Everything Nac

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 Bell Affair,” a film by Kwakiutl Dreher, William Thomas III and Michael Burton. The screening is at 7 p.m. Friday, April 7, in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House.

“The Bell Affair ” is an animated feature depicting the overlooked story of courtroom freedom-making in American history. In the film, Daniel and Mary Bell sue for their freedom and then lead one of the largest escape attempts in history. About to be separated, they are forced to make a terrifying choice, according to information at IMDb.

The film will be followed by a question-and-answer session on Zoom with Dreher and Burton.

The Friday Night Film Series is made possible in part by a grant from the Center for Applied Research and Rural Innovation at SFA. The series is also sponsored in part by 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.

Author and educator William Underwood Eiland will serve as juror for the 28th Texas National, Stephen F. Austin State University’s acclaimed art competition and exhibition, which opens April 14 and runs through June 30 in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

Art patrons and community members will have an opportunity to participate in a “juror’s chat” session with Eiland, who is director of the Georgia Museum of Art, at 5 p.m. Friday, April 14, to be followed by the opening reception of Texas National from 6 to 8 p.m.

In celebration of SFA’s 100th birthday, 100 works of art were selected to be included in this year’s competition, according to Erik Ordaz, exhibition coordinator for Cole Art Center. Texas National features an assortment of art from various media, and prizes will be awarded for first, second and third best in show at the juror’s discretion.

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 curators, artists and critics, such as Eiland, Ordaz said. In addition to his service as director of the Georgia Museum of Art, Eiland is on the graduate faculty of the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia.

Eiland has been the recipient of a Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship, a Danforth Teaching Fellowship at the University of Virginia, a research fellowship from the University of Georgia’s Willson Center for The Humanities and Arts, and a Museum Professionals Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. He has edited and contributed to more than 60 publications, including Art Papers, Georgia Journal, US Art, Ceramics Monthly, Southern Antiques and English Literature in Transition. Eiland authored “The Truth in Things: The Life and Career of Lamar Dodd,” published by the University of Georgia Press, and “Nashville’s Mother Church: The History of the Ryman Auditorium.”

He has served on the boards of the American Association of Museums, the Southeastern Museums Conference and the Georgia Association of Museums and Galleries; was a trustee of the Association of Art Museum directors; and was chairman of the Arts and Artifacts Indemnity Advisory Panel for the National Endowment for the Arts. He also served as the vice chairman of the board of the American Association of Museums and completed a five-year term on the Accreditation Commission as vice chair. Since 2013 he has been a trustee of the International Council of Museums.

Among his many honors, Eiland most recently received the American Alliance of Museums Distinguished Service Award in recognition of his contributions to the field on a national level.

After serving four years in the U.S. Marines and in various other higher education roles, Stesha Colby-Lynch has been named program director for Stephen F. Austin State University’s Veterans Resource Center.

With 10 years of experience in higher education, including experience working for the Texas Veterans Commission, Texas Christian University and Texas State Technical College, Colby-Lynch has a well-rounded understanding of what higher education can look like for military veterans and their dependents at SFA.

“I would love to see the veteran student body feel more connected to the whole university,” Colby-Lynch said. “Research shows if a student feels connected to the university, they are more likely to stay and graduate, and they are more likely to do well. I’d love to see that for my students.”

Since 2010, SFA’s VRC has provided a space for veterans, veteran dependents, and ROTC members to gather, socialize and form relationships that provide networks of support. This space is a hub for veteran programming that builds connections with veteran faculty and community members, as well as provides access to veterans’ resources at SFA and through outside agencies.

“I am in the process of trying to increase awareness of our services. It’s hard for some veterans to seek the help they need, so we have a population of veterans on campus who aren’t using any benefits,” Colby-Lynch said. “I’m trying to get them the resources they need and include them in future programming.”

Colby-Lynch’s goals include strengthening and diversifying the VRC’s programming. This will involve working with other SFA organizations to create stronger relationships for veteran students to benefit from those resources and connections.

“One of my goals is to increase visibility, not only for people to know about the center but for folks to see veterans on campus as part of the campus rather than ‘othered,'” she said, speaking of the feeling minority populations can have of feeling excluded. “Some of the students do feel othered because they are not traditional students. We have our youngest veterans who enlisted at 18, went to boot camp, just got out of service and now are about 22. Our older veterans are about to turn 50, so we have a wide range of generations represented at SFA.”

Colby-Lynch oversees federal veteran benefit certifications and overall programming. New programs she’s implemented include yoga, taught twice a week by SFA veteran students in the VRC, and art therapy. Some days, students might even see Hercules, Colby-Lynch’s gentle service dog she brings to create a comforting environment for all who use the center.

Colby-Lynch reports to the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

“We are excited to welcome Stesha as the new program director of the Veterans Resource Center,” said Dr. Michara DeLaney-Fields, chief diversity officer. “Having an experienced higher education veteran resource will help our veteran students succeed and enhance their college experience.”

Though she is still getting to know everyone at SFA and the Nacogdoches community, Colby-Lynch is gearing up to make the VRC the best it can be.

Colby-Lynch received her Associate of Arts in general education from Tarrant County Community College and two Bachelor of Arts degrees in philosophy and sociology from TCU. She moved to Nacogdoches with her three rescue dogs and her husband, Sean, who worked for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for 10 years and is now a contractor at SFA. He will begin taking classes as a forestry major in the fall.

By Alyssa Faykus, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.