Progress on Strong Hall
CONNECTIONS
from the College of Fine Arts Fall 2016 in Review
From the Dean’s Desk Greetings for a very happy and creative 2017! Last fall, the COFA faculty launched a strategic planning process. That process began with the creation of the college’s first-ever Vision Statement and a shared set of Core Values. These are the vision and the guiding principles for everything we do across the next several years as we align ourselves more closely with UM’s Strategic Plan. I am happy to share the COFA statements with you as we progress into 2017. VISION STATEMENT To be a 21st century destination college where teaching, making, production and research work together as key components of creative practice, where the world and the school meet in the synergies of liberal arts and conservatory-style arts programs, and where faculty think in new ways as models of the creative thinkers and problem solvers our students will become. CORE VALUES • Creativity as a core 21st century competency.
Steve Peters, Dean, College of Fine Arts
• Innovation. • Social Engagement. • Professionalism. • Excellence.
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YEARS OF CONTINUOUS MUSIC ACCREDITATION BY NASM
ALL COFA DEPARTMENTS IN TOP 8 FRESHMAN MAJORS AT UM
611
UNDERGRADUATES
FASTEST GROWING MUSICAL THEATRE PROGRAM IN ALABAMA
41 & 7
FULL-TIME FACULTY
STAFF
WITH A 1
15:1 STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO
COFA BY THE NUMBERS
CONTENT
UPCOMING EVENTS
FROM THE DEAN’S DESK................................1 COFA BY THE NUMBERS.................................1 FRIENDS OF COFA...........................................2 FACULTY NEWS............................................... 3 STUDENT NEWS..............................................4 ALUMNI NEWS.................................................5 OTHER NEWS...................................................6 RESEARCH & CREATIVE GRANTS...................7 NEW FACULTY & STAFF...................................7
Tanner Young: rifts, drifts, shifts, and myths............................1/12-2/2 Music for Saxophone and Piano..................1/30 Annual Alumni Art Auction..................... 2/10-11
Faculty, Student, and Alumni News
in the College of Fine Arts
About CONNECTIONS
CONNECTIONS is a monthly e-publication of the Dean’s Office of the College of Fine Arts (COFA). The newsletter is designed to feature faculty and staff achievements, student achievements and news from our alumni. This letter is also intended to make information from departments and the dean’s office more accessible and available in an easy format. We encourage all contributions that include photos of the topic or people themselves so we can get to know each other better. Submissions are due before the 15th of each month. Electronic submissions can be sent to Administrative Assistant JULIE MCENTEE at mcenteej@montevallo.edu. The COFA Office of the Dean is the academic administrative office at the College, and the personnel office of its undergraduate faculty. The dean’s office oversees faculty hiring and mentoring, reappointment, promotion, tenure, the performance and event season and instructional and support staff for academic departments and programs. Publication designed by: Amy Mathews ‘15, BFA Graphic Design and Printmaking
FRIENDS OF the College of Fine Arts
The Friends of the College of Fine Arts (CoFA) Steering Committee held their organizational meeting on UM’s Founders Day, October 13. Six distinguished UM alumni, founding members of the group include Robert Altman, Barbara G. Bonfield, Carolyn L. Duncan, Rod Hildreth,
Melanie Poole and Cathy Jo Wheeler. The Friends are ambassadors and advocates for the advancement of the college, providing fundraising support that will be essential for developing 21st century arts programs of distinction.
FACULTY NEWS
Art
Association. She also received the University Academic Advising Award at Founders Day in October 2016. DR. RAY OZLEY is the new president of the Alabama Communication Association.
DR. SCOTT MEYER had a new piece of sculpture included in the Southern Mississippi Ceramics National juried exhibition. The exhibition was juried by recognized artist and critic, Professor Brian Harper.
DR. SHERRY FORD, DR. SALLY BENNETT HARDIG, DR. RAY OZLEY, and DR. TIFFANY WANG presented a paper entitled “Introducing COMS Day as a Senior Capstone Team Project: A Roundtable Discussion of the Successes and Challenges of Planning and Implementing COMS Day Events” at the 2016 Alabama Communication Association annual conference.
MICHAEL WILLETT’s solo exhibition titled Space & Order opened at the Tennessee Valley Museum of Art (Tuscumbia, AL) on September 25 and ran through November 10. The retrospective featured digital collages combined from various samples. He also published an article and interview titled “A New Visual Experience,” by Monica Collier in the Times Daily newspaper.
