School of Art & Design Blog | College of Creative Arts

Congratulations to Vlad Basarab! He has been selected as a Fulbright Scholar! All of us at the College of Creative Arts are so proud of you!

Basarab was born in Bucharest, Romania and came to the U.S. in 1995 to finish high school and study ceramics in college. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Alaska Anchorage in 2001, and after several years of owning his own business, he decided to get a master’s from WVU in art and design. He had gone to school in Alaska with two members of the WVU faculty in the College of Creative Arts, Shoji Satake and Jenniger Allen, who attracted him to picking up his studies in Morgantown.

“When the sculpture department saw my portfolio that had performance and video, they told me to be in the electronic media department,” he said.

After graduating in May, he will travel to Romania with the Fulbright Scholarship to research the impact of censorship on intellectuals in Romania. The research will focus on the Communist era of Romanian history. Basarab hopes to visit old prisons around the country and collaborate with other artists during his nine-month trip.

“This is part of my past. I grew up under those restrictions, so I’m interested in finding out about how that affected people,” he said. “The intellectual population of Romania was decimated or put into prisons, so there was a lot of change because the elite was eliminated.”

“I cannot live without all that cultural influence from Romania. It’s fulfilling my work. My ideas have a universal message, but somehow I’m drawing a lot of my inspiration from Romania and Eastern Europe and what happened there during communism.”

Music alumnus Jay Chattaway, one of America’s premier composers for film and television and well known for his musical compositions for the TV Series “Star Trek,” will be the guest speaker for the College of Creative Arts commencement, Saturday, May 18.

Chattaway will be presented with the College of Creative Arts Outstanding Alumni Award during the ceremony, which begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Lyell B. Clay Concert Theatre. The ccommencement is open to the public.

Chattaway, the winner of numerous Emmy Awards, recently presented his entire “Star Trek” music collection to the WVU School of Music, where he will be a visiting artist, beginning this fall, teaching students about the commercial music field and how to compose for films and television.

Born in the Pittsburgh suburb of Monongahela, Pa., Chattaway started composing music in junior high school and came to WVU on a music scholarship, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 1968 and later with a master’s degree. Chattaway studied piano at WVU, but majored in composition and music education. He also studied at the Eastman School of Music.

In addition to playing in the Mountaineer Marching Band, while at WVU, Chattaway joined with other School of Music students to create Abductors, a popular cover band.

Chattaway enjoys success today as an internationally acclaimed composer with more than 200 commissioned and published works, including 30 published jazz compositions. His work has garnered him four Grammy nominations for jazz and instrumental arranging and composing and four Gold Albums.

As head of Artists and Repertoire for CBS Records and later Columbia Records, he worked with artists such as Carly Simon, The Talking Heads, David Byrne, Bob James, Herb Alpert and Maynard Ferguson.

His arrangement of “The Theme from Rocky” (“Gonna Fly Now”) for Ferguson resulted in his first Grammy nomination and a Gold Album. For Ferguson’s album “Conquistador,” he also arranged a jazz version of Alexander Courage’s “Star Trek” Theme, which became a hit single.

In 1979, after forming Tappan Zee Records with colleague Bob James, he left the recording industry to score films, first in New York and then in Hollywood.

In 1989, he was asked to serve as guest composer for an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation and in 1991 was hired as a regular composer for the series.

He received nine Emmy Award nominations, mostly for his work on the Star Trek series, but also for The Shark Chronicles (1990) and Thirty Years of National Geographic (1995). He won an Emmy Award for an episode of Star Trek: Voyager titled “Endgame,” Parts 1 and 2.

He has composed and arranged original music for advertising clients such as Coca-Cola, DuPont and California Fruits. His interest in world music and his love for the sea have also led him to compose musical scores for several National Geographic Specials and Jacques Cousteau’s “Rediscovery of the World: Australia” and “Rediscovery of the World: Alaska.”

In spite of his demanding schedule, Chattaway still makes time to share his knowledge with young musicians. He has published more than 100 works for the educational market and has travelled around the world as a guest conductor.

Commencement Details

During the May 18 Commencement, the College of Creative Arts will individually recognize approximately 100 graduates, including those who completed their requirements in August or December of 2012. Alison Helm, director of the School of Art & Design, Keith Jackson, director of the School of Music, and Joshua Williamson, director of the School of Theatre & Dance, will recognize each of the degree candidates by name and they will receive congratulations from Dean Paul Kreider, Associate Dean William Winsor, and Assistant Dean John Hendricks.

