SOTA Highlights

| Art History & HPCP | Arts Management | Music | Studio Art | Theatre | Halsey Gallery | General |

Art History Department and Historic Preservation & Community Planning Program Highlights

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Arts Management Program Highlights

SCOTT SHANKLIN-PETERSON RECEIVES THE MEDAL OF HONOR IN THE ARTS

Congratulations Scott Shanklin-Peterson for receiving the Medal of Honor in the Arts by Winthrop University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts. The Winthrop University Medal of Honor in the Arts recognizes those who have made significant contributions to the arts, as well as those who have positively affected the quality of cultural life in South Carolina communities. Established in 2001, this award honors those who have encouraged the arts and inspired others through their distinguished achievements, artistic excellence, patronage, or support.

Scott Shanklin-Peterson is the former Senior Deputy Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, former Executive Director of the South Carolina Arts Commission, and current College of Charleston Arts Management Program Director.

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Music Department Highlights

REVEL IN RENAISSANCE MUSIC, FOOD AND THEATRE WITH THE MADRIGAL SINGERS

The Department of Music in the College of Charleston’s School of the Arts will present “A Yuletide Madrigal Feast,” Friday, Dec. 5, Saturday, Dec. 6, and Sunday, Dec. 7, 2008 at 7 p.m. in Alumni Memorial Hall in Randolph Hall, on the College campus.

The award-winning College of Charleston Madrigal Singers, conducted by Dr. Robert Taylor, will perform sacred and secular traditional holiday season carols. Each of the three evenings will be filled with Renaissance entertainment and a feast fit for royalty. Script and staging by Brandon Joyner

The Renaissance menu will consist of French pork chop with black truffle demi-glaze, fingerling potatoes, grilled asparagus, picked peach, rustic breads, cranberry/walnut tart, tea, coffee and wine. Wassail will also be served. Tickets are $60 each, sold in advance until 5 p.m., December 3. Seating is limited, and tickets will not be sold at the door. Tickets can be purchased by calling (843) 953-6306.

The College of Charleston Madrigal Singers is an auditioned ensemble made up of students from the College’s Concert Choir that specializes in chamber music ranging from the Renaissance to the present. Conducted by Dr. Robert Taylor, the Madrigal Singers are perhaps best known for their annual Yuletide Madrigal Feast and are also annually featured on the Early Music Series and the Young Artists at the College of Charleston Series in Charleston’s Piccolo Spoleto Festival. They have also frequently performed and toured with Steve Rosenberg and Charleston Pro Musica, and they function as the community outreach arm of the choral program, frequently performing for various civic functions and charitable organizations.

Taylor, director of Choral Activities at the College, is also director of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Chorus and Chamber Singers. He holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from Louisiana State University and is an experienced soloist, having sung leading tenor roles in a variety of operas, oratorios and musicals. Taylor is the founding conductor and music director of the Bob Taylor Festival Choir, a professional, summer event ensemble.

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ACCLAIMED FRENCH PIANIST RETURNS TO INTERNATIONAL PIANO SERIES

Jean-François Dichamp will make his third appearance at the College of Charleston’s International Piano Series. In 1982, a 12 year-old boy made his first major appearance on television screens throughout the world. Dichamp was playing the part of “young Mozart” in Marcel Bluwal’s epic film dedicated to the great composer. Until then, Dichamp had been a musician rather than an actor. He began studying the piano with his mother at an early age and continued studying at the Boulogne Conservatory with Geneviève Ibanez. After his successful experience on screen he chose the difficult route of a career in music at the Paris Conservatory, entering the circuit of international piano competitions.

Jean-François Dichamp won three prizes at the Santander International Piano Competition in 1990: Finalist Prize, Young Talent Award, and the Madame Arthur Rubinstein Award for the best interpretation of Chopin. This signaled the start of a performance career that would bring him critical acclaim all over the world, including Spain, Poland, Ireland, England, United States, Mexico, Turkey, Colombia, Chile, and Romania. “A very sensitive artist” according to the London Times; “…a natural gift for Chopin” says The Independent; from Mexico, El Norte exclaims, “…a truly musical event, after his magnificent recital the audience gave him a standing ovation…there is no doubt about it, Dichamp gives us a new dimension on Liszt.” France's L’Humanité hailed, “…an exemplary maturity in this young musician”.