DR. TIFFANY WANG, was named Distinguished Teacher Award for the College of Fine Arts, 2016. Her article, “Social Perspectives on Student Learning” was included in . In P. L. Witt (Ed.), Handbooks of communication science: Communication and learning - Vol. 16. Dr. Wang and Dr. Audra Nuru (Fairfield University) presented a paper entitled “He’s my dad because he just is! Cohabiting (Step) Children’s Responses to Discursive Challenges” at the 2016 National Communication Association annual conference.
RYAN FOSTER is a member of Recover Creative, a mural collective that was formed at the beginning of 2016. The goal is to create a community among artists and to enliven and participate in the ongoing rejuvenation of downtown Birmingham. Students who participated in the execution of these projects include KRISALYN HAMMOND, EMALEE BUTLER, ANNA MULLEN, HUNTER VROONLAND, HANNAH MARTIN, and BEN KAISER.
DR. BRUCE FINKLEA published a chapter entitled “Nurturing New Men and Polishing Imperfect Fathers via Hetero- and Homosocial Relationships in Pixar Films” in the edited book Race and Gender in the Electronic Media: Context, Culture, Content.
DR. CATHERINE WALSH was awarded a Mellon Fellowship in the Digital Humanities at Villa I Tatti, The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, located in Florence, Italy. Walsh will work on her digital project, Mapping Sculpture, during the fellowship, scheduled for January – June, 2017. This past August, Walsh presented a paper, “Mapping Michelangelo’s Marble,” at the Sixteenth Century Society Conference in Bruges, Belgium.
GHENI PLATENBURG moderated the Facebook live stream of Better Together: A Conversation on Race and Law Enforcement, LeBaron Recital Hall, University of Montevallo, on October 11.
Work by MISTY BENNETT was included in the 2016 Alabama National exhibition, which was sponsored by the University of Alabama Department of Art and Art History.
BROOK PRUITT will be one of the Student Scriptwriting Judges for Broadcast Education Association’s Festival of Media Arts Competition.
Together Again University of Montevallo Art Studio Faculty and Alumni Show at the Birmingham Public Library in Fall 2016 featured works by JOE BENNETT, MISTY BENNETT, RYAN FOSTER, KAREN GRAFFEO, TED METZ, MIN SUN LEE, SCOTT MEYER, LEE SOMERS. SCOTT STEPHENS, MICHAEL WILLETT, JASON TANNER YOUNG, and alums JUSTIN BANGER, ANN BEAIRD, JOHN DEMOTTE, BLAKE DILLARD, ANDREA DILLINGHAM, MARY CATHERINE FEHR, GARRET HENDERSON, DREMA MONTGOMERY, ELLEN SOWA, NIC TISDALE, ROBBY WISE
Department of Communication Administrative Assistant OLIVIA FOLMAR ARD received a 5-star endorsement for her latest work of fiction, ‘Tis the Season, from Readers’ Favorite.
Music DR. LYNN FAULKNER, was selected to receive the 2016 Adjunct Faculty Teaching Award. Dr. Faulkner joined the University of Montevallo music faculty in 2007. She serves as staff accompanist and instructor of piano. During her tenure at Montevallo, Dr. Faulkner has accompanied many student and faculty recitals and is an integral part of the Department of Music. She was recognized at this year’s Founders’ Day ceremony.
Communication
DR. SHERRY FORD recently completed a series of presentations to students at the Shelby County College and Career Center. Over the course of the fall semester, Dr. Ford presented three talks on topics including personal branding, networking, and customer service.
DR. ALAN GOLDSPIEL, Department Chair, presented the world premiere of his sabbatical work “The Klezmer Shabbat Service” at Birmingham’s Temple Emanu-El on August 26. The sixteen-movement piece is scored for a soprano soloist cantor, accompanied by a four-part choir and five-piece band of violin, clarinet, classical guitar,
DR. SALLY BENNETT HARDIG is the 2016-2017 recipient of the Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award, presented by the University of Montevallo National Alumni
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STUDENT NEWS
Communication
double bass and drum set. He was awarded a music fellowship in the amount of $5,000 from the Alabama State Council on the Arts. The fellowships are awarded to outstanding individual artists from Alabama who create important works of art and make valuable contributions to the entire state.
The 6th Annual COMS Day was held on October 27. COMS Day is a capstone experience wherein the Senior Seminar students work as a team to celebrate and promote the communication discipline under the guidance of Dr. Ray Ozley. Speakers included three University of Communication alumni--Crystal Roskam, Calli Robinson, and Clark Maxwell.
