Fall 2008 - School of Arts and Humanities

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arts humanities
Buffalo State College > The Newsletter of the School of Arts and Humanities > Fall 2008
TFA student Brooke Rewa
Photographs by Bruce Fox
From left: Amy Berman, ’87, Deborah Oppenheimer, ’75, Tom Fontana, ’73, Rich Wall, ’94, Marcia Mulé, ’81, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Tom Calderone, ’86
Photograph by Sharon Cantillon/Buffalo News
Star Alums Guide Growth of Television and Film Arts Program
Seven of Buffalo State’s most successful alumni from the entertainment
industry returned to campus in June to take part in a two-day Television
and Film Arts Symposium—a series of meetings designed to assist with
the long-term strategic direction of the college’s new television and film
arts (TFA) major, www.buffalostate.edu/tvfilm.
The star-studded lineup featured Amy Berman, ’87 (vice president
of casting, HBO Films), Tom Calderone, ’86 (president of VH1), Tom
Fontana, ’73 (Emmy Award–winning producer), Marcia Mulé, ’81 (producer
of Celebrity Poker Showdown and Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List),
Deborah Oppenheimer, ’75 (Oscar-winning documentarian and producer
of The Drew Carey Show), Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Tony Award–winning
actor and author of Lackawanna Blues), and Rich Wall, ’94 (promotions
manager for the Buffalo Sabres). The interdisciplinary TFA curriculum
incorporates courses from the college’s Theater, Communication, and
English departments, along with nine new TFA-specific classes.
TFA majors choose one of two concentrations: writing and storytelling, or directing and producing. Graduates of the program will have a
portfolio that demonstrates they have written, produced, and directed short
films; written short scripts and full-length screenplays; and directed before
a live audience. The highly selective program recently named its inaugural
class of 15 students.
“We aspire to be the public equivalent of a USC, NYU, Syracuse,
Northwestern, or Emerson,” said Jeffrey N. Hirschberg, assistant professor
of television arts. “We want to be on the short list of every talented
potential filmmaker in the country.”
Plans are already in the works for the alumni to gather on campus
for a second symposium, tentatively scheduled for October 2009. In
addition, several members of the group have expressed an interest visiting
professorship opportunities.
“It is important that we just don’t have a once-a-year relationship
with the alumni,” Hirschberg said. “There are a lot of different scenarios
to play out, but we are off to a great start.” Contact Hirschberg at
[email protected]. Visit the TFA website at
www.buffalostate.edu/tvfilm.
Leadership in Creative Expression
“
From Buffalo to the Slovak Republic
Under the leadership of Associate Professor of Design Jozef Bajus, the ongoing relationship between the
Buffalo State fiber design program and artists in Slovakia continues to thrive.
This past spring, Zuzana Gazikova, PhD, Director of the art gallery in Liptovsky Mikulas, Slovakia,
and Associate Professor Julia Sabova from the Department of Textile and the Fashion Studio at the
Academy of Fine Arts and Design (AFAD), Bratislava, Slovakia, came to Buffalo for a week-long residency
in the Design Department. Sabova discussed her current fashion artworks: “Hats” and student projects
from Fashion Studio at AFAD. Gazikova introduced her “Inspiration–Quotation–Interpretation” project
and spoke about the permanent collections of the gallery in Liptovsky Mikulas. Student participants
designed and constructed their own hats, using felt of their own creation.
Subsequent to that event, students and faculty from Buffalo and Slovakia have been making regular
exchange visits. Last spring, four fiber students — Amy Anderson, Keyla Kegler, Teagan Ford, and Hillary
Fayle — visited historical and cultural sites of the Czech and Slovak Republics (May 15–29, 2008) and
attended a workshop on fiber design.
Red felt hat designed by Buffalo State student
Mariko Masubuchi, on exhibit in the Slovak Republic
Faculty Art Chosen by Steuben
A drawing by Art Education Professor Joseph Piccillo was chosen by
Steuben Glass of New York for a limited edition of 25 in its new Fall
2008 collection. The etched glass piece with Piccillo’s drawing of a horse
was on exhibit this summer in New York City. Piccillo earned both his
bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Buffalo State. He is especially well
known for his work in graphite pencil and his depictions of horses. He
has exhibited in numerous galleries, and his work is in the permanent
collections of a number of museums, including the Metropolitan
Museum of Art in New York City.
Steuben Glass was founded in 1903 in Corning, New York. Its glass
creations – named by Forbes as one of the 50 Best Products of America –
are entirely hand-crafted to this day and are considered the highest quality
clear crystal in the world. Steuben Glass has often been the American Gift
of State beginning with President and Mrs. Truman’s gift of a Steuben
bowl to Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip of England on the occasion
of their royal wedding in 1947.
