COAL GA Phillip George poses with new quilt from OCF drawing

COAL Graduate Assistant Phillip George won the hand-stitched and hand-quilted, queen size quilt donated to the Ozarks Celebration Festival by Tri-Lakes Quilters of Branson.

Chances on the quilt were available throughout the Festival with the drawing held Friday, September 18. Nearly 200 chances were purchased this year.

George is a graduate student studying Professional and Technical Writing in the English Department.

Be sure to check out Missouri State’s recent ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT. It shines on our very own Deidre Goodwin, a 1992 graduate of Theatre and Dance.

(Click the image below to visit the Alumni Spotlight page and play video.)

American choreographer Robert Wechsler, Artistic Director of German-based Palindrome Inter.media Performance Group, is in residence at Missouri State University, April 21st to May 2nd. Wechsler is conducting workshops and lecture/demonstrations in Motion Capture (movement tracking) technology, focusing on applications to stage performance work, as well as Master Classes in modern dance technique. Workshops focus on Interaction. While always an integral part of theater, music and dance, digital technologies have given the notion of interaction new meaning. Wechsler uses sensors and computer systems to add spontaneity and expressive power to live performances. Work generated from the workshops will be performed in Coger Theater, for Theatre and Dance’s Spring Dance Concert, Thursday, April 30th to Saturday, May 2nd at 7:30 pm, and Sunday, May 3rd at 2:30 pm.

Robert Wechsler is a choreographer, dancer and developer of interactive methods of performing with technology. He holds a BFA in Dance from SUNY Purchase, and an MFA in Choreography from New York University. From 1979 to 1988, he studied with Merce Cunningham. His interest in sensors and electronic devices dates back to the 1970’s, when he used body-worn electronic devices to generate sounds through movements on stage. Wechsler has been honored with a Fulbright Fellowship, grants from the Marshall Fund, and the National Endowment for the Arts. He founded Palindrome in 1982, together with like-minded artists and scientists.

Wechsler also teaches and writes about dance and technology. From 2004 to 2006 he was head of England’s first Masters program in Digital Performance, at Doncaster College, Hull University. He has published articles in Leonardo Magazine, IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, Ballet International, Dance Magazine, Dance Research Journal, Nouvelles de Danse, Der Tanz der Dinge and others, and a book, Motion Tracking: a practical guide for performing artists.

For more information about Spring Dance Concert, visit the Department of Theatre and Dance website.

Dr. Randy Dillon, professor in the Department of Communication at Missouri State University has been selected as a faculty leader for the National Communication Association (NCA) Doctoral Honors Seminar for June 1-5 at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia.  The seminar topic is “Communication as Engaged Scholarship.”  This year’s theme refers to the collaborative process that occurs when academic scholars and community practitioners work together, using communication theory and research, to explore, uncover, and answer questions that ultimately provide a community with practical, socially relevant, and meaningful answers with the hope of not only enhancing the interpersonal and organizational lives of the community members, but creating a connection between the academy and the community. Engaged scholarship also facilitates theory building by attending to the complexities associated with communicating, relating, and organizing.

Dr. Dillon will serve as one of 9 faculty leaders in Communication from around the United States specifically invited in the 2009 Doctoral Honors Seminar.  Approximately 36 doctoral students from around the country have also been selected to participate in this year’s seminar.  Students are placed into one of three work groups which will be lead by three faculty leaders.  Working together, the three faculty leaders and the 12 students will discuss and evaluate the submitted papers as well as engage in discussion of the theoretical, methodological, ethical, and practical issues involved in conducting engaged scholarship. “I am honored to be asked to take part in this opportunity to work with talented faculty and doctoral students in the area of engaged communication scholarship,” said Dillon.

According to the National Communication Association website, NCA is the largest national organization dedicated to communication. Researchers, educators, and professionals, work to understand and better all forms of human interaction.

Missouri State Professor of Music Grant Peters, was elected to the Board of Directors of the International Trumpet Guild in the organization’s general election. He will serve a four year term beginning in October of 2009.