Dichamp has been a guest of France Musique, and of various other festivals, including the Chopin at Duzniky, Le Touquet, Arcachon and the Chorégies d’Orange. He has also collaborated in chamber music recitals with artists such as Henri Demarquette, David Grimal and Marie-Josèphe Jude. Recently he recorded two CDs for the Lyrinx label, featuring works by Chopin and Liszt.

A pupil of Jean-Claude Pennetier, Dichamp was unanimously awarded his Premier Prix at the Conservatory in 1986. He became one of the most brilliant students of Nikita Magaloff, and later of Maria Curcio, with whom he studied for four years in London. A disciple of Schnabel, Madame Curcio brought depth to his knowledge of the piano, and enlarged his whole musical horizon.

The performance will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008 at 8:00 p.m. at the College of Charleston Sottile Theatre, 44 George St. Dichamp will perform Ludwig van Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 2, No. 1 in F minor and Sonata Op. 57 in F minor ("Appassionata"); Franz Liszt’s Deux Legendes: Saint François d'Assise. La Prédication aux oiseaux, and Saint François de Paule marchant sur les flots; and Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 36. Tickets are $20. Credit card reservations and more information are available by calling (843) 953-6575, or visiting www.internationalpianoseries.org. College of Charleston students and those under 18 years old are admitted free of charge.

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COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON CONCERT CHOIR TO PRESENT FALL PERFORMANCE

 
The College of Charleston’s Department of Music will present a fall concert by its award-winning Concert Choir and Madrigal Singers, both led by Robert Taylor. The event will take place at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2008 in the Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul, 126 Coming Street. Admission is $5 at the door.
 
Recently, the College of Charleston Concert Choir was one of eleven collegiate choirs chosen from the United States to perform at the prestigious National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO) National Convention, held on the campus of Cincinnati Conservatory in Cincinnati, Ohio. Their repertoire for this concert will stem from their 25-minute convention program and will include Eric Whitacre’s Sleep, Reggel (Morning) by György Ligeti, Lorca Suite by Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara, Like as the Hart by Herbert Howells, and two selections by the popular composer and director of Anuna, Michael McGlynn.
 
The upcoming NCCO convention performance marks the second time within five years that the College of Charleston Concert Choir has been honored by national choral organizations. In 2005, the Concert Choir traveled to Los Angeles to perform in the American Choral Directors Association National Convention. The Concert Choir has also performed in other regional festivals, including American Guild of Organists state and regional conventions, and annually in Piccolo Spoleto’s Choral Artist Series. They frequently collaborate with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, including an upcoming performance of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, and Prokoviev’s Alexander Nevsky.
 
The College of Charleston Madrigal Singers, whose membership stems from the Concert Choir, is perhaps best known for their annual Yuletide Madrigal Feast. They frequently perform and tour with Steve Rosenberg’s Charleston Pro Musica, including annual performances on the Piccolo Spoleto Early Music Series.
 
Robert Taylor is Director of Choral Activities at the College of Charleston, the Director of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra Chorus and the CSO Chamber Singers, and the Founding Artistic Director of the Taylor Music Group and Taylor Festival Choir.

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COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON WIND ENSEMBLE TO PERFORM FOR MUSIC SERIES

The College of Charleston Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Richard Marcus, will present a concert entitled “Wind Music through the Ages” on Monday, Nov. 10, 2008 at 8 p.m. in the Recital Hall of the Simons Center for the Arts, 54 St. Philip St. Featured guests will include the Charleston Symphony Brass Quintet consisting of Karin Bliznik, the Charleston Symphony Orchestra’s newly appointed principal trumpet; Michael Smith, trumpet; Brandon Nichols, horn; Bill Zehfuss, trombone; and Tom Joyce, bass trombone.

The program will include wind music from the Renaissance through the 20th century including works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Percy Grainger, John Philip Sousa, and Kurt Weill. Admission is $10. College of Charleston students with a valid id are admitted free of charge. The concert is part of the Music Department’s Monday Night Concert Series.

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Acclaimed Artist, Eduardo Fernández, to Perform Classical Guitar at College of Charleston

“A thoughtful and thought-provoking artist... a sound to behold.” (The Washington Post)

The College of Charleston’s Department of Music will present a performance by classical guitarist, Eduardo Fernandez. The event will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008 at 8 p.m. in the Recital Hall of the Simons Center for the Arts, 54 St. Philip St. The concert will include works by Mauro Giuliani, Fernando Sor, J.K. Mertz, Manuel M. Ponce and Alberto Ginastera. Admission is $15 at the door and free for College of Charleston students with valid I.D.

