College of Arts & Communication at UW-Whitewater

The Featured Faculty for this Friday is Corey Davis! Davis is from the Communication Department and teaches public relations.  He has worked as an appropriations analyst for the Illinois Senate and a paid field operative for several political campaigns before coming to UW-Whitewater.  Read on to find out more about Davis!

Q: Where are you from?

A: I grew up in two small towns in central Illinois, Laura and Kickapoo-both in rural Peoria County.

Q: What do you do at UW-Whitewater?

A: I teach in the Communication Department, mostly public relations classes.  I am also the graduate program coordinator for the M.S. in Communication degree.

Q: What is your favorite thing about UW-Whitewater?

A: I really like the collegiality and the diversity of teaching and research interests among the Communication Department faculty.

Q: What are some of your hobbies?

A: I like hiking, camping, road trips to state and national parks and breweries, taking my kids to museums, watching Chicago pro sporting events (sorry Packers, Brewers, and Bucks fans), watching Mizzou basketball and football, and making fun of cable news.   And I recently took up snow-shoeing.

Q: If you could have any superpower what would it be and why?

A: Super speed like The Flash (to get grading done faster).

Q: What’s the best thing that you have ever done that you suggest others try?

A: Meat on swords.

Q: What’s your favorite movie? Book?

A: Movie: Goonies, Dragnet, Empire Strikes Back, or One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.  That’s a tough one.

Book: Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ’72 (by Hunter S. Thompson)

Q: What is your best advice for students? 

A: Get involved in something.  Read news from multiple sources.

Q: What’s one thing that you want people to know about you?

A: I have credible evidence that the Green Bay Packers are destroying America (not really—or do I?).

Below is Davis’s professional bio:

Dr. Corey Davis is an Assistant Professor and the Graduate Program Coordinator in the Department of Communication at UW-Whitewater, where he teaches courses in public relations, persuasion, and public communication.  He received his B.S. and M.S. in communication with a focus on political communication and public relations from Illinois State University and received his Ph.D. in communication from the University of Missouri, where he focused on political campaign communication, media studies, and image repair.  Corey’s research interests are in political campaign communication, public rhetoric, and corporate and political image repair.  Outside of academia, Corey designed and implemented curriculum and coordinated logistics for high school-aged students at leadership and technology themed conferences ranging in size from 200 to 1,700 students at gatherings in California, New York, and the Washington, D.C. area. Prior to that experience, Corey worked as an appropriations analyst for the Illinois Senate, briefing state senators, including then state Senator Obama, on the policy and political implications of pending budget legislation.  He also has been a paid field operative for several political campaigns at multiple levels across the country.  Corey lives in Whitewater with his wife and two daughters.

Thank you for being our Featured Faculty for this Friday Corey Davis! Check back next week to see who is next Featured Faculty will be. Have a good spring break!

Our Featured Faculty member of the week loves to dance, has a dog named Rio, and is the artistic director for the annual dance concert DanceScapes. Can you guess who is it? If you guessed Barbara Grubel (and not from looking at the title…) then you are correct! Grubel teaches in the Theatre/Dance Department on campus. Keep reading on to find out more about her!

Q: Where are you from?  

A: I am originally from Land O’ Lakes, a small town in northern Wisconsin surrounded by 2 national forests and the Sylvania Wilderness Area.   I spent 5 years in Minneapolis and then 16 years in New York City dancing professionally before returning to Wisconsin.

Q: What do you do at UW-Whitewater?

A: I am an associate professor in the Theatre/Dance Department.  I teach Contemporary Modern, Ballet, Improvisation, Composition, Dance Appreciation, World of the Arts, and am artistic director of the annual dance concert DanceScapes along with coordinator for our participation in the American College Dance Festival Conference and SUFAC funding.  I also serve on committees in the department, college and university.

Q: What is your favorite thing about UW-Whitewater?  

A: That I can work at a vibrant university and not have to live in the city.

Q: What are some of your hobbies?  

A: Cross country skiing, hiking, swimming all with my dog, Rio.

Q: If you could have any superpower what would it be and why?  

A: The ability to make everyone happy and get along and demolish cancer. Why? I think that is a given.

Q: What’s the best thing that you have ever done that you suggest others try?

A: Taking time in the woods by yourself, clearing your head and understanding that all of your actions and words have an affect.

Q: What’s your favorite movie? Book?  

A: Harry Potter series.

