Alumni Society News

Thank You!

Thanks to Jackie Battenfield, Bryan Benner and Andrea Bower, who are finishing their terms on the Arts and Architecture/Performing Arts Alumni Society Board of Directors.

Jackie Battenfield ('71 B.S. Art Ed.)

Bryan Benner ('92 B.A. Graphic Design)

New Board Members

The Arts and Architecture/Performing Arts Alumni Society will welcome five new members to its Board of Directors when their terms begin on July 1:

Mona Niemiec
(’82 B.F.A. Theatre)
Coordinating Producer, Thirteen/WNET New York

Deborah Sullivan Kimball
(’74 B.S. Art Ed.)
New Media/Technology Consultant, Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art

Colleen Meade Claps
(’94 B.A. Graphic Design)
Associate Creative Director, Vanity Fair Magazine

Jamelle Kalil Merriam
(’97 B.A. Graphic Design)
Promotion Art Director, House & Garden Magazine

Glenn Merwede
(’89 M.F.A. Theatre)
Master Technician/Technical Director, Roundabout Theatre, New York

AIA Reception for Penn State Architecture Alumni

Penn State, in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), will host a reception during the annual AIA convention in Chicago (June 10–12).

Friday, June 11
Hotel InterContinental, Exchange Room
6–8 p.m.
RSVPs requested but not required:
artsalumni@psu.edu or 814.863.0621

Class Notes

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Visual Arts

Jamil “Jim” Faridy (’61 B.A.), who was a principal partner in the architecture firm Faridy Veisz Fraytak P.C. until his retirement, was recently elected president of the board of directors of Boheme Opera New Jersey.

Jane Roughton (’67 B.S. Art Ed.) has been a studio potter for 28 years and currently operates two studios—one in her permanent home of Bozeman, Mont., and the other in Wickenburg, Ariz., where she and her husband spend their winters.

Florence Putterman’s (’73 M.F.A.) artwork was featured in two solo exhibitions in fall 2003. Painting and Sculpture by Florence Putterman: A 10-Year Retrospective took place in the Lore Degenstein Gallery at Susquehanna University and Media Explorations was on display in the HUB-Robeson Gallery on the Penn State University Park campus. Additionally, Putterman was invited to participate in CowParade Harrisburg 2004, on display in Harrisburg and the surrounding area through June 2004. For more information, visit www.cowparade.org/harrisburg.

E. Susan Truxal (’73 B.S. Art Ed.) is now working as a substitute teacher for Intermediate Unit 13 in Lancaster, Pa.

Cynthia Nixon (’74 M.Ed. Art Ed.) will have a solo exhibition at Del Mano Gallery in Los Angeles in June and July 2004. She recently exhibited her work in New Acquisitions at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery (Washington, D.C.) and in Fibrations at Noho Gallery in Chelsea, New York City. In addition, she presented an invited lecture, “The Painting Connection,” at the international Wild by Design Symposium at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in March 2003. Her work was also selected for the international FIBERARTS Design Book 7, published by Lark Books this spring, and was featured in the April/May 2003 issue of American Craft Magazine.

Amy Laskin (’77 B.F.A.) joined the Peace Corps after graduating and traveled to Jamaica, where she decided to stay when her service was finished. Today, she runs her own business with offices in Gordontown, Jamaica, and King of Prussia, Pa., selling furniture and fine art that she has created.

Patty Schmidt (’82 B.A.) will coordinate and teach in the humanities program at CAPA, Pittsburgh’s new high school for the creative and performing arts. Schmidt also plans to continue teaching at Point Park College, which attained university status in January 2004.

Bob Kucher (’94 B.S. Art Ed.) was recently appointed deputy director of the Tennessee Arts Commission. In this position, he oversees 17 different grant programs involving the arts. Additionally, the Tennessee Art Education Association named Kucher the 2004 Tennessee Art Administrator of the Year.

Mary Jo (Haupert) McQuate (’96 B.S. Art Ed.) and her husband, Michael, were married in summer 2003 and currently reside in Valley Forge, Pa. In May 2003, McQuate completed her master’s degree in art education at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and received the Elizabeth Roberts Prize for Graduate Study for her graduate thesis. She now teaches art at New Eagle Elementary School in Chester County, Pa.

Ryan Deemer (’99 B.F.A. Painting) is pursuing a master’s degree at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence.

Michael Fratangelo (’01 B.S. Art Ed.) recently started as an art teacher in the West Jefferson Hills School District of Pleasant Hills, Pa. He was named the 2004 Emerging Artist by the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. His exhibition, 20 Portraits, was on display at Pittsburgh’s Rivers Club in May 2003.

Passings

We regret the passing of the following alumni and friends:

Felix Sabatino (’74 B.S. Arch.) passed away in September 2003.

Ruth “Tawnie” Hill Fortunato (’46 B.S. Music Ed.) passed away in October 2003.

Andrew J. Murphy, husband of Eleanor Ross Murphy (’55 B.S. Home Ec., Women’s Chorus, Chapel Choir), recently passed away.

Harry Miller (’67 M.A. Theatre), who taught acting classes in the mid-1960s for the School of Theatre, passed away at age 82 in Columbia, South Carolina, after a battle with cancer. He began teaching at the University of South Carolina in 1973, and although officially retired, he continued to teach an honors-level course on creativity until he became ill last year.

Architecture Department Mourns Passing of Longtime Faculty Member

Maurice “Robert” Des Marais, longtime faculty member in the Department of Architecture, passed away on January 5, 2004, at age 83.

Des Marais served in the U.S. Navy from 1941 to 1945 and was with the U.S. Navy Reserves from 1945 to 1972. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architecture at the University of Illinois and was a registered architect in Pennsylvania, Illinois and Texas. Before coming to Penn State in 1950, he was a faculty member at the University of Illinois and Texas Tech. He taught at Penn State until 1988.

In addition to his academic experience, Des Marais held positions with architecture and engineering firms in Illinois, Texas and New York City. He designed many buildings, private residences and historic renovations, including the former State College municipal building, the original Schlow Memorial Library and the Boal Barn Theatre. A corporate member of the American Institute of Architects, he was supervising architect of historic Bedford Village.

In addition to his wife, Sally G. Des Marais of State College, he is survived by his children: Robert T. Des Marais, of Idaho; Barbara S. Dahl, of Salt Lake City, Utah; Suzanne I. Des Marais (’88 B.F.A. Painting), of Gaithersburg, Md., and Richard M. Des Marais, of State College. He is also survived by nine grandchildren.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Saint Andrews Memorial Fund, 208 West Foster Avenue, State College, Pa., 16801.