will premiere in Cannes and will then be screened at The Picturehouse in Singapore in late June.
• Art Education MFA student Samantha Nolte placed in VCU's 12th Annual Graduate Student Research Symposium and Exhibit for her work on comics and Hindu art.
• Works by Communication Arts students Guy Parkhomenko, Geary Day, and Stanley Rayfield have been selected for inclusion in volumen 43 of CMYK Magazine under the category of illustration.
• Two works by Communication Arts student Geary Day have been selected by jury to be exhibited at the Salon International 2009, a project of the International Museum of Contemporary Masters of Fine Art, at the Greenhouse Gallery of Fine Art in San Antonio, Texas.
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Students from Communication Arts had award winning entries in the Society of Illustrators 2009 Scholarship Competition in New York. From May 6 - June 6, 2009, work by Communication Arts students will be on display at the Museum of American Illustration. Selected by a celebrated jury, this exhibit features the most mature, sophisticated and well-crafted illustrations of the year from top-level college illustration students around the country.
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Works by Communication Arts students have been accepted into the Society of Illustrators LA West 47 Exhibition at Gallery Nucleus, Alhambra, California.
• Theatre's Dr. Tawnya Pettiford-Wates along with a number of Theatre Performance majors received excellent reviews for the presentation of Uncle Tom Deconstructed at the New Orlean's Fringe Festival.
• Alumnus Jason Butler Harner (BFA, Theatre Performance) recently starred in the smash hit The Changeling with Angelina Jolie. Harner will also share the screen with Denzel Washington and John Travolta in the upcoming film The Taking of Pelham.
• Theatre alumnus Court Watson received rave reviews for his scenic design of The Foreigner at the John Engeman Theatre in Northport, New York. He also served as the Assistant Costume designer for the 2008 Tony Award winning Broadway musical South Pacific. Watson is the assistant scenic designer for Elton John's Austrian production of AIDA and Frank Wildhorn's production of Jekyll and Hyde in Germany, as well.
• Theatre alumnus Gerold Solomon is in the acting ensemble of the 2008 Tony Award winning Broadway musical South Pacific, now entering it's second year.
• Theatre's Justin Scribner (BFA Stage Management, 2004) is stage managing the Broadway play The American Plan.
• Theatre alumnus Andrew Wallace has been accepted into Yale School of Drama's MFA program in scenic design. Alumnus Justin King has been accepted into the MFA program in lighting design at New York University.
• Theatre's Vanessa Leuck (BFA, 2006) is designing costumes for Disney's national ice capades production.
• Theatre alumna Alanna Wilson (BFA, 2004) is shooting a film directed by Phillip Seymour Hoffman.
• Art History undergraduate students Isabella Jost, Kelly Cloutier, Jessica Ferey, and Varia Degtiarenko spoke to an audience at the Virginia Association of Museums during association's session "The Future of Museums: What Does the Next Generation Want in a Museum?" They were invited to participate based on outstanding papers they wrote for Professor Margaret Lindauer's class, "Museums in the 21st Century."
• Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar students have been chosen by
the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club
to design trophies for the Qatar Prix de l’ Arc de Triomphe and the Qatar Arabian World Cup, two of the Club's most
prestigious
events. The creators of winning designs will receive certificates of recognition and will be promoted through event material.
VCUQatar will be awarded scholarship from QREC for designing the trophies as well.
• Photography and Film undergraduate students Marion Glass, Arlie Trowbridge, and Megan E. Wagner have been selected as finalists in the Photographer's Forum 29th Annual College Photography contest.
• Undergraduate Photography and Film students Marion Glass and Arlie Trowbridge have photographs featured in the 2008 volume of Studio Visit. One of Trowbridge's pictures is featured on the back cover as well.
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Jason Horowitz, Photography and Film graduate alum, received an Individual Photographer's Fellowship from the Aaron Siskind Foundation. The Foundation offers a limited number of fellowship grants of up to $7,000 each for individual artists working in still photography and photo-based art.
• The Drip program, curated this year by Lissa Gibbs, Associate Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tucson, featured numerous outstanding entries from VCUarts Kinetic Imaging students. Winning entries included: Emily Wormly's The Anti-Story Machine, Eric Neff's Glimpse, Joe Reckley's Emotional Displacements..., Joseph Ryan's Abraham and Empire Down, Mauricio Escamilla's Eyes or Ears, David Crooks' Unbread, Antoine Allen's Black Noise, Rinny Wilson's The Day Ferguson Fell, and Kirk Zamieroski's Eisenhower.
