Fall 2012 - Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts

Virginia Commonwealth University
School of the Arts | PO Box 842519
Richmond, Virginia | 23284-2519
arts.vcu.edu
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Richmond, Virginia
Studio
Fall 2012
GR E E TIN G S FR O M D E AN J O S E P H H . S E IP E L
I’ve been part of VCUarts for more than 35 years, and I’ve never been more optimistic about the
potential of our school and our community than I am at this moment.
T H E V I R G I N I A C O M M O N W E A LT H U N I V E R S I T Y
INSTITUTE FOR CONTEMPOR ARY ART
Our students continue to contribute to the community and the world with their work and innovation.
Their exhibitions, projects, performances and scholarly contributions are making positive impacts on their
respective fields and adding to the stellar reputation of VCUarts. Students are taking their collaborative
ideas and running full speed ahead with support from VCUarts research grant programs and other funding
opportunities. They are creating blogs to capture and share their internship experiences and study abroad
trips to Scotland, Peru, Italy and other locations. The enthusiasm is palpable when a student returns from
our sister campus in Doha, Qatar after either the Tasmeem International Design Conference or the biennial
Symposium on Islamic Art, or a semester-long exchange.
These things occur throughout the year, each year, but right now we have something particularly
exciting taking shape.
As I write this, world renowned Steven Holl Architects’ design for the forthcoming 38,000 square
foot VCU Institute for Contemporary Art, has been completed. If the inertia of our fundraising efforts
continue, we anticipate breaking ground in 2013 and opening in 2015. The ICA will be a new gateway
to the university and bring the most important, cutting-edge contemporary art exhibitions in the
world to campus and our city. We have reached $20 million of our $32 million goal, and we’re closing
in on the rest.
We are the top ranked art school within a public research university, allowing for opportunities and
collaborations including the groundbreaking interdisciplinary programs connecting our students
across our campus with medicine, engineering, business and the humanities. Faculty and students
are conducting research and forming collaborations that continue to delve into new territory.
Our graduates become part of our community and make their mark in major arts centers across the
country and around the globe. Our alumni have gone on to be recognized as leaders in their respective
fields and have made us proud to have been part of their artistic and intellectual development. They’ve
received every major award you can think of in their disciplines. Strong lifelong relationships start
here at VCUarts. And some of us find ourselves here after more than three decades because of the
energy of the students, the school and the community. It’s where many want to be.
We’re very pleased with our national ranking, but no less proud of the people who compose this special
place we call VCUarts.
Best regards,
Joe Seipel
Dean, VCUarts
Part exhibition and performance space, part lab and incubator, the 38,000square-foot VCU Institute for Contemporary Art will feature a series of
flexible programming spaces for the presentation of visual art, theater, music,
dance and film for both on-campus and public audiences. The facility will
present innovative art of our time from around the world, and will include a
250-seat performance space, outdoor plazas, a sculpture garden, classrooms,
a café and offices.
VCUarts Remains the Top Ranked Public Art School in the U.S.
U.S. News & World Report graduate program rankings came out in March, and once again VCUarts is
#4 when compared to public and private art programs. We maintain our #1 public ranking, and many
of our programs have done the same, or even increased their standings!
Ranking Among All U.S. Programs
(Public and Private)
Ranking Among U.S. Public Programs
#4
#1
Sculpture
#1
#1
Fiber Arts
#4
#1
Graphic Design
#5
#1
Glass
#5
#1
Painting
#7
#2
Ceramics
#9
#6
Metals/Jewelry
#10
#5
Printmaking
#10
#9
Photography
#13
#4
Multimedia/Visual Communications
#14
#3
VCUarts Graduate Program
Overall
VCUarts Department of Interior Design is ranked #10 nationally by DesignIntelligence 2012 America’s Best Architecture and
Design Schools and the Design Council. And Dance and Choreography is an invited member of the Council of Dance Administrators (CODA),
a forum of the nation’s 25 leading dance programs.
Anticipated to open in 2015, the ICA will be located at Belvidere and Broad
Streets, one of Richmond’s busiest intersections. It will enhance and
expand the role of the arts on campus, serving as both an academic and
extracurricular resource for students and faculty from every department.
Steven Holl Architects: Forking Time (through October 18)
Drawings and models created during the conception of the ICA design.
Virginia Center for Architecture, 2501 Monument Avenue, Richmond
On the Cover
Dress on cover was created by Morgan Swank in the junior dresses
class, and shown at the Annual Fashion Show. Photo: Jay Paul.
2012 Windmueller Lecture: Steven Holl
Monday, October 15, 6:00 pm
W.E. Singleton Center for the Performing Arts, 922 Park Avenue, Richmond
Free, no ticket required, but space is limited.
