Everything Nac

Six Stephen F. Austin State University students received top honors at the American Advertising Federation-Houston Student Conference held Nov. 3 and 4.

The federation comprises professionals from advertising, marketing and communications disciplines.

Students from SFA’s School of Art, Department of Management and Marketing, and Department of Mass Communication competed during the conference.

SFA students Victor Henson, Houston junior, and Kourtney Williams, San Antonio senior, placed first. Joshua Robertson, Austin junior, placed second. Third-place finishers were seniors Amanda Campbell from Frisco and Jocelyn Paz from Houston, and junior Deon Egenti from Houston.

Three faculty advisors from SFA accompanied the students: Dr. Seth Bradshaw, assistant professor in SFA’s Department of Mass Communication; Peter Andrew, professor in the School of Art; and Dr. Marlene Kahla, professor in the Department of Management and Marketing.

San Jacinto College was this year’s competition sponsor, and students were tasked with developing advertising campaigns designed to increase enrollment among 22 to 34 year olds.

Dozens of students from 13 universities competed and were divided into 12 teams. Each team was allotted eight hours to create a campaign, which included creative aspects, research, marketing and media plans, and a presentation.

Bradshaw said the conference provided students with real-world application of materials discussed in class, as well as connected them to industry professionals.

“The broader goals of the competition and conference included connecting students to industry professionals and local media organizations,” Bradshaw said. “Activities for attendees included a panel discussion from recent college graduates about how to break into the advertising industry, and professionals offered one-on-one feedback to students regarding portfolios and résumés.”

Kahla agrees the conference “enables business students to better understand the roles of marketing, communications and art when working on a project.”

The conference served as a district-level advertising competition and a precursor for students who plan to compete in the national competition in spring 2018.

By Kasi Dickerson, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.

For several Stephen F. Austin State University students and faculty and staff members, cooking matters.

During the past six weeks, Justin Pelham, food, nutrition and dietetics clinical instructor at SFA, and students in his community nutrition courses have educated university faculty and staff members on nutrition and cooking healthy food on a budget through the Share Our Strength’s Cooking Matters program.

“As part of the No Kid Hungry campaign to end childhood hunger in America, Share Our Strength’s Cooking Matters teaches participants to shop smarter, use nutrition information to make healthier choices, and cook delicious, affordable meals,” according to cookingmatters.org.

This is the third year SFA community nutrition classes have partnered with the East Texas Food Bank to provide this program. This year, the program was open to SFA faculty and staff members, and Pelham said there was a waiting list. Also, the class partnered with SFA Campus Recreation’s Employee Wellness program.

“This event has been a tremendous success with our participants,” Pelham said. “They have enjoyed working with our community nutrition students and praising them for sharing their passion and knowledge on nutrition-focused topics in conjunction with healthy cooking.”

Twenty faculty and staff members participated this year.

“I feel like there is always a new fad with nutrition, but it’s great to get the facts from people who study and research these items,” said Samantha Mora, director of alumni events and engagement and Cooking Matters participant. “I enjoyed trying new, healthier foods I normally wouldn’t make or try on my own.”

During the first four weeks, students gave an hour lecture and cooking demonstration at each class. The fifth week, students gave participants a tour of a local grocery store, and the final class served as a potluck and graduation.

“The grocery store tour reinforces the first four weeks of nutrition education classes and cooking demonstrations,” Pelham said. “This provides application for participants to walk around the store and discuss various topics such as reading nutrition labels, price comparison and the store design for marketing.”

Pelham explained the Cooking Matters program is beneficial for students and participants. Since this is used as a class project, students apply their skills learned in the classroom to a real-world situation.

“Both students and participants find this event an enriching learning experience with real-world skills being implemented in a community nutrition focused environment,” Pelham said.

By Kasi Dickerson, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.

The Children’s Performing Arts Series at Stephen F. Austin State University will present two performances of Virginia Repertory Theatre’s “A Christmas Carol” on Friday, Dec. 1, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus.

Perhaps the best loved holiday story of all time, Virginia Repertory’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic “A Christmas Carol” is particularly suited to children, according to Diane Peterson, SFA Fine Arts Box Office manager and director of the children’s series.

“Watch Mr. Scrooge have a change of heart from stone to gold as he is visited by the ghosts of Christmas, transforming him into a kinder, gentler man,” Peterson said. “All the joy, sentiment and meaning are here, without being too scary for young audiences.”

“A Christmas Carol” is the heartwarming story of the transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge from a greedy, heartless miser to a generous, loving man. Three ghostly visits – from the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future – leave an indelible impression on Ebenezer. Filled with love and the true spirit of the Christmas season, he begins to change his selfish ways and open his heart to those around him.

The musical targets children in kindergarten through fifth grade. A study guide can be accessed at http://va-rep.org/tour/guides/carol.pdf.

