Everything Nac

The Texas Folklore Society will hold its annual meeting April 10-12 at Kerrville’s YO Ranch Hotel and Conference Center, 2033 Sidney Baker St., in Kerrville.

The society’s 99th annual meeting will feature a variety of activities, including a “hootenanny” on Friday night, which will embrace a mix of music, poetry and storytelling.

Held in the city of art, music and history, this year’s meeting will offer a number of destinations for art lovers and history and nature buffs, as well as die-hard shoppers.

Friday afternoon’s bus tour will explore the city of Kerrville, Schreiner University, Bandera Pass and Camp Verde. Following the “hootenanny,” the meeting will conclude with the presentation of 20 papers on Saturday and Sunday, covering a wide variety of topics, including the roaring 20s, the Texas art car movement and much more.

The oldest continually functioning state folklore organization in the U.S., the TFS is dedicated to preserving and presenting the legends, customs, beliefs, superstitions, songs and crafts of Texas and the Southwest. This lore has stimulated the recording and study of the rich folk culture, attracting both laymen and scholars.

The TFS began at the University of Texas in 1909 under the leadership of Leonidas Payne and John Avery Lomax. In 1971, the society moved its headquarters to Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches.

Individuals are not required to be a member of the society to register and attend. Registration is $10 per person; banquet tickets are $26 for adults and $12 for children.

For more information on the TFS or to view the list of presenters, visit www.texasfolkloresociety.org, or call Dr. Ken Untiedt, secretary/editor of the TFS and associate professor of English at SFA, or Andrea Zarate at (936) 468-4407.

Chinese 2D artist Zhi Lin will serve as juror for the 21st Texas National, Stephen F. Austin State University’s acclaimed annual art competition and exhibition.

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 acclaimed artists and critics, such as Lin. This year’s exhibition, which opens April 11 in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House, includes 93 pieces of art by 82 different artist from 26 states.

“As in past years, the Texas National will feature an assortment of art from a variety of artists across the nation,” said John Handley, director of SFA galleries. “This will include photography, painting, sculpture and mixed media pieces.”

A number of Nacogdoches area artists and SFA students and alumni were selected to be in this year’s Texas National, according to Handley.

A highlight of the April 11 opening of Texas National 2015 will be the simultaneous opening of an exhibition of Lin’s own works – “Chinaman’s Chance: The first transcontinental railroad.”

Lin is a professor of painting and drawing at the School of Art at the University of Washington, in Seattle, Wash. He is an affiliate professor of the Jackson School of International Studies and holds the Floyd & Delores Jones Endowed Professorship in the Arts. He has had more than 20 solo shows and participated in more than 90 group exhibitions on both sides of the Atlantic and in China. His works are included in many museum collections in the United States, Great Britain and China.

Lin is represented by Koplin Del Rio, Culver City, Calif. His work can be viewed at http://www.koplindelrio.com/content/zhi-lin

A juror’s lecture is scheduled at 5 p.m. followed by a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Winners will be announced during the reception. Both shows run through June 13.

Exhibitions and receptions are sponsored in part by the SFA Friends of the Visual Arts and Nacogdoches Junior Forum. Corporate sponsors for Texas National include the Hampton Inn and R&K Distributors, Inc. These exhibitions are features of the SFA College of Fine Arts’ University Series.

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

Cutline: “Chinaman’s Chance: The first transcontinental railroad,” an exhibition of the work of Texas National 2015 juror Zhi Lin, will open with the 21st Texas National art competition and exhibition April 11 at The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

Steinway artist Sergio H. Ruiz will perform a concert at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 6, in Cole Concert Hall in the Wright Music Building on the Stephen F. Austin State University campus.

Ruiz, who is professor of music and chair of the music department at Georgia College and State University, is in high demand as a performer, adjudicator and clinician, according to Andrew Parr, professor of piano at SFA.

Ruiz performs on Spanish-speaking radio broadcasts airing throughout South and Central America. Most recently, he performed concerts in Bolivia, Ecuador and México, and he has appeared live on Houston’s KUHF 88.7, “The Front Row.”

His performance at SFA will feature works from Sonata in D Major, KV 576 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Funérailles (October 1849) by Franz Liszt; Berceuse, Op. 57 by Frédéric Chopin; and Sonata #1, Op. 22 (1952) by Alberto Ginastera.

The concert is a presentation of the SFA College of Fine Arts and School of Music. Admission is free.

For more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.

Stephen F. Austin State University was recently named a top study abroad provider in the fourth annual Study Abroad Rankings, presented by Abroad101, America’s first and largest study abroad review website.

SFA’s top-10 ranking was awarded based on student reviews of the university’s current operations of its study abroad program.

“It is the students’ ratings and stories about their experiences with SFA’s study abroad program that helped the university gain recognition,” said Inés Maxit, study abroad coordinator in the Office of International Programs at SFA.

According to information on the PR Web website, the individual rankings are a compilation of evaluations submitted by U.S. university students who attended short-term, credit-bearing study abroad programs overseas.

The information detailed how students completed online evaluations with both quantitative and qualitative responses regarding a specific study abroad program. With more than 23,000 evaluations entered into the system, Abroad101 then provided an in-depth tally of the student-opinion rankings, which are solely based on a study abroad program and experience.

“Our faculty leaders invest such an unbelievable amount of effort and care in all aspects of their trips,” added Maxit. “This recognition shows the level of satisfaction student participants had in SFA’s study abroad programs, which is always very fulfilling.

“Students love to hear from other students, and we hope the reviews will encourage more students to participate in our programs,” Maxit added.

For more information about SFA’s study abroad program and the Office of International Programs, contact Maxit at (936) 468-2961.

Dr. Dana Cooper, associate professor in Stephen F. Austin State University’s Department of History, has been chosen among Nerdwallet.com’s “40 Under 40: Professors Who Inspire” for 2015. Nerdwallet.com is designed to help readers access information, insight and consumer-driven advice about personal finance, which includes sharing information about making smart decisions concerning college and careers.

Professors were chosen “based on their ability to captivate and engage students in the classroom, their outstanding involvement on campus and in the community and their overwhelming passion for their subject matter,” according to information provided by the website.

Students, alumni and faculty members from several hundred institutions nationwide nominate professors. In her eight years at SFA, Cooper has been well regarded by students for her tough yet engaging history courses.

Cooper said her favorite aspect of teaching is when students ‘click’ with stories of the past. The first in her own family to attend college, Cooper graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Angelo State University, a master’s degree from Texas Tech University and a doctoral degree from Texas Christian University. Cooper said she hopes to inspire students to continue pushing their limits.

“When I can hook them and really capture their attention, there is nothing like it in the world,” she said.