We are fortunate that Steven Holl Architects will have an exhibition of the
ICA models and watercolors at the Virginia Center for Architecture through
mid October. Holl, pictured left, is the recipient of the American Institute
of Architects’ 2012 Gold Medal and will be speaking as our Windmueller
Lecturer on October 15th.
ica.vcu.edu
ANDERSON GALLERY
Dance Alumna, A “Top 25 Dancer,”
Visits Department
arts.vcu.edu/dance/current-season
Leslie Kraus, 2003 Dance alumna, will be visiting the
department in October in her professional capacity as
dancer with Kate Weare Company. She was recognized
for outstanding dancing in Dance Magazine’s annual
list of Top 25 Dancers to Watch. Leslie routinely acts
as Weare’s assistant director, most recently for a
commissioned work on dance students at the NYU
Tisch School. In 2009, critic Deborah Jowitt of The
Village Voice wrote, “(Leslie) Kraus is amazing –
demon and angel.”
Two Exhibitions in Richmond Celebrate the Career of
JUDITH GODWIN
arts.vcu.edu/andersongallery
www.vmfa.state.va.us
Judith Godwin: Early Abstractions
Sept 7 – Dec 9, 2012 Anderson Gallery, VCU School of the Arts
Kate Weare Company is a New York-based contemporary
dance group creating and performing the work of Weare,
characterized by fierce physicality, thoughtfulness and
authenticity. Weare’s dances explore a contemporary
view of intimacy – both stark and tender – by drawing on
our most basic urge to move and decode movement.
Gesture: Judith Godwin and Abstract Expressionism
Sept 8, 2012 – Jan 26, 2013 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
New York-based painter Judith Godwin, a Virginia native and graduate
of Richmond Professional Institute, now VCU, will have concurrent
exhibitions at VCUarts Anderson Gallery and VMFA.
Photo: Keira Heu-Jwyn Chang.
Dancers: Luke Murphy and Leslie Kraus.
After graduation from RPI in 1952, Godwin moved to New York City
during a period of major growth in post-war American art. She pushed the
burgeoning abstraction in her work and, over the next decade, her imagery
evolved into powerful nonobjective compositions. She achieved considerable
success, exhibiting her works at the Stable Gallery and becoming the
youngest woman ever to show at Betty Parsons. Among her various awards,
she received an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from VCU in 1989.
The night prior to her Anderson Gallery opening, Godwin sat down with
VCUarts Dean Joe Seipel and curator René Barilleaux, among students,
faculty and the public, to discuss her work and career.
Judith Godwin, Divisions, 1955 (detail); oil on canvas, 72 x 52 1/4 inches. Image courtesy the McNay
Museum of Art, San Antonio, Texas. On view at VCUarts Anderson Gallery. Image courtesy of the artist.
Our Own Ulrich Examines the
American Consumer Psyche
ANDERSON GALLERY
From mid-January to mid-March, 2013, Photography
and Film Assistant Professor Brian Ulrich will
present his work at the VCUarts Anderson Gallery.
His photographs in Copia – Retail, Thrift, and
Dark Stores, 2001–11, includes nearly 60 photos
that explore the economic, cultural and political
implications of commercialism and American
consumer culture.
Recent ceramic sculptures by artist Arlene
Shechet, can be seen at the VCUarts Anderson
Gallery through December 9, 2012. And, our
fortunate Craft/Material Studies students will
have Shechet as a visiting artist this fall.
Shechet has favored improvisational methods
and a trial-and-error process over methodical and
technical facility. At once comically awkward
and elegantly poised, her paradoxical forms teeter
and bulge in multiple directions, defying their
own weight.
“We are so pleased to feature this powerful body
of work by Brian, who joined the VCUarts faculty
last year and is quickly building an impressive
international reputation,” says Anderson Gallery
Director Ashley Kistler.
In conjunction with Copia, the Anderson Gallery
is organizing a companion installation of artifacts
and related materials from the artist’s personal
archive, providing a wider historical context. Both
exhibitions will open with a public reception on
Friday evening, January 18, 2013 from 5 to 7 pm.
Shechet is the subject of much recent critical
acclaim, including the cover story of Art in America
in January 2012, and New York Magazine’s Top Ten
Art Shows of 2010 by Jerry Saltz.
Left: Who and Who and How and More, 2012. Glazed ceramic,
glazed kiln bricks, and wood; 57.5 x 26 x 36 inches, overall.
Photo: Alan Wiener. Collection of Ellen and Fred Elsas.
Right: Tough Puff, 2008 (detail). Glazed ceramic, Hydrocal plaster,
concrete and steel; 65 x 26.5 x 24 inches. Photo: Alan Wiener.
Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
ANDERSON GALLERY
The exhibition was organized by the Cleveland
Museum of Art and made possible by the Fred and
Laura Ruth Bidwell Foundation.
Left: Untitled, 2005 (0505).