Moscow Trip
Dean Benjamin C. Christy traveled to Moscow this past spring with
music Department chair Bradley Fuster and Fine Arts Department chair
Lin Xia Jiang to facilitate international agreements between Moscow State
University (MSU) and Buffalo State College. While in Moscow, Jiang met
with the coordinator of the MSU painting program and students, visited
studios and attended an exhibition reception. Fuster and Christy performed
a clarinet and percussion duet by American composer Sydney Hodkinson,
which was featured on the 135th birthday concert of Russian composer
Sergei Rachmaninoff. Scholars from MSU will visit Buffalo State this fall.
Steuben’s
The Steed,
created in a limited
edition of 25.
Inspiration–Quotation–Interpretation
”
Arts and Humanities
Moscow State University
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fig.
Letter from the Dean
Dear Friend of Arts and Humanities:
The overarching goal of the School of Arts and Humanities is to gain recognition
for leadership in creative expression. Advancing Buffalo State’s regional and
national academic leadership, A&H initiated three new degree programs, the
arts and letters major (BA), which allows students to craft a customized major in
cultural fields; the writing major (BA) with studio-like workshops
and an inaugural class of 25 select students who will write in the professional
arenas of education, media, technology, and the arts; and the multidisciplinary
television and film arts (TFA) major (BA) featuring a class of 15 students who
will hone their vision and storytelling skills to pursue screenwriting, producing,
editing, and directing.
Detail of model for “Spojovet handbag retail store,” designed by Wai Hoe Loh,
A&H creative associate in interior design
A&H expanded its internationalization initiative at Capital Normal University
(CNU, Beijing) and Moscow State University (MSU). Building on
well-established visual arts exchanges with CNU, Buffalo State music and dance
faculty will perform at CNU in October, followed by presentations at Buffalo
State by three CNU musicians. Our spring 2008 visit to MSU yielded four
partnership agreements and Buffalo State music and visual arts performance
and presentations at MSU, as well as MSU psychology and fine arts faculty visits
to Buffalo State in September and November 2008. These international interactions
inspire students and faculty intellectually and creatively, and enhance our
appreciation and respect for cultural, social, and political diversity.
Closer to home, A&H initiated the Innovations in Creative Expression
speakers series, adopted three public schools (Campus West, School 30, and the
Buffalo Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts), and began a partnership
with Music is Art (led by Robby Takac of the Goo Goo Dolls). Students excelled,
with 412 achieving the Dean’s List (3.5 GPA) in Fall 2007 and 375 in spring
2008. Students received seven of the 16 Undergraduate Summer Research
Fellowships, and 11 visual arts students were honored as creative associates by
the display of their work in the new Dean’s Student Art Gallery.
We can be proud of the accomplishments and leadership demonstrated
throughout the School of Arts and Humanities, as faculty and students establish
a vibrant community of scholars, artists, and professionals. We appreciate your
encouragement and support for student and faculty success and invite you to
join us for the ongoing celebration of creative expression at Buffalo State.
Sincerely,
Benjamin C. Christy
Dean, School of Arts and Humanities
The corridor and conference room
visual arts program as an arts and
one year and then a new roster of
of the dean’s office in Rockwell Hall
humanities creative associate.
creative associates will be selected. The
218 have been designated as a gallery
These extraordinarily talented
students were selected from among
spring. Those interested to see the
visual arts. Each exhibitor was chosen
the 900 visual arts majors at Buffalo
work can call (716) 878-6326 or check
by the faculty to represent his or her
State. Their work will be displayed for
in with the office receptionist.
The Dean of Arts and Humanities’ Student Art Gallery
Margaret Kamholz, A&H creative
associate in ceramics, stoneware vessel
Paintings by Nathan Sutton, A&H creative
associate in art conservation
Corporate identity for “Guys Tuys” by John English,
A&H creative associate in communication design
exhibition opened with a reception last
for work by selected students in the
Casting Call!
The Theater Department is planning for a Casting Hall reunion this spring,
[email protected], and put “Casting Hall
including a welcome event on Friday, March 20, 2009, and a reception and
Reunion” in the subject line. Professor Kahn also
attendance at the Casting Hall production of The Grapes of Wrath on Saturday,
can be reached at (716) 878-6421.
March 21, 2009.
Reunion
fig.
