Everything Nac

If you think the renovated and expanded Griffith Fine Arts Building on the Stephen F. Austin State University campus is fantastic, just wait … it keeps getting better.

This fall, the Micky Elliott College of Fine Arts will unveil its new permanent art collection, an exhibition that features selected works of art by current and former School of Art faculty and alumni, along with some special guest artists. The collection of artwork is designed to enhance the already spectacular visual experience inside and outside the Griffith Fine Arts Building.

An opening reception is planned for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 12, in the second-floor lobby of Griffith Fine Arts Building, and will include the release of a booklet with descriptions of the works and creators’ biographies that can be referenced on self-guided tours of the building. The event will also serve to honor the artists, many of whom will be in attendance, to discuss their pieces selected for the showcase.

Before the reopening of the fine arts building last fall, Dr. Gary Wurtz, dean of the Micky Elliott College of Fine Arts, and a select committee of college employees implemented an idea to use the entire three-floor structure as a “gallery” that would showcase artwork just as interesting and as imaginative as the building’s architecture.

While the vision for the collection is that it will continue to expand, both in size and in terms of the artists represented, the committee agreed that the collection should start as a celebration of SFA-affiliated artists.

Early in fall 2023, an invitation was made to current and former SFA art faculty to solicit works to be considered for purchase. Utilizing project funds, the committee selected pieces from almost every artist who submitted, including artwork from a number of retired, or even deceased, faculty members. Retired art faculty member Gary Parker was contracted by the college to work as the collection preparator and installer, and he has worked tirelessly to ensure that the collection will be ready for its introduction to the greater public in time for the September event.

In addition to the works by SFA artists, two major sculptures were purchased as part of the project. Russ Connell, a Dallas-based sculptor, was contracted to create a new, large-scale exterior piece that now greets visitors who enter the building from Alumni Drive. A sculpture by renowned Caddo Nation artist Raven Halfmoon was purchased and resides prominently in the main lobby.

“I am so proud to be associated with this fantastic project,” Wurtz said. “The size and beauty of the collection transcends anything I was hoping for when we started, and I can’t wait for Sept. 12 to bring the public and the artists together in celebration of these beautiful pieces of art. This collection is a major addition to the Micky Elliott College of Fine Art’s public offerings, and further enhances SFA’s value to the greater community.”

For more information about the art collection, contact the Micky Elliott College of Fine Arts dean’s office at (936) 468-2801.

ABOUT STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE UNIVERSITY

Stephen F. Austin State University, the newest member of The University of Texas System, began a century ago as a teachers’ college in Texas’ oldest town, Nacogdoches. Today, it has grown into a regional institution comprising six colleges — business, education, fine arts, forestry and agriculture, liberal and applied arts, and sciences and mathematics. Accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, SFA enrolls approximately 11,000 students while providing the academic breadth of a state university with the personalized attention of a private school. The main campus encompasses 421 acres that include 37 academic facilities, nine residence halls, and 68 acres of recreational trails that wind through its six gardens. The university offers more than 80 bachelor’s degrees, more than 40 master’s degrees and four doctoral degrees covering more than 120 areas of study. Learn more at sfasu.edu.

By Robbie Goodrich, director of arts information

Faculty members of Stephen F. Austin State University’s School of Music will present the recital “Laurence Sherr: Chamber Music for Flute” at 6 p.m. Sept. 5 in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

The performance will feature Dr. Christina Guenther, flute: Debbie Berry, soprano; Dr. James Vilseck, percussion; Dr. Brad Meyer, percussion; Carlos Gaviria, bass; and Dr. Thomas Nixon, piano; with Dr. Tamey Anglley conducting. The composer will also be in attendance.

Among the works to be performed are “Duo Concertante,” “Dhammapada Verses” and “Journeys Within.”

Sherr was Guenther’s dissertation subject for her doctorate at Florida State University.

“I commissioned ‘Duo Concertante’ as part of my dissertation after having performed ‘Dhammapada Verses’ at the FSU New Music Festival,” Guenther said. “The three days following Thursday’s performance at SFA will be spent recording ‘Duo Concertante’ and ‘Journeys Within,’ a culmination of a 20-year friendship with the composer. In addition to working with the faculty performers of this program, Dr. Sherr will give a masterclass for our composition studio as well as lessons for composition students during his residency at SFA that week.”

Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. To purchase tickets, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit the Fine Arts Box Office website. For additional information, contact the School of Music at (936) 468-4602.

ABOUT STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE UNIVERSITY

Stephen F. Austin State University, the newest member of The University of Texas System, began a century ago as a teachers’ college in Texas’ oldest town, Nacogdoches. Today, it has grown into a regional institution comprising six colleges — business, education, fine arts, forestry and agriculture, liberal and applied arts, and sciences and mathematics. Accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, SFA enrolls approximately 11,000 students while providing the academic breadth of a state university with the personalized attention of a private school. The main campus encompasses 421 acres that include 37 academic facilities, nine residence halls, and 68 acres of recreational trails that wind through its six gardens. The university offers more than 80 bachelor’s degrees, more than 40 master’s degrees and four doctoral degrees covering more than 120 areas of study. Learn more at sfasu.edu.

By Robbie Goodrich, director of arts information

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art and the Friends of the Visual Arts will present a free, one-night screening of the documentary film “Seadrift” at 7 p.m. Sept. 6 at The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House.

