Everything Nac

Stephen F. Austin State University’s SFA Gardens will host the monthly Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 14, in the Ina Brundrett Conservation Education Building at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center, 2900 Raguet St. Ethan Guthrie, greenhouse and nursery manager for the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s Smithgall Woodland Garden in Gainesville, Georgia, will present “Yes, We Really Are the Atlanta Botanical Garden, But We Are the One in Gainesville, Georgia.”

Guthrie has worked for the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s Gainesville location for the past seven years. He started as the greenhouse/nursery manager and transitioned to horticulture manager. Guthrie mainly propagates unusual species with a focus on various magnolias. He serves on the board of directors for the Magnolia Society International, and in his spare time, creates new magnolia hybrids. He also is a member of the International Plant Propagators Society.

The Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series is held the second Thursday of each month at SFA’s Pineywoods Native Plant Center. A rare plant raffle will be held after the program. The lecture is free and open to the public, but donations to the Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series fund are always appreciated.

Parking is available at the nearby Raguet Elementary School, 2428 Raguet St., with continual shuttle service to the Ina Brundrett Conservation Education Building.

For more information, call (936) 468-1832 or email grantdamon@sfasu.edu.

Most fans of the hilariously funny Steve Martin are familiar with him as an actor, stand-up comedian and banjo player.

Images of “a wild and crazy guy” exclaiming “Excuse me!” and performing the song “King Tut” on “Saturday Night Live” are ingrained in a generation of Martin devotees. As a film star, his roles in “The Jerk,” “The Pink Panther,” “Parenthood,” “Cheaper By the Dozen” and dozens more comedies are legendary. Musically, he’s known for his skillful banjo performances of bluegrass music.

These credits and accolades in film and music span decades, but it is less widely known that he is also an acclaimed writer. He has published a memoir, “Born Standing Up,” and the novel, “An Object of Beauty,” and he has written numerous plays and screenplays. Martin and Edie Brickell collaborated on the musical “Bright Star,” which just closed on Broadway after a successful three-month run.

Martin’s first full-length play, “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” was initially presented as a reading in Martin’s Beverly Hills, California, home, with Tom Hanks reading the role of Pablo Picasso and Chris Sarandon reading the role of Albert Einstein. Later, the play opened at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, Illinois, and played from October 1993 to May 1994, then went on to run successfully in Los Angeles, New York City and several other U.S. cities.

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Theatre will present “Picasso at the Lapin Agile” as part of its SummerStage Festival, with 7:30 p.m. performances July 5, 6, 7, 8 12, 14, 15 and 16.

Reflective of Martin’s humor, “Picasso” is a “must see” for his fans, according to Inga Meier, assistant professor of theatre and director of the production.

“I think I did pretty well, considering I started out with nothing but a bunch of blank paper.” – Steve Martin

Martin has “a distinct brand of humor that is simultaneously irreverent and playful,” Meier said in describing the playwright’s writing style.

“Writer’s block is a fancy term made up by whiners so they can have an excuse to drink alcohol.” – Steve Martin

The play is about an imagined meeting in 1904 between a would-be scientist called “Einstein” and an irresistible-but-unknown painter named “Picasso” in a Paris café called the Lapin Agile. Wit and whimsy fuel their talk of creativity and inspiration with the bistro’s unforgettable cast of regulars until a very different kind of genius mysteriously arrives from the future.

“Boy, those French! They have a different word for everything.” – Steve Martin

“In ‘Picasso,’ Martin’s humor is blended with profound questions regarding feminism, war, human relationships, the nature of creativity, the relationship between art and science, and how we define ourselves in relation to the past and future,” Meier said. “These themes are as relevant now – more than 20 years after the play was written – as they were to the play’s first audiences and as they were to the time in which the play is set.

“To loosely borrow from the character of Einstein, the play is about ‘everything,'” she added. “In the play, Picasso states that his ideas touch the heart, whereas Einstein’s touch the mind. This play speaks to both.”

“… you’re nuts but you’re welcome here.” – Steve Martin

“Above all else, I want the audience to have fun,” Meier said.

The play is recommended for mature audiences.

General admission tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and $7.50 for students/youth. A “pay-what-you-can” performance is July 6.

For tickets or more information, visit theatre.sfasu.edu or call (936) 468-6407 or (888) 240-ARTS. All performances are in W.M. Turner Auditorium in the Griffith Fine Arts Building on the SFA campus.

A bright turquoise shape on a monitor is clicked and dragged left to right then vertically and horizontally so the details on each of its sides can be scrutinized.

Pointing to the computer screen, Stephen F. Austin State University history graduate student Amanda Carr of Pollok notes the bright yellow patches on the artifact’s surface. Those indicate areas on the object, she explained, the complex 3D scanners housed in the Center for Regional Heritage Research on the SFA campus did not pick up.

