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Arts & Architecture Alumni Award Recipients - 2009
Alumnus Combines Percussion, Technology, Psychology in Fulfilling Career
As a sixth-grader, Michael Schutz dropped out of his elementary school band program when after-school practices conflicted with GI Joe, his favorite television program. But after a few years of cartoon watching, music piqued his interest again, and he decided he wanted to study both music and engineering in college. Today he is combining his unique background in percussion, computer science, and psychology as an assistant professor of music cognition at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
“This job is literally a dream come true,” said Schutz, who graduated from Penn State in 2002 with a B.M.A. in percussion performance and B.S. in computer science. “For years I’ve been advocating for greater awareness and inclusion of music cognition in the education of music students … McMaster is really a pioneer in this area.”
Music cognition is an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the mental processes that support music, including perception, comprehension, memory, attention, and performance. Schutz became interested in the field as a graduate student at Northwestern University, where he earned degrees in music technology and percussion performance. He wanted to gain a better understanding of how people hear patterns in music and took some elective classes in music cognition, which he had never heard of at the time.
Schutz’s interest in music cognition led him to the University of Virginia to pursue a Ph.D. in psychology, which he received in May 2009. While studying for his doctorate, he served as director of percussion studies at Longwood University, taught at Virginia Commonwealth University, and freelanced as a percussionist with several central Virginia ensembles.
Schutz’s research centers on the role of visual information in music perception. “I stumbled upon this whole line of research somewhat by accident at Northwestern … [my professor] kept trying to cajole me to use more elaborate gestures when playing the marimba, but I was convinced that they couldn’t change the quality of the acoustic information I was producing when playing.” When he set out to write a paper explaining why visual information does not play a meaningful role in music, he discovered—much to his surprise—that there is a great deal of research showing that visual information DOES affect the way we hear things. “So I did a ‘180’ on my proposed topic and decided to write my paper ‘proving’ that visual information in fact does play a role in music.”
Schutz said his Penn State experiences have served him well in his career so far, noting his participation in the Schreyer Honors College was particularly beneficial because he was encouraged to pursue his “eclectic academic tastes.” His faculty mentors in the School of Music included Dan Armstrong, director of percussion studies, Dennis Glocke, director of bands, and Paul Barsom, professor of composition and Schutz’s honors thesis advisor.
“Mike was a great student to work with,” said Armstrong. “In addition to his impressive talent and intellect, he had a strong dedication to his goals, worked incredibly hard, and exhibited a great deal of the most important ingredient for success—persistence.”
Schutz has successfully combined his “eclectic” tastes into an educational and career path that is both fulfilling and exciting. At McMaster, in addition to teaching and directing the university’s percussion ensemble, he runs a laboratory that allows students to get involved in hands-on music cognition research. And he is still pursuing his interest in computers as chair of the Music Technology Committee of the Percussive Arts Society, a position he has held since 2007.
According to Schutz, cognition and technology go hand-in-hand. “Our fascination with the latest technology needs to be grounded in a firm understanding of how the mind works,” he explained, adding technology allows people to make music in ways that were unthinkable just a generation ago. “However, our brains are essentially the same as those of our ancestors. Therefore, although technology allows for infinite possibilities, it is always important to remember how these possibilities will be perceived by audiences.”
For more information on Schutz’s research, visit www.michaelschutz.net.
Penn State Alumnus Designed the Puppets of Avenue Q
Penn State alumnus Rick Lyon came to puppetry as organically as an apple
comes to a tree. Since the age of 9, Lyon has been creating puppets, and after
majoring in theater at Penn State, he went on to work closely with Jim Henson
(of Muppet fame) and worked for 15 seasons on the children's show "Sesame
Street."
Lyon is the designer and creator of puppets for the Broadway musical "Avenue
Q," the touring production of which palyed at Penn State's Eisenhower
Auditorium Oct. 6 and 7, 2009.