The 2008–2009 Casting Hall season began
Founded under the leadership of Professor Mina S. Goosen, who served
with Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage
on the Buffalo State faculty for 36 years, beginning in 1927, Casting Hall has
Blockhead in October and continues with
long provided the opportunity for students to work on college theatrical
Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night (November 6–15),
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Arts and Humanities
Casting Hall Reunion 2009
productions of the highest quality. The experience has been a formative life
Frank Galati’s stage adaptation of John Steinbeck’s
experience for countless Buffalo State students.
novel The Grapes of Wrath (March 12–21), and a
Maybe you worked with Mina Goosen, or Warren Enters, Don Savage,
dance program, The World Within (April 29–May 2),
or Dennis and Donna McCarthy. If you value your Casting Hall memories and
a collaboration between the college’s dance and
would like to be informed of reunion plans, we want to hear from you. Please
Fiber Design programs.
contact Theater Department chair, Professor Drew Kahn, at
The Casting Hall production
of Artizone, 2007–2008
Acclaim for Art Ed
Grant from the
Seneca Nation
The Department of Modern and
Classical Languages has received
a grant from the Seneca Nation to
fund the curriculum development
for the first two semesters of
Seneca language instruction at
Buffalo State, as well as a Seneca
elder in residence and a number
of extracurricular activities for our
Seneca language students. With
this development, Buffalo State
becomes the only university-level
institution anywhere in the world to
offer courses in Seneca language.
The art education program at Buffalo State, established in 1930, is one of
the oldest and largest state-sponsored preparatory programs for art teachers
in the United States. In 2007–2008, our art education faculty continue
to be highly engaged in the field, as evidenced this year by eight publications
in national refereed journals and texts by professors Shirley Hayes, Alice
Pennisi, Phyllis Thompson, John Siskar, and Mary Wyrick; five nationally
prominent exhibitions by Professor Joseph Piccillo; 32 state, national, and
regional juried or invited presentations by professors Lucy Andrus, Carol
Hammond, Shirley Hayes, Michael Parks, Pennisi, Siskar, and Wyrick;
three significant grants for Siskar; a grant in progress for Professor Kate
Hartman; a statewide New York State Art Teachers Association Members’
Special Citation Award for Parks; the national National Art Education
Association Women’s Caucus Connors Award for Wyrick; and five
assignments as judges for scholarship evaluation and art shows for Siskar
and Wyrick. The excellence of our faculty translates into enriching
experiences for our students and continues to keep Buffalo State at the
forefront of the field.
Art Conservation Interns Span the Globe
Art Conservation Open House
The Art Conservation Department will host an
open house from 2 to 4 p.m. Friday, November 7,
in Rockwell Hall. Meet department students, view
works of art undergoing conservation treatment,
and learn more about the art conservation
graduate program. This event provides a rare
opportunity to observe the materials, techniques,
and equipment used to examine, restore, and
preserve works of art and artifacts of various
cultures. Objects in different stages of conservation
treatment will be on display. Faculty and students
will explain and demonstrate aspects of conservation
principles and practices, and will answer
questions about the department’s graduate
program and the work of conservator,
www.buffalostate.edu/depts/artconservation.
Buffalo State’s art conservation students travel far and wide through
internships to expand their knowledge and hone their skills. For their
summer internships, students traveled to Chicago, Washington D.C.,
Houston, and Atlanta. One student interned at the National Palace
Museum in Taiwan, while others ventured to Greece, Iceland, and Italy
on archeological digs. This fall, the art conservation class of 2009 scattered
across the country for a remarkably diverse array of enriching experiences.
Two students went to Washington, DC, for painting internships at the
Hirschhorn Museum and the National Gallery of Art. One student was a
paper intern at the Philadelphia Museum of Art while another went to
Kansas City, Missouri, to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Four
students were in New York City for internships as the Museum of
Modern Art, the American Museum of Natural History, and the
Metropolitan Museum of Art. One student headed to the Colonial
Williamsburg Foundation for an objects internship, and another was at
the Weissman Preservation Center at Harvard University Library. The art
conservation program at Buffalo State is one of only three such programs
in the United States and one of the most prestigious in the world, with a
100 percent placement rate for its graduates.
Music Mural
Unveiled
A 55-foot mural, donated by artist
Jeff Laibson, was unveiled on the
first floor of Rockwell Hall on
August 25. Laibson is an
accomplished jazz pianist, and
his work gives an appropriate
aesthetic boost to the halls of
the Music Department.
Arts and Humanities
Sixth Annual
Empty Bowls Event
Communication
Accreditation
Celebrating Pharmaceutical History
Through Design
Hundreds of handcrafted bowls
by Western New York students,
teachers, and artists were displayed
and sold at the Empty Bowls
fundraising luncheon this past
spring at Buffalo State’s Rockwell
Hall. Visitors at the May event
selected a handmade bowl, and
enjoyed a simple meal live
entertainment — most for under
$10. These artists’ bowls serve as a
reminder of all the empty bowls
around the world and the need to
fill them.
