Penn State College of Arts and Architecture 2018 Magazine

2018 MAGAZINE

PAY IT FOR WARD

THE STUDENTS. THE ALUMNI. THE NETWORK. THE COMMUNITY. THE GLORY.

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› Foster life-long relationships › Serve as career, job and internship contacts for students › Promote and facilitate career and professional engagement › Serve as a resource for faculty and administration › Support student scholarships

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THE ARTS AND ARCHITECTURE/ PERFORMING ARTS ALUMNI SOCIETY.

FEATURED INSIDE

ON THE COVER: The School of Music Recital Hall, days before opening. Photo by Stephanie Swindle Thomas.

5 New Recital Hall Supports Goal of “Making the Arts and Design Central at Penn State”

Olsan-Stone Terrace

Eleanor Duncan Armstrong Atrium

It’s Time to Take a Seat

AROUND THE COLLEGE

9 DeCastro Named USITT Fellow

10 Taylor Bielecki Looks Ahead While Looking Back

INTERIM DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS AND EDITOR: Amy Milgrub Marshall, aacommunications@psu.edu

12 “More Than an Artist Workshop”: Alumna Christina Dietz Shares Experience Stone Carving in Croatia

14 Nittany Lion Paw Prints on Martian Soil? Maybe someday…

DIRECTOR OF CONSTITUENT ENGAGEMENT: Joyce Hoffman

16 New Musicals Initiative Empowers Young Artists

DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT: Don Lenze

18 Doan to Serve as Artist-in-Residence in College of Nursing

19 O’Leary Wins Prestigious Rome Prize

WRITERS: Amy Milgrub Marshall, Brent A. Rice, Stephanie Swindle Thomas, Christiana Usenza, Leon Valsechi This publication is available in alternative media on request. The University is committed to equal access to programs, facilities, admission and employment for all persons. It is the policy of the University to maintain an environment free of harassment and free of discrimination against any person because of age, race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, creed, service in the uniformed services (as defined in state and federal law), veteran status, sex, sexual orientation, marital or family status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, physical or mental disability, gender, perceived gender, gender identity, genetic information or political ideas.

Discriminatory conduct and harassment, as well as sexual misconduct and relationship violence, violates the dignity of individuals, impedes the realization of the University’s educational mission, and will not be tolerated. Direct all inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policy to the Affirmative Action Office, The Pennsylvania State University, 328 Boucke Building, University Park, PA 16802-5901, Email: aao@psu.edu, Tel (814) 863-0471.

U.Ed. ARC 19-40 MPC149268

20 The Risks and Rewards of Art History: Janet Purdy’s Immersive Experiences in Africa

22 Telling a Story through Sound: Curtis Craig Wins International Acclaim

23 Penn State Glee Club Directors Reflect on Ray Fortunato

24 Alfred’s Vision Leads to Successful Podcast

25 Kudos! and New Academic Unit Leadership

ALUMNI AND DONOR IMPACT 26 Four Architecture Alumni Named AIA Fellows

27 Smith Named ASLA Fellow

27 The Arts Mean Business in Centre County

28 “The Most Mysterious Place”: Travel Award Supports Students’ International Adventures

30 Palmer Museum of Art Awarded Prestigious Luce Foundation Grant

31 Alumni Honored with University Awards

32 Finding a Balance: Q&A with Alumni Achievement Award Winner Jared Edgar McKnight

34 Unexpected but Deserved: Dave Will Honored by Graduate School Alumni Society

36 Dietzes Spread Their Philanthropy Across Penn State

COMMUNITY IMPACT

38 Encouraging Freedom of Expression Through African Dance

40 Architecture Students Help Create Affordable, Sustainable Housing in State College 42 Art Education Meets Prison Education 44 From Trash to Treasure at the Arboretum: Plastic Sculptures on Display 46 Pushing the Envelope for a Halftime Spectacular

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MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN In this video message, Dean Barbara Korner, who announced in March her plans to retire in June 2019, reflects on her ten years as dean of the College of Arts and Architecture, highlights some recent accomplishments of faculty and students, and shares how alumni and friends can continue to be involved in and support the college. As always, Dean Korner welcomes emails from alumni and friends at aadean@psu.edu.

Video by Cody Goddard

We appreciate your

SUPPORT! Make a gift today at arts.psu.edu/philanthropy, or contact Don Lenze, director of development, at 814-863-2142 or donlenze@psu.edu to discuss how your gift can make a difference.

From left: F. Eric Goshow, Alice Stewart Castner, Alena Bronder, Nancy Aber Goshow. Castner and Bronder were recipients of the 2017 Nancy Aber Goshow and F. Eric Goshow Sustainable Building Design Award. Photo: Stephanie Swindle Thomas

BONUS CONTENT Look out for these icons to access bonus videos, photos, and links to stories to learn more.

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Share updates on your life and career, including address changes, via the online form at alumni.arts.psu.edu, or send an email to jeh7@psu.edu.

Inside of the new recital hall during winter 2018.

Photo by Stephanie Swindle Thomas.

New Recital Hall Supports Goal of “Making the Arts and Design Central at Penn State” Construction noises are increasingly common on the University Park campus, but those emanating from the Arts District will soon lead to something a little more melodious.

The School of Music’s new recital hall, in the works since 2011 and under construction for the past year, will open in fall 2018.

School of Music staff tour the interior of the recital hall during winter 2018. Photo by Stephanie Swindle Thomas.

“Our new recital hall will serve as a centerpiece of the Arts District, and further support the College of Arts and Architecture’s strategic plan goal of ‘making the arts and design central at Penn State,’” said Barbara O. Korner, dean of the College of Arts and Architecture. “The new facility fulfills a longtime need for additional performance and rehearsal space with optimal acoustics for musicians and audience members alike. The recital hall and renovated Music I will better reflect the quality of the School of Music’s excellent programs, students, and faculty.”

The 425-seat recital hall is located in front of Music Building I and the Theatre Building and connects to Music

I via a new lobby. “Vineyard-style” seating surrounds the stage, offering a more intimate performance experience.

The facility also includes a large ensemble rehearsal hall, with adjustable acoustics and ample storage, and a green room that can be used for small ensemble rehearsals during the day.

A glass atrium, named the Eleanor Duncan Armstrong Atrium thanks to a gift from longtime School of Music faculty members Dan and Eleanor Armstrong, overlooks the Olsan-Stone Terrace. The terrace was named with a gift from David Pyle Stone (’67 B.S. Chemical Engineering), now deceased, in memory of his parents, Marie and Kemper Stone (see separate stories on the atrium and terrace on page 7).

According to Sue Haug, current professor of music and director of the School of Music from 2005 to 2017, the recital hall is “acoustically ideal,” with state-of-the-art technology for recording and live-streaming

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An aerial photo of the recital hall taken via drone. Photo by Patrick Glynn.

The Graduate Brass Quintet performed “inside” the recital hall as part of the “Topping Out” Ceremony in October 2017. They became the first group to perform on the spot that became the stage. Photo by Stephanie Swindle Thomas.

of concerts and other events, plus theatrical and environmental lighting systems.

“Our design team also helped us realize the vision of a welcoming approach for patrons, to create interest in the musical offerings for the campus pedestrian— but with the key goal of providing acoustically ideal teaching spaces. This includes a remarkable renovation of Esber [former recital hall] into a large ensemble rehearsal hall, worthy of our fantastic students and faculty.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT

music.psu.edu/recitalhall Other renovations to Music I include updates to patron support spaces, the creation of preparation areas for performers, improved storage facilities, and a new HVAC system.

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Russell Bloom, School of Music assistant director of operations and outreach, said the new recital hall will meet the needs of both musicians and audiences.

“I have had the privilege to hear literally hundreds of performances by our students in Esber Recital Hall. I saw how hard performers had to work to overcome the inadequacies of the hall, and it made me sad knowing that the old facility provided a huge handicap in terms of quality of what audiences heard,” said Bloom. “I am anxious to witness the expression of every musician performing on that new stage for the first time, knowing that they have a new collaborator supporting their music-making. As for our audiences, I am eager for them to properly experience the music in a beautiful venue without the added hum of the lights or percussion of rattling fans!”

David Frego, director of the School of Music, said the school and the College

of Arts and Architecture are fortunate to have such widespread support from alumni, friends, and patrons.

“We are grateful that so many have dedicated seats in the new space,” he said. “Proceeds will help to maintain our state-of-the-art equipment and support our talented students with scholarships.”

The new hall is projected to open to the public in October, with celebrations throughout the inaugural season. To stay up-to-date on the nearly 400 performances offered each year by the School of Music, subscribe to the school’s weekly email at music.psu. edu/events. For more information on how you can support the School of Music, visit music.psu.edu/giving or call the College of Arts and Architecture Development Office at 814-863-2142.

—AMM

Olsan-Stone Terrace Longtime School of Music donor David Pyle Stone, who died suddenly in a car accident in January 2018, made a gift in 2017 to name the terrace in front of the school’s new recital hall in memory of his parents. The Olsan-Stone Terrace honors both David’s love for music and for his mother and father, Marie and Kemper Stone.

Stone graduated from Penn State in 1967 with a degree in chemical engineering before going on to receive his law degree from Seton Hall University. However, he always said that it was music that shaped his Penn State experience. He attended numerous student and professional performances in Schwab Auditorium throughout his undergraduate studies.

After beginning his career at Exxon Corporation, Stone went on to work for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, retiring in 2004 as chief, Air Brach Office of Regional Counsel, Region 2. Throughout his life and career, Stone maintained a strong commitment to Penn State and a desire to leave a positive impact through philanthropy.

Among other gifts, he established the Laura Belle Pyle Trustee Scholarship in the College of Arts and Architecture, the David Pyle Stone Music Recital Endowment, and the David Pyle Stone Trustee Scholarship.

Don Lenze, director of development for the College of Arts and Architecture, was fortunate enough to establish a close relationship with Stone over the years. “David took so much pride in anywhere the University presented itself musically, with his deepest affection being for the School of Music.

David’s philanthropy and desire to advance the vision of the school has ensured that the music recital hall will be a place of excellence for years to come.”

A dedication for the Olsan-Stone Terrace will be held this fall. –BAR

Eleanor Duncan Armstrong Atrium Visitors to the new music recital hall will enter through the main doors and be welcomed into the Eleanor Duncan Armstrong Atrium, where they will have the opportunity to mingle with both guests and musicians before performances.

Because construction costs for the new recital hall are covered by the University’s capital budget, gifts made to name various spaces and rooms associated with the hall will help fund the School of Music’s strategic plan. The Armstrongs’ gift to name the atrium provides funding to advance the School of Music in three vital areas: scholarship support, academic program support, and discretionary funds to advance the vision of the director of the School of Music, currently David Frego.

“It is our hope that this investment will inspire others and help the School of Music to grow into its full, significant potential,” said longtime School of Music faculty members Eleanor and Dan Armstrong.

“We know that, with proper support, the school can become an even stronger asset to the University as well as the entire community of State College.”

