Everything Nac

Typhanie Shepherd, a Stephen F. Austin State University junior from Lufkin, has been selected as this year’s William Arscott Art Scholarship recipient. Shepherd is a studying filmmaking in SFA’s School of Art cinematography program. The Friends of the Visual Arts at SFA presents the award annually.

Jeff Brewer, former assistant professor of sculpture, nominated Shepherd for the scholarship. In his nomination letter, he wrote: “I have had the pleasure of knowing, teaching and mentoring Typhanie for the last three years. She is a talented student, budding young artist and all around wonderful human being.”

Brewer went on to describe Shepherd as “a brilliant student with an inquisitive nature and a drive to succeed.”

“The enthusiasm and wit she brings to the classroom are contagious, and I am grateful to be part of it,” he wrote. “Her desire to learn and try new things is a joy to witness. Her explorations into plastic casting, welding, installation and puppetry, along with her genuine love of film and learning, mixes with her curiosity, sense of humor and painstakingly detail-oriented work ethic to make her a perfect match for the Arscott Scholarship.

“I have seen firsthand the dedication and diligence Typhanie brings to the classroom, and I look forward to watching her grow as an artist, filmmaker and a person,” he said.

The FVA awards the Arscott Scholarship annually to one SFA art student to aid them in furthering their educational and professional goals in the field of art. Arscott is the senior member of the art faculty and has worked in many artistic fields, including painting, ceramics, printmaking, sculpture and cinematography. In 1980, he established the cinematography program for the School of Art. Distinguished as both an artist and educator, Arscott has been recognized and awarded many honors, including Texas Senate Resolution No. 514, Outstanding Educator of America, Alumni Distinguished Professor and Regents Professor.

The FVA has established several 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. In this instance, Arscott is still working at the university after more than 55 years of teaching there and is SFA’s longest-tenured faculty member. FVA scholarship committee members unanimously decided they wanted to honor Arscott now, prior to his retirement.

A new partnership between Stephen F. Austin State University’s Lumberjack Express mobile food lab and Jo’s Diner at the Helping Other People Eat Food Pantry will give students in SFA’s hospitality administration and food, nutrition and dietetics programs more opportunities to prepare for their future careers and serve the community. It also will add kitchen space and manpower to HOPE Food Pantry to help serve more Jo’s Diner guests.

Jo’s Diner, a kitchen of HOPE established in honor of the late Martha “Jo” Price, opened July 31. As many as 50 guests, on a first-come basis, are served a free, nutritious lunch by kitchen volunteers on Wednesdays.

The diner is partially funded by a grant from the Moody Foundation and by generous donations from the community. It has limited resources and heavily relies on volunteers and community partners, according to Dr. Sharon Ninness, project director and grant writer for Jo’s Diner and a volunteer for HOPE Food Pantry.

“Bringing Lumberjack Express to Jo’s Diner extends those resources by allowing volunteers to use the mobile kitchen, as well as providing the community served a unique dining experience,” Ninness said.

Though students from the hospitality administration and food, nutrition and dietetics programs have been regularly volunteering at Jo’s Diner since September, the Lumberjack Express and Jo’s Diner partnership officially kicked off the day before Thanksgiving.

The kickoff included volunteers from the SFA men’s basketball team, who served Jo’s Diner guests less than 24 hours after beating then No. 1 Duke University in overtime.

Faculty volunteers included Dr. Donna Fickes, clinical instructor of hospitality administration; Jill Pruett, adjunct instructor of food, nutrition and dietetics; Wilma Cordova, professor of social work, who was named the 2019 Social Worker of the Year by the Texas chapter of the National Association of Social Workers; Kyle Keller, men’s basketball coach; and Dr. Mark Guidry, associate provost for Academic Affairs, who helped prepare the Cajun Thanksgiving feast for Jo’s Diner guests.

The partnership will continue in the spring semester with SFA students preparing and serving 50 meals to members of the Nacogdoches community at Jo’s Diner on the first, second and fourth Wednesdays of the month beginning Jan. 22. The Lumberjack Express mobile food lab will travel to Jo’s Diner only on the fourth Wednesday of the month.

