OVATION Union College Arts & Culture
The “banner stamp” art for this issue of Ovation is inspired by the upcoming Kids College Art Camp on Union’s campus. Readers, The closing of the academic year doesn’t mean Union College lawns aren’t lively with activity. Weddings, freshman orientations and summer classes keep campus populated throughout the summer. And a special event this month will bring creative energy that can only be charged by children. Union is proud to host the annual Kids College Art Camp, sponsored by the Knox Arts, Crafts & Humanities Council. You’ll find more information about this event inside. Our cover story focuses on Dr. William T. Trent, a 1960s graduate of Union College, who returned in May to deliver the commencement address. His inspirational speech is recapped here. Even if you were among those who heard it live, we think you’ll enjoy revisiting it. Inside you’ll find a sneak preview of professional photography for our new website scheduled to launch later this summer, along with some highlights from a special Earth Day concert. During your travels this summer to scenic destinations, remember our ongoing request for photo submissions. We’d love to feature work from our readers. Enjoy! Contact Us Office of College Communications Missy Reid, director 606-546-1610 communications @unionky.edu
June 2012 | Volume 1 | Issue 4
dr. william t. trent
inspires and encourages
The Civil Rights movement of the 1960s is an era rich with struggles that led to significant change. Freedom Riders were beaten for attempting to ride segregated buses. Court orders and the National Guard were required for black students to attend colleges in the deep south. Martin Luther King Jr. was inspiring the nation to protest in peace. And in Barbourville, Ky., the first African-American male at Union College accepted his diploma. Before William T. Trent walked across the stage that day in 1966, then-President Mahlon Miller briefly interrupted commencement, asked William’s father to stand, and then announced that Union College history was about to be made. “I have always felt that that gesture could never be surpassed or even matched,” Trent told the Class of 2012. He now holds a Ph.D. in sociology, is a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has done extensive research focused on race, social justice, social organization and more. He has earned accolades too vast in number to itemize here. As a black student entering college, Trent said he was prepared for the world beyond high school, even though he had grown up in segregated Richmond, Va. in a community that would have looked down upon an educated black man. He said his preparation can be credited to his teachers, who believed that their students would succeed. “I grew up in an America that was not open to me in countless ways. But I had teachers who taught me as if I would be able to do anything I wanted to do,” Trent said. “Those teachers prepared us for a world that they would not experience, but one that they envisioned as possible. They prepared us despite what was the objective reality. They prepared
us for the possible, not just the available.” To date, Trent is the only recipient of two Hall of Fame awards at Union, once in 1994 and again in 2009. This year at Union’s graduation just before his speech, he accepted an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters. “This gift, the opportunity to return to Union to deliver the commencement address, is one that I could not have dreamed of receiving, nor ever imagined being recommended to receive,” Trent said. “I will forever treasure this moment.”
  In late April, Union hosted professional photographer Steven Allen for a two-day photo shoot. As you can see, he captured interactions among many of our community members to illustrate the personal relationships that are formed here at Union.
ovation
stephen allen photography
kids college
art
camp
June 18-22 kids college art camp Photos from Kids College Art Camp 2011 submitted by programming director Anne Pedersen.
As Union College is preparing to welcome a host of incoming freshmen for orientation this summer, the Knox Arts, Crafts and Humanities Council, Inc. is preparing to welcome a younger group to campus for this year’s Kids College Art Camp. Each summer, children come to camp for a week, and with the help of volunteers and KACHC members, get to study one of four different styles of art. The children can choose to participate in music, dance, painting or theatre. At the end of the week, the students will give a final performance in which they demonstrate the skills they have learned throughout camp. This year, the final performance is scheduled for Friday, June 22, at 2:00 p.m. in Rector Little Theatre on Union College’s campus. There will be another performance by the Wood & Strings Theatre earlier in the week. This performance will be June 18 at 6:00 p.m., also in the Rector Little Theatre. According to their website, Tennessee-based Wood and Strings Theatre “uses the captivating and comprehensive
nature of art to engage the imagination, create experiences full of meaning and provide tools to build positive solutions for life’s challenges.” Clarissa and Leon Fuller began the Wood and Strings Theatre over two decades ago and have been working throughout the country ever since. Their specialty is producing plays using puppetry, and while at Union they will work with the children at camp to teach them some of this art. According to programming director Anne Pedersen, the professionals of Wood and Strings Theatre will “guide the children to create an original puppet show of their own, including how to make the puppets, costumes and paint the backdrop, etc.” Their performance at the beginning of the week is titled “Back Woods Rambling.” It will be free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.woodandstringstheatre.net.