VCUarts Around the Globe
Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration
in Florence
Summer 2012 initiates the Florence Design Program,
an academic collaboration between the Departments of
Fashion, Interior, and Graphic Design in coordination
with VCU Study Abroad. This opportunity replaces the
previous Architectural Study tour and now provides
a more feasible opportunity for students to study
internationally. The program provides a home base and
private studio in Florence, Italy, for students to have a
more consistent design study program. Additionally, it
provides an interdisciplinary design experience with
fashion, interior and graphic design students.
Jazz Exchange Brings Greater Cultural Understanding
VCU Jazz received an International Partnerships Major Initiatives Award
grant to bring American and African citizens together in musical and
personal understanding. The project brings together students and faculty
of VCU Jazz Studies and the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South
Africa over the course of this academic year.
Multimedia Artist Zerbe Tackles Body Issues
zerbetron.com
Award Winning Animation Making World Tour
arts.vcu.edu/yshen
The White Snake, Ying-Fang Shen’s animation, that tells of a tragic romance
of human male and female snakes, was shown at multiple international
venues. The Communication Arts assistant professor’s animation, based
on ancient Chinese folklore, has been screened at the Annecy International
Film Festival, Annecy, France; Festival of Film Animation, Olomouc,
Czech Republic; and the Urban Nomad Film Festival, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Recognition includes a merit award at the 32nd Golden Harvest Film Festival
in Taipei, Taiwan as well as an exhibition at FLUXUS 2010 International Film
Festival at the Museum of Image and Sound in São Paulo, Brazil.
Buddhist Art Research in Nepal
Kerry Brown, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Art History, studies
Newar Buddhist art in Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley. Her research in Nepal has
been supported by a Fulbright IIE Fellowship and a P.E.O Scholar Award.
Tony Garcia, director of VCU Jazz Studies says, “Researching the
parallels in racial/cultural divides in our respective cities, Richmond (the
former Confederate capital) and Durban (only recently having outlawed
apartheid) is a must. I firmly believe that since all music comes from people,
and all people come from a culture, understanding music requires a better
understanding of people and their culture.”
Erin Zerbe, another interesting and successful Kinetic Imaging graduate,
is a multimedia artist working in new media, video, photography and
performance. Her work focuses on human interactions and relationships
with the body, tackling issues of body image and fatness. She teaches at Siena
Heights University in Michigan and recently had her work included in the
first international Dublin Biennial. See a wonderful video interview with
Zerbe on zerbetron.com. She is pictured here with the Lord Mayor of Dublin.
The trip made an important impact on student Justin Esposito. “This
cultural exchange taught me how to communicate to others my views of
cultural representation and values that I had obtained in the United States.
At the same time, I learned how to not push my values upon others who differ.”
Brass Quintet Performs & Teaches in Colombia
Student Film in Salento Film Festival
VCU’s student brass quintet, the Park Avenue Brass, and their faculty
mentor Ross Walter, D.M.A., traveled to Cartagena, Colombia in May for a
week of concerts and teaching in the city’s youth orchestra programs.
arts.vcu.edu/cinema
The group was invited to Colombia by the Fundacion Tocando Puertas Para
Abrir Futuros, a foundation dedicated to bettering the lives of children
through music and education. The president of the foundation became
involved with the VCUarts Department of Music when the group began its
yearly sponsorship of Colombian high-school students participating in the
VCU/Richmond Symphony Orchestra Project summer camp.
To support the mission of the foundation, VCU’s Park Avenue Brass
collected musical instruments for the music programs in Colombia that
serve impoverished children, with hopes of providing enough instruments
to support a brass quintet in the Cartagena program.
During the 2011 Cinema Program’s Summer Intensive in which the juniors
and seniors participate, five films were shot in 35mm. Laila, written by
Yossera Bouchtia (living and working in NYC), produced by Alex Denison
and Jasce Burrow (both studying in Spain), and Duy Nguyen (working
in Richmond), was accepted into the Salento Film Festival in Italy, which
takes place as this publication goes to print. Laila tells of the struggles of a
Moroccan immigrant mother trapped in a polygamous marriage.
Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar
Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar, our sister campus in the
Middle East, began in 1999 with 33 female students and offered Graphic
Design, Interior Design and Fashion Design. Today, there are 244 male
and female students, 55 faculty members and 367 alumni. VCUQatar
now offers a Painting and Printmaking BFA, a BA in Art History with an
Islamic focus, as well as a MFA in Design Studies.
qatar.vcu.edu
VCUQatar has made significant contributions to the state of Qatar
and the region by providing outstanding design education, producing
innovative research, advancing the design profession and participating
in the community.
Complicated Pleasures at VCUQatar
VCUQatar Design Entrepreneurship Network
Students & Faculty Exhibit Work at Dubai’s Design Days
www.mrjoneswatches.com
Aspiring design entrepreneurs in Qatar were in luck this past May, as
VCUQatar launched the Design Entrepreneurship Network in the presence
of VCUQatar students, alumni and partners from the industry.