“You can zoom in and out, manipulate and study it,” Carr said of the digitized Caddo vessel while seated in one of the CRHR’s offices.

Carr has learned much about 3D scanning since spending the spring semester working for CRHR staff members scanning artifacts found during archaeological digs.

“She has been learning how to use the 3D scanners, post-processing software (Geomagic Design X, Control and Studio) and Overleaf, an online platform for scientific writing,” said Dr. Robert Z. Selden Jr., CRHR research associate. “We had an opportunity to test a few of the scanners, and she helped us to assemble a white paper that illustrates how to use the Konica Minolta scanner.”

Taught in part by center employees and the remainder through trial and error, Carr’s work with the CRHR led to her selection for a unique eight-week internship with the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training — a unit of the National Park Service headquartered in Natchitoches.

“I’m excited to live and work in Natchitoches because it’s an old, charming town, and I get to use incredibly sophisticated technology that I didn’t know anything about just a few months ago,” Carr said. “It’s nice to be on the science/engineering end of the liberal arts field, so it’s forcing me to grow and get out of my comfort zone.”

During the course of the two-month internship, Carr is writing what is known as a “white paper,” she explained, that will be kept and utilized by the NCPTT.

“It’s basically a how-to guide for the 3D scanning equipment,” she added. “Once the guide is complete, NCPTT staff will use it to process a Native American basket collection. About 300 pieces were donated to the Williamson Museum on the Northwestern State University campus last year.

“The collection represents a wide variety of Native American craftsmanship, so NCPTT is wanting to 3D scan or digitize all of these and, in the end, make a virtual, online exhibition that is available to the public. Then, we will have a digital record of these objects that will eventually perish.”

Several complex 3D scanners have been made available to SFA for purchase through collaboration between the center and SFA’s Office of Research and Sponsored Programs. In turn, the opportunity for SFA students like Carr to work with state-of-the-art equipment led to her selection by NCPTT.

“I think that it’s a great opportunity for Amanda to extend her professional network while learning about the various technologies and applications that are used in preserving material culture,” Selden said of Carr’s NCPTT internship. “It also will give her a chance to see how those preservation/conservation treatments are tested in the laboratory.”

Carr is nearing the halfway point of her two-month internship. Her role has evolved during the first month to include additional laboratory duties. She is now using pXRF, or portable X-ray fluorescence, technology to scan the elemental content of 18th-century musket balls found at the Los Adaes State Historic Site, located approximately 14 miles west of Natchitoches. The ratio of lead, tin and other metallic elements within the musket balls helps determine if they are of Spanish, French, British or another origin.

Additionally, Carr will use a profilometer to scan lead seals unearthed at the site. The seals were wrapped around transported materials and marked with symbols and letters indicating the country or region of origin, she explained. The profilometer maps the surface of the worn-down seal that produces a digital image of the motifs to help better determine the country of production.

Carr will return to SFA in the fall to finish her master’s degree in preparation to graduate in December.

From the moment she stepped through the resort’s doors, she was in awe of her surroundings. Decorations with an “Alice in Wonderland” theme brought back childhood memories, while a replica of the San Antonio River Walk transported her to the historic Texas city.

Recently, Dr. Mary Olle, assistant professor in Stephen F. Austin State University’s School of Human Sciences, completed a four-day faculty internship with Marriott at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center in Grapevine.

“It was such a wonderful experience and learning opportunity,” Olle said. “I had a behind-the-scenes view of hotel operations and met stars and leaders, as Gaylord employees are called, from human resources, housekeeping, banquet, food and beverage operations, public relations, and more to observe them work.”

Olle, who worked in the hospitality industry for six years before becoming an SFA faculty member, teaches introduction to the hospitality industry, travel and tourism, management in meal production, and administration and promotion of beverages. She said participating in this internship helped update her industry knowledge.

“I was the only faculty intern there, and I interviewed and shadowed hotel stars and leaders every day,” Olle said. “They gave me pertinent information that I will bring back to my students such as knowledge on the latest technologies, management styles, policies, procedures and more.”

The internship also included a corporate overview and field-based practical work experience.

Olle said each day was packed with activities and meetings. For example, she shadowed the culinary team one day and met Mark Beaupre, director of food and beverage, to learn how the Gaylord prepares meals for banquets, guests and catering endeavors. Olle said she plans to use many of the situations she experienced during her internship as case studies in her SFA courses.

“During this experience, I realized even more that you have to have a passion for what you do,” Olle said. “There is a place for everyone in hospitality whether you’re interested in event coordinating, finance, accounting or culinary aspects.”