There will also be several special presentations, including awards to outstanding students in Art & Design, Music, and Theatre & Dance.

Student Marshals, who lead the procession of graduates, are undergraduates in the College who have achieved the highest cumulative grade point average in their division. The Student Marshals for 2012-2013 are: Shannon Leigh Dent, BFA, Art and Design; Lindsey Marie Sinclair, Bachelor of Arts, Music; and Kayla Faye Hudgins, BFA, Theatre.

Outstanding Graduating Senior awards for the three divisions include: Elizabeth Paige Roth, BFA, Art and Design; Hannah Bridget Webster, Bachelor of Arts, Music; and Carolyn Jordan Bonde, BFA, Theatre.

The College of Creative Arts Outstanding Graduating Senior for 2012-2013 will be announced by Dean Kreider during the ceremony.

Doors to the Lyell B. Clay Theatre will open at 5 p.m. Tickets are not required for admission and seating is open except where reserved for degree candidates. The academic procession begins sharply at 5:30 p.m. Parking is available at various locations near the Creative Arts Center. Families and friends of graduates are welcome to take photos during the ceremony.

The ceremony will also be webcast, for those who are unable to attend. Coverage begins ten minutes prior to the start of the event. For more information, go to Webcast Info.

Following the Commencement ceremony, there will be a reception in the lobby of the Creative Arts Center for the graduates, their families and friends, and College of Creative Arts faculty and staff.

The WVU College of Creative Arts presented its annual faculty awards during a ceremony at the Creative Arts Center in April.

The presentations included the Outstanding Teacher Award, the Award for Excellence in Research & Creative Activity, the Teaching With Technology Award, the Service Award, and a new award this year—the Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Award.

Dean Paul Kreider and Associate Dean William Winsor made the announcements, along with Alison Helm, director of the School of Art & Design, Keith Jackson, director of the School of Music, and Joshua Williamson, director of the School of Theatre & Dance.

The award winners are:

Outstanding Teacher Award: Rhonda Reymond, assistant professor of art history

Reymond received a master’s degree and a doctorate in Art History from the University of Georgia where her fields were American Art and Architecture and European Art and Architecture of the Nineteenth Century. She earned a BFA with a double major in Historic Preservation and Interior Design from the Savannah College of Art and Design. Reymond’s teaching fields are Baroque, Nineteenth Century, American and African American Art and Architecture. Her research examines constructions of identity and transnationality in the work of late nineteenth and early twentieth-century artists and architects of the United States including James McNeill Whistler, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Albert A. Smith, and Richard Morris Hunt. She has also published in the area of art history pedagogy. Reymond is the interim director of the Art and Cultural Property Crime Studies program and collaborates on the Disegno Italia Study Abroad Program at WVU.

Excellence in Research/Creative Activity Award: Joseph Lupo, associate professor of printmaking

Lupo received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Bradley University and his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Georgia. His work has been a part of more than 70 different solo and group exhibitions in 30 states and internationally in Denmark and Italy. Notably, his work has been shown at the International Print Center of New York, The Contemporary Art Workshop in Chicago, The Print Center in Philadelphia, The Contemporary Art Center in Atlanta, and The Museum of Fine Arts at Florida State University among other locations. His work has been collected in 27 permanent collections, including the Denver Art Museum, the Museum of Texas Tech University, the Special Collections Department & Rare Books Room at the University of Colorado, and the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Duke University. He has presented his research at major national and international arts conferences including the Printmaking and the Mundane panel at the 2010 College Arts Association Conference in Chicago and Reductive Navigation panel at the 2012 SGC International Conference in New Orleans. Lupo currently serves on the Board of Directors of Artists Image Resource, a non-profit printshop and gallery located in Pittsburgh’s North Side. He has also served as President and Secretary of SGC International, the country’s largest printmaking organization.

Teaching with Technology Award: Robert Klingelhoefer, associate professor of scenic design

Klingelhoefer’s work has been seen extensively in New York and regionally for companies including the Walnut Street Theatre, Capital Repertory Theatre, The Texas Shakespeare Festival, Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, Jean Cocteau Repertory Theatre, The Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre, The Asolo Theatre Company, The National Playwright’s Festival at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, The Cricket Theatre and The New York State Theatre Institute. Internationally he has had work produced at the Festival of Experimental Theatre in Cairo, Egypt, and the Market Theatre in Johannesburg, South Africa. He was, for many years, the Resident Designer at the Fulton Theatre in Lancaster, Pa., where he designed more than 100 productions, including world premieres of “The French Lieutenant’s Woman,” and a new musical version of “A Christmas Carol,” among others.

