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Dr. Richard Jones, professor of theatre at Stephen F. Austin State University, is among approximately 30 scholars from around the nation selected to participate in a National Endowment for the Humanities summer institute that will explore issues of translation in the classroom.

“What is Gained in Translation: Learning How to Read Translated Texts” will be held June 7 through 27 at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. Designed for scholars in the humanities and social sciences who work with translated texts, the institute will provide the theoretical models and applications developed through translation studies that will enable them to exploit translation as a teachable moment. These strategies are designed to sensitize students and teachers to the worldviews embedded in other languages and to make them aware of the cultural specificity of their own modes of thinking and perception.

Because the study of theatre and drama crosses over so many boundaries, Jones said that he is extremely reliant on translated material.

“This year alone I taught 31 plays in translation from somewhere between 12 and 16 different original languages – depending, for example, on whether we count Middle French and modern French as discrete languages,” he said. “And that’s just the plays. Critical material adds another two or three languages to the list.

“Translation theory has long been relevant to my scholarly work, but I haven’t had the opportunity to study it in the depth this institute will provide,” he said. “I’m confident that I’ll develop a more comprehensive understanding of the relationship between culture and language, and of the implications of translation and adaptation. This will, in turn, add nuance and sophistication to my classroom teaching, my scholarship and my production work.”

Most participants are from language departments, although there is another theatre scholar in addition to Jones, plus people from education, sociology, anthropology, cultural studies and other areas, he explained.

This fall, Jones will begin his 15th year at SFA where he teaches beginning and advanced courses in play analysis, a two-course sequence in theatre history and beginning directing. He also teaches topics courses, ranging from Asian theatre to the history of comedy to a study abroad program in Ireland. He has also directed 17 plays at SFA, nine of them in translation, including his own versions of Georg Büchner’s “Woyzeck” and Guillaume Apollinaire’s “The Breasts of Tiresias.”

Each year, the National Endowment for the Humanities supports summer programs for school, college and university teachers. NEH summer programs are held across the United States and abroad.

Plans are being finalized for the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art’s Educators’ Summer Art Studio taking place Sunday through Thursday, June 21 through 25, on the SFA campus.

The week-long studio experience is designed for teachers interested in the arts who want to work with professional artists using a variety of media and processes, according to Dr. Cala Coats, assistant professor of art education at SFA.

“Attendees will enjoy the immersive creative learning environment that provides time and space to experiment with a community of artists and educators,” Coats said. Attendees can also earn Continuing Professional Education credits.

Formerly called the Summer Retreat for Art Educators, the name was changed to The Educators’ Summer Art Studio in the hope of attracting teachers from a range of disciplines in the coming years, Coats said.

“We have a great community of art teachers, and we hope to expand our community to any educator interested in art making,” she said. “We feel that a math or English teacher can gain as much from the experience and may bring a different perspective on the art-making processes.”

New artists are invited each year to introduce attendees to a wide range of art processes.

“This summer, we have mixed-media artist and designer Joy O. Ude visiting from Philadelphia to lead the workshop,” Coats said.

Ude is currently working at The Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia, Pa. Her work has been exhibited in several regional and national shows, including CraftTexas, Fantastic Fibers and Fiberart International. She will work with attendees on multimedia projects that mix printing and fibers techniques. Additional workshops by SFA faculty and graduate students will explore dyeing processes, ceramics, image transfer and more.

“We have extended registration this year until June 10,” Coats said. “Even if it is too late for people to join this year, we hope to build interest for the future.”

Details and registration forms can be found at http://www.art.sfasu.edu/summerartstudio. For additional information, contact Coats at coatsc@sfasu.edu or Dr. Bill Nieberding at nieberdiwj@sfasu.edu.

The Friends of the Visual Arts at Stephen F. Austin State University have selected Round Rock senior Megan Henderson as this year’s recipient of the Gary Q. Frields Art Scholarship.

Nominated by her instructor Peter Andrew, graphic design professor in the SFA School of Art, Henderson was described as the ideal candidate for the Frields award because she “works hard, demonstrates dedication to each studio area that she works in, and develops her work to a respectable degree of quality,” according to Andrew.

To be eligible for the Frields award, students must “demonstrate an exemplary work ethic, show versatility in the use of media and techniques in two or more areas, and show innovation and quality in their work,” according to the criteria established by Frields.

