Everything Nac

The SFA Percussion Ensemble and SFA Steel Band, both directed by Dr. Brad Meyer, will perform their annual “Percussion in the Pines” holiday concert at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30, in Cole Concert Hall on the Stephen F. Austin State University campus.

The Percussion Ensemble will play several holiday favorites, including “Deck the Halls,” “Carol of the Bells,” “Sleigh Ride,” “Oh Holy Night” and “Silent Night,” according to Meyer, director of percussion studies for the SFA School of Music.

The ensemble’s performance of “The 12 Days of Christmas” is always a “hilarious and exciting way to end the first half of the concert,” Meyer said.

The second half of the concert will feature the SFA Steel Band, also known as the “Jacks of Steel,” performing numerous traditional and contemporary steel band tunes culminating in the crowd favorite “Pan Christmas,” Meyer said.

“This concert is a great, annual tradition that gets the university and community ready for the upcoming winter break,” he said. “Audience members are welcome to sing, clap and dance along during the concert.”

For anyone who cannot attend in person, the concert will be streamed live at: www.music.sfasu.edu/stream.php

“Students and audience members are encouraged to wear ugly/tacky holiday sweaters to create a festive and fun ambiance,” Meyer said.

This concert is a joint presentation of the College of Fine Arts and School of Music.

Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.

The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House, Stephen F. Austin State University’s downtown Nacogdoches art gallery, has announced its holiday hours.

The art center will be closed Tuesday through Thursday, Nov. 22 through 24, and open Friday and Saturday, Nov. 25 and 26, during regular gallery hours.

Cole Art Center will be open during regular hours throughout most of December. The gallery will be closed on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, and will closed at 3 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31.

The art center will be closed the first week of January with the exception of the Friday night, Jan. 6, screening of the film “Inequality For All.” Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the free screening is at 7 p.m.

Regular gallery hours will be observed Jan. 10 through 14, which is the last week of three exhibitions currently showing in Cole Art Center. Those include the mixed media “SFA Alumni Showcase” in the Ledbetter Gallery, “Artist Books from the Booklyn Gallery: High Performance Printmaking” in the Reavley Gallery, and the Nacogdoches Convention and Visitors Bureau’s “All Things Nacogdoches” photo exhibition in the Reception Gallery.

Cole Art Center will be closed during installation of new exhibitions from Jan. 15 to 26, reopening for the grand opening of an exhibition of works by Andy Warhol at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26.

Exhibitions are sponsored in part by the SFA Friends of the Visual Arts and Nacogdoches Junior Forum. Admission is free.

The Cole Art Center is located at 329 E. Main St. Gallery hours are 12:30 to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. For more information, call (936) 468-1131.

Stephen F. Austin State University’s Braille and Cane Club will host a Christmas party for area public school students with visual impairments from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1, in SFA’s Baker Pattillo Student Center Regent’s Suite B, located on the second floor of the student center.

This annual event will include shopping for holiday gifts, lunch, decorating ornaments and games.

SFA Braille and Cane Club historian Gail Avey said the event’s goal is to “spread holiday cheer.”

“This event is important because it allows children who are visually impaired to have an experience they wouldn’t normally get, and it is important for SFA students because it gives them the opportunity to work with children who are visually impaired,” Avey said.

More than 40 SFA students will be participating in the event. The Braille and Cane Club is a student-governed organization that strives to bring awareness about visual impairments to the public.

For more information about the event, contact Michael Munro, instructor in SFA’s Department of Human Services, at (936) 468-1036 or munromicha@sfasu.edu.

Stephen F. Austin State University students and faculty members from the Rusche College of Business recently attended the O’Neil Center for Global Markets and Freedom 2016 Annual Conference: Capitalism — Curse or Cure?

Several internationally renowned speakers presented at the conference, including Matthew Ridley, author of “The Rational Optimist” and “The Evolution of Everything;” Sylvia Nasar, author of “A Beautiful Mind” and “Grand Pursuit;” W. Michael Cox, co-author of “The Myths of Rich and Poor;” Alex Epstein, author of “The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels;” Robert Gordon, author of “The Rise and Fall of American Growth;” and Marian Tupy, editor of HumanProgress.org.

Dr. Ryan Phelps, associate professor in SFA’s Department of Economics and Finance, attended the conference and said the speakers painted an optimistic outlook for mankind’s future.

“This event provided students with a positive look at the future and encouraged them with the knowledge that there is no end to potential discovery and innovation,” Phelps said. “Also, students were provided the opportunity to expand their networks and to make connections with experts in their fields. These connections could promote their educational and career goals.”

Marxism, cost and availability of nonrenewable resources, fossil fuels, industrial revolutions, innovation, and U.S. expansion and growth were among the topics discussed during the conference.

“Student experiences like this have been shown to improve learning and post-college outcomes,” Phelps said. “This type of experience also expands students’ horizons and introduces them to worlds beyond their own experiences.”

The Nelwyn Cordell Stephens Scholarship and the O’Neil Center funded student participation in this event.

Stephen F. Austin State University alumni and faculty members from the deaf and hard of hearing program have raised funds to purchase a brick on the Walk of Recognition in memory of Niki Satterwhite, an SFA graduate who passed away from cancer in 2014.

The Walk of Recognition is located in the Sesquicentennial Plaza near the SFA fountain on campus, and the hand-etched bricks symbolize one’s tribute to the university.

Satterwhite, a native of Tennessee Colony, Texas, graduated from SFA in 2011 from the deaf and hard of hearing program and became a teacher for deaf and hard of hearing students at Tyler Independent School District.

Dr. J. Lindsey Kennon, lecturer in SFA’s deaf and hard of hearing program, taught Satterwhite and has been coordinating this endeavor.

“Honoring Niki with a brick would allow us not only to remember a precious, beloved graduate, but also highlight Niki’s devotion to the field of deaf education,” Kennon said. “Niki will always be remembered as a person who was fully dedicated to the profession. To honor such an example of devotion and service exemplifies the core values of the James I. Perkins College of Education. The fact that her fellow classmates were so quick and eager to raise the $500 needed for the largest brick available is a testament to Niki’s imprint on us all.”

Alumni and faculty members also will begin raising money to endow an alumni scholarship in Satterwhite’s memory.

“Niki always had a smile on her face and was a light to all who knew her. She was a true Lumberjack, participating in many campus events and showing her true Lumberjack pride,” Kennon said.

The program will host a ceremony at a later date where alumni and students can participate in placing the brick in Satterwhite’s memory.