The Buffalo Niagara
Buffalo State’s Communication
Department has become the only
program in the State University
of New York system to receive
national accreditation for teaching
communication.
The decision came at the May
meeting of the Accrediting Council
on Education in Journalism and
Mass Communications (ACEJMC),
the national body that accredits
professional programs in journalism,
broadcasting, public relations,
advertising and related fields.
Buffalo State is the only
Over a period of 125 years a pharmaceutical company had a distinguished
history on The West Side of Buffalo. It had been known as Westwood,
then Bristol, Myers and Squibb, and now is home to CPL (Contract
Pharmaceuticals, Limited) a Toronto-based company.
CPL approached Buffalo State with an idea. It wanted to
transform an older entrance lobby of the facility into a legacy wall that
would track the history of the company and the transformation of its
facilities and highlight celebrated products from the company’s history:
Keri lotions, Doan’s backache pills, Lowila soap, and Sebulex anti-dandruff shampoos among them.
The project became an internship-style class taught by Professor
Stanley Friesen of the Design Department. Five upper-level communication
design students worked on proposals, presented them, and developed
scale models in LightWave, a 3D modeling program, a physical scale
model, and a website that will be a virtual wall. The group took trips to
Association of Realtors was the
title sponsor for the event. All
public institution among six
schools in New York State that
various printing and exhibit-construction facilities, and museums in the
process of researching the possibilities. Chuck Regier, a museum curator
proceeds, more than $4,800,
benefited the Food Bank of
are accredited. The other schools
are Syracuse, Hofstra, New York
and Smithsonian Fellow, came to speak on exhibit design and gave a
presentation open to the college community. He also met with the
Western New York and Friends
of Night People. Preservice art
University, Iona, and the Columbia
Graduate School of Journalism.
students and a group from CPL.
Currently in the final stages and being prepared for external bids,
teachers in the art education
student chapter played a
significant role in coordinating
the event.
Buffalo State is among 112
colleges and universities nationwide
holding ACEJMC accreditation,
representing only 15 percent of all
institutions offering instruction in
this professional field.
the project continues to be an enriching real-world assignment for the
students involved.
03
fig.
Leadership in
Creative Expression
Bradley Fuster, professor and chair of the Music
The Measure of Intellectual Development based on
Elizabeth Peña, director of art conservation, is off
Aaron Shugar, assistant professor in conservation
Department, has been busy performing as
the William Perry’s (1970) Model of Intellectual
to Rome in November to be a visiting scholar at
science, attended the International Symposium on
timpanist with the Rochester Philharmonic
and Ethical Development will be administered to
the American Academy. She will participate in an
Archaeometry in Siena, Italy, in May 2008, taking
Orchestra and as a percussionist with the Buffalo
a control and comparison group. The study also
international course organized by ICCROM, the
with him the poster presentations of three art
Philharmonic Orchestra. He has performed on five
will investigate differences in the intellectual
international conservation organization on
conservation students.
different recordings with the Buffalo Philharmonic,
development of students involved in intradiscipli-
“sharing conservation decisions.”
which are scheduled for International release
nary and interdisciplinary learning communities.
Deborah Silverman, assistant professor of
Allen Podet, professor of philosophy and
communication, has been named “Practitioner
Fuster collaborated with Music Department
Carlos Jones, assistant professor of dance, has
Humanities at Buffalo State College, has been
of the Year” by the Buffalo-Niagara chapter of
pianists Bryan Boyce and Ivan Docenko, and
been recognized by the SUNY Faculty Diversity
invited by the US Department of Education to
the Public Relations Society of America. This is
Buffalo Philharmonic timpanist Dinesh Joseph,
Program for his teaching, scholarship and service,
join the selection board for Fulbright awards.
the local chapter’s highest award. The ceremony
performing Bela Bartok’s Sonata for Two Pianos
and his ability to respond to the learning needs of
The board, which meets in Washington, DC,
will take place June 19 as part of the annual
and Percussion. Bartok performances were
students from diverse backgrounds. Jones
evaluates and selects individuals and institutions
Excalibur Awards.
presented at Buffalo State College, University
was nominated by the faculty of the Buffalo State
to receive funding, including the prestigious
at Buffalo, and Syracuse University throughout
College Theater Department where he is an
Fulbright Scholarship. Podet is himself a Fulbright
Gregory Dale Smith, Andrew W. Mellon assistant
spring 2008.
assistant professor.
