Exhibition Features 3 Pieces by BU Art Professor

Foundress (2014).

Hand dyes, discharged rayon, silk organza, muslin,

machine quilted, hand embroidered, hand made

paper (abaca), acrylic paint

71" x 34 1/2"

Photo: James Grimsley

Professor Meredith Grimsley, Department of Art and Art History, will have three pieces featured in the exhibition Mindful: Exploring Mental Health through Art. They are “Foundress,” “Same Old Wounds: Begets” and a performance piece called “Same Old Wounds: Legacy."

Professor Grimsley writes:

Foundress (detail). Photo: James Grimsley

"Each generation within a family inherits not only genetics,but patterns of behavior. With my use of both unsettling and alluring imagery, I reveal the psychological impact of family dysfunction. This work discusses a balance between beauty and distortion and the endurance of the human spirit.The nest in Foundress is that of a Yellow Jacket. Each year a single queen known as the foundress begins a new nest. Legacy perseveres to rekindle her hostile swarm. Correlating the nature of these creatures with thoughts of dysfunctional family legacies, I see that, within families, significant events, words and behaviors occur and are absorbed into our daily routine without examination. Some happen in a breath while others linger endlessly corroding or correcting our core."

The exhibition runs from September 18, 2015 through March 12, 2016 at Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh, PA.

Language Prof Supervises ESL Theses in Mexico

Dr. Jing Luo, along with candidates' family members, friends and 
relatives sitting in the audience in a typical defense session.

During the summer of 2015, Dr. Jing Luo, Department of Languages and Cultures, directed three graduate theses on English as a Second Language at Benemerito Normal University of Puebla, Mexico and served on the Thesis Defense Committee: 

• Mireli Corte Cortes, “Using Audio Blogging to Improve Usage of the Simple Past Tense among Undergraduate Students of English.” 
• Paola Bautista Cruz, “Using Portfolio to Teach the Identification of English Transitive, Intransitive Verbs and Verbal Phrases to Mexican Eleventh Graders.”
• Neri Lopez Reyes, “Using Short Stories and the TPR Method to Guide Spanish-speaking Eighth Graders to Learn Singular and Plural Forms of ‘the Other versus Another’.”

 As a volunteer, Dr. Luo advised the students via email prior to the completion of their research. During his summer visit, he helped them analyze their data quantitatively and write their theses in standard format. 

Candidates defended their theses before an audience of peers, friends, and family members, who also supplied meals. Dr. Luo reports, "Lunches supplied by the families were some of the most delicious Mexican food I have tasted. It was a very enjoyable, eye-opening, and hard working summer." 
 
 The Postgraduate ESL program is sponsored by Benemerito Instituto Normal del Estado, Puebla, Mexico, the Department of Education of Mexico, and Appalachian State University.

Percussion Prof Judges International Competition

Bloomsburg University music professor Dr. Gifford Howarth served as a selected adjudicator at the Drum Corps International World Championships in Indiana during the week of August 3-8, 2015. Thirty-nine drum and bugle corps representing five countries competed throughout the week.

Dr. Howarth was one of forty international judges representing three countries selected to adjudicate the national championships and judged two of the five main events that took place over the week: the “open class” final round on Tuesday evening, August 4^th in Michigan City, Indiana and the the “world class” panel for the prelim round on Thursday, August 6^th in Indianapolis.

“I have judged the open class event in the past, but this was my first time judging the world class at the World Championships. It was somewhat of a ‘notch off the bucket list’ for me,” Howarth stated.

Dr. Howarth was an instructor for The Cadets drum corps of Allentown, PA between 1999 and 2006, and in 2007 he started judging on the national level for DCI. Throughout each summer he travels throughout the continental US as a judge.  In early August each year, all the participating groups head to Indianapolis and perform at LucasOil Stadium, the home of the Indianapolis Colts.

A percussion specialist, Dr. Howarth generally finds himself judging the percussion sections of the groups, ranking and rating the different drum lines and mallet percussion sections of each group. Sometimes this takes place from the press box of the stadium and sometimes he is on the football field itself, running around up close and personal with the marching members.

“I really enjoy the energy you feel coming off the performers when you are able to get close to them. But my favorite location is the press box because I get to see and hear the entire performance, plus it’s a lot safer,” Howarth states. He has been hit on the field three times over the past nine years.