Read the full story on Live: http://live.psu.edu/story/42029/nw1
Arts and Architecture Alumnus Thrives at Illustrating Ailment
If you’ve ever watched a medical report on CNN, there’s a good chance you’ve seen the efforts of Bruce Blausen. Blausen (’84 B.A. Art, B.S. Science) used his Penn State education as a springboard for a career in medical animation, and is now the founder/CEO of a thriving medical and scientific animation and illustration company that provides videos and images to medical, legal and media clients around the world.
One of those clients is CNN, which regularly features medical animations produced by Blausen Medical, the Houston-based company Bruce founded in 1991 after earning a master’s degree in medical illustration at Johns Hopkins University. Blausen Medical is the developer and owner of the “Human Atlas,” the world’s largest library of medical animation, with more than 270 videos that provide in-depth views of digestion, cancer, diabetes, reproductive conditions, pediatric diseases, orthopedic problems and more. The Human Atlas has been translated into eight languages, and three new translations are currently in development.
Bruce started Blausen Medical with the intent of creating the country’s largest library of 3D medical animation and graphic content—and he succeeded. The company’s videos and animations are distributed throughout the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. With the recent release of a Human Atlas iPhone application (app), Blausen Medical’s videos are now available to individuals around the world. In August, the company released the Human Atlas 2.0 app, improving on the original app released in April. Both versions cover 150 common medical conditions and treatments, divided into 15 categories such as cancer, digestive, muscular, pediatric and reproductive. The 2.0 version also includes a medical glossary, still images from the 3D videos and other features.
Bruce planned to become an architect until he learned about medical illustration late in his Penn State career. He stayed an extra year to earn a biology degree and then went on to Johns Hopkins. In 1987, he wrote his master’s thesis on the use of personal computers in 3D animations—a cutting-edge and expensive idea at the time. He got a $10,000 bank loan when he decided to start his own company, but it was not enough for him to purchase the powerful computers capable of state-of-the-art animation. He used a computer system at the University of Texas Health Science Center until he got his business off the ground.
Now that business is exploding, primarily due to word of mouth. Bruce employs 20 to 30 people, but no marketing staff. In 2001, he divided his company into three divisions: Blausen Medical, which creates the 3D animations, Blausen Legal and Blausen Media. Blausen Legal provides biomedical visual media to legal professionals, and Blausen Media serves as a compact advertising agency, specializing in translating complex medical information into creative media executions. Blausen Media serves clients in the broadcasting, healthcare, pharmaceutical and publishing industries, to name a few.
Bruce is now focusing his efforts on developing specialty atlases for the Human Atlas 2.0 app, all to be available in 13 languages, and creating applications for other smartphone platforms. For more information on the Blausen Group, visit www.blausen.com.
College of Arts & Architecture Alumni Award Recipients - 2009
Linda O'Gwynn-- '76 B.S. Architecture. Linda is the founding partner of Purdy O’Gwynn Architects, located in Philadelphia. Prior to founding her firm in 1994, she was a partner in an award-winning Philadelphia office specializing in residential designs, and a teacher of design. In addition to her Penn State degree, she holds a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. Linda is licensed to practice architecture in Pennsylvania and Maryland, and is a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Among the many awards her firm has received is recognition from the Pennsylvania Chapter of the AIA for the Hintz Alumni Center on the Penn State University Park campus. Linda serves on the board of the University of Pennsylvania Association of Alumnae.
Art History Alumna Works to Preserve Chicago’s Historic Buildings
by Flora W. Marynak
Chicago has a deep and storied place in America’s history, with many notable landmarks and neighborhoods. However, development and modernization are threatening the buildings and locations that make Chicago unique. Leading the battle for preservation in the city is 2009 Arts and Architecture Alumni Award recipient Eleanor Esser Gorski, AIA (’91 B.A. Art History and History), assistant commissioner in the Historic Preservation Division of the City of Chicago’s Department of Zoning and Land Use Policy.
