Everything Nac

The SFA School of Theatre’s popular dragon character, Schlaftnicht, always draws a crowd at the annual Blueberry Festival in downtown Nacogdoches.

Theatre students will appear in costumes portraying popular characters from fairy tales and children’s stories. Children (and adults) will have the opportunity to talk with the students and take photos with them, according to Angela Bacarisse, professor of design and arts management at SFA. The School of Theatre’s trademark dragon character, Schlaftnicht, from the children’s show “Trudi and the Minstrel,” performed the summer of 2005, will make his annual Blueberry Festival appearance.

“We have a lot of fun just dressing up and seeing how excited the kids are when they see us and get to talk to their favorite characters,” Bacarisse said.

Students will be promoting the upcoming SFA SummerStage Festival, which kicks off Friday, June 26, and runs through July 17. The family friendly festival will feature the American classic “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams and the popular children’s show “The Emperor’s New Clothes: The Musical,” by Karen Boettcher-Tate and Bill Francoeur.

The students perform at the Blueberry Festival each year to “let the community know that the SFA School of Theatre offers good quality family entertainment at affordable prices to our neighbors in Nacogdoches,” according to Bacarisse. Discount coupons for the SummerStage Festival will be distributed that day.

The costumed characters can be seen in front of The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House at 329 E. Main St. Cast members from “The Emperor’s New Clothes” will sing songs from the show at 10:45 and 11:15 a.m. Theatre students will be selling crafts and doing face painting as a fundraiser for the students’ trip to Edinburgh, Scotland, in August where they will perform in the 2015 International Collegiate Theatre Festival.

For performance times and ticketing information for the SummerStage Festival, visit www.finearts.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.

Longview graduate student Carlton Herbert has been selected as this year’s Charles D. Jones Art Scholarship recipient at Stephen F. Austin State University.

The Jones scholarship, established by the SFA Friends of the Visual Arts, is awarded on an annual basis to a junior, senior or graduate level student with drawing or printmaking as his/her major study area. Students must show initiative and a broad appreciation of all of the fine arts with a concentration on printmaking, according to the eligibility criteria established by Jones.

Nominated by Neal W. Cox, associate professor of art and printmaking coordinator, Herbert is Cox’s teaching assistant and will teach a printmaking class in the fall. It is the second time for him to receive the award.

“Not only is he a great help in my work, he is also producing great work of his own, and is helping his fellow classmates to succeed,” Cox wrote of Herbert in his nomination letter. “He contributes to the studio environment by having a great attitude and striving for excellence. He excels in printmaking, digital media and photography, not to mention his reported excellence in art history.

“Carlton is the type of student who is the first to arrive and the last to leave,” Cox wrote. “Considering the fact that he commutes to Nacogdoches from Longview, his work ethic and commitment is astounding.”

The FVA has established scholarships in the name of retiring SFA School of Art professors who were employed in the School of Art for a minimum of 10 years before retirement and who contributed in a significant way to the mission of the Friends of the Visual Arts board and its fundraising activities, such as consistently donating art for fundraisers, by providing monetary assistance, or by serving on FVA committees or board.

Jones is professor emeritus in the SFA School of Art where he taught printmaking, drawing, Mexican art history and the “Art of The Book” from 1971 to 2011. During that time, he was named a Regents Professor and received a Distinguished Professor Award from the Alumni Association and a Teaching Excellence Award from the university. He is now the director and master printer for the LaNana Creek Press in the College of Fine Arts and has had exhibitions of his work worldwide.

The SFA Friends of the Visual Arts is made up of community members who support the arts in East Texas and provide monetary assistance to students enrolled in the School of Art by conducting fundraisers, such as the upcoming annual 12 x 12 event in July.

Ron King, SFA art instructor, holds a tintype portrait of himself.

Tintype portrait sessions will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 13, inside The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches. Cost is $20 per portrait.

A process popular in the 19th century, particularly during the Civil War era, tintypes are one-of-a-kind direct-to-positive photographs shot onto a piece of blackened metal, explained Neal Cox, SFA art professor.

“Characterized by extremely high resolution, creamy tones and a mirrored image, tintypes, along with many other 19th century processes, are experiencing a renaissance in this digital age as a highly sought-after novelty of sorts,” Cox said.

Historically, tin is used in the process, but anodized aluminum will be used for these portraits, he said.

Customers will be accommodated on a first-come, first-served basis. Materials are available for just over 100 portraits.

“We will shoot until we exhaust those plates, or until 2 p.m., whichever comes first,” Cox said.

Some props will be available.

Proceeds will go toward funding grants and scholarships the Friends of the Visual Arts awards annually to students in the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art.

Cole Art Center is located at 329 E. Main St. For more information, call (936) 468-5500.