College of Arts & Communication at UW-Whitewater

Every semester new freshmen come into UW-Whitewater’s College of Arts and Communication. They pick out majors and minors  and begin the long journey to graduation. For the seniors this semester their journey ends on December 15^th at 10 am. I wanted to recognize students who have done exceptionally well here at UW-Whitewater and asked the Department Chairs to nominate students. These students are listed below:

Theatre/Dance Department:

Julia Boarini

Julia will earn a Theatre BFA in Design/Technology with a costume design/construction emphasis.  She has also been very active in the dance program, both as a designer and a dancer.  She designed the costumes for last summer’s Summeround production of ALMOST, MAINE, while this fall’s touring children’s theatre production of ALADDIN was her BFA senior project.  She has also been a student assistant in the costume shop during her time at UW-Whitewater. Julia’s plans for graduation are to finish up teaching dance in Delaven and then move to Florida to work in costuming around the Boca Raton/Fort Myers areas.

Tawnie Thompson

Tawnie will earn a Theatre BFA in Performance with a French minor.  She has been very active in the Theatre/Dance Department, appearing in several productions, including the world premiere of THE EDWIN BOOTH COMPANY PRESENTS…, which was performed at the Region III American College Theatre Festival in January of 2012.  She performed Mrs. Hardcastle in SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER for her BFA senior project. Tawnie will be in Whitewater until May waiting for responses from several auditions she has been to during the past semester. After receiving word she will make a decision to move either to Chicago, Milwaukee or New York to try and make it!

Media-Arts and Game Development:

Ryan Strasser is a MAGD BA in the Communication/Gaming emphasis with a minor in Professional Business who has focused on the communication process and the development of online environments for marketing purposes.  For his senior work, he has been part of a team that has been working with Lewis Technology Solutions, a Chicago-based IT company, to recreate and redesign their web presence.  After graduation he hopes to pursue a career in integrated marketing communications with an emphasis on web and graphic design; to one day manage online marketing/advertising initiatives.

Kimberly Krueger is a MAGD Visual Media Design major who has been focused on web development, digital photography, and 3D modeling.  Kim’s senior project team has created a test version of a video game, for which she created graphics pieces include backgrounds and tile-mappings.  For this coming spring, she has recently accepted a graphic design professional internship with Walt Disney World & Resorts in their Security Training and Development Office.

Music Department:

Adam Zolinski

Adam’s biggest accomplishment was this past September, when he stepped onto the Light Recital Hall stage and performed his senior recital. It was incredibly rewarding, for him, to display six years of hard work in front of family, friends, and professors. Once Adam finishes up student teaching in January, he will find a music educator job in either the general or instrumental field. He is unsure of where he will end up but regardless cannot wait for the opportunity to continue his passion for music post-Whitewater.

Art and Design Department:

Elle Benway

Elle will be awarded a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design with minors in Advertising and Art History. She has a passion for taking ordinary concepts, tweaking them a bit, and making them fresh and innovative. After graduation, she is heading to the east coast to begin a career as a creative.

As a fellow December graduate I say congratulations to my fellow Arts and Comm students! I, Serena Sretenovich, graduate with a BFA in Theatre Management and Promotions and in a month will be living in New York City pursuing a career as a booking agent. I sincerely hope that we meet again in the near future and never forget the memories UW-Whitewater has given us. Again congratulations and may all the best of luck and wishes be to you!

WE DID IT!

Serena Sretenovich