Professor Emerita Eleanor Duncan Armstrong instructed the flute studio from 1983 to 2012. As an orchestral and chamber

music flutist, she has performed across the United States and Europe, receiving national recognition. She holds degrees from Oklahoma City University, the Juilliard School, and the University of Michigan.

Professor Dan C. Armstrong, who surprised his wife by suggesting that the atrium be named in her honor, has served as director of percussion studies since 1982 and also directs the Penn State Percussion and Mallet Ensembles. Holding degrees from the University of North Texas and the University of Michigan, he is a renowned orchestral and jazz performer and a longserving member of the Percussive Arts Society.

The couple, who concertized, commissioned, and recorded together as the Armstrong Flute and Percussion Duo, have served Penn State as devoted faculty for a combined sixty-five years.

“Many of our favorite memories come from mutual collaborations with our colleagues, who are exceptionally gifted and supportive,” said the couple. “But in the long run, we hope we will be remembered most for what our students accomplished here and beyond.” –BAR

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IT’S TIME…

to take a

Photo: Stephanie Swindle Thomas

seat!

You still have a chance to dedicate a seat in the School of Music’s new recital hall. The visually stunning recital space will hold more than 400 seats, all of which have been designed for acoustic excellence. Seats may be individually dedicated with an engraved plaque to honor a family member, friend, or former professor; to celebrate a performance group or club; or to simply align oneself with this beautiful performance hall.

You may dedicate a seat with a President’s Club-level gift of $2,500, which can be pledged over five years. All gifts will be directed toward support for scholarships and highpriority projects within the School of Music.

Members of St. Paul’s Methodist Church used the opportunity to dedicate a seat to honor fellow member Russell Bloom, the church’s director of music ministry and assistant director of operations and outreach in the School of Music. Jo Lash (’96 M.Ed. Music Ed) took the lead in collecting donations for Bloom,

her longtime friend and colleague.

The donations far exceeded the cost of the seat, so the remainder is being put into an account at the church to cover special music-related projects.

“Russell is always out there helping someone, always has his nose to the ground,” Lash said. “I felt, knowing the folks at our church and their dedication to Russell, that we would be able to raise enough from church friends.”

>> Don’t miss this opportunity to support the School of Music while honoring someone special in your life. Visit music.psu.edu/recitalhall for details on how to “take a seat” or contact Robyn Krause-Hale at rmk50@psu.edu.

AROUND THE

COLLEGE

Travis DeCastro works with a student during a rehearsal of visiting artist Donal Courtney’s performance of God has no country at Penn State. Photo by Stephanie Swindle Thomas.

DeCastro Named USITT Fellow Travis DeCastro, School of Theatre associate director for production and head of the Stage Management program, has been named a United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) Fellow.

create better connections in the city, and continue to develop the alumni network that builds upon the success of a program that creates opportunities for the next generation of stage managers.”

DeCastro became a member of the institute in 1993 when he attended the organization’s annual conference.

During his twenty-five years of membership, he has sat on several committees, acted as mentor for members, and served as the institute’s treasurer.

Recognizing the importance of helping students attend USITT conferences, an anonymous donor established the School of Theatre Design and Technology Alumni Conference Scholarship, given annually to design and technology undergraduates who have expressed an interest in attending professional industry opportunities.

The 2018 recipients were Jordan Sugg, Hannah Fecko, Jenna Campbell, Emma Dickerson, Wilson Liebering, and Tyler Horn. –LV

USITT is a national organization of managers, designers, and technicians formed in 1960 to promote dialogue, research, and learning among practitioners in theatre design and technology.

For almost sixty years, the organization has functioned as a connection point for industry professionals and during that time, just more than 100 other USITT members have been honored with the title of Fellow. They include Dave Will, School of Theatre alumnus and retired facilities coordinator for the College of Arts and Architecture, and Lea AsbellSwanger, assistant director of the Center for the Performing Arts.

“It is an honor given to individuals who have contributed over a lifetime to the benefit of the institute and I’m extremely excited to be recognized for my twenty-five years of service to the institute,” DeCastro said.

DeCastro joined the Penn State faculty in 1991 and four years later, under his direction and development, the University offered one of the first four-year stage management degree programs in the country. The program, which accepts about five students each year, has become a perennial producer of stage management professionals who will steer the future of the industry.

“The institute has been great for me in terms of my own promotion and tenure process, but it has also offered opportunities to present my research, which helped to grow a program that turns out stage managers of high quality on a regular basis,” DeCastro said. “And we’re going to continue to improve it, bring in better guest artists,

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON USITT, VISIT

usitt.org

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Photo: Stephanie Swindle Thomas

AROUND THE COLLEGE

Taylor Bielecki Looks Ahead While Looking Back Taylor Bielecki never thought she would succeed at painting, but she proved herself wrong—and then some. Bielecki, a Schreyer Scholar, graduated in May with a B.F.A. in visual arts and B.A. in English, making her the first person in her family to obtain a college degree. And she earned lots of honors in the process.

In fall 2017, Bielecki was one of only fifteen students from across the United States selected for the 2017–18 VSA Emerging Young Artists Program, a Jean Kennedy Smith Arts and Disability Program. The national program recognizes and showcases the work of artists with disabilities, ages 16–25. Her painting of a carousel horse, “I’m Bringing Hell to You,” has been included in a yearlong nationally touring exhibition.

“It’s hard to get used to all of this attention because I’m just always painting,” said a modest Bielecki, who claimed to “live” in the studio while at Penn State.

As a child, Bielecki underwent numerous surgeries in order to be able to walk. Although she still has some trouble when she paints on the floor, she manages to work through the

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discomfort to produce her oil paintings, most of which focus on the horror genre.

Bielecki was not always a fan of horror movies, but after seeing the first Nightmare on Elm Street, something clicked. She began painting in the horror genre and looking at how other artists address horror in their work. Bielecki said she’s influenced by painters such as Penn State faculty member and mentor Robert Yarber, Otto Dix, and Max Beckman, as well as film greats like Alfred Hitchcock and David Lynch.

Despite the physicality of her discipline, Bielecki said the most difficult part of being an artist is not being able to say her own name. A speech impediment causes her to stammer at times and prevents her from verbally introducing herself.

“I look forward to continuing the studio practice that Penn State has allowed me to foster and to continue to work hard and make my professors and mentors here proud, because without them, I would not be where I am today.”

“I can’t say my own name,” she explained. “When I meet people, I tell them ‘Hi! Can I show you my name?’ and hand them a card or show them on my phone. Then, I just let my artwork offer the answers.”

As a high school student, Bielecki did not know if she would even be able to afford college. Much of her success today can be attributed to the generosity of donors and the scholarships she received.

“Scholarships were the main reason I was able to attend college in the first place,” said Bielecki. “During my senior year of high school, I filled out more than 200 scholarship applications from various sources, hoping to get any support I could.”

Bielecki received numerous scholarships from the School of Visual Arts (SoVA), including the Brian Betzler Memorial Award, CAFD Collaborative Achievement Award, Margaret Giffen Schoenfelder Memorial Scholarship, and James Howard and Barbara Frizzell Campbell Scholarship.

External scholarships included the Atria Scholarship, Connor McKenna Courage Award Scholarship, and the Emerging Visions Juried Show Award of Distinction “This continued financial support has given me the opportunity to be able to create my artworks without fear or panic of those past financial difficulties,” she acknowledged.

Taylor Bielecki proudly stands beside some of her paintings. Photo by Stephanie Swindle Thomas.

Bielecki credits Yarber and her other SoVA faculty mentors, John Bowman and Ann Shostrom, with inspiring and encouraging her to persevere and take her work to the next level.

She plans to attend graduate school for her M.F.A. degree and recently acquired her first studio space.

“I look forward to continuing the studio practice that Penn State has allowed me to foster and to continue to work hard and make my professors and mentors here proud, because without them, I would not be where I am today,” she said.

She advises students facing adversity to never give up hope, and to find a support system. While her journey has been challenging, she said it has also been rewarding and worthwhile, making her who she is today. She concluded, “We all have a story to tell the world.”

–SST

“I’m Bringing Hell to You,” image courtesy Taylor Bielecki.

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AROUND THE COLLEGE

“More Than an Artist Workshop”: Alumna Christina Dietz Shares Experience Stone Carving in Croatia Ingredients: Limestone, Croatian dictionary, blacksmithed chisels and hammers, 40 degrees Celsius, Cedavita, time, cultural exchange Penn State and the University of Split–Croatia have collaborated in the past through programs in architecture and forensics, but in summer 2017 we connected in a new way.

I was fortunate enough to participate in the first exchange between the Penn State School of Visual Arts (SoVA) and the University of Split–Croatia art department.

The partnership began when Goran Balic and Robert Jozic, two sculpture professors from Split, visited SoVA to tour our facilities and meet with Professor Cristin Millett and me. While informing us about Croatian art history, they helped me develop an idea that would translate well into stone. The limestone sculpture that would result from the experience would be installed outdoors on the campus of the University of Split. Before the professors left State College, we had decided that I would carve a life-size, overstuffed, and well-worn armchair. I was excited to play with surface

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texture and hoped to make the chair look soft and inviting so students passing by would be tempted to sit.

When I arrived in Split, the 4’ x 4’ x 4’ piece of limestone (almost the size of a washing machine!) was sitting in the outdoor workshop, ready to go. Other students from the sculpture department were working on various stone pieces, from large busts of historical figures to pigeons.

Everyone was focused on using traditional methods of chiseling by hand. Because the block I was working on was so large, we took away some of the excess material with an electric angle grinder. We then dug in with hand tools, but carving the massive block of stone was a huge task to accomplish in ten days. The piece quickly became a team effort and we all ended up working to finish the armchair. The chair looked like a well-loved piece of furniture that was past its prime, sitting outside on the curb waiting for the trash truck. With texture,

Christina Dietz sits on her almost-finished limestone armchair, which will be placed on the campus of the University of Split– Croatia. Photo courtesy Christina Dietz.

we made the arms look threadbare and added cat scratches on the back lower corner to reference the many cats that hung around the city of Split (due to its history of attracting fishermen).

During the project, I was fortunate to work with many professors that were expert stone carvers. I learned techniques that would have been impossible to read about in a book. The stone is mined in land that used to be underwater, so there are tiny fossils throughout the material. The headmaster of the school, an accomplished stone carver, came and showed us how to detect

imperfections in the piece of stone. He struck the stone with a hammer and demonstrated how the stone rang clear if it was free of cracks or imperfections.

Although appreciative of traditional methods, my professors also encouraged their students to use the hand tools in a different way.

A chisel that was designed to remove excess stone could also be swung in a way that scratched the surface of the piece, creating a rough texture that simulated a soft surface. Another tool could be dragged across the stone so that it created a texture that resembled a woven fiber

material. These methods gave the armchair the look of a weathered piece of furniture.

It was unbelievably hot during the outdoor workshop. I’ve never worked in 100-degree heat! Each day I went back to the dorm exhausted and covered in limestone dust, but satisfied that my hammer muscle had grown a little bigger.