VCUQatar’s Master of Fine Arts in Design Studies (MFA.DESIGN.) faculty
and students presented a curated exhibition of their new work titled Eastmodernism at Design Days Dubai in March. “East-modernism overlays the rich
artistic heritage of the Middle East over the foundations of modern design as it
utilizes traditions of local crafts, revived and reused in a new unusual context,”
says Constantin Boym, former director of MFA.DESIGN. and curator of the
exhibition. “East-modernism is a wink at Postmodernism, characterized by
multiplicity of meaning, irony, and cultural criticism,” he adds.
As part of the Crossing Boundaries Lecture Series, VCUQatar presented
a lecture by renowned interaction designer Crispin Jones entitled
Complicated Pleasures in February. Jones spoke about the projects he has
worked on over the past decade, focusing particularly on how he moved from
making one-off experimental works into producing his own product ranges.
Crispin Jones is a London-based designer who works at the intersection of
Art and Design – broadly Critical Design. His work uses the language and
tools of product design to articulate a critical perspective.
Jones currently designs and produces his own range of products under the
Tengu and Mr Jones Watches brands.
VCUQatar aims to support design-led innovation and startup business
ambitions delivering high value to partner organizations, communities
and the region. This Design Entrepreneurship Network helps aspiring
entrepreneurs at a crucial time as they move from the identification and
planning stage through to launch and implementation of their business.
Above: VCUQatar Dean Allyson Vanstone
The exhibition included East-modern furniture by Constantin and Laurene
Boym; Sadu Thread Cabinet by VCUQ Assistant Professor Thomas Modeen;
Middlefield, a foosball table by Assistant Professor Paolo Cardini; and Vessel
Revisions by VCUarts Sculpture alumnus Benjamin Jurgensen.
Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar
McKean Collaborates With Bemis Center
arts.vcu.edu/rbproject
This summer, the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts
presented our own Michael Jones McKean’s The Rainbow:
Certain Principles of Light and Shapes Between Forms. The
project was a simple, but phenomenal visual event — a
rainbow in the sky, which produced temporary rainbows
above the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha,
Nebraska using the most elemental materials: sunlight
and rainwater.
This commissioned artwork and exhibition by VCUarts
Sculpture + Extended Media Assistant Professor McKean,
represents extensive cross-disciplinary collaboration.
Irrigation and rainwater harvesting experts, structural
and mechanical engineers, atmospheric scientists,
plumbing and electrical experts and Bemis Center staff
joined McKean in creating a wholly integrated system for
this site-specific, temporary work.
Beaded Prayers Impress Many at VCUQatar
The Beaded Prayers Project was launched in 1998 as an international,
collaborative project to celebrate diversity and unity through a
participatory art form. Since then, over 5000 people, from 35 countries,
have participated in the project by creating and contributing the beaded
packets exhibited at VCUQatar this past Spring. There are four parts to the
project: lecture, workshop, traveling exhibition, and reflective publication.
The exhibition at VCUQatar represents the culmination of this project,
concluding a tour that has taken it to more than 25 venues. The Beaded
Prayers Project is curated and directed by Sonya Clark, chair of Craft/
Material Studies, VCU Richmond. Collaborator in this project is Sara
Wilson McKay, chair of the Department of Art Education, VCU Richmond.
McKean is a former artist-in-residence of the Bemis Center
and, since 2002, he has conducted ongoing experiments
leading to the production of this work.
God is the Light of the
Heavens and the Earth:
Light in Islamic Art
and Culture
International Design Conference Coming in March
Islamic Art Symposium to be held in Palermo, Sicily
tasmeemdoha.com
islamicartdoha.org
Tasmeem Doha is a leading biennial international design and art
conference held at VCUQatar in Doha, Qatar. For the past seven years,
Tasmeem has gathered and engaged scholars, students, community
members and practitioners to discuss and scrutinize critical issues
in design and art. The 2013 Tasmeem conference will take place
March 10–17 under the theme “hybrid making.”
The fifth biennial Hamad bin Khalifa Symposium on Islamic Art, God is
the Light of the Heavens and the Earth: Light in Islamic Art and Culture,
will be held November 9–11, 2013 in Palermo, Sicily. We are delighted that
our keynote speaker will be the acclaimed visual artist, Iranian-born Shirin
Neshat, whose photographic and videographic work is literally created
with light.
Student Documents Womens’ Stories
Zoë Dehmer, a junior earning her BFA in Photography,
is collaborating with a Social and Behavioral Health
student on a service learning project in Richmond's
Whitcomb public housing community collecting
personal stories about poor women’s health and life
experiences. They interviewed women, building
relationships and familiarity within the community,
and have created a video documentary and a photo
collection. Zoë, her partner and professors from
Social and Behavioral Health, have also earned
a $50,000 international travel grant for service
learning. In the spring they, along with people
from the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing
Authority, will fly to Durban, South Africa. Zoë will
be teaching "photo voice" to children in a public
housing community there.