Eduardo Fernández has earned an international following through his competition and performance appearances throughout the world. He has toured the United States since his New York debut in 1977, having played recitals and also with prestigious orchestras, always to great acclaim from critics and audiences. He has also performed throughout Europe, Asia, South America, and Mexico.

Several of his extensive recordings have been selected as “best of the month” and “best of the year” by publications such as Stereo Review and The New York Times, as well as Asahi Shinbun from Japan. He has recorded 18 albums with Decca that cover a wide selection of repertoire, from Bach to the contemporary; a recording for Erato with violinist Alexander Markow covering most of Paganini's work for violin and guitar; and two duo CDs with Japanese guitarist Shin-Ichi Fukuda for DENON in Japan.

Currently Fernández is the exclusive recording artist of the Oehms Classics label, for which he has recorded the complete lute suites by Bach and "Romantic Guitar," a 19th century guitar recording on a period instrument.

Extending his influence beyond the stage and recording studio, Fernández has written a major book on guitar technique, a book of essays on Bach's lute music, and several articles in leading guitar publications. An active composer, he was the secretary of the Uruguayan branch of ISCM for two years. He is also a founder of Uruguay's CIM/UNESCO section, Artistic Director of Montevideo's biannual International Guitar Festivals since 1996, and of Colombia's Encuentros Nacionales de la Guitarra since 2000.

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COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON PIANIST WINS INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

Sean Kennard, an Artist Certificate student of Enrique Graf at the College of Charleston’s School of the Arts, won First Prize in the XXXIV “Dr. Luis Sigall” International Piano Competition. The event took place in Viña del Mar, Chile, November 3-10, 2007. The competition is the only one in Latin America that is a member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions. Kennard received $10,000, a medal and 2008 engagements with the National Symphony of Chile in Santiago and at the Frutillar Summer Festival, plus recitals in several cities throughout Chile. He was also awarded the prize for “Best Interpretation of the Required Piece” written by Chilean composer Jorge Pepi.

Nineteen pianists from fourteen countries had been pre-selected to participate in the three-round competition, which culminated on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2007 at the Municipal Theatre of Viña del Mar. On that occasion three finalists performed one of two concertos for piano and orchestra selected by the contestants and the jury two days prior.

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Studio Art Department Highlights

COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON TO OFFER LECTURE AND WORKSHOP ON ANIMATION

The College of Charleston’s department of studio art and its visual arts club will offer a visiting artist lecture and animation workshop with Evan Tapper. The lecture will take place on Friday, Oct. 31, 2008 at 5 p.m. in room 309 of the Simons Center for the Arts, 54 St. Philip St. The workshop on Adobe Flash CS3 Professional will take place on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. in room 207 of the Education Center, 25 St. Philip St. Both events are free and co-sponsored by the College’s Center for the Documentary. For more information, please call (843) 953-8286 or visit www.cofc.edu/studioart.

Evan Tapper has won several awards for his performances, animations and short film productions from prestigious organizations like the Canada Council for the Arts and the New York Foundation for the Arts. He has exhibited extensively at the international level and has shown his work at the Media Arts Centre, Toronto, Canada; Today Art Museum in Beijing, China; Festival Internacional de Arte Digital Rosario, Argentina; and the Tate Modern, London, England.

Tapper received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Manitoba and his Master of Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University. He also has studied at the Second City Comedy Training Center in Toronto, Canada.

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COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON STUDIO ART PROFESSOR CLIFFTON PEACOCK RECEIVES $25,000 GOTTLIEB GRANT

Cliffton Peacock, studio art professor at the College of Charleston’s School of the Arts, was awarded a $25,000 Individual Support Grant from the prestigious Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation, Inc. Of 462 grant applications, Peacock was one of twelve recipients selected, based on the quality of work and dedication to painting, sculpting and/or printmaking.

Artist Adolph Gottlieb began his artistic career in New York City in the 1920s and became known as a prosperous Abstract Expressionist. Upon his death in 1974, he left instructions in his will that a foundation be created to benefit “mature, creative painters and sculptors.” His widow Esther, having helped to conceive the idea, saw to the fruition of the endeavor and bequeathed the major part of her estate to the Foundation when she died in 1988. Each year the Foundation selects a group of five artists and other art professionals, who are not affiliated with the Foundation, to serve as advisers to the Foundation and also select the grant recipients.