Performances are at 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on show dates in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus. Tickets are $7.50 for individuals and $6 per person for groups of 20 or more.

Other upcoming children’s shows presented by the SFA College of Fine Arts include “Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad” on Thursday, Feb. 1; Super Scientific Circus on Wednesday, March 7; and “The Ugly Duckling” on Friday, April 27.

To order tickets, call (936) 468-6407 or (888) 240-ARTS. Visit the CPAS website at www.cpas.sfasu.edu for additional information.

The Swingin’ Axes and Swingin’ Aces at Stephen F. Austin State University will present the program “A Jazzy Christmas” that will feature a mixture of holiday songs and jazz favorites at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

The Swingin’ Axes, directed by Dr. Deb Scott, will perform arrangements from two major jazz Christmas albums. Stan Kenton released his landmark album, “Kenton’s Christmas,” in 1970. “We Three Kings,” “Adeste Fideles (O, Come All Ye Faithful)” and “The Twelve Days of Christmas” are all popular arrangements by Kenton and Ralph Carmichael, according to Scott.

These famous recordings originally included adding four mellophone players to the traditional jazz ensemble. These parts will be performed by horn majors from the SFA School of Music, including Corrie Bird of Mineral Wells, Abbigail Ramsey of McKinney, Taylor Young of Hallsville and Cody Wyatt of Pearland.

Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band released a Christmas album in 2006 called “Bah Humduck!, A Looney Tunes Christmas.” The Axes will perform several “wildly untraditional” Christmas arrangements from this album, Scott said. Those include “Yo Tannenbaum!,” “God Rest Ye Mary, Gentlemen” and “The Little Drummer Boy.”

The concert will also feature Barry Martin, senior percussion major, singing “The Christmas Song” by Mel Tormé and Robert Wells, arranged by Jerry Nowak.

The Swingin’ Aces, directed by Dr. J.D. Salas, will perform two pieces by East Texas arranger and composer Mike McGowan, who instructs music theory at Panola College in Carthage and performs saxophone and keyboard in several East Texas jazz groups. Those works include “My Shining Hour” by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer, arranged by McGowan, and the world premiere of McGowan’s “Mrs. Luckey’s Blue Plate Special.”

The Aces will also perform “In A Mellow Tone” by Duke Ellington, arranged by Dave Wolpe; “But Beautiful” by Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen, arranged by Lennie Niehaus; “A Charlie Brown Christmas” by Vince Guaraldi, arranged by Paul Murtha; and

“Take the ‘A’ Train” by Billy Strayhorn, arranged by Gordon Goodwin.

Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu. Cole Concert Hall is located in the Tom and Peggy Wright Music Building.

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art and the Friends of the Visual Arts will present a free, one-night screening of “Who the #$%& is Jackson Pollock?” at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1, in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

Directed by veteran filmmaker Harry Morgan Moses, the documentary exposes the controversy in the world of high-priced artwork. Moses paints a vivid picture of how art is bought and sold in America in this film about a long-haul truck driver who buys a painting from a thrift shop for $5 and later finds out that Pollock may have painted it.

The film runs 74 minutes and is rated PG-13 for certain language.

This screening is part of the School of Art’s monthly Friday Film Series and is sponsored in part by William Arscott, Nacogdoches Film Festival, Karon Gillespie, Mike Mollot, David Kulhavy, Brad Maule, John and Kristen Heath, Galleria Z, Jill Carrington, Jean Stephens, Jim and Mary Neal, Richard Orton, Nacogdoches Junior Forum and Main Street Nacogdoches.

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

The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House will host a holiday exhibition that provides a glimpse into the celebrations of Christmas past from a child’s point of view.

“I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” featuring charming items from a bygone era, is from a local private collection. The exhibition will be displayed in small vignettes placed around the gallery on both floors. The show will be exhibited Dec. 1 through 31.

“These vignettes will explore the wonder and delight of Christmas celebrations and demonstrate how delightful such things were to children 100-plus years ago,” said John Handley, director of art galleries for Stephen F. Austin State University.

The Cole Art Center hosted a similar holiday exhibition last year for the first time.

“It proved to be very popular,” Handley said. “We had visitors from as far away as Tyler come to see the exhibit. Several museums around the country set up similar displays to attract families to the museums. One notable example is the Taft Museum in Ohio, which features a charming exhibit each holiday season.”

Handley will discuss a unique aspect of antique ornaments in a presentation at 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 2, which is the same day as the Christmas festival in downtown Nacogdoches, followed by the annual lighted Christmas parade and fireworks display that evening.

Sponsors for the presentation are The Flower Shop, SFA Friends of the Visual Arts and Nacogdoches Junior Forum.

SFA School of Art’s downtown gallery, The Cole Art Center is located at 329 E. Main St. For more information, call (936) 468-1131.