The extreme heat gave us opportunities to pause and chat about things other than sculpture. In the shade of the workshop, I learned about Croatian culture and history. When we weren’t at the studio, two of the

students, Dado and Josip, showed me around Split. We visited the historical square and saw the works of the famous Croatian sculptor, Igor Mestrovic. To get an idea of the labor that goes into the whole process of stone carving, we visited the quarry where our limestone was mined. This quarry, on the island of Brac, was also near the famous stonemason school in Pucisca.

The whole experience was much more than just an artist workshop. In two weeks, I learned about the intense stone-carving process, from the quarry to the finishing touches. It

“In the dark and chaotic world we live in, it is invaluable for societies to connect through art.

I am beyond excited to see how the relationship continues to develop between the artists of the University of Split and Penn State.” is magical to learn about a method of making sculpture in its original context, and the people I met from the University of Split were so passionate about sharing their knowledge and culture with me. In the dark and chaotic world we live in, it is invaluable for societies to connect through art. I am beyond excited to see how the relationship continues to

develop between the artists of the University of Split and Penn State. –Christina Dietz Dietz graduated in 2017 with a B.F.A. in sculpture.

Her trip was funded by the Penn State School of Visual Arts, the University of Split Collaboration Fund, and the Penn State Collaboration Fund.

Klesarska Skola, the famous stonemasonry school in Pucisca on the island of Brac, Croatia.

Photo courtesy Christina Dietz.

Intermediate stage of carving the limestone armchair. Photo courtesy Christina Dietz.

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AROUND THE COLLEGE

Nittany Lion Paw Prints on Martian Soil?

Maybe someday…

As human exploration of Mars becomes more of a possibility, planning for the basic needs of the explorers begins with conceptualizing a shelter. A team of Penn Staters is making a strong case that they should be the ones to join with NASA in developing the technology to create a habitat on Mars.

PennStateDen@Mars is an interdisciplinary team, led by Stuckeman School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture faculty members Shadi Nazarian and José Duarte, competing in NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge, a Centennial Challenges competition that asks inventors to design a human shelter that can be 3D-printed on site using indigenous or recycled materials.

Rendering of the Penn State team’s proposed shelters on Mars. Image courtesy José Duarte.

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The goal of the four-phased competition is to create an autonomous machine that will someday be deployed to the moon, Mars, or beyond to construct shelters for human habitation, according to a NASA release.

“The ideas and technologies this competition has already produced are encouraging, and we are excited to see what this next phase will bring,” Monsi Roman, program manager of NASA’s Centennial Challenges, said in a statement. “The solutions we seek from our competitions are revolutionary, which by nature makes them extremely difficult. But this only fuels our teams to work harder to innovate and solve.”

PennStateDen@Mars is answering the call. The team, comprising faculty and students in the colleges of Arts and Architecture, Engineering, and Agricultural Sciences, earned a secondplace finish and $150,000 in August 2017 for its entry in phase 2 of the challenge, which required competitors to develop the fundamental 3D-printing technology necessary to produce a structurally sound habitat, including the printer itself and construction materials.

“The design of our shelter is rooted in our understanding of the strengths and limitations of the printing system, but it also draws inspiration from vernacular architecture,” Duarte said. “So far, 3D-printing technology is based on horizontal layering, but we are taking a different approach. We are looking at traditional dome construction based on brick layering.”

Building on the success of their design, the team is competing in phase 3 of the challenge, which focuses on continuing to develop and apply the technology to print the habitat at a 1/3 scale. The third phase ends with an on-site competition in Peoria, Illinois, from April 29 through May 4, 2019. The winner of phase 3 will receive a $500,000 prize, second will receive $200,000, and third will receive $100,000. All prize money is to be used for development of the technology in preparation for the fourth and final phase of the challenge, which requires a full-scale printed habitat.

While the second-place prize money was welcomed, Duarte said the team is actively raising funds to help compete in all levels of phase 3 and phase 4.

The Den@Mars team watches its dome being printed during phase 2 of the competition in August 2017. Photo courtesy José Duarte.

The team’s goal in the challenge is to win and vault Penn State’s 3D technological advances into the international spotlight, but Duarte said the team has other uses for the technology as well.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON PENN STATE’S 3D RESEARCH, VISIT

additiveconstruction.psu.edu “It’s important to note that the technology can also be applied to build and repair other structures such as roads and bridges,” Duarte said.

“We have been talking to different companies who might be interested in developing and applying this technology to the building sector.”–LV

The PennStateDen@ Mars team placed second in phase 2 of the NASA 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge in August 2017 and is currently working on its submission for phase 3 of the competition. Photo courtesy José Duarte.

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AROUND THE COLLEGE

Joe Iconis’ Love in Hate Nation, the first musical commissioned as part of the New Musicals Initiative, had a full production at Penn State in February 2018. Photo by Ariana Notartomaso.

New Musicals Initiative Empowers Young Artists How does it feel to help inspire a new piece of theatre? Penn State musical theatre students know firsthand, thanks to the New Musicals Initiative.

Since 2016, Penn State Musical Theatre has commissioned New York City-based writers to get to know the Musical Theatre B.F.A. junior class—and then write a musical influenced by those young artists. As the Musical Theatre program enters its twenty-fifth year in 2018–19, the initiative is another way the program is distinguishing itself, in academia and in the industry.

“This is musical theatre’s version of innovative thinking, and it’s exciting that the initiative has flourished so quickly,” said John Simpkins, who launched the New Musicals Initiative soon after becoming head of the Musical Theatre program in 2016. “While other schools may commission writers, we think we

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have something very unique in the way that we want writers to be intertwined with our students as an inspiration for the writing process.”

Simpkins seeks out writers who can best tell the story of each class, and who have experience or interest in writing for young adults. The writers spend time with the junior class during their spring semester, sharing work and discussing relevant issues. Armed with knowledge of the students’ skills and personalities, along with ideas for how to highlight their strengths, the writers leave and begin their task. They return the following fall to deliver a first draft of a musical inspired by those students, now seniors.

During the academic year, the writers continue to develop the musical along with a Penn State artistic team. The project culminates in a New York City concert at Feinstein’s/54 Below and a full concert reading on campus.

“It’s a powerful lesson for our students— that they can shape the stories of tomorrow,” said Simpkins. “One of the best ways we can empower young people is to have them use their own voice. We’re trying to encourage them every day to understand their unique specificity and how it can impact the world in and out of musical theatre.”

The first commissioned writer, in January 2016, was Joe Iconis, whose Love in Hate Nation went on to have a full production at Penn State in February 2018. ”Joe Iconis has an uncanny ability to capture the thoughts and feelings of young humans and write them in a way that nobody else can,” said Simpkins. “The show is about young misfits that the world has marginalized and how they learn to become the revolutionaries of the future. Joe hooked into a theme of young people trying to find their voice and, in a true ‘art mirrors life’ way, empowered the students to think of themselves as valid contributors to the world they want to lead tomorrow and beyond.”

Set in an early-1960s “juvie” hall, the show is a love story of two girls caught between eras of a changing America. The team is now in talks with professional theatres and commercial producers about the next step of Love in Hate Nation’s journey.

Love in Hate Nation met another important goal of the New Musicals Initiative by helping Penn State

Joe Iconis during a rehearsal at Penn State.

Photo courtesy of John Simpkins.

students make professional connections.

In addition to Iconis, the creative team included a host of other Broadway names, with many theatre professionals traveling to State College to see the production. One Penn State student in the show recently booked a professional position in the cast of Iconis’ Off-Broadway hit Be More Chill, which opened in August.

“The bridge from Penn State to the profession is a remarkably valuable one for our students,” said Simpkins.

“It allows networking and contacts to intersect their talent in order for students to begin their professional careers.”

Writers Sarah Schlesinger and Mike Reid, a Penn State School of Music alumnus and former Nittany Lion and professional football player, were commissioned for the initiative’s second year. Their musical, The Last Day, had a reading at Penn State in April 2018. In an attempt to put the show squarely in the experiences of the students, it centered on the stress, secrets, and ultimate triumph of the choices young people make in their college years.

“It was a joy to work with Mike and Sarah—and particularly exciting to have Mike share the project with us after having such incredible success in professional football and then country music songwriting,” said Simpkins.

“He was able to transfer a lifetime of career and personal achievements to our students, while also writing a score that is emblematic of his unique blend of Appalachian folk and countryinfluenced musical theatre sounds.”

The writer commissioned for the class of 2019 is Kirsten Childs. Winner of Obie,

Kleban, Larson, and Richard Rodgers awards, among others, her Penn State musical is titled The Lucky Boy. Based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale “The Devil with the Three Golden Hairs,” the show follows the once great and powerful King Ambrose (now a lowly ferryman) as he continually rows across the river to hell, sharing stories of the events of his life with the “lost soul” passengers on his ferryboat.

“Kirsten is drawn to writing incredibly diverse groups of characters, and it makes her the perfect combination for this class,” said Simpkins. “At the heart of the developing ideas of the show is a fight for what our country stands for—it has underlying themes of truth, freedom, generosity, and openmindedness. It is shaping up to be a terrific artistic way for our students to explore the current events in their own lives through the happiness of a ‘fairy tale musical.’”

According to Simpkins, the Musical Theatre program’s twenty-fifth anniversary is a prime opportunity to look to the future. “What a perfect time to launch a creative, entrepreneurial, bold new initiative to chart a course into the twenty-first century of developing musicals. We are proud to be a part of a musical theatre landscape that adds a new musical to the canon from Penn State each year. It is thrilling for our students to take an active role in the nurturing of the American musical right here in Happy Valley!” –AMM

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AROUND THE COLLEGE

Bill Doan presented his solo performance Drifting as part of the Jean Vallance Lecture in Nursing Innovation at Penn State in spring 2018. Photo by Tim Weight.

Doan to Serve as Artist-in-Residence in College of Nursing William Doan, professor of theatre, will serve as an artist-in-residence in the College of Nursing for the 2018–19 academic year in an effort to infuse artistic representation into the science of nursing.

From left: Lisa Kitko, associate professor of nursing; Janice Penrod, outgoing dean of the College of Nursing; Bill Doan; and Nikki Hill, assistant professor nursing. Photo by Tim Weight.

The unique collaboration between the College of Nursing and the College of Arts and Architecture builds upon Doan’s creation of performance art that explores palliative care—a specialized treatment that provides relief from the symptoms and stress of serious illness and trauma for individuals and their families.

“Having spent the last several years making graphic and performance work about traumatic brain injury, grief, loss, and living with anxiety and depression, the opportunity to collaborate with nursing researchers such as Nikki Hill and Lisa Kitko is a profound moment for me,” Doan said. “I know it will be a catalyst for new and productive dialogues between art and science.”

Doan’s acclaimed solo performances of Drifting and A Brief Anatomy of My Anxiety were the genesis of the collaboration, which Hill, assistant professor of nursing, said she hopes will lead to a better understanding of the subtle nuances of cognitive problems that inform and guide patient care.

Drifting blends live performance with drawings and film sequences to take the audience inside the intimate experience of an artist’s effort to make meaning out of trauma. A Brief Anatomy of My Anxiety offers an adventure into the

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many ways Doan lives with his anxiety and embraces it as his companion.

