Everything Nac

With a grant from the Center for Applied Research and Rural Innovation at Stephen F. Austin State University, the SFA School of Art has developed a new student docent program at The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House. Additionally, the grant support will enable the return of the popular School of Art Friday Night Film series.

Art students at SFA will soon offer guided tours of the exhibitions showing at the Cole Art Center, SFA’s historic downtown art gallery. The program targets K-12 schools and educators in East Texas by offering tours to students. Regularly scheduled weekend tours will also be open to the public.

“We hope that the docent program will bring new and returning visitors into the Cole Art Center,” said Amanda Breitbach, assistant professor of art at SFA and principal investigator for the grant proposal. “The program will benefit SFA School of Art students, who will research the art and artists to prepare guided tours, and it will benefit visitors who tour our exhibitions. We especially want to work with area K-12 teachers who would like to bring student groups to the art center, and we plan to offer weekend tours to appeal to out-of-town visitors as well as locals.”

As part of the same grant, the School of Art plans to resume its free Friday Night Film series and collaborate with local art groups and nonprofits to plan other future “First Friday” events. The first film screening is at 7 p.m. March 3 in Cole Art Center and will feature “Icepick to the Moon,” written, edited and directed by Skizz Cyzyk. It is a documentary about musician the Rev. Fred Lane and the Raudelunas arts collective of Alabama.

“The film series was very popular in the community, and we’re excited to bring it back,” Breitbach said. “Film professors Bill Arscott and Brad Maule and film historian Ron King have all been very supportive in this effort. We plan to share a variety of films, from classic movies to art house films, documentaries and student work.”

Breitbach said the School of Art envisions the Cole Art Center as an important center for the arts in East Texas. Another aspect of the grant will be working with the SFA Center for Business and Economic Research to measure the economic impact of the arts in Nacogdoches.

“We see the arts as a valuable part of our local economy, and this study will give us useful data about the role of the arts right now, as well as identifying areas for expansion in the future,” Breitbach said.

SFA graduate assistants Dagon Blank and Joseph Owalabi will coordinate and oversee the new programs.

Showing at The Cole Art Center through March 24 is the exhibition “Persona,” with multimedia work by artists John Rasimus, Richie Budd and Kris Pierce.

The mission of the Center for Applied Research and Rural Innovation, or CARRI, is to “bring faculty and students together with business, industry, education and community partners in dynamic, interactive environments. Through these interactions, students will learn how to use their skills to work in teams with other students from multiple disciplines in order to solve complex real-world problems for rural and smaller communities,” according to information at sfasu.edu/carri.

Educators and other groups interested in scheduling a docent-guided tour may email requests to sfaartgalleries@sfasu.edu

For more information about the School of Art, call (936) 468-4804. To contact Cole Art Center, call (936) 468-5500.

Larry Greer, adjunct faculty instructor of guitar at Stephen F. Austin State University, will present a faculty recital at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 2, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

The program will feature a mix of classical (Francisco Tárrega and J.S.Bach) and popular (Dan Fogelberg’s Etude #3 for flute and guitar) music, a set of jazz standards and two original compositions. Greer will be joined by his wife Karen Greer, vocalist; and faculty colleagues Dr. Christina Guenther, flute; Dr. Brad Meyer, percussion; Dr. J.D. Salas, bass; and Dr. Ben Morris, piano.

In addition to teaching classical and jazz guitar at SFA, Greer teaches guitar and bass at Angelina College and previously taught classical guitar at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville and Eastern New Mexico University in Taos, New Mexico. He has served as an adjudicator and clinician at high school and college jazz festivals around the state and served as jazz organizer for the Texas Community College Band Directors Association. He directs and arranges for the SFA electric guitar ensemble. This unique ensemble performs repertoire from the Renaissance to rock including jazz standards arranged for eight to 10 guitarists.

Concert 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 finearts.sfasu.edu. For additional information, contact the SFA School of Music at (936) 468-4602.

Stephen F. Austin State University’s JacksTeach program and Center for Applied Research and Rural Innovation are hosting a series of workshops this summer on inquiry science lab solutions for high school teachers.

These workshops are designed to help teachers facilitate and prepare true inquiry-based labs, use lab technology and equipment in an inquiry setting, and maintain a safe laboratory environment.

There will be three different topic-focused workshops: biology, June 5-9; physics, June 20-23; and chemistry, June 26-30. All sessions will run from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The workshops will be held on the SFA campus and led by university faculty and staff. Participation is free, and lunch will be provided daily. Lessons shared will meet Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills requirements and Next Generation Science Standards.

Attendees will receive a $100 stipend per day of full participation and up to $500 worth of laboratory supplies. To be eligible for the workshops, teachers must be public high school science teachers from the deep East Texas region with confirmed fall 2023 assignments in biology, chemistry or physics.

Applications close March 1, and acceptance emails will be sent by March 15. Spots are limited.

To get more information and request the application link, call (936) 468-3960 or email jacksteach@sfasu.edu.

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