Scholar who was awarded a year in Jerusalem to
professor in conservation science, recently
research philosophical manuscripts.
presented a lecture, “What's Wrong with This
under the NAXOS label. As a chamber musician,
Lisa Hunter, assistant professor of music
Karen Sands-O’Connor, associate professor of
education, has been awarded the 2008 Active and
English, delivered a keynote address at the
Peter Ramos, assistant professor of English, has a
the Rochester Section of the American Chemical
Picture: The Analysis of a Known Forgery for
Collaborative Learning Faculty Fellowship by the
fourth Iberian Congress on Literature for Children
new collection of poems, Please Do Not Feed the
Society.” The professional organization of some
Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching
in San Sebastian, Spain, organized by OEPLI
Ghost, published by BlazeVox Books.
1,000 chemists in the six-county Rochester area
presents a series of lectures highlighting the role of
and Learning (CASTL) Program at Buffalo State
(Spanish Board on Books for Children) in July,
College. Her study will assess the intellectual
and then traveled to the United Kingdom where
Stephen Saracino and Jozef Bajus received a grant
development of first-year learning community
she and assistant professor of English Jennifer
from the Research Foundation titled “Building an
this fall at a conference on diversity in heritage
students and traditional first-year students.
Ryan led the college’s first-ever graduate student
International Educational Link between the
conservation in New Delhi, India.
abroad program for seven Buffalo State English
Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava,
graduate students.
Slovakia, and Buffalo State College.”
chemistry in the arts. Smith also made a presentation
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arts humanities
Buffalo State College > Rockwell Hall 222 > 1300 Elmwood Avenue >
Buffalo, NY 14222 > (716) 878-6326 > Fax: (716) 878-6914
www.buffalostate.edu/artsandhumanities
Benjamin C. Christy, Dean, School of Arts and Humanities
Nonprofit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit No. 277
Buffalo, NY
Carolyn Fusco, Executive Assistant to the Dean > Susan Kendt, Secretary
to the Dean > Kerran L. Sanger, Associate Dean > Denise M. Zenicki,
Secretary to the Dean
Dean’s Office
School of Arts and Humanities
Rockwell Hall 222
Buffalo State College
1300 Elmwood Avenue
Buffalo, NY 14222-1095
EDITOR > Anthony Chase, Assistant to the Dean
ART DIRECTOR > Lynda H. Donati
DESIGNER > Chantel D. Kutzbach
WRITERS > Tony Astran, Phyllis A. Camesano, Jerod Dahlgren
PHOTOGRAPHER > Bruce A. Fox
This publication is available in large print or other accessible
formats upon request.
Buffalo State College is an affirmative action/equal opportunity institution that subscribes to all federal, state, and
SUNY legal requirements and does not discriminate against applicants, students, or employees on the basis of race,
sex, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, or marital or veteran status. Any violation
of this policy should be reported to the Equity and Campus Diversity Office, Cleveland Hall 415, (716) 878-6210.
It is the policy of Buffalo State College that no otherwise qualified person with a disability shall, solely by reason of
the disability, be excluded from participation in employment or access to programs of the college.
0809-53
WNY’s First High School Honor Band
Sixty Western New York high school students, representing thirteen different high schools and selected
by their band directors for their talent and skill, participated in the first Buffalo State College High
School Honor Band concert on a glorious weekend in May. Organized by Buffalo State music
professors Ricky Flemming and Lisa Hunter with the assistance of the Music Department’s
Collegiate Music Educators National Conference (CMENC) chapter, student musicians rehearsed
with department faculty and special guest Rodney Dorsey, associate director of bands at the
University of Michigan. This preparation culminated in a Sunday concert in Rockwell Hall
Auditorium attended by nearly 600 audience members, with selections by acclaimed composers
Frank Ticheli and Malcolm Arnold. The program was sponsored by CMENC for the Buffalo State
College Arts and Humanities Innovations in Creative Expression speaker series.
WNY High School Honor Band
*
BONJOUR
French Language Suite
Buffalo State enriches the experience of French majors with the opportunity to live in the French
Language Suite. This on-campus residential experience provides students with the opportunity to
expand their French language skills by living in a French-speaking environment. Additional perks
include a DVD library of French/Francophone films; a comprehensive French/English language library
of history, culture, literature, and reference materials specific to France and the Francophone world; and
the availability of French lessons in French cooking and other activities — available only to residents
of the French Language Suite. The suite has undergone major upgrades, receiving new furniture,
paint, and carpet.
www.buffalostate.edu/artsandhumanities