The collaboration aims to build upon the success of Doan’s performance art by creating new ways to understand the earliest symptoms of cognitive decline through storytelling, according to Hill.

“The best nursing care requires more than just evidence-based practice, but also the empathy and compassion necessary to best meet the needs of each patient and their family,” Hill said. “Bill’s appointment in the College of Nursing will allow us to delve more deeply into the patient experience and also to consider how artistic practice may help nurses cope with challenges such as caregiver strain and burden.”

Doan came to Penn State in 2008 as the associate dean for administration, research, and graduate studies for the College of Arts and Architecture.

In 2013, he returned to the faculty, and later served as director of the School of Theatre during the 2017–18 academic year. Active in professional associations, he served as president of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education from 2011 to 2013, and was inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Theatre in April 2018. –LV

O’Leary Wins Prestigious Rome Prize The American Academy in Rome has named Helen O’Leary, professor of art, a winner of the 2018–19 Rome Prize in the visual arts category. The prestigious Rome Prize has been awarded annually for over a century as a way to support innovative and crossdisciplinary work in the arts and humanities. The visual arts category is the most competitive of the eleven recognized and O’Leary’s proposal was selected from more than 500 applications.

As part of her award, O’Leary will receive a stipend, workspace, and room and board for a period of almost one year at the academy’s eleven-acre campus in Rome.

“I’ve been building my own version of Rome for most of my painting life. My studio is an archeological site; a dictionary of the savages of age; a compendium of erasures, renovations, and restorations, each piece commenting on its predecessor,” O’Leary said.

During her fellowship in Rome, O’Leary will create a series of three-dimensional, collapsible paintings, which she envisions as “large constructions that can fold into themselves and out again.”

“Much like a traveling merchant, I will construct a portable show that will pack easily, that can be reduced to the size of suitcases or expanded into the room. These works will draw from the history and aesthetics of reliquaries, and other ornate ‘housing’ structures,” O’Leary explained in her Rome Prize proposal.

“To live in Rome where time is tangible through architecture, objects, art, and language—at this point in my life—is an epic dream come true,” O’Leary said. “It is a dream beyond the practicality of words to be invited to live and work there.”

O’Leary was born in County Wexford, Ireland. She received her B.F.A. and M.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and joined the faculty of the Penn State School of Visual Arts in 1991. During her career, she has been honored with the Pollock-Krasner Award in 1989 and 1996; the Joan Mitchell Award for painting and sculpture in 2000; and the John Simon Guggenheim, Culturel Irlandais, MacDowell, and Yaddo Fellowships.

Helen O’Leary exhibits her work extensively, including this solo exhibition at New York’s Lesley Heller Workspace in 2015.

Photo courtesy Lesley Heller Workspace.

At “press” time we learned O’Leary was selected to provide two works for the 2018 Hennessy Art Fund Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) Collection.

“Refusal,” created in 2014, and “The Problem with Adjectives,” created in 2017—both made with repurposed wood knitted into frame-like structures that can stand by themselves—were on display at the IMMA through September 16, 2018. O’Leary said the Hennessy honor is particularly special because of the connection to her home country. “I once said to somebody that with my work, I’ve been constructing ships to get back,” O’Leary explained. “So for me to be acknowledged at home and to be part of this collection is different. It seems permanent and it seems like a down payment for my return.” –LV Helen O’Leary in her studio. Photo by Zack Garlitos.

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AROUND THE COLLEGE

Janet Purdy at Hazrat Pir Mohammad Shah Mosque Library in Ahmedabad, India, in December 2017. Photo courtesy Janet Purdy.

the risks and rewards of art history:

Janet Purdy’s Immersive Experiences in Africa When art history doctoral candidate Janet Purdy left a lucrative career as a designer in Chicago to attend graduate school and study African art, she knew that she was taking a chance. What she had not anticipated was that while packing for the move, she would uncover old sketchbooks from her undergraduate days filled with drawings of African textiles and patterns that would prove she was making the right decision.

“I had completely forgotten about them, but I was always fascinated with design and how cultures communicated through patterns and iconography,” noted Purdy. “Finding those drawings at that time was a really special ‘close the circle’ moment.”

Purdy’s dissertation research focuses on the patterns of carved wooden doors as a form of historical documentation and conveyor of ideology and identity.

By investigating their sociopolitical

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contexts throughout the Swahili Coast, she aims to reveal the doors’ meanings within their cultures and preserve their role in communication and narrative.

Her project combines research, archaeology, and digital mapping and reproduction, making stylistic and symbolic connections across Indian Ocean trade routes.

In 2017, Purdy was awarded a Critical Language Scholarship by the U.S. Department of State to study Swahili in Tanzania for two months. She was one of twenty-three American students who participated in this intensive language and cultural immersion program, the first year that Swahili was included on the list of languages understudied by American students and government.

Purdy is a student of Bill Dewey, associate professor of art history in the College of Arts and Architecture and director of the African Studies

program in the College of the Liberal Arts. “I couldn’t ask for a better adviser.

I also have a rock-star dissertation committee [Madhuri Desai, Amara Solari, and Christopher Tounsel] that keeps encouraging me to shoot higher. The Department of Art History provides the perfect mix—a collegial environment, a traditional program, and the opportunity to take a more creative approach.”

Purdy’s most recent research trips have been to the Swahili coast in fall 2017 and India and Dubai over the 2017–18 winter break. Much of Purdy’s research requires her to be on site, due to the limited availability of non-colonial written historical sources.

“I focus on building connections with families and artists who then connect me to people with the information I am trying to find. The archives and museums have been really supportive as well, but it is a process that requires in-person visits and investing time to create relationships and earn trust,” she explained.

Purdy’s goal is to someday teach at the college level, while continuing to travel and take photographs around the world. Her photographs from Africa were recently featured in Penn State

The Atlantic coast in Accra, Ghana. Photo by Janet Purdy.

Research magazine and on the cover of the publication of the Interinstitutional Center for Indigenous Knowledge at Penn State. Leading by example, Purdy hopes to mentor students interested in other cultures and histories and to encourage people to pursue their passions.

people find that feeling,” said Purdy.

“That’s why I want to teach.” –SST At “press time,” we learned that Janet received a Fulbright award to conduct research in Tanzania during the 2018–19 academic year. Congratulations, Janet!

“I am happier than I ever imagined being, and I am so grateful for these opportunities that I want to help other

The Great Mosque of Kilwa on the island of Kilwa Kisiwani, Tanzania. Photo by Janet Purdy.

Schoolchildren on the island of Kilwa Kisiwani, Tanzania. Photo by Janet Purdy.

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AROUND THE COLLEGE

Curtis Craig presented as part of the Faculty Research Showcase in Borland Project Space in spring 2018. Photo by Stephanie Swindle Thomas.

Telling a Story through Sound: Curtis Craig Wins International Acclaim “When I saw my name and ‘United Curtis Craig, School of States of America’ underneath Theatre sound designer, it, that was the moment for me,” originally studied to acknowledged Craig, whose design was chosen as one of 180 designs from become a rocket scientist, more than 600 international applicants until his love of music led to be displayed in the exhibition. him to pursue a career in Sound design for live theatre requires sound design. Blending his the designer to predict how things will sound in a space while composing analytical prowess with his off site. Then, the designer must musical talent has proven a adjust at the last minute during onsuccessful combination for site rehearsals to coordinate with the Craig, who won the silver actors’ movements and respond to the acoustics, a challenge that film medal in Taipei at the World and television sound designers do Stage Design exhibition not have. All the Way features thirtycompetition last year. Craig five different actors moving around a dais with combinations of archival received the award for his audio and video footage playing in sound design of All the Way, the background. That audio and video a play about the pivotal footage is juxtaposed with the sounds of Craig playing tenor saxophone year between the Kennedy and coronet to contrast the civil assassination and Lyndon rights movement in the South with Baines Johnson’s re-election, Washington, D.C.’s formal distance in location and mindset. which was directed by Anthony Powell at the Denver Although Craig has studio space on campus and at home, he can work Center Theater Company.

under all types of conditions thanks to the portability of the technology he uses and his ability to play the instruments he incorporates. The most important part of his job, he said, is telling a story through sound. He reads the script and meets with the director to discuss possibilities at the beginning of the project and then creates a soundscape with which the actors will engage to convey meaning in real time.

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Given that live theatre sound design is a small community, Craig often

finds himself working in the same theatres and with the same people.

Job security is dependent upon good recommendations and forging relationships with theatre companies, directors, and venues. Craig, who teaches courses in sound design and technology as well as an introductory audio recording course for the electronic music minor, encourages his students to make connections and learn the fundamentals that will prepare them for work in different realms, including audio, film, theatre, and even game design.

“The end products may be different, but each discipline uses the same tools. Technology has democratized the equipment, and although most of my students have already been recording, there is so much to learn about ‘why’ and ‘how,’” he noted.

Ear health and technology are also important to sound designers. Craig always carries earplugs, schedules hearing tests, and double-checks his work with sound meters and computers to guarantee the best audience experience.

According to Craig, the most difficult thing for him is not being able to be “just” an audience member when he goes to a theatre performance or movie, especially because it was cinema (particularly Star Wars) that first made him realize “there was a whole story being told by sound effects.”

“Let’s face it,” Craig laughed, “watching Jaws isn’t very scary without sound!”–SST

Penn State Glee Club Directors Reflect on Ray Fortunato The first two lines of “Hail! Oh Hail!” have echoed through concert halls wherever the Penn State Glee Club has performed over the last fifty years. And the tradition of beginning each concert with the song written by the late Ray Fortunato, Penn State Music alumnus and longtime supporter of the Glee Club, will continue to serve as recognition of his impact on the University’s oldest student organization. Fortunato, a human resources administrator at Penn State for forty years, died December 31, 2017, one month shy of his 95th birthday.

Ray Fortunato.

Photo by Steve Manuel.

“From the heights of Nitt’ny Mountain where our legend has begun.

We’ll shout our highest praises of the vic’tries we have won.”

“Ray was a hoot-and-a-half. A real diamond of a guy,” said Chris Kiver, Penn State Glee Club director. “Beyond always having a story to tell and a laugh that felt close by, he had a real passion for Penn State and a diverse interest in things that were going on at the University.”

Fortunato’s connection to Penn State and the Glee Club began after he returned from World War II, earning a B.S. in business administration in 1947 and a master’s degree in music composition in 1952. During his time in school, Fortunato sang in the Glee Club, performed with the Penn State Thespians, and wrote songs for various Thespian productions.

His master’s degree thesis was a collection of twelve songs he wrote for men’s voices, including “Hail! Oh Hail!” It immediately became a favorite of the Glee Club and was entered into the rotation by Frank Gullo, who directed the club from 1940 to 1970.

Although it wasn’t part of Fortunato’s original composition, the second verse of the song is whistled by the Glee Club.

Bruce Trinkley, Glee Club director from 1970 to 2005, credits the change to Gullo.

“Frank had this sense of whimsy,” Trinkley said. “And when they go to that second verse and whistle, it’s delightful.”

Christopher Kiver, current director of the Glee Club. Photo courtesy Penn State.