Q: What is your best advice for students?  

A: Fill your basket with any and all information you can while you are at school.  You will never know when it might come in handy.  Utilize the support systems the university offers.

Q: What’s one thing that you want people to know about you?  

A: At the bottom of my heart I want everyone to be happy and healthy and I have a hard time sitting still (that is why dance found me).

Want to learn more about Grubel? Here professional bio is below.

Dancer, teacher and choreographer, Barbara Grubel is originally from Land O’Lakes, Wisconsin.  She received her BFA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and her Master of Fine Arts Degree from Arizona State University.  She began her 20- year performing career in Minneapolis, MN dancing in the New Dance Ensemble where she performed the works of Merce Cunningham, Douglas Dunn, Margaret Jenkins, Linda Shapiro, Wil Swanson and Dan Wagoner.  For 16 years she danced and toured from New York City, in the prestigious companies of Dan Wagoner & Dancers, Douglas Dunn & Dancers, Bill Young Dance, David Dorfman Dance and Ralph Lemon Dance Company.

Barbara’s teaching experience includes residencies at many festivals and universities including Sarah Lawrence College, NYU-Tisch School of the Arts, American Dance Festival (1995,1996), Colorado Dance Festival (Ralph Lemon Company), University of Wisconsin-Madison and Milwaukee, Bucknell University, Arizona State University and Virginia Commonwealth University.  Internationally Barbara has taught in Seoul, Korea and at the International Summer School of Dance in Tokyo, Japan.  As part of the American Dance Festival’s Institutional Linkages Program sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation she has taught at the Los Condes Festival, Santiago-Chile, and the University of Chile-Santiago and in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Throughout her time in NYC she was a frequent guest artist at Dance Space Studios (Dance New Amsterdam).

Barbara spent the spring semester 2002 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as the recipient of the prestigious Henry Bascom Visiting Professorship where she created a new multi-disciplinary work.  She is a frequent guest at International Summer School of Dance in Japan and for the UW-Milwaukee summer professional graduate program.  In collaboration with the City of Whitewater she created the successful Dance Program for the Park and Recreation Department that received a 2005 State of Wisconsin Silver Star Award for programming.  The program now employs 3-6 dance minors from the UW-Whitewater Dance Program every semester.  Currently is an Associate Professor in her 10^th year at UW-Whitewater and is happily enjoying the brand new dance studio for the program.

Want to see some of Grubel’s work as artistic director and choreographer? DanceScapes’13 will be performed Sunday March 17 at 2:00pm and March 18-19 at 7:30 in the Barnett Theatre. Tickets are $10.00 for the general public, $8.00 for people over 65, $5.50 for those that are under 18 and $4.50 for UW-Whitewater students with their student ID.

Thank you for being our Featured Faculty of the week Barbara Grubel! Check in next week to see who the next faculty member will be!

The UW-Whitewater Forensics team placed 2^nd at the state tournament at UW-Stout last week.  According to Jim Disrude, the director of Forensics,  “this was the team’s highest finish at state since 1995.” Last year the team placed 3^rd.

While the team placed 2^nd overall, several students also received individual state championships, which is not an easy feat. Craig Nelson placed first in Extemporaneous Speaking and in After Dinner Speaking. Hannah Farajpanahi and Colton Larsen placed first in Duo Interpretation.

The team is composed of UW-Whitewater forensics veterans and talented newcomers.  “[The Forensics Team] recruit speakers just like the basketball team recruits athletes, and we added some really tremendous talents this year that helped us raise the bar another notch, “ Dirude noted.  The team recruited five people to enroll in the University and compete on the team.

The students work very hard in order to reach these accomplishments. Colton Larson, a freshman B.F.A. theatre management/promotions major on the team noted that, “The biggest challenge of any college forensics team is keeping the momentum going throughout the lengthy season. It is easy to become weary throughout the year, especially during winterim break. We overcame this challenge by organizing one on one team practices over break. We always encourage our teammates to put in extra practices and stay motivated.”

The students put many hours into this activity to get make it perfect. “We started planning our season about ten minutes after last season ended!,” said Disrude. “Our students spent most of last summer writing and memorizing events.” While the hours are long the results can be very rewarding. “The best part about placing second was the camaraderie created on the team and the pride we all felt being from UW-Whitewater,” Larson said.