Two New Department Chairs. One Now. One Soon.
David Shields joins us as Chair of the Department of Graphic Design. He was
previously an associate professor in the Design Division of the Department of
Art and Art History at The University of Texas at Austin from 2004–2012 and
served as the design custodian, a position he created, for the Rob Roy Kelly
American Wood Type Collection from 2008–2012. Shields taught at a number
of institutions in the New York region, and received his MFA from Cranbrook
Academy of Art. His research focuses on 19th century typographic form and
visual culture arising from investigations of Rob Roy Kelly’s American Wood
Type Collection (www.woodtyperesearch.com).
Above: TheatreVCU’s April production of The 25th Annual Putnam County
Spelling Bee. Conceived by Rebecca Feldman with music and lyrics by William
Finn, directed by Gary C. Hopper. A hilarious tale of six geeky adolescent
overachievers vying for the spelling championship of a lifetime.
Upcoming TheatreVCU Productions
arts.vcu.edu/theatre
September/October 2012: Noises Off
Written by Michael Frayn • Directed by Anita Maynard-Losh
Called “the funniest farce ever written,” Tony Award nominated Noises Off
follows an acting company’s struggles to prepare and perform a British sex
comedy called “Nothing On.” Everything that can go wrong does, as actors
desperately try to hang on to their lines, their performances and the furniture.
September 28–29 & October 4–6, 7:30 pm
September 30 & October 7, 3:00 pm
First-Year Students Show Video Shorts
In Fall 2011, the VCUarts Art Foundation Program hosted its first 60×60×60
film festival. It consisted of 60 short video pieces made by first year Art
Foundation Students. The Grace Street Theater was packed with an excited
crowd of students, faculty and friends. Our guest judges, faculty from other
VCUarts departments, chose 5 winners: Theresa Ramirez, Jessica Kusuma,
Alvalia Pemberton, Michael Opecker and Perrin Turner.
In the spring, those same Art Foundation students went on to represent
VCUarts via an electronic billboard campaign (shown here). Also
significant, Theresa Ramirez’s video was later shown, amongst VCUarts
faculty, graduate students and alumni, at the New Waves exhibition in
March at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art.
Pictured: feet and red hat of Hope Ginsburg, Assistant Professor, Art Foundation Program &
Department of Painting + Printmaking; Matt King, Assistant Professor, Art Foundation Program &
Department of Sculpture + Extended Media; Art Foundation students Dylan Halpern, Jennifer
Walls, Theresa Ramirez, Jessica Kusuma, Alvalia Pemberton, Michael Opecker and Perrin Turner.
November/December 2012: Avenue Q, The Musical
Music and Lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, Book by Jeff Whitty •
Sasha Waters Freyer will join the Department of Photography and Film
in January, 2013 as chair. She is a filmmaker, mother, teacher and amateur
dressmaker. Her films have featured dominatrixes, coal miners, artists,
children and activists – inhabitants of the margins of our mediated
landscapes. Her work has screened widely, including on the Sundance
Channel, the Tribeca, Woodstock and Ann Arbor Film Festivals, and
the National Museum for Women in the Arts. Her award-winning 2003
documentary, Razing Appalachia, about a community fight against strip
mining in Blair, WV, was broadcast on PBS and in more than 30 countries.
We are happy to welcome David and Sasha to the VCUarts family.
Directed by Patti D’Beck
Avenue Q is Broadway’s smash hit – winner of the 2004 Tony Awards for Best
Musical. Featuring a cast of people and puppets who tell the story of adult life
in NYC in a smart funny and downright raunchy way.
November 9–10, 15–17 & November 29–Dec 1, 7:30 pm
November 11, 18 & December 2, 3:00 pm
February 2013: The Colored Museum
Written by George C. Wolfe • Directed by Tawnya Pettiford-Wates
The Colored Museum’s sharp wit takes aim at stereotypes, self-loathing
and assimilation within the African-American community. Created as
a vaudevillian mosaic of exhibits, each one fearlessly spans the history
of African American experience and culture, while mocking stereotypes.
Twenty-six years later, Wolfe’s funny and shocking themes still resonate with
the hope that these are exhibits of the past, and not living moments or models
for our future.
February 15 & 16 & 21-23, 7:30 pm
February 17 & 24, 3:00 pm
April 2013: Sweeney Todd: The Play
Written by Christopher Bond • Directed by Barry Bell
VCU Music sponsors and hosts over
200 concerts and events on campus
and around Richmond each year.
Keep up to date:
arts.vcu.edu/music_events
Dark, nightmarish and thrilling, Bond’s play, that Sondheim’s musical is based
on, follows the barber Sweeney Todd as he plots his bloody revenge against
the judge who betrayed and deported him on false charges. A tale of obsession,
and a man driven to madness by injustice.