Fortunato didn’t share the sentiment, according to Trinkley and Kiver.

“He was always sort of miffed as to why we didn’t sing the whole thing,” Kiver said.

“For as long as I knew Ray, he never said a bad word about anyone. He was always positive and quick with a story or joke, but he wasn’t a fan of the whistling.”

In 2014 the Glee Club recognized its 125th anniversary with a concert at Eisenhower Auditorium, and with a packed house assembled to celebrate the milestone, Kiver conducted the club when it sang the second verse as a nod to Fortunato.

“It was a special moment,” Trinkley said.

“One that I knew Ray appreciated, but also a proper way to recognize a man that meant so much to Penn State.”

In the waning years of his life, Fortunato continued spreading joy through music.

He would often be seen playing piano and singing Penn State songs at various events in town or at retirement communities, but his ability to continue Penn State’s tradition as a “singing campus” is what Trinkley said cemented his legacy.

“He was a repository for Penn State music and every time I visited him he always ended up at the piano singing and playing.

It’s just who he was,” Trinkley said. “We were all lucky to have been around Ray and I’ll always remember him as a real treasure of Penn State.”

“When we leave our alma mater there are mem’ries that will last.

The college that we love so well exemplifies our past.

Returning we will see the growth that’s bound to make us known; But still the place we’re singing for will always be a home.”–LV

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AROUND THE COLLEGE

Alfred’s Vision Leads to Successful Podcast The nearly 250-mile drive afforded Alfred ample time to explore various podcast genres. Finding a show that offered one-on-one conversations with musicians or actors was quite easy, but a podcast that featured in-depth access to his contemporaries was hard to come by.

When he began commuting from Brooklyn, New York, to University Park in 2014, Brian Alfred, assistant professor in the Penn State School of Visual Arts, often listened to podcasts to pass the time. But as he made his way through the catalogue, he discovered a void—one he thought he just might be able to fill.

“I felt like there was a need to hear artists speaking, not so much in a stuffy lecture format, but in a casual, biographical, day-to-day setting,” Alfred said. “Artists never really get that.”

With the mission of creating a space for artists to casually discuss their creative processes, the award-winning visual artist and professor researched the process of starting a podcast, and in April 2016, he recorded the first episode of “Sound & Vision.”

Two years later, Alfred has recorded more than 100 episodes, and the show, featured on iTunes, has amassed almost 30,000 subscribers who are treated each week to engaging, hourlong conversations with artists such as Chris Martin, Danielle Orchard, and Steve Keene.

Alfred attributes some of the podcast’s success to his simplistic and conversational approach to recording each episode. With no more gear than he can carry, Alfred meets the artists in spaces that are the most comfortable for them, typically their studio or a

gallery. The familiar setting can lead to a more natural conversation, which often results in an impactful and fun show.

“I’m really nomadic with it and I’ll go wherever I have to go, which I think is a strength of the show,” Alfred said. “I’m in their territory and while artists aren’t used to talking like this, they’re in their comfort zone. But even then some of them are still kind of freaked out by it.”

The popularity of the show has released some of that tension and as the show gains more listeners, artists are recognizing it as a productive space to speak about their work and their lives, Alfred said.

Building on the success of the show, last spring Alfred finished a four-week run of panel conversations at the Williamsburg (Brooklyn) Apple store. While the panel discussion format was a welcomed high-profile opportunity, he has no plans to make any major changes to the production process or the final product.

“The great thing about doing this for fun is that success for me is to just go talk to someone and have it not be forced,” Alfred said. “Because I feel like that honesty, if it comes across—that’s what I want. I want these people just to be heard. Well, that and maybe not to get a parking ticket while I’m doing it.” –LV

Brian Alfred (left) with 2016 “Sound & Vision” guest Guy Yanai. Image courtesy Brian Alfred.

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Podcast setup. Image courtesy Brian Alfred.

Get in on the

Action!

The College of Arts and Architecture is a busy place, so it only makes sense to share some of the action in video format. Check out these video clips capturing faculty and student activities from the past year. All video by Stephanie Swindle Thomas.

New Academic Unit Leadership At “press time,” we learned of the appointment of several new unit heads in the College of Arts and Architecture. We welcome Rick Lombardo as the director of the School of Theatre, and Elizabeth “Cassie” Mansfield as head of the Department of Art History. In addition, B. Stephen Carpenter II, professor of art education and African American studies, has been appointed interim director of the School of Visual Arts for a two-year term, following the retirement of Graeme Sullivan.

Kudos!

Congratulations to the following faculty and staff who recently won University awards: Velvet Brown, named Distinguished Professor of Music Ann Clements, associate professor of music education and professor-in-charge and graduate program chair for music education, Teaching and Learning with Technology Impact Award Sue Haug, professor of music, McKay Donkin Award (awarded to someone who has contributed above and beyond to the “economic, physical, mental, or social welfare of the faculty”) Loukas Kalisperis, professor of architecture, Undergraduate Program Leadership Award Jamie Perryman, administrative manager for the Stuckeman School, University Staff Advisory Council Staff Leadership Award

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ALUMNI AND DONOR

IMPACT Four Architecture Alumni Named AIA Fellows Each year, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) elevates esteemed members to the organization’s “College of Fellows,” and this year’s class includes four Penn State architecture alumni.

Andrew Cupples (‘75 B.Arch.), Lloyd Sigal (‘87 B.S., ‘88 B.Arch.), Eric Goshow (‘68 B.Arch.), and Gerald Briggs (’74 B.S.) were elected to fellowship, which is one of the highest honors bestowed by the AIA. The four men were chosen as fellows from almost 300 nominees nationwide. The distinction has been awarded to only 3 percent of the more than 90,000 AIA members.

They received their fellowship medals at the Investiture of Fellows Ceremony, held in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, as part of the AIA Conference on Architecture in New York on June 22.

>> LLOYD SIGAL Sigal is a principal at Kohn Pederson Fox, an international architecture firm with offices located in New York, London, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Abu Dhabi.

Since joining the firm in 1988, he has played a key role in designing some of the firm’s largest and most complex projects, including academic, residential, commercial, mixed-use, hospitality, and campus facilities.

In addition to being a member of the AIA, Sigal is a member of the Urban Land Institute and the National Fire Protection Association. He has lectured at the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York, the New York State AIA, and served as an architectural juror at Penn State.

Sigal was a recipient of the College of Arts and Architecture Alumni Award in 2016.

>> ERIC GOSHOW Goshow is a co-founding partner of Goshow Architects, a thirtyperson architecture, planning, and design firm located in New York and established in 1978.

In addition to being an active member of the AIA, he has assumed various leadership roles within the organization, including serving as president of the New York state chapter in 2013.

In 2014, Eric and partner Nancy Aber Goshow, AIA member and Penn State alumna, established the Nancy Aber Goshow and F. Eric Goshow Sustainable Building Design Scholarship Award. This annual award honors and recognizes outstanding sustainable design exploration by a female fifth-year or graduate architecture student at Penn State.

The Goshows were co-recipients of the College of Arts and Architecture Alumni Award in 2012.

>> ANDREW CUPPLES Cupples is a principal in the Los Angeles office of the DLR Group, an international architecture firm, where he specializes in the design and planning of justice facilities.

He is a key member of DLR’s Justice+Civic national team and leads international justice pursuits for the firm.

Cupples is widely known as one of the most respected justice facility architects in the United States and is recognized nationally and internationally for the design and planning of court, correctional, and detention facilities.

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He has spent more than thirty-five years of his award-winning career working with clients at the federal, state, and municipal level and has taken a leadership role in the design and planning of more than 100 million square feet of buildings in fortyfive states and abroad.

Smith Named ASLA Fellow

>> GERALD BRIGGS Briggs is the director of architecture in the Washington, D.C. office of AECOM, a multinational firm that provides design, consulting, construction, and management services.

He has spent the majority of his career designing numerous projects for federal government agencies, including U.S. Departments of State, Agriculture, Defense, Labor, Veterans Affairs, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Agency.

During his more than thirty-five-year career, Briggs has designed major public projects in twenty-seven states and sixteen countries, where he contributed to the mission, safety, security, and well-being of thousands of public servants.

His design work, outreach within the architecture community, and service to the AIA have been recognized with more than twenty-five architecture awards. –LV

Adrian L. Smith (’82 B.L.A.) has been named a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA). Election to the ASLA Council of Fellows is among the highest honors the ASLA bestows on members and is based on their works, leadership and management, knowledge, and service. Smith works with the City of New York Parks and Recreation, and he received his nomination from the New York ASLA Chapter. Smith focuses on inner-city recruitment and inspires high school students to enter the profession. He has woven together his interests in nature, the environment, and design, and his efforts and advocacy at the chapter and national level have resulted in concrete gains in how the public views landscape architects as increasingly vital to creating healthy, vibrant, and resilient urban communities.

Smith and the other 2018 Fellows were recognized at the ASLA Annual Meeting and EXPO in Philadelphia in October. –CU

The Arts Mean

Business We are fortunate to have many strong and vibrant arts organizations at Penn State and across Centre County. They provide countless opportunities for our community and visitors from outside the region to engage with the arts, elevating the quality of life for all while enriching social and community involvement.

But the arts are also an industry.

National studies of the economic impact of the arts that included Centre County data demonstrate that both nationally and locally the arts are an economic driver—an industry that supports jobs, generates government revenue, and spurs tourism. In this video message, Erin Coe, director of the Palmer Museum

Video by Cody Goddard

in Centre County

of Art, and George Trudeau, director of the Center for the Performing Arts, share details on recent studies that demonstrate the significant economic impact of nonprofit arts and culture organizations, both in Centre County and nationally.

YOU CAN READ THEIR COMPLETE OP-ED

cpa.psu.edu/features/artsmean-business , AND FIND MORE DETAILS ON THE American for the Arts WEBSITE. AT

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ALUMNI AND DONOR IMPACT

“The Most Mysterious Place”: Travel Award Supports Students’ International Adventures The Veronica Burns Lucas Travel Award in Landscape Architecture was established by Agnes V. Burns in memory of Veronica, former associate professor of landscape architecture. The award honors outstanding undergraduate landscape architecture students by providing them with a travel stipend. Below award recipient Kevin Swanick provides a glimpse into his trip to Ireland, in both words and watercolor.

Three foreigners sat in a Galway bar with Irish instruments in their hands.

They played Irish folk songs when they took breaks from drinking their pints, and afterwards, told their story of how they came to be in such an odd place: in Galway’s Crane Bar on a Sunday night.

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The first one to speak was Peter, who happened to be the loudest. He explains he is a busker from a poor London neighborhood, and after seeking cultures better tuned for his inner music, he found that Galway, Ireland, was where he belonged. A busker, he explained when asked, is a

humble traveler who plays music on the street for loose change and spare kindness. This has been his lifestyle for the last thirty years.