Outstanding Service Award: Kristina Olson, associate professor of art history

Olson has a Master’s degree in art criticism and art history from Stony Brook University and a Bachelor’s in humanities with a minor in art history from the University of Oregon. She is a contributor to the forth-coming book “The Art of the Critique,” was a contributor to the “Kartoon Kings: The Graphic Work of Simon Grennan and Christopher Sperandio (2007),” and co-editor of “Blanche Lazzell: The Life and Work of an American Modernist (2004).” She has been an exhibition reviewer for such periodicals as “Art in America,” “Art Papers” and “Sculpture Magazine” and is the exhibition reviews editor for the “Southeastern College Art Conference Review.” She serves on the Board of Directors and Program Committee for the West Virginia Humanities Council, the Board of the Southeastern College Art Conference, and served for eight years on the WVU Faculty Senate. Olson serves as associate director of the School of Art & Design.

Award for Adjunct Faculty Experience: Brian Plitnik, instructor of trombone

Plitnik completed a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Trombone Performance at WVU and is currently the director of the West Virginia University Trombone Ensembles. In addition to performing with numerous musical theater orchestras including West Virginia Public Theatre, Plitnik has performed with Emmanuel Brass, the Potomac Highlands Dance Band, the West Virginia Brass Quintet, the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra, the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra and the Maryland Symphony Orchestra Brass Quintet. Plitnik is the co-founder of Coronation Brass, a professional brass ensemble for hire in the tri-state area. He has served as a Brass clinician and guest conductor in both Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Congratulations everyone!

From left: Keith Jackson, Brian Plitnik, Joshua Williamson, Robert Klingelhoefer, Joseph Lupo, Alison Helm, Rhonda Reymond and Kristina Olson.

Five undergraduate and graduate students in the College of Creative Arts were named winners of the annual Faculty-Mentored Research Awards, given by the College of Creative Arts, during a ceremony in April at the Creative Arts Center.

The awards honor students for excellence in faculty-mentored creative, research and scholarly works in the arts. This can be evidenced through, but is not necessary limited to, works, exhibitions, performances, publications, or any other form of scholarly, creative and/or research work related to the arts. Additional consideration is given to works that effectively help advance the College’s contributions to the research mission of the University.

The awards were presented by Dean Paul Kreider and Associate Dean William Winsor.

UNDERGRADUATE AWARDS

Art student Ben Gazsi, whose faculty member is sculpture professor Dylan Collins, won the Undergraduate First Place Award. This award included $750 for the student as well as a $750 travel award for the faculty member.

Gazsi’s project, titled “Coopers Rock Giant” was created for an advanced sculpture course focusing on the human figure. The specific assignment was to create a piece to be displayed outside of the normal critique gallery. Gazsi finds most of his inspiration from nature, so he decided to find all the material, onsite, from Cooper’s Rock State Park, near Morgantown. One of the most important aspects of this project was obtaining permission and establishing a relationship with the state park administration. The sculpture was on view in the park during 2012 and Gazsi has now replaced it with another sculpture of a bear using the same approach.

Art student Daniela Londono-Bernal won the Undergraduate Second Place Award. Her faculty mentor is Erika Osborne, assistant professor of art. The award included $500 for the student and a $500 travel award for the faculty memer.

Londono-Bernal’s project was a Bird Flock Installation Sculpture that consisted of a flock of paper birds emerging from a newspaper display-box at the Creative Arts Center. This work was created as a commentary on the current social reality of freedom, specifically freedom of expression and freedom of the press. As part of the project, Londono-Bernal not only researched contemporary violations of these freedoms in different places and cultures around the world, but also explored the flexible meaning of this work in relation to the different elements used as symbols within it. She also explored the flexible meaning of the installation work as an always-changing piece.

Art student Jennifer Marcus was named the winner of the Undergraduate Third Place Award. Her faculty mentor is Jason Lee, assistant professor of foundations. The award included $250 for the student and a $250 travel award for the faculty member.

Marcus’s project was titled “Transmitting,” which, like most of her work, was dedicated to her experience with cancer in an effort to understand and accept that time of her life. While the majority of her other pieces use literal symbols to convey Marcus’s story and act as narratives, “Transmitting” aims to explore the same content through shape and form. The challenge of transitioning from realistic images to abstract forms was a huge leap for Marcus, but the result was a series of paper sculptures that contrast hard, rigid shapes with soft, elegant forms. Transitioning required a long paper-folding process that involved applying smoke to the paper, which enhanced its stiffness.