Henderson achieved a 3.85 grade point average and is involved in extra-curricular art activities, among them Art Alliance and AAF Adhoc, contributing to and modeling the collaborative spirit of the School of Art, according to Andrew. She has worked as the art office receptionist and even served as a model in the figure drawing classes.

“Her attitude appears to be ‘Yes!’” Andrew wrote in his nomination letter. “Megan has chosen graphic design as her primary focus area, and her competencies include her typographic skills, her illustration abilities, and her digital and web-based knowledge.”

Henderson is also serious about her drawing, producing distinctively strong figure drawings in a variety of media, Andrew said.

“Megan has discovered through book arts in the printmaking studio how to unify her multiple strengths combining type and graphic design, illustration and drawing, and sensitivity to materials, into unified multi-media projects,” he wrote. “My direct observation of Megan at work in her classes informs me that she habitually refines her work and invests much extra time to perfect her craftsmanship, a mark of professional attitude.”

The FVA has established scholarships in the name of retiring SFA School of Art professors who were employed in the School of Art for 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.

Known among his peers as a great advocate for SFA’s art students, Frields taught courses in design, drawing and sculpture and served as graduate program coordinator for the School of Art before his retirement in 2012. He was a recipient of the SFA Fine Arts Teaching Excellence Award and was appointed to the board of directors for the Texas Association of Schools of Art. Frields’ involvement in national juried exhibitions helped in establishing the SFA Texas National, originating the concept, name and designing the logo. The event brings to Nacogdoches some of the most celebrated contemporary artists as jurors. He originated the Art Prom and was a founding member of The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House, creating the logo and contributing to concept planning.

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 enrolling in the School of Art by conducting fundraisers, such as the upcoming annual 12 x 12 event in July.

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art has announced that junior art student Randi Davis of Henderson is this year’s recipient of the Robert Kinsell Art Scholarship, which was established and funded by the SFA Friends of the Visual Arts.

The scholarship was established to support the educational goals of students currently enrolled in the SFA School of Art by providing financial assistance to outstanding students in the visual arts program, and to honor Kinsell as a teacher, as an ardent supporter of the arts in our community, and as a huge supporter of the FVA and its fundraising activities.

An art professor at SFA for 25 years before retiring in 2013, Kinsell taught courses in painting, drawing, figure drawing and advertising design. The Robert Kinsell Art Scholarship is awarded annually to a junior, senior or graduate level art student with painting or photography as his or her major study area, according to the criteria developed by Kinsell.

In recommending her student for the award, art instructor Johanna Warwick wrote Davis “is an incredibly hardworking and dedicated student. She pursues her projects endlessly with the greatest amount of determination. She has high expectations of herself, and of her peers around her – making her a strong role model in the classroom. She has spent this past semester photographing her family and a young girl named KK. These photographs are technically well made and have a stillness and sad beauty that make them continually fascinating to look at.”

Davis is a transfer student from Kilgore College and has been photographing for the past five years.

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 enrolling in the School of Art by conducting fundraisers, such as the upcoming annual 12 x 12 event in July.

Stephen F. Austin State University’s SFA Gardens will host the monthly Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 11, in the Ina Brundrett Conservation Education Building at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center, 2900 Raguet St. in Nacogdoches.

Tim Hartmann, Earth-Kind program specialist with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, will present “Gardening for Food or Beauty – Why Not Both?”

Hartmann earned his Bachelor of Science in horticulture with an emphasis in fruit and vegetable production and his Master of Science in plant breeding and horticulture from Texas A&M University in 2009 and 2013, respectively. He is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in horticulture.

Originally from Blanco, Texas, Hartmann developed a passion for horticulture while working for a commercial greenhouse operation and while also operating a home-based nursery business in high school. He began working for the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service in 2014, focusing on water conservation in home landscapes.

Aside from daily tasks, Hartmann’s responsibilities include delivering educational presentations to homeowners and master gardeners, conducting statewide plant trials and developing printed and Web-based materials for the Earth-Kind Landscaping Program. Additionally, he has special interests in propagation, exotic fruits and in incorporating well-adapted edible plants into residential landscapes for both food and aesthetic value.

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.