Mutz, called Munchee by his buskering band of musicians, is from the Netherlands. He adamantly claims that Galway is home to people with grand hearts, which his homeland severely lacked. After suffering a neck wound in a bar fight, which put him in a coma for two weeks, he vowed never to return to the Netherlands again, and spent the next fifteen years living in the solitude of County Donegal, one of Ireland’s most secluded gems. He has returned to the Netherlands only once: his parents’ fiftieth anniversary.

in a storm along County Galway’s “wild Atlantic coast,” and sat with an ancient fortress at the cliffs of Dun Aonghasa.

I met all sorts of characters along the way, but what stuck with me most was my craft. As a landscape architect, I left feeling powerful. I felt that I, who was learning to mold the landscape, had the ability to create not just paths and seating opportunities, but to begin narratives in my designs. I imagined that I might foster emotional experiences.

And there I sit, in between the two.

Having traveled many miles, over one ocean, three counties, countless stonelaced fields, and fog-covered hills—I arrived in a city by myself with no map.

I wandered under Spanish arches, over

rushing rivers, and through rugged alleyways to arrive at 7 p.m. on a Sunday night at Galway’s Crane Bar. Upon taking my lonely seat, I did not once sip my beer before being called over to sit with “the Band.” The band here was made up of both the performers and the audience. They did not sit on a stage. They did not play to a crowd. They played to each other, for the sheer enjoyment of creating music.

And they asked me to join them.

I cannot begin to expand upon my experience because each day was so full of experiences—you might turn to stone by the end of it. But I can tell you this: Ireland was the most mysterious place I had ever visited.

Whether it was the steeples standing above the narrow streets, or strange towers behind sprawling hills, there was always something beckoning from afar— to new horizons, new places, new to me but old and worn. Indeed, Ireland was the perfect place to be lost.

Before I left the Crane Bar that night, Munchee whispered in my ear, “Be careful, my friend. There are mysterious things that live in the hills and the fog.”

He then sung me a song about a woman whose husband once set sail from Ballynahown. He had only just departed, before a storm drew in, and in it he disappeared. The woman waited by the cliffside for many years, but her love never returned. They say she sank into the ground, and the cemetery was then constructed where she lay. He asked me to visit it and paint him a picture, saying that when quiet enough, you can still hear her sing to the empty ocean. I shook with him, promising to return someday in the future, the painting in hand.

And with that I left, exiting the old pub, and so began my first night in Galway, Ireland. –Kevin Swanick

The landscape itself had its own emotion and voice. It did not shout to you, but instead waited for you to hear it. And when I finally listened, I was shaken to the bone. I biked fifty miles

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ALUMNI AND DONOR IMPACT

Palmer Museum of Art Awarded Prestigious Luce Foundation Grant The Palmer Museum of Art has been awarded a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation to be used for a catalogue of the museum’s American art collection.

The Palmer’s $100,000 grant is its first from the foundation and the largest grant the museum has ever received from a private foundation, according to Erin Coe, director of the museum.

The not-for-profit Luce Foundation was established in 1936 by Henry R. Luce, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Time Inc., and has grown to be a leader in philanthropic endeavors that foster American culture by recognizing innovation and leadership in academic, policy, religious, and art communities.

“The Henry Luce Foundation only awards grants to art museums with exceptional holdings in American art,” Coe said. “A grant from this prestigious foundation recognizes both the national significance of the Palmer’s collection of American art and the need to support scholarly research so the collection is more accessible and visible.”

Just more than half of the Palmer’s almost 8,600 objects are classified as American art and the collection is anchored by 400 core paintings from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

American paintings have been the focal point of the museum since it opened to the public in 1972 and the collection features portraiture from the early nineteenth century, Hudson River School landscapes, figurative scenes from the Gilded Age, images of street life by Ashcan School artists and their heirs, and works by early American modernists and artists from the Bay Area Figurative Movement.

John Brewster Jr., “Mother with Son (Lucy Knapp Mygatt and Son, George),” 1799, oil on canvas, 54¼ x 40 inches. Gift of Nancy Adams McCord, 87.1. Image: Palmer Museum of Art/John Brewster Jr.

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Richard Diebenkorn, “Man and Woman, Seated,” 1958, oil on canvas, 70 ¾ x 83½ inches. 76.6.

Image: Palmer Museum of Art/Richard Diebenkorn

The grant will fund a multi-author print publication containing short scholarly essays on about 100 of the museum’s most important paintings. It will feature high-quality color images, showcase new research and interpretations, and foreground the significance of American art to the history of the museum and to Penn State, according to Adam Thomas, the museum’s curator of American art and the lead researcher on the project.

“This will be the first catalogue of the collection ever to be published by the Palmer Museum of Art and will significantly enhance our reputation as a major repository of American art,” Coe said. “The project will put the Palmer’s collection on the national stage and have a lasting impact on studies of American art.”

The publication will be completed and published in coordination with the museum’s fiftieth anniversary in 2022. –LV

Darwina Neal participates in a crit during her visit to campus in fall 2017 to receive the Alumni Fellow award.

Photo by Stephanie Swindle Thomas.

Paul Cremo

Alumni Honored with University Awards Congratulations to Paul Cremo (’11 M.F.A. Theatre) and Darwina Neal (’67 B.S. Landscape Architecture), who were recently honored

by Penn State for their career achievements.

Cremo, named a 2018 Penn State Distinguished Alumnus, is dramaturg and director of the Opera Commissioning Program at The Metropolitan Opera and oversees The Met/Lincoln Center Theater New Works program for new opera and music theater development. For The Met, Cremo has supervised the development of Nico Muhly’s Two Boys and his upcoming Marnie, as well as The Enchanted Island and English-language versions of The Magic Flute, The Barber of Seville, Die Fledermaus, and The Merry Widow. He began his graduate studies at Penn State in the 1980s, but his career took off before he earned his degree. At the urging of Helen Manfull, professor emerita of theatre, he ultimately finished his M.F.A. Read more about Cremo at bit.ly/2Lq8WPP.

Neal was honored as a 2017 Penn State Alumni Fellow. A longtime National Park Service (NPS) administrator, she retired as chief of cultural resource preservation services, National Capital Region (NCR), in 2009. The first woman elected president of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), she has been a leader within the NPS and the landscape architecture profession overall, serving as an advocate for women and applying her expertise to projects throughout the Washington metropolitan area. Read more about Neal at bit.ly/2mPOuJs.

Robert Cutietta Receives the 2018 Alumni Fellow Award Robert Cutietta

In October 2018, Robert Cutietta, dean of the Thornton School of Music and Kaufman School of Dance at the University of Southern California, visited campus to receive this year’s Alumni Fellow Award. Read more about Cutietta at bit.ly/2CPOu5k.

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ALUMNI AND DONOR IMPACT

Jared Edgar McKnight participates in a crit at Penn State in spring 2018. Photo by Stephanie Swindle Thomas.

FINDING A BALANCE:

Q&A with Alumni Achievement Award Winner Jared Edgar McKnight Architecture alumnus and Schreyer Scholar Jared Edgar McKnight was one of this year’s recipients of the Penn State Alumni Association’s Alumni Achievement Award, which honors alumni age 35 and under. In addition to his bachelor of architecture degree, McKnight, who graduated in 2011, earned a B.A. in international studies and minors in architectural history and French and francophone studies.

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McKnight is an associate and designer at WRT, an integrated design firm of architects, landscape architects, planners, and urban designers based in Philadelphia. Since joining the firm five years ago, he has played a significant role in rebranding WRT, and in winning major commissions, including the Equal Justice Center in Philadelphia and the Hoover-Mason Trestle in Bethlehem, which has won national and international awards.

Quickly establishing himself as a leader in his profession, McKnight has received several awards from the American Institute of Architects, including AIA Philadelphia Volunteer of the Year (2014), AIA Pennsylvania Associate Award (2015), and the AIA National Associates Award (2016). He is also co-

author of “Interdependencies and the Shaping of Place,” published in CloudCuckoo-Land: International Journal of Architectural Theory, in 2017.

McKnight is an active volunteer both in his community and at Penn State. He is currently the infrastructure director on the Friends of Louis I. Kahn Park Board of Directors and the event chair for CANstruction Philadelphia, which benefits local hunger relief efforts. He is also a member of the Philadelphia Center for Architecture and Design Exhibitions Committee, and a Design Committee member for AIA Philadelphia. From 2016 to 2017, he served as the founding co-chair of the Philadelphia Emerging Architects Committee.

At Penn State, he is vice president of the Lion Ambassador Alumni Interest Group Board of Directors and an alumni mentor to both architecture and Schreyer Honors College students. The Schreyer Honors College honored him with the Outstanding Scholar Alumni Award in 2016. In addition to his Penn State degrees, he holds a master of architecture from the University of Pennsylvania.

Christiana Usenza, a writer for the Stuckeman School, interviewed Jared soon after his award was announced. A portion of that interview appears below.

Q: What are you focused on in your profession right now?

A: I should probably answer this question two-fold. I always try to match my contributions professionally to what I do outside of my day job through volunteering and giving back to organizations that are meaningful to me. I always strive to find a balance between my professional work and my civic engagement.

My main project right now is the Equal Justice Center in Philadelphia.

WRT is teamed up with Pennrose, working to develop one of the last empty full blocks of land in Center City, Philadelphia. Working with the Philadelphia Bar Foundation, and a number of nonprofit partners, part of the site will be developed as the Equal Justice Center, a facility that will co-locate roughly twenty public service legal aid agencies and organizations with the goal of strengthening their services, creating social impact, and giving back to Philadelphia. The site will also house a mixed-use market-rate and affordable senior housing building, as well as a large urban park and open space system at the ground level.

Outside of my day job, something that has been ingrained in me from the time I was a kid, thanks to my family, is to always be involved in things that I am passionate about. Right now, that revolves around opportunities

Jared Edgar McKnight (second from right) and his family. Photo

by Steve Tressler.

for engagement in community work in Philadelphia and giving back to organizations that I’ve been involved with since my time at Penn State (see bio above).

Q: How did your Stuckeman School and Penn State experience inspire you to do what you do?

of integrity, respect, responsibility, discovery, excellence, community, and service is what helped put me on my trajectory, and inspired me to do what I do.

FULL INTERVIEW:

Jared Edgar McKnight

A: When I was in high school, I thought I had no idea where I wanted to go to college, but growing up, Penn State was always home away from home for me. I am a third-generation Penn Stater, after my mom, and her dad (my grandpa).

And while I always had a deep love and respect for Penn State, I wasn’t sure if it would be the right fit for me. So, in high school, I applied to thirteen schools of architecture, and after touring twelve of them, it was immediately apparent that it had to be Penn State for me, because it was the place that felt like home, it felt relatable. Penn State, and the Stuckeman School, offered an environment where academically I could receive a great education, but they also afforded me the opportunity to get involved, give back, and enjoy my time being in college. Having grown up in a Penn State family, I had a different appreciation going in than I had after I left.

I think the most powerful things for me were the quality of the academics and the mentoring from faculty as well as my fellow students. I met my best friends during my college experience. I took full advantage of my time at Penn State both inside and outside the classroom.

The legacy and tradition of academic excellence and a commitment to values

Q: What advice do you have for current Stuckeman School students?