Cliffton Peacock received his M.F.A. degree from Boston University in 1977. His teachers there included James Weeks, John Wilson and Philip Guston. He has been the recipient of numerous awards, including three National Endowment for the Arts grants, three Massachusetts Artist Fellowship awards, an Englehard Foundation grant, a Louis Comfort Tiffany Fellowship, and Awards in the Visual Arts grants, sponsored by the Equitable Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, the Prix de Rome from the American Academy in Rome, a South Carolina Individual Artist Fellowship, and most recently, a 2001 fellowship from the Guggenheim Foundation.

Peacock has exhibited his paintings nationally many times since 1980 and has had one-person exhibitions at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, the Greenville Museum of Art, Greenville, SC, and the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC.
His work is in the collections of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Hood Museum of Art, among others. He has been an Associate Professor of Fine Arts at the College of Charleston since 1996.

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SOUTH CAROLINA ARTS COMMISSION AWARDS $5,000 VISUAL ARTS FELLOWSHIP TO COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON PROFESSOR HERB PARKER

The South Carolina Arts Commission has announced its 2008 Individual Artist Fellowship awards. College of Charleston studio art professor Herb Parker will receive one of two fellowships in the Visual Arts category. Each Fellow will be given $5,000 in recognition of his or her superior artistic merit. Fellows and alternates are selected through a competitive, anonymous application process based solely on a review of work samples.

Currently teaching sculpture at the College of Charleston’s School of the Arts, Parker was born in Elizabeth City, N.C. He received a Master of Fine Arts degree in sculpture from East Carolina University in 1983. Parker served a tour in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam conflict and two years as a Peace Corps volunteer. He also served as a visiting artist and/or instructor at universities in both the U.S. and abroad.

 Parker has created more than 40 site-related installations in the environment since the early 1980s, and his work has been commissioned throughout the United States and in Canada, Italy, Japan and Sweden. He has received several honors, including being a recipient of the “Awards in the Visual Arts XI,” which was hosted by the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art. He was also named a South Carolina Arts Commission Artist Fellow in 1993.

The South Carolina Arts Commission is the state agency charged with creating a thriving arts environment that benefits all South Carolinians, regardless of their location or circumstances. Created by the South Carolina General Assembly in 1967, the Arts Commission focuses on increasing public participation in the arts by providing services, grants and leadership initiatives in three areas: arts education, community arts development and artist development. Headquartered in Columbia, S.C., the Arts Commission is funded by the state of South Carolina and by the federal government through the National Endowment for the Arts.
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Theatre Department Highlights

“TARTUFFE” TO BRING RELIGIOUS HYPOCRISY TO STAGE AT COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON’S SCHOOL OF THE ARTS

 
The College of Charleston’s School of the Arts will present A Sneak Peek Behind the Scenes of “Tartuffe” performed by students in the department of theatre. Drinks and hors d’oeuvres will precede the performance, and champagne and dessert will follow. The event will take place Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2008 at 7 p.m. in the Emmett Robinson Theatre in the Simons Center for the Arts, 54 St. Philip Street. Admission is $75 ($60 for theatre season ticket holders) and can be purchased by calling (843) 953-6527.
 
Additional “Tartuffe” shows will take place Thursday, November 13 through Tuesday, November 18 in the Emmett Robinson Theatre at 8 p.m., with the exception of the Sunday, November 16 performance at 3 p.m. only. Tickets for these shows are $15 general admission and $10 for Senior Citizens and students with valid ID. Tickets are available at the theatre box office in the Simons Center for the Arts or by calling (843) 953-5604.
 
Molière’s neo-classical comic gem is a boisterous and bawdy farce that targets religious hypocrisy, lust, betrayal and our inclination towards credulity. It opens with the apparently devout and pious Tartuffe worming his way into the home of the wealthy Orgon. While nearly everyone else sees Tartuffe for the con man he is, Orgon becomes so enamored of him that he nearly sacrifices his family’s happiness. A satire that skewers false moralists and those blind (or frightened) enough to follow them, it also offers the hope that true goodness and plain old common sense can save anyone—if only they’ll agree to be saved.

