Everything Nac

Acclaimed artist Benito Huerta will serve as juror for the 23rd Texas National, Stephen F. Austin State University’s acclaimed art competition and exhibition, which opens April 8 and runs through June 10 in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

Texas National features an assortment of art, including photography, painting, sculpture and mixed media, according to John Handley, director of SFA galleries. This year’s exhibition includes over 90 pieces of art by 81 artists from 29 states. This year’s event will include entries by Sarah Jentsch and Korey Burns, SFA art students whose work Huerta selected for the competition.

The School of Art’s annual juried competition and exhibition attracts entrants from across the United States, providing artists an opportunity to have their work juried by highly regarded artists and critics, such as Huerta, Handley said.

“Texas National provides an important opportunity for students and emerging artists to have their artwork seen by an established artist of national status,” Handley said. “It also provides an opportunity for our own SFA School of Art students to see what current trends are emerging in contemporary art across the United States.”

Because Texas National accepts an assortment of art, “we receive plenty of surprises based on what the juror selects,” Handley added.

A show of Huerta’s own work can be viewed in Reavley Gallery during the same exhibition period as Texas National. Huerta received a B.F.A. from the University of Houston and his M.A. from New Mexico State University. He was co-founder, executive director and emeritus board director of “Art Lies,” a Texas art journal. He is a professor at the University of Texas at Arlington where he has been director/curator of The Gallery at UTA since 1997.

His work was recently featured in one-person exhibitions at the Houston Museum of African American Culture, the Wichita Falls Museum of Art and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Other recent one-person exhibitions took place at the Glassell Gallery, Shaw Center for the Arts, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago and at the Ellen Noel Art Museum in Odessa. Huerta is a past recipient of the Dallas Center for Contemporary Art’s Legend of the Year Award and Exhibition. His work is in several museum and corporate collections throughout the United States. For additional information about the artist, visit http://flyingchalupaproductions.com

Huerta will give an artist/juror talk at 5 p.m. Saturday, April 8, at the art center, followed by the announcement of this year’s Texas National winners during the exhibitions’ opening reception, which begins at 6 p.m.

The exhibitions and reception are sponsored in part by the SFA Friends of the Visual Arts, Nacogdoches Junior Forum, Texas Commission on the Arts and R&K Distributors, Inc.

The Cole Art Center is located at 329 E. Main St. For more information, call (936) 468-1131.

Stephen F. Austin State University’s SFA Gardens will host its annual Garden Gala Day Plant Sale from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 1, at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center, 2900 Raguet St., in historic Nacogdoches.

The sale will feature a variety of hard-to-find, “Texas-tough” plants, including Texas natives, heirlooms, tropicals, perennials, shrubs, trees with an emphasis on pollinator-friendly selections, as well as exclusive SFA introductions. The featured plants are extensively trialed before being offered to the public and are produced by staff members and volunteers of the SFA Gardens.

This popular event benefits the SFA Mast Arboretum, the Pineywoods Native Plant Center, Ruby M. Mize Azalea Garden and Gayla Mize Garden, along with educational programs that are hosted monthly at the gardens. Educational programs provided at the SFA Gardens reach more than 15,000 participants annually.

Parking will be available at SFA’s Janice A. Pattillo Early Childhood Research Center, 2428 Raguet St., and visitors are encouraged to arrive early and bring a wagon for their plants.

For more information and a list of available plants, call (936) 468-4404 or visit sfagardens.sfasu.edu.

The A Cappella Choir at Stephen F. Austin State University will present a full performance of G.F. Handel’s great oratorio, “Messiah,” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 8, in Cole Concert Hall in the Wright Music Building on the SFA campus.

“This is one of the most well-known masterworks in all of music’s history,” said Dr. Tim King, director of choral activities at SFA. “In the places that perform the complete ‘Messiah,’ it is a grand event, and in some cases, a yearly event.”

Putting together all the details for such a large masterwork is a great challenge, King said.

“Nacogdoches concert-goers know the first act of the ‘Messiah’ from our Christmas concerts here on campus,” King said. “In fact, many have sung as a part of our community chorus. What we will perform this time is not just the Christmas portion, but the entire work. What a great opportunity for our students – a once-in-a-lifetime experience!”

The performance will feature SFA music students and faculty along with guest string players from the Dallas and Houston areas. Soloists include Joshua Chavira, Houston graduate student, countertenor; and faculty members Debbie Berry, soprano; Charlotte Davis, soprano; Ric Berry, tenor; and Scott LaGraff, bass.