While immersed in Penn State’s art history curriculum, Gorski participated in the study abroad program in Todi, Italy, and defines this experience as the turning point in her career path. She credits Craig Zabel, department head, and Hellmut Hager, Evan Pugh Professor Emeritus of Art History, as instrumental in her decision to continue her education in architecture. “After I got back from Todi, I became really interested in not only the buildings, but the enormous efforts made to safeguard them,” says Gorski. “I couldn’t study the structures if someone didn’t take the time to preserve them.” With support and guidance from Zabel and Hager, she took courses that dealt with preservation of both art and architecture. After internships with the Palmer Museum of Art and the Fort Pitt Museum in her hometown of Pittsburgh, she realized she wanted to pursue a career in preservation.
After graduating from Penn State, Eleanor started her career working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as an associate coordinator for a historic district maintenance plan for Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, La. She moved to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and in 1995 earned a master’s degree in architecture with an emphasis on preservation. Gorski worked as a staff architect for Harry Weese Associates before making the move to the City of Chicago Landmarks Division, which designates historic buildings and decides which ones are important enough to preserve. “We have over 30 historic districts in the city with several being residential areas, and the division works to find economic incentives to encourage restoration and even last-ditch efforts to save old valuable structures,” says Gorski. “ I find myself working with a myriad of people, such as homeowners, architects, historians, politicians and financial institutions, in an effort to reach a common ground for preservation. As you can guess, it rarely is an easy journey.”
As assistant commissioner, Eleanor supervises the strategic planning of landmark designations, accurate and efficient review of construction projects, and effective use of financial incentives for historic renovation projects, such as tax-credit rehabilitation of a complex consisting of the Medinah Temple (1912) and Tree Artist Studios (1894–1913). The former temple was renovated into a Bloomingdale’s home store and the studios were restored for retail and arts space, including an original courtyard garden.
One of Gorski’s most notable projects was Wrigley Field, the oldest baseball park in the United States. The restoration of Wrigley Field guaranteed its placement on the City of Chicago’s historic building list, thus preventing future destruction or serious alteration of the building.
“My division gets a number of what I call the hard-luck cases, such as churches. It is not just trying to preserve a place; it is finding a purpose,” notes Gorski. “I am currently working on the restoration of one of the oldest churches in the city. Over time the make-up of the neighborhood has changed and the purpose of the church must change to fit the current residents.”
Gorski is an accredited professional in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Program and has served as a juror for the National Honor Awards for the American Institute of Architects. In 2003, she was awarded a fellowship by the American Academy in Rome to study preservation planning. In addition to her work with the City of Chicago, Eleanor teaches in the Historic Preservation Program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Jake Lefebure -- '96B.A. Graphic Design. Jake is a co-founding partner and president of Design Army in Washington, DC. As the principal project leader, he oversees new business and creative development for all of the studio’s accounts. Jake has guided award-winning designs for a variety of clients – from local retail boutiques to international live productions. Design Army works in diverse media including print, interactive, packaging, environmental, and editorial—allowing the firm to produce design that is multi-purpose. In 2008, Jake was named by Graphic Design USA as one of the top 50 People to Watch and his creativity has been featured in every notable design publication. His work has earned many awards, including "Best Of" honors from the 2002 and 2008 Washington, D.C. Addy’s, Mohawk Show 7, AR100, the One Show, and New York Art Directors Club.
Landscape Architect’s Childhood Pursuits Lead to Notable Career
By Amy Milgrub Marshall
While growing up in the ’40s and ’50s, John Furlong spent a lot of time drawing cartoons and playing with model trains. Little did he know those childhood pursuits were actually prepping him nicely for a career in landscape architecture.
Furlong, who won a 2009 College of Arts and Architecture Alumni Award, was a civil engineering major until he got a look at a friend’s landscape model. “It intrigued me. I realized I was doing landscape architecture before I even knew it existed, within my model train layouts.”
