Wednesday, March 24, 2010
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USU’s barn to host museum, welcome center in 2012 By JESSICA SWEAT staff writer
Any students who have ever taken a walk eastward on campus have passed a barn that holds a lot of history for USU. As of 2012, the barn will be transformed to host USU’s Museum of Anthropology and campus Welcome Center. The building, known as “the barn,” is one of USU’s oldest structures, built in 1919, and has been known as the “Horse Barn” and the “Art Barn” until the Fine Arts complex was built in the 1970s. Since then, the barn has served as extra space for faculty and students but is fairly vacant due to being rendered dangerous because of fire code conditions. In order to preserve this USU antique, the barn is about to receive a makeover. Not only will the barn receive an up-to-par renovation, but a new face as well. According to information provided by anthropology professor Bonnie Pitblado, the Welcome Center will be a first on campus and will serve as a starting location for visitors. Visitors will be able to meet with a tour guide, receive information about the school, purchase tickets to campus events and browse through the connecting anthropology museum. With anthropology being the study of all people everywhere throughout time, the museum will give people a place to meet and explore. The mission of the museum will continue to be to educate two constituencies about the field of anthropology (and, secondarily museum studies). A museum brochure states that
AN ARTIST’S RENDERING of planned renovations show what the barn could look like by 2012. The barn will hold the Museum of Anthropology as well as USU’s first Welcome Center. The old barn will be renovated and have additions, such as the silo pictured above. illustration courtesy of Bonnie Pitblado
the new 12,000-square-foot building will be an upgrade for the Museum of Anthropology, which currently occupies a 2,000 square feet room in Old Main. Museum staffers teach more than 8,000 people a year, from college students to school kids, during its regular hours and Saturdays at the
Museum events. Anthropology student Holly Andrew works with the museum curator and said, “To have a nice space where we can ramp up education would be a great opportunity.” Museum worker Ashley Smith said, “It will give us a chance to do
more for the community.” While the space will mean more opportunities for students and better access for the community, funding is a different issue. The new building, designed by AJC Architects, is estimated to cost $4 million. AJC Architects have included the original
1919 blueprints and a modern silo that will don a large “A” for all to see. Museum director Pitblado said she is applying for grants to help fund the project. Donors have also started to get the ball rolling with
- See BARN, page 3
Artist highlights reality of the common man Students invited
By CATHERINE MEIDELL assistant news editor
Portrait artist John Sonsini creates oil paintings of Latino men who are more of the quiet type looking for work and captures them in the most real way he can, said Deb Banerjee, curator for the Norah Eccles Harrison Museum of Art. She said many paintings are of people who are deemed as important, but Sonsini’s portraits bring the common man to the forefront of the viewer’s attention. A collection of Sonsini’s paintings will be displayed in the art museum through May 29. The collection is titled “Portraits from Los Angeles,” and he agreed to visit USU’s campus as part of the “Crossing Boundaries” project organized by USU’s art department. Sonsini spoke to students, faculty and staff in the Eccles Conference Center and discussed his painting techniques, as well as his experiences creating PORTRAIT ARTIST JOHN SONSINI stands in front of some of his paintings in the portraits of Latino men. Norah Eccles Harrison Museum of Art. Sonsini creates portraits of Latino men using oil paint. Banerjee said Sonsini would go to a He said he can finish a painting in five to seven hours. MAKAELA HERRAN photo labor center in Los Angeles for his painting “Hollywood Daylabor Project,” draw names to in order to find the men for his portraits. Sonsini said when he paints he likes his out of a box to choose the man he would He needs to be close to the man he is creatportrait to look like the sitter and his paint paint and then compensate all the men for ing the painting of. to look like paint. All of his portraits are their time. Though Sonsini may be quick with done with oil paint on canvas. Sonsini said he is a fast painter comhis paintbrush, there are more steps to Sonsini said he likes to highlight the pared to many. He can create a portrait in painting a portrait than making the brush reality of the common man through his five to seven hours and once did it in 30 strokes. Sonsini said he spends five hours minutes. Sometimes he will complete a por- pantings. He said he likes to see how the sit- doing a portrait with every new sitter so ter may look like everyone else. trait and it won’t look like he wanted it to, they can get used to what it feels like and so “My portraits are like a fingerprint on so he will scrape it clean and start over, he that Sonsini can get a feel for what it’s like a water glass,” Sonsini said. “They are a said. vague reminder of a very specific presence.” to work with the new sitter. “Certainly, while painting from life, my Some men who want to be painted Sonsini said he works in a 600-squareeye is engaged, but that’s not why I do it,” realize it’s more work than they initially foot studio because he doesn’t need anySonsini said. “ When I paint, my hand is thought it would be when the portrait is thing larger. Puerta Vallarta, Mexico; Los engaged. My paintings are mostly about Angeles, Calif., and Brooklyn, N.Y. are only trying to do something with paint.” - See PAINT, page 4 a few of the locations Sonsini has traveled
Inside This Issue
3/24/10 Students are attracted to certain stereotypes based on looks and how they categorize others. Page 5
Senior football players performed for NFL scouts.
Page 8
to Access Center public meeting
By CHELSEY GENSEL news senior writer
ASUSU President Tyler Tolson named Lacey Nagao as next year’s public relations director and Keenan Nuehring as administrative assistant at Tuesday’s Executive Council meeting. Nagao and Nuehring will replace current Administrative Assistant Nate Robinson and PR director Allie Anderson when the 2010-’11 officers-elect take office. A town hall-style meeting will be held Thursday, March 31, at 6 p.m. for students interested in voicing concerns or asking questions about the new Access Center, which will be the name of the reorganized student services division over under-represented student groups. Diversity Vice President Krista Bustamante said the meeting will be for students only. Vice President of Student Services James Morales and other administrators will not attend. Bustamante said that after the first series of meetings about the Access Center, some students, as well as faculty, felt the faculty and administration voice outweighed the student voice, so this is an opportunity to correct that and give students who haven’t given input the chance to do so. It will be held in the senate chambers on the third floor of the Taggart Student Center. The Executive Council voted during its meeting to enact a bill removing land-line telephones from ASUSU offices to save money. The change will take effect at the beginning of the next fiscal year, though phones will remain in the President’s Office, Senate Office, Programming Office and Service Center. The savings – $15.50 per month, per phone – will be reverted to a general expense fund and will later be allocated to specific initiatives.
- See ASUSU, page 3
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