A: My advice is to always push the boundaries and try something you may not be able to try in your professional career. When you are enrolled in a school and program that are so dedicated to design, you often see students limiting themselves because they think it is the practical thing to do, and that it is what employers want to see. I did that myself as a student—focused on making things practical and functional. But school is where you can find your artistic voice in architecture, or landscape architecture, or graphic design. It is so easy to fall prey to designing something, almost in a box. So, I always encourage students to design something that is interesting to them. Try something new, test ideas, build unique skill sets and points of view, and have fun in the program.

School is about exploring and testing ideas. You have the rest of your life to make sure your designs work and are practical. This is the time to have fun with it.

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ALUMNI AND DONOR IMPACT

Unexpected but Deserved: Dave Will Honored

by Graduate School Alumni Society When Dave Will, retired facilities manager for the College of Arts and Architecture, tore open an envelope adorned with the University’s letterhead earlier this year, the contents shocked him so much that he had to have his wife Betsy read the letter to confirm the message.

Will was named the recipient of the 2018 Graduate School Alumni Society Humanitarian Award, an honor bestowed upon a Graduate School alumnus or alumna who has made a positive societal impact on the welfare of humankind beyond the responsibilities of his or her profession.

“I had a hard time handing the letter to my wife so she could read it,” Will said.

“It was just totally unexpected and I was so humbled. After all of the things I’ve done, I never went looking for that sort of thing and it really blew my socks off.”

Neil A. Sharkey, vice president for research at Penn State; Regina Vasilatos-Younken, vice provost for graduate education and dean of the Graduate School; Dave Will; Krishna Nadella, president, Graduate School Alumni Society; and Paul Clifford, chief executive officer, Penn State Alumni Association. Image courtesy Penn State

Will is just the fifth recipient of the honor in the last thirteen years and was presented with the award surrounded by friends, family, and former colleagues at the Graduate School Alumni Society’s recognition dinner in March.

“Why me?” Will said. “That’s a question that I still ask myself because there has to be a whole heck of a lot of other people that have graduate degrees from Penn State that do tremendous humanitarian work. But to be selected blows you away.”

The answer to his question of “why me?” begins with his time at the University.

He graduated in 1972 with a B.F.A. and began working as an assistant production manager for the Center for the Performing Arts in 1974. During the early years of his career, he worked towards a master of fine arts, which he received in 1978.

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During his prolific forty-year career, which ended with his retirement in 2014, Will spent twenty-six years at Eisenhower Auditorium, where he worked with three presidents of the United States, multiple presidential candidates, and several world-class performers. He kept a book that chronicled all of the people he worked with, but operatic soprano Beverly Sills’ performance in the early 1980s will always be his favorite.

“She was one of the most gracious people—and there were a lot—that ever walked in the back door of Eisenhower Auditorium,” Will said. “I can remember standing backstage when she was performing ‘Ave Maria’ to a full house and I swear that it was so quiet out there that you could hear a pin bounce off of the carpet. That’s a special memory for me.”

His facilities work has had an immeasurable impact on the college, but his volunteer work in the community is what provides a sheen to his resume that might just answer Will’s question of “Why me?”

In addition to volunteering to coach his two children, both Penn State graduates, in Little League, softball, and soccer, he has donated countless hours to the United States Institute for Theatre Technology, where he was named a USITT Fellow in 2014 in recognition of his contributions as a leader and mentor for theatre professionals for more than thirty years.

While those contributions stand out, his volunteer work with the Special Olympics puts a fine point on the answer to his question. Since the 1980s, Will has enthusiastically contributed to the production of the opening and

Family, friends, and colleagues gathered on the Eisenhower Auditorium stage to celebrate Dave Will’s retirement in 2014. Photo by Stephanie Swindle Thomas.

closing ceremonies for the Special Olympics Pennsylvania Summer Games.

His facilities work for the College of Arts and Architecture ties in perfectly with producing the ceremonies, Will said, and when he was asked by the organization what he could bring to the event, he knew the short answer was “a lot.”

“I volunteered because I knew it was the right thing to do,” Will said. “Those who compete in the Special Olympics deserve to have whatever we can do to make the experience special and

when I began I just wanted to walk away knowing that I helped create special memories for all of those athletes.”

As he journeys through his retirement years, Will expects his enthusiasm for volunteer work to continue. He recently added the Community Café at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, an organization that offers free meals to the needy one night each week, to his list of volunteer duties.

them in a better place than when I first became involved,” Will said. “And for that I can go home and feel like I have done the best that I can do on any one given event or show or day of volunteer work.” –LV

“I’ve always done what I’ve done to hopefully make things better and I try to improve things and to leave

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ALUMNI AND DONOR IMPACT

Dietzes Spread Their Philanthropy Across Penn State As a result of their philanthropy, the Dietzes have bequeathed a significant portion of their estate to benefit the School of Music, School of Theatre, College of Agricultural Sciences, the Arboretum at Penn State, and the Palmer Museum of Art.

When Roger and Rosalie Dietz made the decision to spend their retirement years in Happy Valley, the atmosphere and accessibility of Penn State was a driving force. But the joy and enlightenment that resulted from their immersion in the University’s culture has created a philanthropic mindset that aims to enrich the student experience at Penn State.

Their decision came approximately three years after the couple moved to State College from suburban Philadelphia, their home for nearly four decades. The Dietzes had regularly travelled to Penn State for women’s volleyball games and Roger said the weekend visits are what opened his eyes to the world-class research and educational offerings of the University.

“In our wanderings around campus on those weekends, I discovered that there was so much to Penn State that I didn’t know a thing about,” Dietz said. “And as we got settled in after the move, I realized the unbelievable opportunities that young students have here and I wanted to be a part of it in any way that I could.”

Dietz graduated from Penn State in 1955 with a bachelor’s degree in English literature and worked in investment securities for more than forty years before he retired in 2001. Although his life’s work didn’t connect directly with his education, Dietz credits his love of the arts to his time as a student at Penn State.

“I developed a passion for and understanding of classical music and poetry thanks to professors like Hum Fishburn, who was the head of the music department at the time,” Dietz said. “And because of that, my first gift to Rosie when she was my girlfriend was a classical music album.”

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In 2016, when Roger, then 85 years old, approached Rosalie with the idea of taking a music course, she knew it was a perfect way for him to not only continue his education, but to reconnect with his roots.

Swiping through her iPad, Rosalie’s infectious smile brightens as she stops on the photo she took of Roger on his first day of class in the fall 2016 semester.

“I just thought it was a wonderful idea,” Rosalie said. “His time at Penn State in the 1950s was something that means a lot to him and this was a fun opportunity for him to get out and be around the students and the academics of Penn State.”

As Dietz worked his way through the introductory music history course taught

by Charles Youmans, music history professor, he developed a friendship with Youmans that planted the seed for the Dietzes’ decision to give back to Penn State.

“I asked a lot of questions in that class and I think Chuck really liked that,” Dietz said. “And as we got to talking after some classes, he explained to me how difficult it is financially for some students in the School of Music.”

Youmans explained to Dietz that the restringing of a bass fiddle can cost almost $700.

“There just aren’t that many kids that have $700 lying around to do that,” Dietz said. “So our focus became trying to help those kids that are in need to continue their education.”

The focal points of their philanthropy became more clear as the couple entrenched themselves in the culture of Penn State and the community. Rosalie began her volunteer work at various organizations, including the Arboretum

“To me Penn State is community and a diversity of interests that you just don’t understand until you are here and exposed to it all... and our focus in each of the areas is to simply help students and our hope is that their experience is enhanced in a way that leaves a lasting impact on their lives.”

Rosalie Dietz captured Roger’s excitement on his “first” day back at school in fall 2016, when he took a Penn State course in music history.

at Penn State, Hort Woods Child Care Center, and Schlow Library. Roger subscribed to—and regularly read—newsletters from the various colleges at the University.

Outreach and Education Program Endowment (Palmer Museum of Art), and the K.C. and Rebecca Dietz Endowment for Internships in the Arboretum at Penn State.

The result was a growing feeling that they wanted to give back and the couple began with donating to the women’s volleyball team and Penn State’s equine facilities. After working with development staff to allocate their wishes for their major gift, five funds were established, reflecting interests closest to their family: the Roger and Rosalie Dietz School of Music Assistance Fund, Roger and Rosalie Dietz Research Fund in the College of Agricultural Sciences, Rosalie and Charlotte Dietz Backstage Excellence Fund (School of Theatre), Rosalie Dietz

“To me Penn State is community and a diversity of interests that you just don’t understand until you are here and exposed to it all,” Rosalie Dietz said.

“And our focus in each of the areas is to simply help students and our hope is that their experience is enhanced in a way that leaves a lasting impact on their lives.” –LV

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COMMUNITY

IMPACT

Kikora Franklin (center) leads Roots of Life members in a dance. Photo by Nabil Mark.

Encouraging Freedom of Expression Through African Dance Roots of Life, an African performing arts ensemble that is a collaboration between the Penn State School of Theatre and the State College Area School District (SCASD), is entering its tenth year in 2018–19, building on a decade of providing opportunities for local youth to learn about and participate in African dance and drumming.

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Kikora Franklin, associate professor of theatre and dance at Penn State, and Debra Daggs, gifted and learning enrichment teacher at Mount Nittany Middle School, established the ensemble in 2009 after holding several successful African dance workshops for SCASD students.

Since then, Roots of Life has performed at the Penn State Forum on Black Affairs annual Martin Luther King Jr. banquet, various Centre County elementary and middle schools, retirement homes, and community events.

“We wanted to continue the momentum from our original performances and workshops and decided to form a company of students that would meet consistently and perform throughout the community. The students collaborated and came up with the name Roots of Life,” explained Franklin.

“It is a unique organization in that it is open to students from across the district at all levels. We do not require any previous experience, and all students have the opportunity to perform.”

One of the ensemble’s goals is to give students a non-competitive space to freely express themselves. “We want to give them an opportunity to use their own ideas, voices, and wonderings to devise and create performance material, as opposed to working from a pre-written or already-published script,” said Franklin. “This, I believe, gives

value to the student’s own creativity and imagination.”

Franklin noted that Roots of Life also teaches students about a cultural and artistic tradition from a diverse perspective and helps them to understand how those cultural and artistic expressions are a part of America’s culture, both past and present. “We incorporate a lot of black history into our productions because it is a lens that is often overlooked or set aside for a specific time of year. We purposely integrate this history and these themes into our programming as a necessary educational component for all students.”

She said she hopes that attendees at the Roots of Life workshops or performances experience the freedom and joy of the student performers, while being inspired to think about the world differently. “I hope they are perhaps inspired to act to make a positive change in the world, whether that be at home with their family, in their local community, or in the world.”

Roots of Life is sponsored by the State College Area School District, parents, and donors, with additional support in 2017–18 from Penn State’s Center for Pedagogy in the Arts and Design (C-PAD, housed in the College of Arts and Architecture) and Center for American Literacy Studies (CALS). –AMM

Roots of Life members participate in a hip hop workshop. Photo courtesy Kikora Franklin.

The Roots of Life drummers provide the beat for the dancers during a workshop at a State College elementary school. Photo by Nabil Mark.

