Student accomplishments from the School of Visual Arts newsletter

Jessica-Lynn Armstrong, a graduate painting student, exhibited in Placescapes at the Stage Gallery in Merrick, N.Y., in December 2001.

Shannon Blakey, Jodi Brown, Sharon Burkey, Matt Everett, Harriet Hacker, Kris Harzinski, Pat Howard, Peter Johnson, Mitch Kern, Judy Lynn, Jason Overton, Jenny Rogers, and Carol Schottenfeld, graduate students in the studio arts program in SVA, held an exhibit in The Adam and Art Gallery in Bellefonte in February 2002. The exhibition was entitled Baker’s Dozen and featured works from several disciplines, including painting and drawing, sculpture, printmaking, ceramics, and photography.

Bryan Bonham, who earned a B.S. in 2002 with the art teacher certification option, received a commission and designed a new logo for the American Council of Developmental Education Associations. He was also invited in 2002 to design a medallion for faculty members belonging to the organization to wear at graduation. Bryan has been accepted to participate in the Japanese Exchange Teaching (JET) program. The JET program is for college graduates interested in the culture, history, and language of Japan. The goal of the program is to promote the exchange of culture and ideas between the United States and Japan. Participants spend from one to three years in Japan (usually) working in Japanese high schools, teaching the English language to Japanese students with a Japanese co-instructor.

Karsten Boyer, an M.F.A. student in visual arts, published an article titled ñRocksî in the January 2002 Research/Penn State magazine.

Professor Marjorie Wilson reports she has been privileged to have her undergraduate students present their work in and beyond the university classroom. Wilson presented ñCurriculum: For the Art of Itî at the National Art Education Conference in New York City on March 17, 2001, with former students Katie Blough and Michael Bricker. She presented ñThe Essential Element in Photoshop: Meaningî (otherwise entitled ñIt’s the Meaning, Stupidî) at the National Art Education Conference in Miami on March 24, 2002, with several students, including Stacey Ragan, Katie Fuhrer and Matt Gordon.

Julia Dolan, graduate assistant, gave several gallery talks on ñDrawings by John F. Kensettî at the Palmer Museum during the fall of 2001.

Jennifer Eisenhauer presented a paper entitled ñMythic Figures and Lived Identities: Locating the ‘Girl’ in Feminist Discourse" at a conference at King’s College in London, England. Held November 14Æ16, 2001, the conference was titled "A New Girl Order? Young Women and the Future of Feminist Inquiry."

Erin Firestone, graduate assistant, gave a gallery talk on ñJohn Paul Caponigroî at the Palmer Museum in March 2002.

Victoria Franklin-Dillon, a graduate student in art education, exhibited work at Phillips Emporium in Bloomsburg, Pa., in September and October 2001.

Elizabeth Gilley, B.F.A. metal arts graduate ’02, will be attending San Diego State University in fall 2002 to work on an M.F.A. in metalsmithing and jewelry design.

Dan Haxall, graduate assistant, gave a gallery talk on ñSam Gilliam: Recent Printsî at the Palmer Museum in March 2002.

Marla Jaksch and Gina Wenger presented at a conference held October 10Æ13, 2001, in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, entitled "INEXCLUSION: (Re)Visioning the Democratic Ideal, a Conference on Curriculum and Pedagogy with Arts-Based Educational Research." Their presentation was entitled ñArt + Text + Narrative: Exploration in Research, Pedagogy and Art Making.î

Marla Jaksch, an art education graduate student, co-presented at the "Penn State Feminists at Work Conference" on March 16, 2002. The paper presented was titled ñA Theory for the Third Wave? Challenges to Post-Structuralist Thinking.î

Mitch Kern, an M.F.A. candidate in photography, published a four-page feature article and a series of photographs in the September 2001 issue of State College Magazine. He also contributed the photography and design of a documentary feature picture story to the 2002 State College Magazine Wedding Guide, published in January 2002. Kern exhibited his work in a solo M.F.A. Thesis Exhibition in the Zoller Gallery, March 16Æ24, 2002

Ching-Fang Lee, a doctoral student in art ed, presented a paper entitled ñThe Educational Transformation of the Art Museum: From Places and Objects to Performed Spaces and Humanityî at the "2001 International Society for Education Through Art„Asia Regional Congress." The Congress was held by the National Changhua University of Education in Taiwan November 3Æ5, 2001.

Dori Lemeh contributed to a book, Santa Barraza: Artist of the Borderlands, and was selected to receive one of twelve Southwest Book Awards for 2000Æ2001.

Judy Lynn, a visual arts graduate student in sculpture, held an exhibition titled Swallow at the Sheetz Gallery of the Community Arts Center at Penn State Altoona, June 6ÆJuly 14, 2002.

Lea Anne McGoldrick, a senior in art education with an emphasis on photography, became the photo editor of The Daily Collegian.

Nate Pankratz, a junior in art education, interned during the summer of 2002 with Christopher Ries, a glass sculpture artist, and used the technology-art skills he learned in AED 222: Visual Culture and Instructional Technology.

Susan Plumb, an art ed graduate student, won the first Waddell Biggart Graduate Fellowship for 2001Æ2002.