In 1979, a Vietnamese refugee shot and killed a white crab fisherman at the public town docks along the Texas coast in Seadrift. What began as a dispute over fishing territory erupted into violence and ignited a maelstrom of boat burnings, Ku Klux Klan intimidation, and other hostilities against Vietnamese refugees along the Gulf Coast, according to information at seadriftfilm.com.

Set during the early days of Vietnamese arrival in the U.S., “Seadrift” is a feature documentary that examines the circumstances that led up to the shooting and its dramatic aftermath, and reveals the unexpected consequences that continue to reverberate today.

The School of Art’s Friday Film Series is sponsored in part by retired filmmaking Professor William Arscott. The Cole Art Center, SFA’s historic downtown gallery, is located at 329 E. Main St. For more information, call (936) 468-1131.

ABOUT STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE UNIVERSITY

Stephen F. Austin State University, the newest member of The University of Texas System, began a century ago as a teachers’ college in Texas’ oldest town, Nacogdoches. Today, it has grown into a regional institution comprising six colleges — business, education, fine arts, forestry and agriculture, liberal and applied arts, and sciences and mathematics. Accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, SFA enrolls approximately 11,000 students while providing the academic breadth of a state university with the personalized attention of a private school. The main campus encompasses 421 acres that include 37 academic facilities, nine residence halls, and 68 acres of recreational trails that wind through its six gardens. The university offers more than 80 bachelor’s degrees, more than 40 master’s degrees and four doctoral degrees covering more than 120 areas of study. Learn more at sfasu.edu.

By Robbie Goodrich, director of arts information

Stephen F. Austin State University Professor Emeritus Dr. Andrew Parr and his daughter, mezzo-soprano Eva Parr, will perform “The Music of Earl Kelly” in a recital at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 6 in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

The program will also feature additional works by Johannes Brahms, Richard Strauss, Nadia Boulanger and Lili Boulanger. Dr. Jennifer Dalmas, professor of violin in SFA’s School of Music, will join the Parrs for “Brahms Op. 91 songs for Mezzo, Piano and Viola.”

Kelly was Andrew Parr’s piano professor during his undergraduate studies at Kent State University. A prolific composer, Kelly wrote more than 50 songs and sonatas for various instruments, and solo and duo-piano works. Many of his works were written during his 29 months of service in World War II in North Africa and Italy. Later, after suffering an initial stroke, Kelly was unable to continue to compose. A second stroke left him unable to play the piano, Parr explained.

The aim of the Parrs’ project is to bring Kelly’s music out of obscurity by developing an internet presence, having manuscripts digitally transcribed from manuscript for download, and making some performances of certain works available on YouTube.

“We believe his compositions are of too high a quality to be forgotten,” Andrew Parr said. “In this recital you will hear music no one has heard for 50 years. The recent resurgence of interest in works of the Boulanger sisters may indicate that Kelly’s late-Romantic, French-influenced style could also be relevant today.”

This particular program represents a “bucket list” project for the Parrs – giving a recital together as father and daughter. The same program was previously performed at the National Opera Center in Manhattan this past summer. The program includes four of Kelly’s songs and a piano solo work, “Passacaglia in C.”

Parr explained that while the four Brahms songs that open the program are well-known, as is the program’s final song, “Cäcilie” from Richard Strauss’ Op. 27, the center of the program is dedicated to “lesser-known or unknown music.”

“Nadia Boulanger was a very famous pianist, teacher and composer, who taught most of the major American composers of the 20th century,” he said, “among them Aaron Copland, Elliot Carter, Roy Harris and Virgil Thomson – and many others, including Earl Kelly. Yet Nadia felt that her younger sister, Lili, who died at age 24, was the better composer. She was the first female winner of the Prix de Rome prize for her cantata/opera ‘Faust et Hélène.'”

Eva Parr is a co-founder and art director for New Camerata Opera. In addition to a busy performance schedule that most recently included the roles of Hélène and Concepción in NCO’s double-bill of Lili Boulanger’s “Faust et Hélène” and Ravel’s “L’heure Espangole,” Lola in NCO’s original production of “Cav+Pag,” Bianca in Benjamin Britten’s “The Rape of Lucretia,” and Ada Lovelace in Kamala Sankaram’s “Enchantress,” she creates, designs and oversees marketing materials and strategies for NCO.

Andrew Parr was a piano faculty member in the School of Music from 1983 to 2021 and performed extensively in solo, chamber and concert settings and conducted master classes nationally and internationally. He has taught or performed in Austria, Italy, Poland, Yugoslavia, the Dominican Republic, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the People’s Republic of China.

Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. To purchase tickets, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit Fine Arts Box Office website. For additional information, contact the SFA School of Music at (936) 468-4602.

ABOUT STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE UNIVERSITY

Stephen F. Austin State University, the newest member of The University of Texas System, began a century ago as a teachers’ college in Texas’ oldest town, Nacogdoches. Today, it has grown into a regional institution comprising six colleges — business, education, fine arts, forestry and agriculture, liberal and applied arts, and sciences and mathematics. Accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, SFA enrolls approximately 11,000 students while providing the academic breadth of a state university with the personalized attention of a private school. The main campus encompasses 421 acres that include 37 academic facilities, nine residence halls, and 68 acres of recreational trails that wind through its six gardens. The university offers more than 80 bachelor’s degrees, more than 40 master’s degrees and four doctoral degrees covering more than 120 areas of study. Learn more at sfasu.edu.

By Robbie Goodrich, director of arts information