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COMMUNITY IMPACT

Chris Hazel leads a tour of the GreenBuild project in spring 2018. Photo by Stephanie Swindle Thomas.

Architecture Students Help Create Affordable, Sustainable Housing in State College Owning a home is often considered part of living the American Dream. But as housing costs have risen, that part of the dream has become more and more unattainable. Instead of just talking about the problem, Penn State architecture and engineering students and faculty decided to become part of the solution.

In 2014, they began GreenBuild, a collaborative project with the State College Community Land Trust (SCCLT) that would lead to the construction of affordable, energy-efficient homes for two State College families, laying a foundation not just for the families’ future, but for the future of housing in the area.

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“Rather than just talking about why housing is so expensive, the question became, ‘what can we do to create affordable housing?’” explained Chris Hazel (’17 M.Arch.), research technician in the Energy Efficient Housing Research (EEHR) group, an outreach arm of the Hamer Center for Community Design in the Stuckeman School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture.

The net zero-energy duplex, located at the corner of University Drive and Royal Road in State College, was originally designed for the 2015 U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Race to Zero Student Design Competition, where the

“Rather than just talking about why housing is so expensive, the question became, ‘what can we do to create affordable housing?’”

students won awards for Design Excellence and Systems Integration Excellence. Architecture faculty Lisa Iulo, director of the Hamer Center for Community Design, and Scott Wing, associate dean for academic affairs and outreach in the College of Arts and Architecture, served as faculty advisers, along with Ali Memari, professor in the College of Engineering and Hankin Chair of the Pennsylvania Housing Research Center (PHRC).

The students’ competition entry evolved into a real-life project thanks to partnerships with SCCLT, West Penn Power Sustainability Fund, Henry Architecture and Design, Paul Macht Architects, Weber Murphy Fox, the Borough of State College, community members, and Envinity, Inc., a local green design-build firm that won the bid to construct the duplex.

After breaking ground in June 2017, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in May 2018, and the families moved into their new homes in July. Construction along a highly visible thoroughfare generated excitement about the project and, in turn, sustainable design, leading to frequent visits from curious stakeholders, news crews, and community members.

Community members and stakeholders celebrate the ribbon cutting for the GreenBuild project along with the new homeowners (center). Photo by Stephanie Swindle Thomas.

Faculty in the Stuckeman School are looking to leverage the educational takeaways in the classroom. Hazel maintained a construction blog documenting the project to completion in order to share processes and teach best practices. Iulo is already developing ideas for new projects and collaborations with SCCLT and other regional housing organizations.

“Engaged scholarship projects like this epitomize the best of Penn State, bringing together teaching, research, and outreach,” said Iulo. “The positive impacts and opportunities of this collaboration are many, and I look forward to continuing to work with students, colleagues, and community members on future projects.”

“When we started the project, some people questioned whether building one duplex would make a significant contribution to the affordable housing market,” admitted Hambrick. “Since we have completed the building and opened the project to professional and community visitors, I hear comments about applying GreenBuild’s concepts to their own projects. I am confident that this prototype has sparked interest in building green throughout the Centre Region and beyond.” –SST

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT GREENBUILD, VISIT THE SCCLT WEBSITE AT

scclandtrust.org/greenbuild.html

Peg Hambrick, SCCLT chair of GreenBuild, said she is pleased that the project has generated a lot of buzz about housing that is both affordable and energy-efficient.

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COMMUNITY IMPACT

Art Education Meets Prison Education In 2017, Efrain Marimon, an instructor in Penn State’s College of Education, established the Restorative Justice Initiative, a project that aims to build partnerships between Penn State and local correctional institutions to provide education programming to incarcerated individuals, while also raising awareness for that population. During fall 2017, two Art Education Ph.D. candidates, Indira Bailey and Kelsey Reiger, taught art classes as part of the initiative’s Prison Education Program. Below Bailey reflects on her experience.

In the fall semester of 2017, I taught an art class with the Restorative Justice Initiative’s Prison Education Program in Bellefonte, PA. I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Art Education and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies dualtitle degree program, and my goal for teaching art with the Prison Education Program was to provide a non-verbal way for inmates to express themselves to reduce tension and stress. For many of the inmates, an art program is an alternative form of therapy to help them communicate by using creative techniques in the prison and upon release.

As a former K–12 art teacher for sixteen years, I observed how art became an outlet for many students to communicate non-verbally. Teaching art gave me the opportunity to work with various ages and situations in a nontraditional educational setting. I wanted to have the same experience with the prison community.

My initial assumption of prison included black iron prison bars slamming, loud bells, yelling inmates, and prison guards with guns on roofs. I considered who I was going to meet and what led them to a life of criminal activities. It was challenging to move beyond my biases and not let fictional prison scenes from TV shows—with hostile lockdowns and fights—enter my thoughts.

I did not expect the technical and artistic skills demonstrated in class.

For example, inmates painted murals throughout the prison and showed me their portfolios of drawings. Prior to teaching in the prison with the inmates, I assumed they sat in their cells all day or were in the yard. The inmates informed me they did not have time to complete the assignments I left during the week. I wondered why, thinking time is all they have. One inmate informed me he worked with the dog-training program. In fact, when he came to the art class someone watched the dog for him. Another inmate explained that he drew portraits for other inmates to send as gifts to their family members. I was amazed to learn that some of the inmates sold their artwork in galleries, participated in art shows, and were commissioned to create original pieces of art. I learned that an art program in the prison is not just about learning how to shade and mix paint; it is about the pride these inmates demonstrate in themselves as any other professional artist.

For many of the inmates, an art program is an alternative form of therapy to help them communicate by using creative techniques in the prison and upon release.

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“I learned that an art program in the prison is not just about learning how to shade and mix paint; it is about the pride these inmates demonstrate in themselves as any other professional artist.”

Teaching art in a state correctional institution—going from teaching children to incarcerated male adults— definitely forced me outside my comfort zone. But after the first class, I realized I was teaching art students who happened to be incarcerated.

These men were serious about learning technical and creative skills. After several conversations with the inmates, I understood fully the importance of an art education program from their perspective. As one inmate told me, he selected the art class because he had a true love for art. He further explained that for most of the inmates, art is an outlet; it allows them to momentarily escape the chaos of their lives. While most of the inmates may not verbally state this, the art program allows them two hours a week to leave their cell and create a positive space to express themselves.

Prison art programs can provide handson experiences not offered in most professional development venues for art educators. I found an opportunity to engage with a different population in the field of art education. I gained an understanding of using teaching strategies for people who are convicted criminals and have different needs for art education than a traditional K–12 art class. I exposed my ignorance and biases of the daily life experiences of inmates and learned how an art program is vital to their rehabilitation.

–Indira Bailey

Teaching art in a prison helped me break stereotypes of how I thought of prisoners. It provided me an opportunity to teach in a non-traditional educational environment, one that offered a different perspective than teaching to children.

An example of Indira Bailey’s stained-glass art. Photo provided.

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COMMUNITY IMPACT

From Trash to Treasure at the Arboretum: Plastic Sculptures on Display If you walked through the Arboretum at Penn State this summer and early fall, you saw more than flowers and greenery. Gravity Schmavity, an exhibition featuring outdoor plastic sculpture by Aurora Robson, was installed at the Arboretum through October 29.

Robson, one of the artists featured in the groundbreaking Palmer Museum of Art exhibition Plastic Entanglements: Ecology, Aesthetics, Materials, is a multimedia artist predominantly known for her work with plastic debris. She was commissioned in January 2017 by the Arboretum and the Palmer Museum of Art to create three outdoor sculptures using industrial plastic waste generated

by Penn State.

“Aurora is one of the most accomplished artists working with ‘recovered’ plastic in the art world today,” said Joyce Robinson, curator at the Palmer. “Her outdoor pieces, particularly her recent work made from intercepted industrial plastic waste gleaned from the very institutions she partners with, are whimsical and beguiling but also remind us to consider the long-lasting impacts of plastic.”

Glass House in Childhood’s Gate Children’s Garden. Photo by SAW Photography.

The three site-specific works, which are lighted using LED lighting powered by small solar panels, can be seen in the Overlook Pavilion, the Glass House in Childhood’s Gate Children’s Garden, and the Poplar Court. Following their display at Penn State, the pieces will be available to travel in conjunction with Plastic Entanglements, which is scheduled for stops at three additional venues through the end of 2019.

Support for this exhibition was provided in part by Diane Blanton, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Central Pennsylvania Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Centre County Board of Commissioners, and Penn State’s Sustainability Institute, Materials Research Institute, and Solid Waste Operations. –LV

Kim Steiner, director of the Arboretum, said the sculptures “enrich the aesthetic experience” of the H.O. Smith Botanic Gardens and inspire a sense of renewal and stewardship.

Overlook Pavilion. Photo by SAW Photography.

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Poplar Court. Photo by SAW Photography.

Photo: Briana Bennett

Photo: SAW Photography

Photo: SAW Photography

Photos from Plastic Entanglements: Ecology, Aesthetics, Materials, which broke attendance records when on display at the Palmer Museum of Art, February–June 2018.

Photo: SAW Photography

Photo: Briana Bennett

Photo: SAW Photography

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The Pennsylvania State University 107 Borland Building University Park, PA 16802

Pushing the Envelope for a Halftime Spectacular members to pitch the grand idea. The response, Simpkins said, embodies the collaborative spirit of the University.

“When we started planning, we said let’s go and let’s do this until somebody says ‘no, that’s just too much,’” Simpkins said.

“Every single person in the room said, ‘that sounds exciting and how can we do it,’ instead of ‘no way and here’s why.’

And that feels like Penn State to me.”

Photo: Stephanie Swindle Thomas

Ultimately all forty-eight students in the Musical Theatre program and the more than 300 members of the Blue Band performed in the halftime show, which featured intricate arrangements and choreography that complemented the soaring vocals coming from the stage.

On September 29, during the Penn State-Ohio State football game, the largestever crowd at Beaver Stadium was treated to a Superbowllike halftime spectacular, the result of a unique collaboration between the School of Theatre’s Musical Theatre program and the Penn State Blue Band.

The Musical Theatre program is celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary this year, and John Simpkins, head of the program, had long been thinking of unique ways to commemorate the occasion. After meeting Blue Band Director Greg Drane last spring, he realized that even his most ambitious plans just might be a possibility.

The like-minded duo formed a bond that quickly led to the conception of the September 29 halftime show that brought the Blue Band and Musical Theatre students together in a mid-field performance featuring song and dance numbers from Jersey Boys, Hamilton, and Hair.

After Simpkins and Drane designed the show, the two met with Beaver Stadium facilities, grounds, and athletics staff

Following the show, Drane and Simpkins were extremely pleased with the performance. They plan to use the experience, and challenges of putting on a production in a large venue, as a learning moment that will help both programs to reach their educational goals.

“We’re a band that’s going to take risks and we’re going to keep trying.

That is the culture of our organization and that’s the culture of the Musical Theatre program,” Drane said. “We came together to push the envelope of innovation and we hope that this collaboration showcased Penn State.”–LV

WATCH THE

Penn State Blue Band Halftime Show