April 4 & 6, 11–13 & 18–20, 7:30pm
April 7, 14 & 21, 3:00 pm
Dates subject to change.
Sculpture Alumna Receives
Prestigious Dedalus Fellowship
alinatenser.com
Alina Tenser, a recent MFA Sculpture graduate,
was chosen as a 2012 recipient of the Dedalus
Foundation MFA Fellowship. The Dedalus
Foundation was founded by artist Robert
Motherwell to foster the public understanding of
modern art and modernism and each year awards
two MFA Fellowships nationally, each with a
stipend of $20,000.
The Foundation awards only two fellowships
annually, chosen by a committee of distinguished
artists and critics. Congratulations to Alina on this
impressive accomplishment.
Left: wiff of black ice, Alina Tenser.
VCUarts Cinémathéque
arts.vcu.edu/cinematheque
Independent 35 mm Art Films shown at the Grace
Street Theatre on the following Tuesdays:
SEPTEMBER 25
Silent Souls by Aleksei Fedorchenko
OCTOBER 16
Punishment Park by Peter Watkins
OCTOBER 23
Tropical Malady by Apichatpong Weerasethakul
NOVEMBER 20
The Arc by Rob Tregenza
NOVEMBER 27
Oslo, August 31 by Joachim Trier
DECEMBER 4
Revanche by Götz Spielmann
Free and open to the public on a first-come basis.
Films begin at 7pm.
934 W. Grace Street
Brought to you by VCUarts Cinema Program.
VCUarts Fashion Show Wows Again
arts.vcu.edu/fashion
It was another sold-out show at the Virginia
Museum of Fine Arts, for the highly anticipated VCU
Department of Fashion Design and Merchandising's
annual juried show. On May 6th, the show RAW
floored the crowd as volunteer models paraded 128
garments from 61 fashion design students, exploring
“the DNA of fashion” and “the raw materials and the
elements of construction.”
The garments were chosen in April by a panel of
fashion designers, manufacturers, retailers and
sponsors. The advanced show-production Fashion
Merchandising class directed lighting, music,
model selection, ticket sales and promotion. VCU
fashion alumna Patricia Honeycutt-Cantor, who
has Harper’s Bazaar magazine and Lacoste on her
resume, returned as commentator.
Prints and Possibilities
Fashion’s Kim Guthrie initiated an exceptionally beneficial collaboration
for participating Fashion and Communication Arts students in spring
semester. Faculty and students worked with the Diane von Furstenberg
label to create an artistic and design incubator. Students worked in teams
to design prints inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s heroines, color palettes of
wintry seascapes, imagery of Richard Serra’s drawings, and the energy of
Keith Haring. This collaboration presented a working environment that
crossed the line between high fashion and applied art – the very model
that both industries are reliant upon.
The Art of Nursing
Art Education graduate students and faculty worked with the School of
Nursing to develop a program that explores the usefulness of art criticism –
the ability to observe, interpret, and evaluate works of art – as a way to
enhance nurses’ clinical reasoning and perceptual skills. The project, a VCU
Presidential Research Incentive Program, led by Art Education Chair Sara
Wilson-McKay and Jeanne M Walter from Nursing, focuses on enhancement
of clinical reasoning skills to improve patient outcomes. Results suggest that
students’ clinical reasoning skills benefit from the museum-based experience,
particularly in the arenas of precise and thoughtful communication,
consideration of diverse points of view, awareness of contextual details, and
collaborative critical thinking, among others.
Above: Art Ed students facilitate discussions among nursing students about art installations
at the VMFA.
Tanner’s Portrait Graces Cover of American Artist
davidtannerfineart.com
VCUarts Painting and Printmaking alumni, David Tanner, paints representational
oil paintings. His self-portrait won 1st prize in American Artist magazine’s annual
competition, and is featured on the September 2012 cover of this respected
publication. He says his piece was “created over the course of maybe 6 hours with
no preparatory drawings and little regard to the outcome”.
The effect on the students was profound. “The project was invaluable
to me in discovering how two different kinds of visual communications
can blend with such success using teamwork,” said Al Lukehart, recent
Communication Arts graduate.
“I thought this project was one of the most successful of my time at VCU
because being able to utilize another major’s skills in my designing
opened up more possibilities and made the whole project more complete
and professional,” remarked Anna Covington, Fashion student.
*AF
Re --- Thinking
Richmond Design
SW
Storefront
VCUarts Graphic Design
and Interior Design
May 4
5 — 9 pm
205 East Broad
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Interdisciplinary Collaboration for
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*AF = ART FIXERS
design — john — o — loves — joni — 12
MoB+Storefront operates on the belief that good design makes
a healthier city where citizens participate more fully in their
environment, their government and their culture. MoB is a
partnership of three design departments of VCUarts, Graphic
Design, Fashion Design and Interior Design and one department
from the Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs,
Urban and Regional Planning. These departments operate an
experimental design lab that realizes the potential of design to
shape the city.
