News
Message from the Dean
As
is evident from the “histories” of our programs, featured in the last
three issues of our alumni newsletter, outreach is at the very heart of what we do. Whether it is theatre
at Standing Stone or building a community center on a Cheyenne reservation in Montana—and all points
in between—our community linkages are our lifelines to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, to this country
and to an expanding role in the world.
Our “cover story” for this issue features some of these successful initiatives. It is very difficult to pick out just a select few from so many, and we’ll continue to feature outreach work in every edition as new, exciting projects unfold.
Great examples of outreach abound: as I write this column, we have a small group of graduate students who have just returned from Panama, where they worked on a service-learning project with Professor Bret Peters from the Department of Architecture. Through his connections with the office of the Panamanian president, our students were invited to develop an urban revitalization plan for a blighted area—a perfect example of the positive intersection between service to a community and academic work for our students.
There are so many other illustrations of this type of effort: children’s theatre performances by the School of Theatre’s Drama Duo, the Department of Landscape Architecture’s community projects in Harrisburg and the Czech Republic, and summer architecture and music camps involving our faculty and students, to name a few. While our academic units engage in outreach as one element of the educational process, the Center for the Performing Arts’ work is all outreach. We take very seriously our responsibility to bring cultural events to central Pennsylvania. Every season the programs are as varied as the events for 2004–05, from individual artists like Peter Cincotti to national touring companies like Mamma Mia. Our new director, George Trudeau (see page 6), and the staff will host about 35 events spread throughout the year.
I’m writing this note to you the week after closing a second very successful season in the Citizens Bank Theatre in the new Downtown Theatre Center at Allen and Beaver. Once again we played to full houses—such a gratifying experience for our performers. Pennsylvania Centre Stage has flourished in this space, bringing live theatre into the heart of our community—our outreach to our neighbors and friends. We will expand the offerings in the Downtown Theatre Center to include other cultural events this fall.
Esber Recital Hall, performance home to the School of Music, remains one of the busiest venues in State College. It sometimes appears as though the lights never go out, because almost every evening features a faculty recital, graduate performance or large ensemble or orchestra performance. The Esber is truly the hub of music outreach. In addition, we have groups traveling around the country and abroad constantly. This summer our Graduate String Quartet spent time in Brazil, touring with Professor James Lyon, as just one example.
I hope you enjoy reading about the other outreach efforts detailed in this issue and especially look forward to seeing you at these activities, whether here or when we bring an event to your area.
One last note about coming to campus—within this next year we’ll be opening two new buildings for the college and I hope you make the sojourn to see them. I had a “move-in day” tour last week of the indoor practice facility for the Marching Blue Band and it is lovely! Finally, we have a home for this great group of musicians.
Also, the roof is on the new Stuckeman Family Building for the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture and we are on schedule—we should get the keys next spring. The studios are phenomenal—2/3 of the length of a football field—and the vista through them is so exciting and dynamic.
Come see us, please. Do write and let me know how things are going for you—I enjoy hearing from you!
Penn State Represented on Flight 93
National Memorial Task Force
Landscape architecture faculty member Tim Baird and art history alumnus Charles Fox (’88 B.A. Art History and History), a member of the board of directors of the Arts and Architecture/Performing Arts Alumni Society, are serving on the Flight 93 National Memorial Task Force, which is working to create a lasting tribute to the victims of the United Airlines flight that crashed outside Shanksville, Pa., on September 11, 2001. The task force announced an international design competition on September 11, 2004, with plans to submit the winning design to the Secretary of the Interior and Congress in September 2005.
The task force is composed of approximately 85 individuals representing a cross-section of those affected by the crash, including local residents, first responders, family members of victims, educators, elected officials and others, such as Baird and Fox, who bring specific expertise to the group. Baird was appointed to the task force because of his experience in design and planning and serves as co-chair of the Design Solicitation Committee. The committee has worked for the past 18 months developing the international design competition, which seeks the creative vision that will ultimately become the memorial. As one of four members of the Design Oversight Committee, he is now helping to coordinate the efforts of all those involved in the competition.
Stewardson Competition Challenges Students to Design Flight 93 Memorial
The 2004 John Stewardson Memorial Scholarship in Architecture Competition challenged students to design a hypothetical memorial for the victims of United Flight 93. Christopher Ziegler (’04 B.Arch.) won first place in the prestigious event, the ninth Penn Stater to earn that honor in the competition’s 103 years.
Wesley Wei, FAIA (’76 B.Arch.), principal of Wesley Wei Architects, recipient of the College of Arts and Architecture Alumni Achievement Award in 1995 and the 1981 Stewardson Competition winner, is the managing secretary for the Stewardson Scholarship program and organized last year’s competition. It included 39 entries from the six accredited architecture programs in Pennsylvania (Penn State, Carnegie Mellon University, Drexel University, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia University and Temple University). Ziegler received a $6,500 scholarship to study abroad.
According to Baird, the task force’s goal is to develop a memorial that portrays the heroism of the passengers and crew of Flight 93, who became the first American citizens to fight back against the terrorist attacks on 9/11. “The memorial is not only important to Americans, but to all citizens of the world who abhor terrorist acts of violence against innocent people,” he says. “[The crash site] is the final resting place of those 40 people who sacrificed their lives that day and as such it is sacred ground that must be preserved for their families.”
Fox brings his expertise as a historian to the task force. He represents the Somerset Historical Center, which he directs as an employee of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. The center has been caring, on behalf of the National Park Service, for the mementoes left behind by visitors at the temporary memorial since October 2001. Most of the collection of more than 10,000 items is stored at the historical center.
Fox says the task force has done an “outstanding job” in moving the design process forward quickly and efficiently, considering the complexity of the undertaking and the many different people involved. He is currently overseeing a project, also on behalf of the National Park Service, that will collect the oral histories associated with the loss of Flight 93 and document the memorial design process itself. “I have been engaged as an administrator and a historian in this project in many rewarding ways and am honored to have been asked to assist,” he says.
Fox and Baird agree that working with the victims’ families is a privilege. “It is a great honor to be chosen to play a small part in the development of such an important memorial in the history of the country,” says Baird. “It is even more important to get to know and work closely with some of the family members of those who were murdered in the plane crash. It is a remarkable group and I’m very grateful that I have had the privilege of working with them.”
The Somerset Historical Center is currently hosting a series of orientation sessions for trained designers and others who want to submit their ideas in the twostage design competition. Two design juries, composed of family members, task force members, professional designers and artists, and others, will be appointed to select the winning design. Three to five finalists will be chosen from Stage One to refine their designs for Stage Two, with the winning design presented to the Secretary of the Interior and Congress.
To register to enter the design competition, call 800.244.6515 or visit www.flight93memorialproject.org, where you can also find additional information about the memorial project. Registration is open through December 27, with Stage One entries due January 11, 2005.