DR. TED HOFFMAN and a cohort of faculty researchers from four liberal arts universities (Drs. Kim Councill, Bucknell University; Scott Edgar, Lake Forest College; Rich Edwards, Ohio Wesleyan University; Amy Spears, Nebraska Wesleyan University) presented a featured session titled “Narratives of Music Teacher Educators at Small College and Universities” at the Fifth International Conference on Narrative Inquiry in Music Education held at the University of Illinois. He was reappointed to a third consecutive term as State Advisor for AMEA-Collegiate by the President and Governing Board of the Alabama Music Educators Association.
OLIVIA COURSEY (Junior) was accepted into the Falcon Scholars in Action program for 2017. She will be working with Shelby Emergency Assistance. LINDSEY DUKEMINIER (Sophomore) won the Category Two award in Spanish at the Department of Foreign Language’s Jensen Award Competition. ADRIANA KLINGER (Sophomore), Emme Long (Senior), Emily Bowen (Sophomore), and River Dolan (Junior) participated in the 2016 Southern Regional Model United Nations in Atlanta.
DR. JOSEPH SARGENT has been selected to author a 5,000-word article on the Renaissance Magnificat for A-R Editions, Inc., a leading publisher of critical music editions. The article will be published as part of A-R’s Online Music Anthology.
EMILY “EMME” LONG (Senior) was awarded the Dorothy Shaw Leadership Award at her sorority’s District Leadership Conference in Atlanta, Georgia in January. She has accepted a position beginning December 2016 as a Public Relations Specialist at McComm Group in Decatur.
Theatre
EMILY GILL designed costumes for Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson produced by The DANE at Birmingham Festival Theatre directed by Dane Peterson.
PARIS NELSON (Junior) presented her McNair Scholar research project “Understanding the Adversities that Affect First-Generation Students and Their Transition to Higher Education” at the 24th Annual McNair Scholars Research Conference at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. She was awarded 1st Place for Best Overall Research and 2nd place for Best Overall Presentation at the UM’s TRIO McNair Scholars Program 13th Annual Research Day
Adjunct Instructor of Dance WILLIAM MICHAEL COOPER’s dance company, Contemporary South, recently received a grant through the Alabama State Council on the Arts through the Arts in Education program. The company will embark on a statewide tour of four Alabama counties to continue their mission of dance education and outreach in the rural south through free master classes and performances of original works. MICHAEL WALKER conduced interviews in Ferguson, MO, for his commissioned devised Theatre Piece which will be performed in St. Louis and Brooklyn.
BENJAMIN SMITH (Senior) was a camera operator for ESPN in November for University of Alabama basketball. Benjamin will also shoot the University of Alabama football championship games for Raycom Sports.
DR. DAVID CALLAGHAN is finishing production meetings for Jake Heggie’s contemporary opera Three Decembers, which will have an out of town cast of professional opera singers for a one weekend run in January at Birmingham Opera.
SAVANNAH WILLARD (Sophomore) was selected, along with fellow UM student Mary Haynes Furman, for the COPLAC Digital Liberal Arts at a Distance course titled “The Social Life of Books” for Spring 2017.
MARCUS LANE and MICHAEL WALKER attended the first annual NJ Unified auditions at Rowan State College to recruit students for the theatre program.
Music The UM Collegiate Chapter of MTNA won the poster competition during the AMTA conference in Auburn. Chapter members include JONATHAN SCOFIELD, LAURA THOMAS, JASON MCCLURE, MYTCHELL WALKER and ALEC LEE.
In July COFA Dean, DR. STEVE PETERS served on the faculty of the 2016 New Deans Seminar in Chicago, a national training program for first-time deans and associate deans, sponsored by the Council of Colleges of Arts and Science. His presentations included “Deans and Development,” “Planning and Resource Management,” and “Leadership.” He also served on the faculty of the Leadership Institute of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education.
Theatre
AMBER CHAPMAN is a Development Intern at the prestigious McCarter Theatre in Princeton, NJ.
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ALUMNI NEWS
Art
SYDNEY FIELDS (2016) was hired as a Video Production Coordinator for Hibbett Sports. JOLYN HANNAH (2013) was hired as a News Producer by WRBL News 3 in Columbus, GA.
Alumni at Birmingham ArtWalk 2016: JUSTIN BANGER, SOMMER FORTNER, PHILLIP E GRIFFITH, ARTES HICKS (Award Winner!), ERIC POLAND, SUSAN SHOEMAKER, CAROLYN LAMBERT WASS, PAUL CORDES WILM, ALLAN WOODALL (Poster Designer), and GABY WOLODARSKI.
KRISTEN HILL (2016) began graduate study for the Master of Education in Counseling at the University of Montevallo in Spring 2017.
BILLY SHAW (2015) took a full time position in graphic design and marketing at Remington, Huntsville.