The team travels to dozens of tournaments a year going to universities in Virginia, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Throughout the tournaments they have won exactly 100 awards during their regular season. The UW-Whitewater Forensics team is currently preparing for their national tournament in April that will be held at Marshall University in West Virginia.

Disrude highly recommends students joining forensics. “The research shows that students who compete in college forensics are more likely to graduate, attend graduate school, have higher GPAs, participate in community service more, and out-pace their peers in key learning areas such as research, writing skills, oral presentation skills, and reading comprehension,” Disrude said. The UW-Whitewater Forensics Team is always open to any UW-Whitewater student.

Students interested in joining forensics can contact Jim Disrude via email at DisrudeJL10@uww.edu, like their Facebook page at facebook.com/whitewaterforensics, and follow them on Twitter @uwwforensics.

Our Featured Faculty for this Friday just recently curated two exhibits, Prints on Prince and [New Generation], at the Crossman Gallery in the Greenhill Center of the Arts. He’s a long distance runner and he’s been to both Germany and Mexico. Have an idea who it is? It’s Michael Flanagan from the Department of Art and Design! Read on to learn more about him.

Q: Where are you from?

A: I am an army brat and grew up on military bases around the country and also spent four years in Germany when I was in high school.  My undergraduate school was Kansas State University and graduate school was Northern Illinois University.

Q: What do you do at UW-Whitewater?

A: I am the director of the Crossman Gallery and teach World of the Arts and Basic Art classes.

Q: What is your favorite thing about UW-Whitewater?

A: I find the university to be a very friendly place; it’s easy to get to know faculty and staff members across the campus.

Q: What are some of your hobbies?

A: I’m a long distance runner and have completed 14 marathons; my wife and I also collect art, mostly works on paper, but also ceramics.  We have quite a few folk and outsider pieces in the collection as well.

Q: If you could have any superpower what would it be and why?

A: I always thought being able to fly would be cool – it would cut down my commute time.

Q: What’s the best thing that you have ever done that you suggest others try?

A: I think finishing my first 10K (6.2 miles) race was a blast.  It’s very doable.  Finishing my first marathon was a lot of fun, but it took a fair amount of time to train.

Q: What’s your favorite movie? Book?

A: I always like the movie, The Commitments, it’s about an Irish soul band.  I liked Stephen Ambrose’s book Citizen Soldiers about the second World War and the sacrifices troops from the US made.

Q: What is your best advice for students?

A: Stay in school, go to class; it pays off in the long run.

Q: What’s one thing that you want people to know about you?

A: I really like what I do; I find the gallery a good place to keep myself entertained and I hope others enjoy the exhibits as much as I do.

Want to learn more about him? Flanagan’s bio is below.

Michael Flanagan is currently the Director of the Crossman Gallery at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater where he has been working since 1995.  In addition to managing the gallery, he teaches a General Education class and a basic art course in the Department of Art and Design.  Flanagan is a member of the Board at the Walker’s Point Center of the Arts where he chairs the Exhibition Committee.

Flanagan has travelled to Oaxaca, Mexico with colleagues from UW-Whitewater to help establish a working relationship with the art department at la Universidad Autonoma Benito Juarez de Oaxaca (UABJO).  They successfully set up an exchange exhibit with the University; examples by faculty, current and former students from Oaxaca were displayed in the Fiskum Gallery in the University Center along with another group displayed at the Whitewater Cultural Arts Center.  The follow up exhibit took UW-Whitewater faculty and student work for a display in the UABJO art gallery in October/November of 2009.  Plans are underway for a second exhibit at the Museum of Oaxaca Artists and an exhibit on our campus of examples from the many print shops and tallers in Oaxaca in 2011.

He presented “University Museums and Galleries in the Community,” for the Midwest Museum Conference and published an article under the same title for the Midwest Museum Association News Brief.  He has also exhibited his own work at the Common Wealth Gallery in Madison, the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, Gallery 218, the Crossman Gallery at UW-Whitewater, and Walker’s Point Center of the Arts.

Flanagan also does some artwork himself. It can be seen in the Crossman Gallery’s latest exhibit Prints on Prince and [New Generation].  Go and see if you can try and find it!

Thank you for being our Featured Faculty for this Friday Michael Flanagan! Check back next Friday to see our next Featured Faculty!

Week 5 of the semester is over and so far we’ve featured faculty from the Music Department and the Theatre/Dance Department. This week our Featured Faculty is from the Media Arts and Game Development (MAGD) program! So who’s our Featured Faculty member this Friday? Josh Fishburn! Read on to learn more about him.