The Storefront for Community Design is Richmond’s non-profit
design assistance center, improving the quality of design in the
city by facilitating access to design and planning resources.
MoB+Storefront is a partnership between MoB and The Storefront
for Community Design that joins the energy, enthusiasm
and expertise of VCU students and faculty with Storefront's
community connections. Together they design the city from a
bike rack to our neighborhoods, from Barton Heights, Carver
and Church Hill to the River.
Above: VCUarts faculty members Kristin Casky (Fashion Design + Merchandising), John
Malinoski (Graphic Design) and Camden Whitehead (Interior Design) at the new location
on Broad Street. Photo by Anne Graves.
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Craft/Material Studies Department Hosts First Alumni Event
More than sixty graduates attended Craft’s first reunion on May 5th. It was great
seeing familiar faces and connecting with former students and faculty. Work
of our current graduate students was exhibited at The Visual Arts Center of
Richmond, and our newest department graduates had an exhibition at the Fine
Arts Building Gallery. The graduate thesis exhibition was held at the VCUarts
Anderson Gallery.
Awards were given to the following alumni:
Travis Townsend: Excellence in Studio Practice – Mid-Career Alumni Artist Award
Katie Glusica: Excellence in Studio Practice – Emerging Alumni Artist
Sayaka Suzuki: Dedication to the Field and Education at VCU Alumni Award
Katie Hudnall: “Crazy Awesome Woodworker” Alumni Award (as nominated by
alumni Travis Townsend)
Left: an event poster by John Malinoski.
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id
Art History PhD Candidate Shows Work in NY
PhD student Samina Iqbal exhibited her work, Utensils, in Erasing Borders
2012: Exhibition of Contemporary Indian Art of the Diaspora at the Crossing
Art Gallery in New York City. She was awarded funding from the School of
the Arts to attend the opening reception of the show. In April, Samina
presented her paper titled, Objects of Changing Notion: Adeela Suleman
and Contemporary Sculpture in Pakistan at SASA.
Above: Load Shedding, 2'x3', Acrylic on Canvas, 2008
Students Organize & Attend Exhibition at VMFA
Art History graduate students and faculty attended the opening of the
student organized exhibition of Making History: Twentieth Century
African American Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Graduate
Student Curators shown with Dean Joseph Seipel (center) and Art History
Chair Michael Schreffler (left), include Andrea Alvarez, Grace Astrove,
Kristie Couser, Elizabeth Fuqua and Meredith Hertel.
In other Fashion news,
Department Chair Donna Reamy
and Assistant Professor Deidra
Arrington have co-authored
the textbook, Fashionomics,
published by Pearson Prentice
Hall in August. The book’s
illustrations are by fashion
designer and our own adjunct
faculty member, Hawa Stwodah.
The textbook gives students a
background on the economics
of the fashion industry and how
important textiles and apparel
are to the global economy.
Congratulations to the 2012
VCUarts Faculty Award Recipients
Cotton Incorporated has once
again offered a generous grant to
VCU Fashion. The $50,000 grant
will support field trips, student
scholarships, reduce/eliminate
cost of fashion show tickets for
fashion students and support
projects such as the Sophomore
Maymont Park Tree Skirt project.
VCUarts loves cotton!
FACULTY AWARD FOR DISTINGUISHED
ACHIEVEMENT IN RESEARCH
Brian Ulrich
Assistant Professor, Photography and Film
AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Aaron D. Anderson
Associate Chair, Theatre
AWARD FOR DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT
IN TEACHING
Hope D. Ginsburg
Assistant Professor, Art Foundation
AWARD FOR DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT
IN SERVICE
Elissa C. Armstrong
Director, Art Foundation
V C U a r t s C O N G R AT U L AT E S T H E 2 0 11 –2 0 12
UNDERGR ADUATE RESEARCH GR ANT WINNERS
Each year, students submit their collaborative proposals and the most innovative
are awarded with a grant to get their project off the ground. Selected proposals are
featured here. Photos by Naoko Wowsugi.
The Leigh Street Armory Project —
Uncovery and Revitalization
For the full list of recipients, as well as previous year’s projects, please visit arts.vcu.edu/ugrg
The Disney Effect: Modern Heroines
in Children’s Media
Your Support Goes a Long Way
support.vcu.edu/arts
With out-of-state tuition under $23,000 ($10,000 in state), VCUarts
offers the best value when compared with other top art schools.
Tuition at Yale and RISD is $40,000 with UCLA’s out-of-state tuition at
$35,000, for example. VCU’s low tuition means your gift is essential.