Jenny Rogers, a visual arts graduate student, created an installation entitled High Noon in the alcove outside the Zoller Gallery, February 12Æ16, 2002, and an installation at the Starlite Drive-In, April 22Æ25, 2002. The pieces were part of Sallie McCorkle’s installation class. Rogers held a solo exhibition in the Community Arts Center’s Sheetz Gallery at Penn State Altoona from July 19 through August 18, 2002.

Congratulations to Jenny Rogers, Alex Paik, and Jon Chamberlain (InArt), who received 2002 Nittany Awards at the Penn State "Can" Film Festival, held on April 25, 2002, and sponsored by the Department of Film and Video in the College of Communications. Jenny won two awards, "Outstanding Cinematography" and "Outstanding Experimental," for her film Trick Saddle. Alex and Jon also received two awards, "Best Score" and "Narrative Comedy," for their music video, "Autumn Retreat."

Pei-Hsuan Su, a doctoral student in art education, published a paper entitled ñInstallation as Reflectionî in Proceedings of Asia-Pacific Art Education Conference 2000. The paper discusses environmental installation as material culture and objects of reflection. Su also created a Web site entitled ñShangri-La: Mystic Tibetî in reference to Tibetan arts and culture at www.personal.psu.edu/pxs232.

Bob Sweeny, a doctoral student in art education, has painted a mural in the Apple Laptop Lab in 304 Patterson Building. The mural deals with the distortions and disruptions inherent in the process of communication, evident in the inability for cartoon characters to carry on substantive conversation. Sweeny also presented ñReady-made Pedagogy? Duchamp and Art Educationî at the 2001 Pennsylvania Art Education Association annual conference in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Mark Taylor exhibited his work October 19ÆNovember 16, 2001, at AZO Gallery in California in a show titled Mark Taylor Works on Steel.

Kevin Tavin has been hired as assistant professor in the Department of Art Education and Art Therapy and as director of the Art Education Certification program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Victoria Weaver, a doctoral student in art education, is the recipient of the Phi Delta Kappa Innovative Educator of the Year Award for 2001/2002.

Gina Wenger, a doctoral student in art education, published an article entitled ñThe Art Diariesî in the January 2002 Research/Penn State magazine. She has been hired as assistant professor of art in the Department of Art at the Minnesota State University.

Nine artists represented the School of Visual Arts in the Seventeenth Annual Graduate Research Exhibition held April 5Æ7, 2002. The following students participated in the exhibit: Jenny Rogers, Painting, First Place; Matt Everett, Painting, Second Place; Harriet Hacker, Printmaking, Third Place; Judy Dowdell, Sculpture; Shannon Blakey, Ceramics; Kris Harzinski, Sculpture; Mitch Kern, Photography; Carol Oliver-Schottenfeld, Printmaking; and Jason Overton, Painting.

The Undergraduate Juried Exhibition 2002 was held February 21 through March 12, 2002, in Zoller Gallery. Matthew Gordon, Robert Schlamp, Melissa Steingrabe, Alexandra Sullivan, and Edward Zeiler were awarded $100 each. David Nguyen received the Kara D. Bergen Scholarship and was awarded $500.

The studio area of the School of Visual Arts continues to build on its outstanding reputation for preparing and placing students in top-ranked graduate programs, residencies and arts related employment. Of the four positions in the highly competitive Bard College graduate program, Erica Svec and Gail Stoicheff, recent Penn State studio art majors, have been accepted. Many other recent undergraduates from our studio area have been accepted into graduate programs at Yale, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Rhode Island School of Design, London's Goldsmith College, Alfred, Cal Arts, Hunter College, Tyler School of Art, and SVA in New York, to name only a few. Penn State students continue to find regular acceptance into the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, the most prestigious and competitive summer studio residency program in the country, and Yale's summer program in Norfolk, among others. Other recent alumni from both the graduate and undergraduate studio programs have set up studios and found employment at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Drawing Center, The Museum of Modern Art, Creative Capital, various university art departments, art conservation studios, galleries, and many other art organizations across the country.

The following scholarships and awards were announced in spring 2002: Brian Betzler Memorial Award to Lauren Purdum and Philip Zimmerman; Creative Achievement Award to Matt Everett, Courtney Mandryk, and Kristy Windisch; Simeon and Elizabeth Gallu Scholarship to Lauren Hallden-Abberton and Adriane Schneider; Barbara J. Gohn Scholarship to Briane Narleski; M. Josephine Paul Memorial Art Scholarship to Donald Caldwell; Margaret Giffen Schoenfelder Memorial Scholarship to Leah Dyckman and Robert Schlamp; Graham-Rath Scholarship to Matthew VanHorn; Leslie P. Greenhill Photography Award to Joel Knepper; Bruce Shobaken Undergraduate Honorary Endowed Award in Printmaking to Jon Kovach and Kathryn Murken; Alice Schwartz-Mattil Award to Kathryn Fuhrer and Laura Henssler; Undergraduate Graphic Design Scholarship to Alexis Campanis; William J. and Lois Kesterson Leight Memorial Scholarship to Kathryn Murken and Rachel Schoenberg; Edwin Zoller Scholarship to Kristen Fitch and Alex Paik.