“The International Trumpet Guild was founded in 1974 to promote communications among trumpet  players around the world and to improve the artistic level of performance,  teaching, and literature associated with the trumpet.  ITG’s more than 6,000 members represent 64 countries and include professional and amateur performers, teachers, students, manufacturers, publishers, and others interested in belonging to an organization dedicated to the trumpet profession.” [Source: www.trumpetguild.org]

Grant S. Peters is Professor of Music at Missouri State University, where he teaches applied studio trumpet and serves as the Brass Area Coordinator. Peters is a member of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra and Springfield Regional Opera.

Peters holds the Bachelor of Music in Education degree from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Trumpet Performance from the University of North Texeas. His principal teachers include Mr. Dennis L. Schneider and Dr. Leonard A. Candelaria.

Filmmakers Glen Pitre and Michelle Benoit pose with Theatre Professor Kurt Heinlein

Glen Pitre and Michelle Benoit, the husband-and-wife filmmaking duo behind many influential documentaries and films, visited Missouri State University as part of the Public Affairs Conference and also held two workshops for students. Pitre and Benoit participated in the panels “Communicating Sustainability Through Media and the Arts,” “Social Networking and Sustainability Issues,” and “Common sense vs. Common Sense: The Design of Communities.” In addition to their participation in these panels, Pitre and Benoit held two workshops on April 22.

In “Performing on Camera,” students participated in mock auditions and the filmmakers shared their insights into the film industry. Later that day, they held a screening of their film American Creole: A New Orleans Reunion, which aired on PBS in 2006 and features musician Don Yappie’s struggle to rebuild the community in New Orleans after it was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.

With their production company, Cote Blanche, Glen Pitre and Michelle Benoit have brought the rich history of southern Louisiana to audiences across the world. In addition to American Creole, films by the couple include Harvest to Restore America’s Coastal Heartland, the latest in a series on coastal wetlands loss for the National Estuary Program; The Man Who Came Back, about the first post-Civil War labor strike; and The Scoundrel’s Wife (released as The Home Front), about the bayou home front during World War II. Pitre and Benoit’s films have won international acclaim and multiple awards, in addition to featuring the talent of such stars as Armand Assante, Tim Curry, Robert Duvall and Tatum O’Neal.

Professor Kris Sutliff posted the winning bids for COAL’s Art with a Heart Relay for Life auction.

Dr. Sutliff won a fleece pullover Missouri State shirt and a basketball autographed by the Lady Bears!

Thank you, Dr. Sutliff!

Proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society.

The Art + Design Department at Missouri State University has launched a “Virtual Museum” where the public can view exhibits online. Current exhibits on display are from Dr. Billie Follensbee’s Citizenship and Service-Learning Integrated Art History courses. Students in these classes examine objects from different cultures and research them to prepare exhibit titles and text.

Visitors to the virtual museum can access exhibits such as “Art of the Americas,” “Art of Mesoamerica,” and two “Art of Africa” exhibits.

Visit http://art.missouristate.edu/arthist

Dr. Carol J. Maples, BSEd Coordinator for the Theatre and Dance Department, has been named a finalist for the Dan Cockrell University of Missouri Statewide Cooperative EdD Dissertation Award. Her dissertation is entitled “Giving Voice: The Use of Interactive Theater as Professional Development in Higher Education to Reduce the Alienation of Marginalized Groups.” Dr. Maples is one of three finalists for this award, which honors the best dissertation produced by a graduate of the University of Missouri’s Statewide Cooperative Ed.D. Program in Educational Leadership in the preceding calendar year.

Dr. Maples recently presented her research at the International Conference on Education and will present at the American Educational Research Association conference in April. She has received several honors during her time at Missouri State, including Awards for Excellence in Research, Teaching, and Service and several nominations for Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.  In addition to teaching, she directs during the regular season as well as summer Tent Theatre and is the director of the Performing Arts Institute.  Dr. Maples was recently elected to serve as president of the Board of Governors of the Speech and Theatre Association of Missouri.

Several Missouri State art students joined local area art supporters on a bus ride to the State Capitol on February 11^th in celebration of Missouri Citizens For The Arts annual advocacy day.

At 2 p.m. that afternoon students witnessed the Missouri Arts Council present its 2009 Creative Community Award to the City of Springfield and the Springfield Regional Arts Council.

Students brought along some of their best artwork to exhibit in the Capitol Rotunda.

Pictured from left-to-right are Hillary Croan, Natasha Montgomery, Tonia Maggart, Jenny Busch, and Katie Wendt. (Thanks to Tonia Maggart for photos.)