Q: Where are you from?

A: I am originally from Crystal Lake, Illinois, which is just an hour or so south of Whitewater.

Q: What do you do at UW-Whitewater?

A: I teach primarily in the Media Arts and Game Development program. The subjects I’m most excited about are game design and creative coding. For my scholarly/creative work, I create and exhibit art videogames.

Q: What is your favorite thing about UW-Whitewater?

A: The supportive nature of the campus. People are busy, but never so busy that they can’t make time for others. That seems inherent in the UWW culture.

Q: What are some of your hobbies?

A: I play videogames for fun but also enjoy time decompressing through yoga and hiking. I am usually at home, on campus, or at the SweetSpot.

Q: If you could have any superpower what would it be and why?

A: Teleportation. There’s so much I want to do and see in this life. It would be nice to be able to go anywhere at any time. Also it’s probably better for the environment than flying.

Q: What’s the best thing that you have ever done that you suggest others try?

A: Traveling internationally to a country I didn’t know much about at the time. I was scared, but it has allowed me to gain confidence traveling and working through unpredictable situations

Q: What’s your favorite movie? Book?

A: Movie: Spirited Away stands above the rest. It’s the perfect combination of wonder and danger. These two books aren’t necessarily my favorite, but out of all the books I’ve read, they have stuck with me the most: Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo and The Autobiography of Malcolm X.

Q: What is your best advice for students? 

A: Focus on building an essential, marketable skill while you’re here.

Q: What’s one thing that you want people to know about you?

A: When I was ten years old, my parents would not buy videogames for my siblings and I, so I went out and got a paper route to earn the money.

In addition to this, Fishburn also designed and programmed a game that was selected as an official selection for the FILE 8-Bit Game People Exhibition all the way down in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil! Want to learn more about him? Check out his bio on the Communication Department website at http://academics.uww.edu/cac/communication/faculty/fishburn.html.

Thanks for being our Featured Faculty Friday of the week Josh Fishburn! Check back next week to see who the next faculty member will be!

It’s Friday! That means we get to showcase one faculty member from the College of Arts and Communication. Our Featured Faculty is currently directing the Theatre/Dance and Music Department’s musical The Drowsy Chaperone.  Charles “Skip” Grover from the Theatre/Dance Department is our Featured Faculty for this week!  Find out more about him below.

Q: Where are you from? 

A: I am originally from Minnesota where I grew up on a farm in the western-central part of the state.

Q: What do you do at UW-Whitewater?  

A: I teach in the Theatre/Dance Department   (acting, directing, theatre history), direct plays, and run a theatre camp for high school students in the summer.

Q: What is your favorite thing about UW-Whitewater? 

A: The Center of the Arts, of course!! 🙂 It’s such a creative and lively part of the campus.

Q: What are some of your hobbies? 

A: Fantasy football in the fall, canoeing in the summer, collecting jazz CDs always.

Q: If you could have any superpower what would it be and why? 

A: [To fly and have super strength]…As a boy I was a fan of Captain Marvel, who, like Superman, could fly and had super strength, which he used to combat crime.

Q: What’s your favorite movie? 

A: My current favorite movie is Red but I also like (and own) the Bourne films.  Musicals are high on my list, as well.

Q: What’s your favorite book? 

A: My favorite authors right now are James Patterson and Vince Flynn, but I would be hard pressed to narrow it down to one book!

Q: What is your best advice for students? 

A: Attend all classes and show an interest!

Q: What’s one thing that you want people to know about you? 

A: I am an avid advocate of the arts

Here is Grover’s professional bio to learn more about him:

Dr. Grover received his MA at California State University– Sacramento, and his Ph.D at the University of California – Davis. Since coming to UW-Whitewater in 1974, he has taught acting, directing, theatre history and literature, plus World of the Arts, a course he created with two other professors. He directs three productions a year and a one-week high school summer theatre camp which he founded in 1980. He also supervises theatre education students, serves as an adjudicator at the Wisconsin High School Theatre Festival, and is an advisor to the theatre division of the WHSFA. He is a volunteer host on “The Park Bench” a Whitewater television show airing on digital station 990.

To see some of Grover’s directing work in action, go see the Theatre/Dance and Music Department’s musical that opens at the end of February.