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earth day
concert For a special Earth Day concert, three Union College professors performed a handful of folk songs for the campus community. Karl Wallhausser, Andy Messer and Jim Garrett played Neil Young, John Prine and a few originals for the crowd. Click the first icon to hear “Angel from Montgomery,” and the second one for, “Flag Decals Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore.”
Angel from Montgomery
Flag Decals Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore
find it
online
This website lets you shop furniture, art, gifts and more for any personality. You can find anything for anybody and any occasion. Some of the items can be a little pricey but are worth looking at just for the ideas.
Valbonne Sofa
www.notonthehighstreet.com
Not on the High Street
Here’s where you’ll find your tunes. You can build your own personalized playlists and add from pretty much any style of music you can think of. What makes this site unique is that your playlists aren’t limited to only your music; you can search any database and add any song you like.
www.grooveshark.com This website specializes in both custom framing and specialty prints. You can shop for already framed prints or frame your own works of art. Whatever the need, this website can help you get your prints on the wall.
Available Print Deck the Walls
www.deckthewalls.com
This site is committed to offering authentic artwork from all over the world. The artwork is high quality and offers pieces from almost every continent. You can browse by culture or medium.
www.culturalartwork.com
Check out one of the largest databases for free Internet radio stations. You can browse radio stations by genre, top rated, developers and more. Whatever type of music you want to listen to, you will be able to find some station to fit your mood.
www.shoutcast.com
Bamuna Mask
Cultural Art Works
ovation
one touch
of nature
makes the whole world kin. william shakespeare
a Fresh
perspective
A look at the Weeks-Townsend Memorial Library through some spring flowers offers a different view of the familiar campus building.
calendar of events N
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June 18-22 Kids College Art Camp, Union College campus, $50.00 registration fee June 18 Public performance of “Back Woods Rambling” by Wood and Strings Theatre, 6:00 pm at Rector Little Theatre, free June 22 Special performance by the Kids College Art Camp participants, 2:00 pm in Rector Little Theatre, free June 1-3, 8-10 “Hello Dolly,” various times at the Central Kentucky Community Theatre, Springfield, tickets starting at $10.00 June 1-July 1 “Cotton Patch Gospel,” various times at the Kentucky Repertory Theatre, Horse Cave, tickets starting at $10.00 June 7-17 “A Streetcar Named Desire,” various times at the MeX Theatre in the Kentucky Center, Lousiville, tickets starting at $11.00 June 8-17 “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” various times at the Bomhard Theater, Kentucky Center, Louisville, tickets starting at $24.75 June 8-23 “Dracula Bites,” 8:30 pm at the Pioneer Playhouse, Danville, tickets starting at $18.00 June 9-Aug. 11 “The Stephen Foster Story,” 8:30 pm at My Old Kentucky Home State Park, Bardstown, tickets starting at $18.00 June 14-16 and 22-24 “Rumors,” by Neil Simon, various times at the Berea Arena Theater, tickets starting at $8.00 June 15-28 “The Marvelous Wonderettes,” varous times at the Wilkinson/Stumbo Convention Center, Jenny Wiley Theatre, tickets starting at $15.00 June 26-July 1 “Billy Elliot,” various times at Whitney Hall, Kentucky Center, Louisville, tickets starting at $22.75 June 26-July 7 “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,”various times at the Pioneer Playhouse, Danville, tickets starting at $18.00 June 29-July 8 “Grease,” various times at the Amphitheatre Mainstage, Jenny Wiley Theatre, tickets starting at $15.00 June 5 Cornell Gunter’s Coasters, Bobby Hendricks’ Drifters and the Platters, 8:00 pm at the EKU Center for the Arts, Richmond, tickets starting at $22.00 June 7-10 Great American Brass Band Festival, various times at Centre College, Danville, free June 7-10 Festival of the Bluegrass, including the Seldom Scene, IIIrd Tyme Out, Lonesome River and more, various times at the Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, tickets starting at $10.00 June 8-10, 15-17 UK Opera presents “It’s a Grand Night for Singing!” various times at SCFA Concert Hall, Singletary Center for the Arts, Lexington, tickets starting at $35.00 June 10 Roger Waters: The Wall Live, 8:00 pm at the KFC Yum Center, Louisville, tickets starting at $37.00 June 23 The Kentuckians Chorus, In Living Color, 7:00 pm at the Lexington Opera House, $12.00 June 29 Woodsongs and Highbridge Spring Water presents “An Evening with Vince Gill,” The Bluegrass Show, 7:30 pm at the Lexington Opera House, tickets starting at $75.50 June 10-13 Diana Evans School of Dance, various times at the Lexington Opera House, $15.00 June 16 Jane’s School of Dance Solo Recital and Main Show, 1:00 pm at the Lexington Opera House, tickets available at the door
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