The three-act oratorio is told in: Act 1 – the prophecy and birth; Act 2 – the suffering and passion; and Act 3 – the promise of eternal life.

“There are no ‘characters’ or action scenes, yet the story lives in the listener through Handel’s wonderful and familiar music,” King said. “He was a genius.”

During Handel’s time, theatrical/opera productions, by ecclesiastical decree, were prohibited during the season of Lent, and so the English turned to oratorio, King explained.

“April 8 is the Saturday before Holy Week during the season of Lent – a perfect time for our ‘Messiah,'” he said. “I hope the audience experiences the grandeur of this Baroque masterpiece, and that the music and story have meaning for them.”

During his tenure at SFA, King, who plans to retire this summer, has conducted many masterworks, but conducting “Messiah” provides exceptional enjoyment.

“To once again be able to conduct the ‘Messiah’ brings great pleasure for my students, the community and my musical experience,” he said.

It is rare that reserved tickets are sold for events in Cole Concert Hall.

“However, the popularity of the ‘Messiah’ demands that we do so,” King said.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and $5 for students and youth. All seats are reserved. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or (888) 240-ARTS or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.

Inside a crowded gymnasium, Stephen F. Austin State University students staple blue construction paper to a gray wall and center the words “Shoot for Success” on their basketball-themed bulletin board at the Boys and Girls Club of Nacogdoches.

Dr. Rachel Jumper, assistant professor in SFA’s School of Human Sciences, partnered with the Boys and Girls Club of Nacogdoches to design a class project for her family, school and community relations course. The Boys and Girls Club of Nacogdoches is an organization dedicated to enabling all young people to reach their full potential as productive, caring and responsible citizens.

“Our course is about how the community, schools and families interact with each other to help raise our children,” Jumper said. “This is one example of how an afterschool program helps provide children with a safe place where they can hang out, have fun, relax and receive homework help, and our college students get to be a part of that.”

The class was divided into groups, and each group was assigned a different area within the club to create a bulletin board. One group, for example, created a student of the month bulletin board resembling a stage with spotlights. Students also learned how to work within a limited budget.

“This project is a way for us to experience something future educators would do such as creating bulletin boards, helping kids and giving back to our community,” said Chelsea Villanueva, Texarkana freshman and elementary education major at SFA.

The project is being funded by a service learning mini grant from the Office of Student Engagement.

The Sylvans, Stephen F. Austin State University’s timbersports team, reclaimed the championship title at the 60th annual Southern Forestry Conclave held during spring break in Mount Enterprise, Texas.

The team, primarily comprising forestry students, competed in a series of technical and physical events against 12 other Southern universities, including Clemson, Auburn, Virginia Tech and Louisiana State University.

Dr. Jeremy Stovall, SFA associate professor of forestry and Sylvans faculty advisor, said the win was especially meaningful because it marked the 40-year anniversary of SFA’s first Southern Forestry Conclave win in 1977. Many of the alumni who competed on that team were present to support current students during the competition.

“We worked a lot with the alumni this year, and they were fantastic,” Stovall said. “Alumni helped coach current Sylvans competitors in several events and cheered them on in all the others.”

While competing in this annual event is challenging, hosting it is a monumental task. Stovall and his team of student leaders, as well as faculty and staff members from SFA’s Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, began preparing for the event in 2015. Leading up to the competition, Stovall and more than 35 students worked 15-hour days to finalize logistics.

“We moved about 15 trailer loads of wood and supplies to set everything up,” Stovall said. “We also served 1,750 meals, set up a concert, hosted the Stihl TIMBERSPORTS Collegiate Series, organized the eight Conclave academic events and prepared the 14 Conclave timbersports events.”

Despite these herculean tasks, SFA students still mustered the intellectual and physical skills required to achieve victory.

“This win is huge for the team and for me,” said Zack Ovelgonne, forest wildlife management senior and Sylvans president. “Losing to Clemson University last year by only 13.5 points left a very bitter taste in all of our mouths.”

Ovelgonne said since the 2016 loss, he and the team were determined to redeem themselves by not only hosting the best event in the history of the Association of Southern Forestry Clubs, but by winning it, as well.

With this 2017 win, the SFA Sylvans strengthened their position as the second winningest team in Southern Forestry Conclave history. Clemson University placed second in the competition while the University of Arkansas at Monticello finished in third place.