TANYA HOANG (2016) is working at Crossroads Campaigns.
REBECCA WHITE (2015) took a full time position in graphic design at Mspark, Helena.
AMOS HOLLINHEAD accepted a position as a photographer with WIAT 42.
COURTNEY HOLT (2016) took a full time graphic design position at Luckie & Co., Birmingham.
KIERA HOOD has joined WSFA 12 News in Montgomery as a morning show producer. Kiera interned at WVTM 13 in Birmingham last summer.
JONATHON BLACK (2016) took an internship graphic design position at Intermark, Birmingham and works part-time at Good People Brewery, Birmingham.
SAVANNAH KIDD (2014) is a News Producer for WVTM 13 News in Birmingham. REBECCA LEACH (2015) is pursuing the Master of Science in Communication Studies at Texas Christian University. She received the prestigious STARS Fellowship to pursue her graduate degree.
KIMBERLY MCWHORTER (2015) and McNair Scholar entered the MFA graduate program at the University of Georgia, Athens with a tuition scholarship and teaching assistantship. COCOA LANEY (2016) entered the MFA graduate program of SAIC College of Art and design in Florence, Italy.
KYLE MCDONALD III (2016) is an Interactive Coordinator at Strong Automotive Merchandising in Birmingham.
ROBBIE WISE (2016) took a full time position as Assistant Exhibits Designer at the McWane Science Center in Birmingham.
HALEY MYERS (2016) is a Multimedia Production Assistant at WHNT News 19 in Huntsville. ANLEIA NANCE has been accepted into the Master’s program in Journalism at the University of Alabama.
Communication
LAURA POYTHRESS (2015) is a Workflow Coordinator at Time Inc. Food Studios.
RACHEL ANDERSON (2016) was awarded the BradleyBryant Top Undergraduate Student Paper at the 2016 Alabama Communication Association annual conference, “Social Movement Rhetoric: A Rhetorical Analysis of Ida B. Wells’ ‘Lynch Laws in America.”
KHALIAH SMITHERMAN (2015) is a Tech Analyst for the Solution Center at the University of Montevallo. JESSICA SPRADLIN (2016) is a Marketing Assistant at the Shelby County Reporter.
KALEY BLANKENSHIP (2016) was hired by UM as an Admissions Counselor.
MANDY STEADMAN accepted a position at Innovative Combustion Technologies as a Marketing Coordinator.
ZACHARY BROWN (2016) has entered the MBA graduate program at the University of Montevallo.
MICHAEL STEVEN was promoted to Claims Generalist Intermediate (Bodily Injury) at Progressive Insurance.
HEATHER BUCKNER (2014) is Managing Editor of the Fort Payne Times-Journal. Heather was awarded 1st Place for “Best Humor Column” from the Alabama Press Association.
REED STRENGTH (2016) completed a post-graduate internship with Paste Magazine last summer and is now a Media Relations and Communications Specialist at the University of Montevallo.
IRENE CARDENAS-MARTINEZ was promoted to Interactive Content Producer at WHNT News 19.
SABRINA ZIZO (2016) has recently accepted a position with Railroad Park Foundation in Birmingham as Events Specialist.
DEVAN COOLEY took a new job with Hibbett Sports as a Web Content Integrator.
JENNA BELLAMY and JEFF WALKER co-directed Brick by Brick Arts’ production of Once Upon a Mattress at the Virginia Samford Theatre in August.
NEAL EMBRY joined The Jonesboro Sun in Jonesboro, Arkansas, as a staff writer. PAMELA FADDIS (2016) is working as a News Production Intern at WZDX in Huntsville.
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OTHER NEWS
Music
The Alabama Music Educators Association’s (AMEA) 2017 Professional Development Conference was held January 18-21 in Montgomery. DRS. JOE ARDOVINO, MELINDA DOYLE, BECKY HALLIDAY, and LAURIE MIDDAUGH presented sessions or performances. DR. HALLIDAY is currently serving as President of the AMEA-Higher Education Division, DR. LORI ARDOVINO as Past-President of the Higher Education Division, and DR. DOYLE as a member of the ACDA Executive Board.
After 35 years of service in music education, MARGARET MORELOCK ARNOLD retired from the Santa Rosa School District on July 1, 2016. She spent 31 years at Rhodes Elementary in Milton, Florida, one year at St. Thomas More Catholic School in Pensacola, Florida, and three years in the Americus, Georgia, City Schools. She is happy to be able to have much time to spend with her husband, Barry in the peaceful surroundings of nature at their 2.5 acre home site.