The Drowsy Chaperone runs from February 26-28 and March 1-2 in the Barnett Theatre at the Greenhill Center of the Arts. Show times are at 7:30pm and tickets can be purchased by visiting or calling the Box Office at 262-472-2222.

Thanks for being our Featured Faculty for this Friday Grover! Check back next week to see who our next Featured Faculty will be. See you then!

With the start of the New Year and new semester, the College of Arts and Communication has decided to bring something new to the blog. Every Friday we will pick one faculty member from the college to be featured in our Featured Faculty Friday blog.  We’ve asked faculty members about themselves so you can learn more about who’s who in the college. This week’s lucky winner is Sharri VanAlstine from the Music Department! Read on to find out more about her!

Q: Where are you from?

A: Rush City, MN

Q: What do you do at UW-Whitewater?

A: I teach methods classes for students studying to be elementary teachers or high school choir teachers and supervise student teachers.  I also direct Women’s Chorale, Vocal Jazz, and I’m directing the music for the musical this year.

Q: What is your favorite thing about UW-Whitewater?

A: I love the size of the school.  It has helped me to get to know people quickly, and everyone knows one another well enough to be helpful in a genuinely caring & friendly way.

Q: What are some of your hobbies?

A: I like to read, garden, travel, and I’ve even made a few quilts.  I also like to bake, although that might be more related to eating goodies than a real hobby!

Q: If you could have any superpower what would it be and why?

A: Superpower:  Location, location, location!  I would like to be able to be in an area of beautiful mountains & lakes & sunshine whenever I want.  There wouldn’t be any snow (except up on the mountain peaks) or gray skies.  I would sit out on my deck overlooking a gorgeous lake in the shadows of a majestic mountain.  There would likely be miraculous music floating on the air (which is sunny with no mosquitos or snow).  As soon as I needed to leave, my powers of location would zip me right to the next place I need to be.  I figure this would save on gas and emissions, time, and mosquito spray, all in one great super-power!

Q: What’s the best thing that you have ever done that you suggest others try?

A: I’ve walked behind a waterfall (Giessbach Falls) on Lake Brienz in Switzerland.  Spectacular!!!

Q: What’s your favorite movie? Book?

A: Favorite movie:  Princess Bride

A: Favorite book:  Bible

Q: What is your best advice for students? 

A: Dress for the weather, & always have M&Ms handy.

Q: What’s one thing that you want people to know about you?

A: I love chocolate, and I appreciate a good laugh.

Below is VanAlstine’s professional bio to learn more about her!

Education

B.M.E. Bethel University-Minnesota; M.M. St. Cloud State University-Minnesota; Ph.D. University of Minnesota

Professor VanAlstine joined the faculty at UW-Whitewater in 2011. She was Instructor of Record at the University of Minnesota for music methods coursework for elementary classroom teachers, and also taught collegiate Class Piano, Music Appreciation, Music Fundamentals, and Concert Choir at Anoka-Ramsey Community College in Minnesota. The bulk of her career, however, has focused on high school choral music education. She taught high school and middle school choral music, Music Appreciation, and voice lessons for 17 years, including 2 years at Black Forest Academy in southwestern Germany. In addition to her teaching duties, she has traveled and performed with Evangelion, a professional choir based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on semi-annual tours to Ukraine. She has also directed the Sanctuary Choir at First Baptist Church in Cambridge, Minnesota for 16 years. In 2011, she joined the Bel Canto chorus of Milwaukee. VanAlstine has published in Gopher Notes, the Minnesota publication for NAfME: National Association for Music Education. She has also presented locally, nationally, and internationally, including presentations for: the International Society for Music Education World Conference, the NAfME National Conference, the Minnesota Music Educators Association Conferences (NAfME), Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) for the “Big Ten,” and Internationalizing the College Campus Conferences at the University of Minnesota (ICC).

Thanks for being our Featured Faculty for this Friday VanAlstine! Stay tuned next Friday to see who the next featured faculty member will be!

We did it! We made it through another week and you know what that means. Featured Faculty Friday! We would like to welcome Brian Leeper as our Featured Faculty for this week. Leeper is part of the Music Department on campus and is the vocal area coordinator. He teaches studio voice lessons and vocal pedagogy. He also directs “Opera Workshop” and Meistersingers Men’s Choir. Read on to learn more about him!

Q: Where are you from?

A: I was born and grew up in Fremont, Nebraska, but I came to UW-Whitewater from Indianapolis, where I taught at Butler University.