Mythicops
Support from VCUarts donors helps fund opportunities for students
including scholarships, visiting artist lectures, study abroad, and
other priorities to strengthen teaching, research and service.
Locally, The Pollak Society is a group of VCUarts patrons in the
Richmond community who are granted insider access to VCUarts
with unrestricted gifts of $1,000 and up. We welcome you to join
The Pollak Society, or make a gift to VCUarts. Let's help ensure
that we stay on top.
Make checks payable to:
Richmond’s Leigh Street Armory is one of only three
such armories ever built in the U.S. for African
Americans. The students will provide scholarly
documentation outlining the historical importance of
this building and the African American militias and
document the style of armories and their important
place in the architectural record.
Dennis Williams, Art History; Robert Gibson,
Communication Arts and Painting & Printmaking;
Shawn Saharko, Communication Arts and Painting
& Printmaking; Chris Raintree, Theatre; Cody
Richardson, Theatre; Brittney Weiss, Interior Design;
Isoke Ethel-Miller, Interior Design; Monina Ingle,
Interior Design; Remi Jeffrey-Coker, Interior Design;
Bayly Ogden, History; Corey Johnson, History;
Joshua Blount, History
Award: $5,000
Faculty mentors: Dr. Charles Brownell and Roberto
Ventura as well as five faculty and community
consultants
This proposal will explore the ways in which popular
children’s films by Walt Disney can affect children’s
views on gender roles. The students will study popular
Disney films to find patterns of visual and thematic
elements that promote antifeminism and misogyny.
Melody Milleker, Art Education; Grace Huddleston,
Painting & Printmaking; Addison Martz, Sculpture +
Extended Media; Hunter Brumfield, Photography &
Film; Victoria Shampine, Psychology; Rachel Ludwig,
Sculpture + Extended Media
VCUarts
Attn: Julia Carr
325 N. Harrison St.
Richmond, VA 23284
A video will be produced to showcase the world from
the perspective of a child’s imagination. The story
chronicles a duo of crime fighting scientists’ journey to
develop a respectable privatized security agency—The
Mythicops. The project is intended to test students’
skills in multi-media collaboration, practice and display
their skills in animation and film direction/production.
Award: $4,900
Ryan Coleman, Cinema; Lauren Stutzriem, Kinetic
Imaging; Graham Ohmer, Photography & Film; Mel
Kobran, Photography & Film. Not pictured: Warren
Jones, Painting & Printmaking
Faculty mentor: Dr. Melanie Buffington
Award: $2,500
Or give via credit card at support.vcu.edu/give/arts
Thank you for your support of VCUarts
Tuition Comparison Among Top-Ranked Art Schools
Faculty mentor: Mary Beth Reed
arts.vcu.edu/national-rankings
Life of the Small
RVA Parklet
Sew Educated:
Keeping African Girls in School
This project focuses on the hygienic health risks of
young Sudanese females entering puberty. The girls
of Sudan describe this experience as frightening and
research shows the acceleration of school drop-out rates.
Meghan Hill, Fashion Design; Keli Eschenbach,
Homeland Security; Sherkinna Hammond, Information
Systems; Cirstain Myles, Nursing
Award: $3,000
Faculty mentor: Linda Lee
In the series “Secrets of The Small,” students will merge
their knowledge of art and science. They will compose
a series of videos and live installation projection
performances through the use of a video microscope.
This project will display microscopic life to a large
audience, and will be entered into film festivals to
stimulate dialogue between art and science.
Rachael Glasgow, Kinetic Imaging; Rachel Walstead,
Bioinformatics
After researching feasible sustainable trends around
major U.S. cities, this team encountered an initiative
that promotes wellness, sustainability, design, and
interaction: temporary recreational areas known as
Parklets. They seek to reclaim some unused swathes and
quickly and inexpensively turn them into new public
plazas and parks.
Award: $2,900
Ricardo Hernandez-Perez, Interior Design; Lauren
Versino, Sculpture + Extended Media
Faculty mentor: Robert Kaputof
Award: $5,000
Faculty mentor: Rab McClure
#1
Yale University – School of Art
$42,300
#2
Rhode Island School of Design
$41,332
#2 (tie)
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
$37,560
#4
Virginia Commonwealth University – School of the Arts
$23,300
#4 (tie)
University of California, Los Angeles – Department of Art
$35,564
#6
California Institute of the Arts
$39,014
#7
Carnegie Mellon University – College of Fine Arts
$45,760
#7 (tie)
Cranbrook Academy of Art
Graduate only
#7 (tie)
Maryland Institute College of Art
$39,340
#10
Columbia University – School of the Arts
$47,246
Above chart compares out-of-state tuition. VCU tuition for Virginia residents is $9,517.
Alumni, Where Are You Now?
esterknows.com/where-are-you-now
We want to know about your successes, and so do your fellow alumni. Please
upload your bio and image to the website listed above, and let us know how
we can keep in touch with you.