Two music education students were elected to state-wide offices within the AMEA-Collegiate Division. Junior TYLER JONES was elected to the position of state secretary. Sophomore JORDAN HARE will serve as Vice-President/ President-Elect in 2017, and assume the AMEA-Collegiate Presidency in 2018. This was the fourth time in seven years that a Montevallo music education student was elected to the highest office within the division. DR. TED HOFFMAN serves as the campus advisor to the University of Montevallo chapter of AMEA-Collegiate, and is the State Advisor to AMEA-Collegiate.
YAMUNA MELETH (2010) starred as Annu in Opera Ithaca’s regional premiere of Thumbprint, a contemporary opera composed by Kamala Sankaram and librettist Susan Yankowtiz.
Theatre
GRETA LAMBERT, Education Director at Alabama Shakepeare Festival, conducted a workshop on acting classical text.
Sabbatical Awards
The new Artistic Director of Birmingham Children’s Theatre, BRANDON BRUCE, recently conducted a movement/acting based workshop.
SPRING 2017
DR. RODERICK GEORGE Dr. George is a Professor of Music. He proposes the research, preparation and performance of the role of Romeo, which he has been invited to perform in the Opera Birmingham production of Romeo et Juliette by Charles Gounod.
HANNAH SIZEMORE (2016) was selected from students around the US to participate in the Broadway Dreams Foundation NYC showcase in November 2016. This included singing at Lincoln Center and performing with Broadway musical theatre artists. Sixteen current students attended Southeastern Theatre Conference preliminary auditions seeking summer acting work and many of them, as well as other technology and design students, will be attending SETC in Lexington, KY in March 2017 seeking professional employment.
FALL 2017
JOE BENNETT Bennett is an Associate Professor of Art. His proposed project involves creating new works for exhibition as well as participating in professional development workshops to enhance his teaching of figure drawing. DR. JOSEPH LANDERS Dr. Landers is a Professor of Music. He will be composing an opera, “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men,” which has been comissioned for the 2019 Alabama Bicentennial.
KAROW WILSON received his MFA in Directing from the Academy of Performing Arts (DAMU) in Prague and resides in Italy. MADISON COLQUETTE graduated with her MFA in Dramaturgy from the University of Iowa and was hired in a staff position at the prestigious O’ Neil Center for New Play Development in Connecticut.
SPRING 2018
MARCUS LANE Professor Lane is an Associate Professor of Theatre. He plans to write the script and lyrics for an original musical. MIN SUN LEE Professor Lee is an Associate Professor of Graphic Arts. She will be undertaking an applied graphic arts project: the development of a compelling brand and identity for the UM Art Department to use in student recruitment materials.
TAVI JUAREZ made several commercials in NYC and recently produced an evening of vaudeville style entertainment at Theater for the New City in the East Village of NYC. CHRIS SAMS and LEAH LUKER performed in the Birmingham Children’s Theatre production of A Christmas Carol. MELISSA LAWLER performs at Dollywood in Tennessee as a singer in various variety shows.
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Research & Creative Grants
Congratulations to the following CoFA faculty members who have been approved to receive Research and Creative Projects Grants!
LORI ARDOVINO
KAREN GRAFFEO
Music for Saxophone by Living American Women Composers
SCOTT MEYER
Connections Exhibition at the Huntsville Museum of Art
SCOTT STEPHENS & LEE SOMERS
Artist in Residence, Tainan National Art Academy, Taiwan
CATHERINE WALSH Mapping Sculpture
New Collaborative Work in Electronic Media and Printmaking
WELCOME OUR New Faculty & Staff J. TANNER YOUNG
GHENI PLATENBURG
Assistant Professor of Art, Department of Art
JENNIFER HARTSELL
Instructor of Journalism, Department of Communication
KRISTI CARTER
Musical Director and Staff Accompanist, Department of Theatre
PAMELA D. SMITH
Administrative Assistant, Department of Theatre
Director, Community School of Music
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Be the first to post your answers on the COFA Facebook page and win an ALL ACCESS PASS to Forte Festival in April!
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OH, HAVE THE YEARS GONE BY! Think You Can Name These COFA Faculty?
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STAY CONNECTED Alumni
, where are you now? Please tell us what you’ve been up to and load your photo. facebook.com/finearts.montevallo.edu @fineartsUM @UM_fineartsmoments
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WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING IN
the College of Fine Arts? For more information on upcoming events, please visit: montevallo.edu/cfa and click on the link to CoFA’s New Interactive 2016-2017 Perfomances and Events Calendar or use the following web address: http://www.montevallo. edu/fine-arts/college-of-fine-arts/performances-and-events/