Faculty
• Art Education's Dr. Pamela G. Taylor and her interdisciplinary research team, Dr. Joan Rhodes and Dr. Frances Smith (School of Education) and Jan Johnston (Department of Art Education) received notice that their proposal, “Research for eLASTIC: Electronic Learning and Assessment Tool for Interdisciplinary Connections among the Visual Arts, Reading, and Writing" has been awarded a $1,050,000 grant under the 2nd cycle of the Qatar National Priorities Research Program (NPRP). This proposal, along with 92 others from such prestigious institutions as Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers, Ohio State, Carnegie Mellon, MIT, University of British Columbia, University of Malaysia, etc.), was selected from 482 international submissions with an approximate 20% success rate.
• Dr. Pamela G. Taylor completed her term as Editor of the Art Education journal, she wrote two editorials for the journal along with three other pieces in trade publications. Her co-written book Interdisciplinary Approaches to Teaching Art in High School published by the National Art Education Association was named a Best Seller.
• Dr. David Burton was awarded the June King McFee National Award for distinguished contributions to the profession of Art Education in April.
• Music's Kenneth Wood will be singing the roles of Don Basilio and Don Curzio (The Marriage of Figaro) at the Operafestival di Roma and will be serving as co-director of the opera scenes program.
• Music's James Smith-Parham will serve as stage director for the Operafestival di Roma's production of Suor Angelica for his third season with the company.
Melanie Kohn Day is in her fifth season as artistic director of this summer opera training program.
• Music's Charles West will give masterclasses at the National Conservatory of Peru this summer.
• Music's Bryan Hooten has recently released his CD Framing the Void by his quartet "Ombak," which features VCU faculty member Brian Jones (drums), VCU alumnus Trey Pollard (guitar), and former VCU student Cameron Ralston (bass).
• Theatre's Director of Costume, Toni-Leslie James won a 2009 Village Voice OBIE Award for her
sustained excellence of costume design (with special reference to WIG OUT, Vineyard Theatre). Read more about the winners of the 54th Annual OBIE Awards here.
• Music's Stephen Vitiello has an article in the Syracuse City Eagle on his new multi-media sound art exhibition in Syracuse, NY.
• Craft/Material Studies faculty Allan Rosenbaum and Lydia Thompson have works featured in the new Lark Books publication, 500 Ceramic Sculptures.
• Craft/Material Studies faculty member Susie Ganch will participate this summer in RE/ACTION(S) at Craft Alliance in St. Louis, MO. Susie's collaborative Radical Jewelry Makeover Project was reviewed in a a two-page full color essay by Kate Dobbs Arial in the April issue of Metalsmith Magazine.
• Craft/Material Studies faculty member Sonya Clark's work at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art was favorably reviewed at the end of an article by Holland Cotter in the New York Times. Sonya will have several pieces included in the group exhibit, Hair on Fire, at the Halsey Institute at the College of Charleston in South Carolina from May 14-June 15. Sonya's work is also included in the Architecture and Design Museum of Los Angeles exhibit Upcycling: Reclaiming Past Lives, from May 8-June 8.
• Theatre faculty member Toni Leslie James' costume designs are featured in the musical Finian's Rainbow at Carnegie Hall.
• Theatre Chairman David Leong is in preproduction for the off-broadway play Things of Dry Hours, directed by Tony Award winner Ruben Santiago Hudsen and starring Delroy Lindo. Leong continues to maintain and supervise the fight choreography for the current smash hit Broadway musical Billy Elliott.
• Music's Rex Richardson recorded his newest album, Jazz Upstairs, Volume 2 , in Athens, Greece in mid-March. The
live recording took place at the Bar Guru Bar, the same venue used for Richardson's last live jazz release, Jazz
Upstairs: Live at The Bar Guru Bar (Summit; 2006). To see a video of Rex on Yamaha Winds, click here. For more information and current news on Rex Richardson visit ww.RexRichardson.net.
• Photography and Film assistant professor Jake Dodd's film Nunna Mia e la Barca has been selected for competition and screening at the 31st Big Muddy Film Festival in Carbondale, Illinois.
• Music professor Sonia Vlahcevic has been chosen to give a lecture recital at the International Conference of the College Music Society in Zagreb, Croatia in June of 2009. Prof. Vlahcevic will present on the solo piano music of Andrzej Dutliewicz, composer and Director of Contemporary Music at the Chopin Institute in Warsaw, Poland.
• Music faculty member
Dr. Patrick Smith has been invited to present a lecture/recital on the performance styles of jazz hornist Julius "Phantom" Watkins at the 41st International Horn Symposium at Western Illinois University in June. He will lead attendees through a guided lesson on the chorus of Watkins' original piece, Linda Delia, and will perform the work with the WIU Jazz Orchestra. Dr. Smith has also been named to the steering committee for the Seattle Julius Watkins festival, to be held in Seattle, WA in October 2009.