Q: What is your favorite thing about UW-Whitewater? 

A: I love getting to work on creative endeavors with fabulous colleagues and students every day.

Q: What are some of your hobbies? 

A: I like to play team trivia and travel the world to experience other cultures.

Q: If you could have any superpower what would it be and why? 

A: I would love to have the ability to wipe away self-doubting of students about their abilities.  That self-doubting can just get in the way of too many things!

Q: What’s the best thing that you have ever done that you suggest others try? 

A: I just recently began working with a personal trainer to get into better shape.  I’m doing things that I would never have done on my own – it’s very challenging, but in a good way

Q: What’s your favorite movie? Book?  

A: Favorite movie:  Sophie’s Choice 

A: Favorite Book:  My Antonia by Willa Cather.  It reminds me of my Nebraska roots.

Q: What is your best advice for students?  

A: Always give 150%, even when you think you are giving it all that you can – that is the time that you really discover things that you never even thought possible.

Q: What’s one thing that you want people to know about you? 

A: I’m the Artistic Director of La Musica Lirica, a five-week summer opera training program for college students and emerging professional singers in Italy.  It is fascinating to see how living in another culture and being in an intensive musical setting for only five weeks can totally transform students.

Here’s some more about Leeper in his professional bio!

Baritone Brian Leeper is voice area coordinator at UW-Whitewater.  In demand as a soloist and clinician, he has presented master classes and recitals at numerous Universities across the United States.  Frequently appearing as soloist in Oratorio and Opera, Mr. Leeper has performed over twenty major roles with opera companies in the US and abroad.  He made his New York City debut performing the role of Dulcamara in Donezetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore at CAMI Hall.

Since beginning teaching at UW-Whitewater, he has been featured as soloist in Wisconsin area performances of The Verdi Requiem, Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast, Rutter’s Mass of the Children and five performances of Handel’s Messiah.  Mr. Leeper is currently on the voice faculty and director of the studio program at La Musica Lirica in Novafeltria, Italy, and was previously on the voice faculty of Operafestival di Roma, in Rome, Italy.  Brian holds degrees from Luther College and The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and is currently completing the DM in voice performance from the Florida State University.  He has studied voice with Roy Delp, Yvonne Ciannella, David Judisch, Harold Stark & Richard Grace.

Leeper can be seen performing in the Music Mosaics: Opera Gems with faculty members Julie Cross and Brygida Bziukiewicz-Kulig on April 7th at 7:30pm in the Light Recital Hall. Tickets can be purchased online here.

Thank you Brian Leeper for being our Featured Faculty for this Friday! See who the next Featured Faculty member is next week. Same place, same time! Have a good weekend everyone.

The UW-Whitewater Symphonic Wind Ensemble (SWE) has the honor to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York at the New York Wind Band Festival February 20^th.  However if you can’t catch a ride to New York in time, no worries, UW-Whitewater’s SWE, directed by Glenn Hayes, will be performing a preview concert on Sunday, February 10^th at 7:30pm in the Young Auditorium.  The Kettle Moraine High School Symphony Band will also perform on the concert in Whitewater.

photo by Craig Schreiner

Universities typically have to apply to perform at the New York Wind Band Festival but the UW-Whitewater’s SWE was invited without application. The SWE had been invited previous years but had to decline due to timing conflicts. There are 54 students in the SWE cumulating of both undergraduate and gradate students.

Another special part of the Carnegie concert tour will be the world premiere of UW-Whitewater professor Christian Ellenwood’s original piece “if ever there is tomorrow”.   Ellenwood reflects on the origin of the piece, “When Dr. Hayes approached me about a composition for the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, he expressed a desire for a work that was expressive and lyrical. At the time of his request, I had been reflecting upon many matters that, for me, are interconnected and emotionally important: my journey of self-discovery as an artist and teacher, the debt of gratitude that I owe to the persons who have loved me and helped me in my path through life, and my attempt to repay this debt by sharing what I have been given with my students, my family, and all whom I love.”   You can hear a preview at the concert on February 10^th.

Tickets are $5 for the general public, $4 for over 65, and $3 for UW-Whitewater students with valid ID and those under 18.   Tickets can be purchased by calling 262-472-2222 or in person at the Greenhill Center Box Office, Monday – Friday 9:30 am to 5:00 pm.

Read an additional article about SWE’s Carnegie tour here.

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