“This partnership provides students with a venue to apply the skills they have learned while fulfilling the mission of the James I. Perkins College of Education,” Fickes said. “By developing a commitment to service that enriches the community, these students will become competent, successful, caring and enthusiastic professionals dedicated to responsible service, leadership, social justice and continued professional and intellectual development in an interconnected global society.”

Though the partnership is initially focusing on students from the hospitality administration and food, nutrition and dietetics programs in the School of Human Sciences, Fickes said all SFA students, faculty and staff are welcome to join the partnership.

“They can join it individually or by department,” Fickes said. “It would be great to get our administrators, regents and other SFA community members out on a regular basis to interact with our students and our community.”

To learn how to join the partnership, email fickesdj@sfasu.edu.

By Jo Gilmore, marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.

Students at Stephen F. Austin State University’s Early Childhood Laboratory arrived on the chilly morning of Dec. 11 to see SFA art students inflating a 50-foot-long purple crayon sculpture on the front lawn of their school.

This semester-ending project for Professor Lauren Selden’s 3D Design class in the School of Art taught SFA students the elements and principles of design when working with 3D forms. It also helped both the college students at SFA and the pre-K students in the Early Childhood Laboratory relieve stress at the end of a busy semester.

“The children loved not only looking at but also getting inside the big, purple crayon,” said Dr. Lori Harkness, director of the Early Childhood Laboratory. “They got to enjoy reading a story inside and see how the crayon was inflated. It was an amazing experience.”

In the past, Selden’s classes have built inflatable sculptures that provided different experiences for the viewer. After voting on approximately 20 proposals, this year’s class chose an inflatable purple crayon envisioned by Dallas-area junior Jenna Lowry, who’s studying interior design in the School of Human Sciences.

The proposal included where the piece would be shown, reasons it would be an effective group project, ways students could participate with viewers and the availability of power on site.

“We needed something simple enough to complete in a short amount of time,” Lowry said. “Something creative we could all participate in and relieve the stress of finals week.”

Designed for a pre-K audience, the project helped the children learn more about colors, especially SFA’s school color, purple. Selden’s students learned how to take a 2D material, 2 mil plastic, and transform it into a large-scale 3D form. Selden said the students had to work together carefully to be successful on this scale.

“We have been doing this activity in 3D for more than 10 years,” Selden said. “It is an excellent way to explore scale and spectacle.”

The final sculpture, which was 6.5 feet tall, started with a small plastic model to ensure the elements of the crayon, from the body to the black bands to the cone, would scale correctly. For example, if a 3-foot-long sculpture inflates with a hair dryer, a 50-foot sculpture needs a regular fan.

The art students decided the crayon should lay on its side for optimum inflation. They taped purple and black plastic together to build the sculpture during three weeks of class time. The students worked together to calculate dimensions, cut the plastic, fabricate the form and test the completed form.

“We worked very efficiently and couldn’t wait for the children to see our hard work come to life.” Lowry said. “This was a unique and fun-filled experience.”

Once the sculpture was inflated in front of the Janice A. Pattillo Early Childhood Research Center, more than 40 children and 30 adults climbed through a 7-foot zipper door in groups of five to allow air to inflate the crayon to full capacity. Selden’s students read to the pre-K students, who all sat attentively inside the large crayon.

“My students were so excited to share their work,” Selden said. “Working in the community helps these artists consider their future audience while creating an experience in an unlikely environment.

“This is our entry into studying public art, site-specific art, performance and community involvement,” Selden added. “I was lucky to have such an exceptional group; they worked together and created a fun experience for the pre-K children.”

Selden finds this work so rewarding that she often participates in inflatable sculpture projects around the world. Her latest project took her to Chihuahua, Mexico, to work with professional artists and college students to create a giant inflatable piggy bank.

“That was one of my favorite experiences so far,” she said. “This kind of art involves a lot of team building, and it was fun to work with the community members, college students and professional artists in Chihuahua. There was often a language barrier between us, but making things is a universal language. I love being in situations where I get this reminder.”

For more information, email lselden@sfasu.edu.

By Jo Gilmore, marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University. Photo by Hardy Meredith