Everything Nac

Art education students at Stephen F. Austin State University are continuing to explore new and innovative ways to teach art to members of the Boys and Girls Club of Deep East Texas.

In another collaborative effort, the SFA School of Art, the Boys and Girls Club and the Community Arts Center of East Texas helped students create a colorful mural completely online.

“In weekly Zoom meetings, art education students conducted one-on-one tutorial painting sessions with Boys and Girls Club participants in which each student painted a square of a graphed image,” explained Dr. Maggie Leysath, professor of art education at SFA.

Boys and Girls Club children discussed the meaning of “intercultural harmony” and created images that reflected their ideas. Art education students took those ideas and created a central image of helping hands.

“The final result is a collaborative image that highlights the individuals who created it,” Leysath said, “and, it was completely done from remote locations.

“Well done future art educators,” she added, “and a big, huge thank you to everyone at the Boys and Girls Club and the awesome Community Arts Center of East Texas.”

The mural is being installed for viewing at the Judy B. McDonald Public Library in Nacogdoches.

For more information about the School of Art, call (936) 468-4804 or visit art.sfasu.edu.

Five graduating students showcase artwork

An exhibition showcasing the work of five graduating students in the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art is showing now through Dec. 1 in the Art Building just off of Wilson Drive and adjacent to the SFA Mast Arboretum on campus.

Works exhibited in the front gallery include solargraphs by Joshua Mokry of Houston; digital and watercolor tattoo flashes by Ericka Bates of Rionegro, Antioquia, Colombia; paintings by Ethan Donart of Sugar Land; and paintings and projection artworks by Charles Oliveri of Lufkin The photography by Ariana Sessoms of Mansfield is exhibited in exit hall gallery.

Artworks in The BFA Group Exhibition reflect a culmination of time spent and learned at SFA with the help and guidance of faculty in the art program. The show marks the students’ final exhibit as undergraduates and is one of the last steps for the School of Art class of 2020.

One of the series, titled “8 Months,” showcases “solargraphs” which are long-duration images of the sun’s path captured by pinhole cameras made out of paint cans. As the paper in the cameras age, mold starts to grow over its surface. The artist, Joshua Mokry, said, “I wanted to create something during this pandemic about this pandemic. It’s an anxious and trying time for everyone, and I want to convey that feeling with this series. It’s about my time spent during the early stages of 2020 and that anxious growth that built up as the days passed by.”

Social distancing of at least six feet apart by patrons will be required when viewing artwork. Admission is free.

For more information about the SFA School of Art, call (936) 468-4804.

Graduate and undergraduate singers at Stephen F. Austin State University will present a virtual concert that will feature recitatives and arias from Part 1 of George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah.”

Dr. Ron Petti, coordinator of collaborative piano at SFA will accompany soloists at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15, in the free online concert that will be accessible at music.sfasu.edu on the day of the performance.

Citing safety concerns related to COVID-19, Dr. Michael Murphy, director of choral activities, said that “the annual performance of movements from Handel’s Messiah will look a little different this year.”

“While there will be no choral movements performed, you can watch and hear a few of the many talented singers at SFA perform some of the most beloved and well-known movements from Handel’s masterpiece, ‘Messiah,'” Murphy said. “The movements are taken from Part 1 of the work that tells of the prophecy and promise of the Messiah.”

Graduate and undergraduate student soloists include Aaron Dominguez, Cole Jones, Isaiah Collazo, Emily Boyland, Victoria Cole, William Murphy, Sarah Thee, Gracie Palmore, Brianna Glaze and Emily LeBlanc.

For more information about the School of Music, contact (936) 468-4602.

There are still some opportunities to see the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Theatre’s presentation of Ian McWethy and Carrie McCrossen’s play “Rideshare/Overshare” at 7:30 nightly through Saturday, Nov. 14, in either an in-person performance in Kennedy Auditorium on the SFA campus or through virtual access.

SFA theatre Professor Angela Bacarisse, the play’s director, describes the play as “just a nice story with some quirky folks inhabiting it.” Mike and Elaine, a young couple heading out to meet each other on a blind date, each decide independently to take an UBER to get to their destination, and then they find themselves paired with the weirdest drivers on the road.

One reason that “Rideshare/Overshare” found its way into this year’s Mainstage Series is “because it can be produced very simply,” Bacarisse said. And “simply” is what was needed, because this year’s (and next year’s) “mainstage” for the School of Theatre will be Kennedy Auditorium. The College of Fine Arts and School of Theatre no longer have access to Turner Auditorium in Griffith Fine Arts Building because of a planned renovation/construction project that will take two years to complete. As a result, Kennedy Auditorium has become the main performance space for theatre students, and technical aspects need to be kept at a minimum because of facility limitations. The biggest lesson learned through facility limitations: you can do theatre anywhere!

“I have worked on theatre in gyms, church basements, lecture halls, old gas stations and even circus tents,” Bacarisse said. “Kennedy Auditorium has its challenges, but at least we didn’t have to install the seating!”

There are aspects of Kennedy that are similar to a high school auditorium, specifically the linoleum floor. But there are theatrical ways that you can make Kennedy into a theatre, Bacarisse said.

“Those students who have experienced the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland with me know that you can do theatre anywhere,” she said. “Just hang up some black curtains and go. The major challenge is that there was no consideration made for the humanness of the people performing on ‘stage’ in Kennedy. There is no place to change your clothes in private, and there are no private restrooms for actors.

“And there’s no place that isn’t on stage,” she added. “So we had to make it up. We created new ways of doing things, but they aren’t all that different from working off-Broadway, or doing theatre in a space that used to be a store-front. You create what you want it to be.”

Lack of theatrical elements, floor, pipes, places to put lights and curtains … those are some of the physical challenges.

“But you can bring those in, and you can have scenery that doesn’t have to fly out,” Bacarisse said. “When you have to work without technology that you are used to, you have to be more creative.”

The students who are working on “Rideshare/Overshare” are going to be more prepared to work in places that Bacarisse describes as “non-traditional theatres.”

“And that is great, because there is a lot of work that happens in non-traditional spaces,” she said. “Students will be more prepared for solving the challenges when they are faced with them. It does depend on what they had access to in their high school. If they were performing in what I call a ‘café-gymna-torium,’ then Kennedy won’t be that much different. But if they are coming from a school like those in Plano, they will be getting the low-budget side of theatre until we move into the new spaces.

“But in reality, it is unusual to go straight from college to high-budget Broadway,” she said. “You have to work on a lot of low-budget shows first, and for the next two years, our students will master those challenges.”

Because of social distancing requirements, seating in Kennedy Auditorium will be limited for each performance. Patrons are required to wear face coverings. Actors on stage will wear masks during live performances.

General ticket prices are: adult, $15; senior (62+), $10; non-SFA student, $10; SFA faculty/staff, $7.50; youth, $7.50; SFA student, $5; virtual access, $15. Live virtual access is available for all performances. Purchase tickets/access at boxoffice.sfasu.edu or call (936) 468-6407. For questions about the play, contact the School of Theatre at (936) 468-4003.