GRADUATE STUDENT AWARDS

Art student Vlad Basarab was named the Graduate First Place Winner. His faculty mentor is Gerald Habarth, associate professor of art and coordinator of electronic media. The award includes $1000 for the student and a $1000 travel award for the faculty member.

Basarab’s project is titled “The Archeology of Memory.” He states that his role as an artist is to dig through the layers of history like a cultural and psychological archeologist by questioning traditional methods of preserving and transforming collective memory. Books made out of clay allow him to explore the organic connections between words and earth. Basarab set up a destructive environment for the books so they could dissolve into a natural-looking landscape. The breaking down of a clay book in a time-lapse video resembles the idea of washing away of memory in time. Over the course of a week, the book was transformed into a structure similar to the Grand Canyon. After documenting the process, Basarab altered the speed and edited the video to darken the background.

Music student Sheila Barnhart received the Graduate Second Place Award. Her faculty mentor is Professor of Piano Christine Kefferstan. The awards includes $500 for the student and a $500 travel award for the faculty member.

Barnhart’s project was titled “Chopin’s Preludes: Teaching Technical Skills without the Scary Title of Etude.” One of the challenges of teaching music is finding repertoire that serves a technical purpose and that is also musically engaging. For piano teachers, Chopin’s Preludes Op. 28 satisfies both of these criteria. Selected by peer review for the West Virginia Music Teachers Association 2012 Conference held at Shepherd University, Barnhart presented a session discussing and performing select preludes, drawing on her experience from performing the entire set. The focus of the project was the technical benefits of each prelude and suggestions for practice methods. Each attendee was provided with a handout packet containing a table of difficulty grading of all preludes, a table of technical skills found in the preludes, a table of primary technical elements for each prelude, an annotated bibliography of helpful literature concerning Op. 28, as well as a discography of recordings that Barnhart personally recommended.

Congratulations to all the winners and their mentors!

Ben Gazsi and Dean Paul Kreider

Daniela Londono-Bernal, Assoc. Dean William Winsor, Dean Paul Kreider
Daniela Londono-Bernal, Associate Dean William Winsor, and Dean Paul Kreider

Dean Paul Kreider & Jennifer Marcus
Dean Paul Kreider and Jennifer Marcus

Associate Dean William Winsor, Vlad Basarab, and Dean Paul Kreider

Professor Christine Kefferstan, Sheila Barnhart, Associate Dean William Winsor, and Dean Paul Kreider.

Dylan Collins, Jason Lee, Jennifer Marcus, Daniela Londono-Bernal, Erika Osborne
Some of the student winners with their faculty mentors. From left: Art professors Dylan Collins and Jason Lee, Jennifer Marcus, Daniela Londono-Bernal, and Art professor Erika Osborne.

Mikaela Jaros, soon to be graduate of the Photography and Intermedia program at WVU, recently applied for the position of Lifestyle Photographer in Melbourne, Australia for a chance at one of the Best Jobs in the World. Mikaela beat out 45,000 competitors and is one of 25 finalists across the globe. Support Mikaela and show your mountaineer pride – help her get to Australia by posting a photo of yourself saying “Send Mikaela to Australia!” and post to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

Mikaela on Facebook
Mikaela on Twitter: @mikaelatoaus
Mikaela on Instagram: @mikaelatoaustralia
Mikaela on Youtube

Printmaking students from the West Virginia University School of Art & Design were able to reach out to fellow art students a half a world away when they participated in a portfolio exchange with art students at Zayed University in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, during the spring semester.

Titled “Trajectories,” the completed portfolio includes work by students in the Advanced Printmaking class of WVU art professor Joseph Lupo, who directs the printmaking program in the College of Creative Arts.

“Art professor Joshua Watts of Zayed University and I created the foundation for this portfolio exchange in 2012,” Lupo said. “Almost exactly one year later, we couldn’t be happier with the results. This was such a learning experience for all artists involved, and it is always interesting to see how artists from other cultures express themselves.”

Lupo and Watts first met when studying printmaking together at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill., and came up with the idea for the exchange after meeting again at the 2012 Southern Graphics Council International printmaking conference held in New Orleans.

Lupo’s students who participated included Sam Boehm, Cassandra Delimon, Joe Delong, Alex Martin, Jaimee Shaffer, Olivia Sigley, Allison Smith, Nate Snyder, Ashley Waide, Jordan Welsh, Nicole Arnett, Nathan Bugenhagen, Kelsie Lilly, Brianna Saddler, Leigh Varney and Chris Tingley.