John threw himself into his landscape architecture studies, learning from mentors such as Wayne Wilson, Mark Battaglia, Lynn Miller and Ken Polokowski. “When Wayne talked about landscape architecture, he wove a web around you that you could not get out of,” Furlong says.
After graduating from Penn State, John went to Harvard, where he received a master of landscape architecture degree from the Graduate School of Design. “When I was at Harvard, we thought landscapes would save the world,” he remembers. He had the opportunity to travel the world while working for a Cambridge (Massachusetts) firm that had projects in Asia, Canada, Puerto Rico and Nicaragua. “I learned that all projects are similar—but the way work is done is different.”
John started teaching seminars in landscape design in the late 1970s at what was then the Radcliffe Institute. He became director of the Radcliffe Institute Program in Landscape Design in 1981, which later became the Landscape Institute of the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University.
At first, he says, he had mainly women in his classes. “I was seeing people who were making changes in their communities,” he notes. Over the years, the make-up of his classes evolved into three groups—those who wanted to change their careers, those who wanted to expand their careers and those who were simply looking for enrichment. “We learned a lot from our students,” he says. “Teaching at the Landscape Institute was very different from teaching undergraduates, which I did at MIT.”
During his 25 years as coordinator of the Landscape Institute (he retired in 2007), Furlong expanded course offerings in design, increased the number of studios and integrated new technology into courses in landscape construction and graphic presentation. He also expanded the program’s offerings in landscape history and developed an agenda of extracurricular activities that attracted a wide audience. As colleague Phyllis Anderson noted in a tribute upon his retirement, Furlong’s “passionate love of landscape study has influenced all parts of the program.”
Furlong has been involved in many professional organizations in Massachusetts. He is a founding member of the Massachusetts Association for Olmsted Parks. In 1998, he was named a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and was given the Massachusetts Horticultural Society’s Gold Medal Award.
William Neil -- '66 B.A.Music. William is the organist and harpsichordist of the National Symphony Orchestra, and is one of the busiest and most sought-after keyboard artists in the nation’s capital and throughout the United States. In 2001 he was appointed organist of the National Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC. He is also organist of the Choral Arts Society of Washington and the Washington Symphonic Brass. In 2006 he was organ soloist with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra Brass section in a debut concert of the new Dobson organ in Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center. In February 2009 he returned to the Kimmel Center to perform as featured soloist at the Penn State President’s Concert.
Scott Burke-- '88 M.F.A. Theatre-Directing. Scott is an award-winning director, playwright and producer, and founding member of the Halifax-based In Good Company theatre company. Before becoming artistic producer of Eastern Front Theatre in 2006, he served as artistic director of Theatre New Brunswick (2003-2005) and artistic producer of the Ship's Company Theatre (1998-2003), where he was responsible for the revitalization of the company and played a leading role in the conception and development of the $2 million new theatre facility. Some of Burke's acclaimed productions include Singalong Jubilee - The East Coast Sound Celebration, The Parrsboro Boxing Club, Chairmaker the Musical, Mary's Wedding and Kilt.
Jackie Battenfield --'71 B.A. Art Education. Jackie is a painter and printmaker, living and working in Brooklyn, New York. She received her M.F.A. from Syracuse University. She is currently represented by the Addison-Ripley Gallery in Washington, DC. She is the recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Award, the Warren Tanner Award, and fiscal sponsorship from the New York Foundation for the Arts. Her work is in the collections of The New York Public Library; the Zimmerli Art Museum and Montclair Art Museum in New Jersey; the Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State; and the Museum of Art at the University of Arizona. Jackie has written a book, The Artist’s Guide: How to Make a Living Doing what You Love, to be published by Da Capo Press this spring. It is based on the professional skills classes she has taught for over fifteen years for the Creative Capital Foundation, Bronx Museum of the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, and Columbia University.