Voice Students Take Home Accolades | |
Students Encouraged to Submit to New Publication | |
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In the inaugural edition of the new Summit City Journal: A Student Research Publication, drawings by Art and Design student Francesca Carlo were featured (left). A student of adjunct faculty Ronald Knepper, Carlo experimented with colored pencil blending and crosshatching to arrive at the finished pieces chosen by the publication. The Summit City Journal is a publication opportunity open to undergraduate and graduate students at PFW and IU Fort Wayne. This journal aims to showcase student research and creative endeavors of all disciplines and is published in an online format. The submission deadline for the next issue is February 1, 2024. Submit your written or creative work here.
If you have any questions, email SCJournal@pfw.edu.
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CAA Offers Creative Opportunities for Young Students | |
Open Walls, one of the newest classes offered by the Community Arts Academy, was a big hit during the Fall semester. Pictured are our student artists hard at work on this exciting mural project. The Community Arts Academy offers a wide variety of creative opportunities for students in various age groups. Exciting new offerings for Spring 2024 include wood sculpture, a Shakespeare workshop, and a Valentine’s edition of the ever-popular Mommy and Me Clay Class. | |
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Isaiah Bledsoe, one of CAA’s Theatre Masters and a student at Indiana Connections Academy, was recommended by his teacher, Gloria Minnich, for a commercial project over the summer. Bledsoe, who has taken all three levels of drama class from CAA since the age of eight, did an amazing job. Check it out.
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Register Soon for Spring 2024 Spring Classes.
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A Girl Scout tries on a virtual reality headset at the Community Arts Academy table during the 2023 Girl Scout STEM Expo, featuring over 30 area exhibitors. The event attracted nearly 150 community girls and Girl Scouts who came together to celebrate the exciting career opportunities
in STEM.
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New Music Building Working Group
The PFW “How We Work” series explores some of the undertold stories about Purdue Fort Wayne’s daily operations, such as the planning meeting pictured above. The series shows how we support students and employees, engage with the community, and highlights various achievements. Read more here.
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Hrehov Rises to the Top at
South Shore Exhibition
Professor John Hrehov’s painting “Found Glove” was awarded the Elouise “Blondie” Memorial Award at the 80th Annual Salon Show at the South Shore Arts Exhibition, September 8 – November 4, 2023.
The Salon Show is a tradition that has defined South Shore Arts since its inception in the late 1930s when ten Hammond and Calumet City artists sponsored the first annual Art Exhibition of the Hammond District Art Association in the millinery department of the Minas Department Store in downtown Hammond, Ind. Over 400 pieces were submitted this year, with 60 shown in the gallery.
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World Wide Video Game Distribution
After a very rigorous process of content review and standards for distribution, the virtual reality game experience titled The Most Beautiful Room in the World has been accepted and published on Steam (the largest video game distribution platform in the world). The game is based on the Wedding Chamber project, created by Associate Professor Andres Montenegro with the help of Professor Audrey Ushenko. The video game experience was released for distribution on November 3. The video game is free and everyone can download it from the Steam store website. Download the game here.
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Alumni Spotlight
Award-Winning Conrad Choreographs
Theatre alumna Breona Conrad won the award for Best Supporting Actress in a Play at the 33rd annual AriZoni Awards (the Phoenix Tony Awards) for her work as Sybil in Noel Coward’s Private Lives. The production, directed by animator Don Bluth also won Best Play, along with several other awards. The award ceremony was held on Oct. 2, 2023. Subsequently, the director has asked Conrad to be part of his creative team. She recently worked alongside Bluth as his choreographer and acting coach for a production of Damn Yankees. She has begun to receive offers from other companies to choreograph for them in the spring.
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Unsung is Something to Sing About | |
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After two years of organizing, creating a website, and developing the process, two Purdue University Fort Wayne music therapy faculty members have started the UnSung Project. Charlene Delaney, B.S. ’22, a limited term lecturer (above left) and Eileen Garwood, clinical instructor of music therapy (above right), in collaboration with the YWCA of Northeast Indiana, created a project that recognizes and honors women’s journeys through addiction recovery as they express their narrative through music.
“It’s working with the women on how they use music in their lives with a goal of helping them reach their own individual music—their essence of how they are in music—while engaging and supporting them in sharing their journey,” said Delaney who is currently a PFW graduate student in music therapy. “Then it’s about using their stories to work in tandem to reach others who have an addiction in their lives.”
The program started with an Amplified Arts Grant through Arts United. After meeting with individuals in the music therapy clinic at PFW’s Dolnick Learning Center on its north campus, Garwood and Delaney created compositions based on the narratives. The recordings are posted on the project’s website.
Read more of the story here.
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Some Like it Hot!
Art and Design ceramic students Alexa Ross, Anna Gottlieb, and Nicole Pitcher were recently participating in some hands-on classwork to ready the wood-fired kiln for a 33½-hour kiln firing behind the Visual Arts Building where temperatures need to be maintained at 2,531 degrees. Read more about the kiln firing process here.
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Music Education Graduates Start Their Careers
Music education graduates have spent the fall settling into their new teaching positions in the community. They include:
Brandon Crabill
Band Director, Snider High School
Arielle Kerr
Choral Director, Jefferson Middle School
Morgan Fuentes
Choral Direction, Wayne High School
Ariel Rife
Special Area Band Instructor
Adams Central Middle and High School
Calvin Stoller
Percussion Instructor
Northwest Allen County Schools
Becca Pollock
Band Director, Eastside High School
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CVPA Annual Donor Reception a Great Success!
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Dean John O'Connell socializes with donors Steve and Jill Sosenheimer, center. | |
Each year, prior to the PFW Home for the Holidays Concert, donors and friends of the College of Visual and Performing Arts are invited to join Dean John O’Connell, Dr. Jeremy Grall, director of the School of Music, and Chancellor Ron Elsenbaumer for a reception to thank them for their continued support of our students. On Dec. 4, 2023, more than 120 reception guests gathered in the Instrumental Room of the PFW Music Center to enjoy hors d’oeuvres and beverages prior to the most well-attended concert of the year at PFW. Their generous support helps our students take advantage of performance and study trips they might not otherwise be able to afford. Donor funds are also set aside to help students with research projects, to complete important work toward their degree, where travel and participation fees might be required. | |
CVPA Annual Campaign for the Arts is Underway! | |
Dean John O'Connell (center) traveling with members of the Wind Ensemble during their 2023 European Tour. | |
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Please consider giving to the College of Visual and Performing Arts as part of your yearly plan.
We had an exciting summer. Our students traveled the world, which is something I hold dear to my heart! More than 100 students in our college traveled nationally and internationally to perform and learn and their lives have been changed forever. The Wind Ensemble’s performance tour in France, Switzerland, and Italy was a great success. Our art students studied the Medici influence on Renaissance Art in Italy; music therapy students studied the Song and Narrative of Ireland, throughout Ireland; photography students worked on a collaborative project in Panama; and our choir performed at Carnegie Hall in June. Many of these students get financial help for this travel from donations from people like you. I think expanding our students’ horizons to include global experiences is essential to a strong liberal arts degree.
Please consider continuing your vital support of our students and faculty as they strive to provide the best possible creative and artistic opportunities for all of our students. Only with the help of friends like you can we foster the success of our incredible students. Secure gifts can easily be made online here.
With sincere appreciation,
John O’Connell
Dean and Professor
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Purdue University Fort Wayne College of Visual and Performing Arts
Purdue Fort Wayne is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), and the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST).
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