“Tartuffe” (L’Imposteur) was written in and first performed in 1664 at the fêtes held at Versailles. It was almost immediately banned from public performance until 1669, because it involved the thorny issue of religious hypocrisy. A stage production of Richard Wilbur’s translation of the play opened at the Circle in the Square Theatre in 1977 and was restaged for television the following year on PBS, with Donald Moffat replacing John Wood as Tartuffe, and co-starring Tammy Grimes and Patricia Elliott.

Director Evan Parry explains, “’Tartuffe,’” arguably Moliere’s best-known play, is remembered primarily for being a satire on religious hypocrisy and was initially censored due to the outcry of people of influence in the court of King Louis XIV because of that theme. However, the play is not just a satire, but also a delight of verbal and physical comedy, and is as much a satire on the generation gap as anything. Orgon, a wealthy landowner, falls under the spell of Tartuffe, a con artist posing as a man of deep religious faith. Orgon uses Tartuffe’s presence to try to control the lives of his children, Damis and Mariane, as well as his second wife, Elmire. However, Elmire and Dorine, their maid, see through Tartuffe, and take drastic measures to expose him to Orgon.”
 
The production is directed by Evan Parry. Scenery is designed by Tricia Thelen, and costumes designed by Janine McCabe. Lighting is by Christopher Koenig. Featured in this production are Peyton Gray Robbins as Orgon, Charlene Boyd as Dorine, William Haden as Tartuffe, Sierra Garland as Elmire, Jessica McClellan as Cleante, Elizabeth Bays as Mariane, Nick Smithson as Damis, Sam McCalla as Valere, and Kaytlin Bailey as Madame Pernelle. Other actors include Jennifer McCormick, Vince Cellini, John Rhodes, and Spencer Jones.

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COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON THEATRE STUDENTS ADVANCE IN PRESTIGIOUS NATIONAL FESTIVAL

The Department of Theatre at the College of Charleston’s School of the Arts distinguished itself with two regional awards at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) Region IV, Feb. 6-10 held in Americus, Georgia. Michael Smallwood won first prize for his short play “Talk” and Linda McClenaghan won first prize for The Critics Institute. Smallwood will also have a reading of his play at the Kennedy Center, and McClenaghan will be given an intensive experience in play criticism at the same venue. “Talk” was written in Dr. Franklin Ashley's Playwriting II class and will be performed at the College next January and will then open next year's KCACTF festival to be held at Clemson in 2008.
 
The KCACTF is a national theatre program involving 18,000 students from colleges and universities nationwide. The Kennedy Center’s founding chairman Roger L. Stevens started it in 1969 in order to encourage, to recognize and to celebrate college theater. The program takes place year-round in eight geographical regions throughout the United States. Several productions are chosen from each region to compete at their regional festivals for the opportunity of a final showcase at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Works by student designers, student critics and student playwrights are also selected for presentation at the regional and national festivals. There is no other national forum that highlights student theatre works.
 
The KC/ACTF honors excellence of overall production and offers student artists individual recognition through awards and scholarships in playwriting, acting, criticism, directing and design. The College of Charleston’s School of the Arts extends its congratulations to the honored faculty and students of the Department of Theatre.

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Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art Highlights

HALSEY INSTITUTE TO HOST EXHIBITION “MEND: LOVE, LIFE, & LOSS”

The Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston’s School of the Arts will host “Mend: love, life, & loss” from October 24 – December 5, 2008, an exhibition featuring works by ten nationally known artists who use fiber as their key metaphor. This exhibition, curated by Halsey Director Mark Sloan, includes painting, sculpture, video, photography, and mixed-media works. The opening reception will take place Friday, October 24 from 5 – 7 p.m. in the Halsey Gallery. To accompany the opening, Pinky/MM Bass and Renee’ Cheveallier will present a multi-media performance entitled “Pentagram of Loss” at 6 p.m., during the reception. This performance is for mature audiences, as there will be some nudity involved. All events are free, with the public encouraged to attend.
 
This exhibition explores the paradoxical nature of the idea of mending--be it a human who is sick, a heart that is broken, or a profound grief over a death. The patch is often stronger than the original--hence the paradox. The artists in this show probe the dualities of strength/fragility, hope/despair, joy/grief, pretty/nasty, dainty/brutal, and more, using fiber as the key metaphor. Each of the ten artists employs the yoking of opposites as an expressive vehicle. Artists to be included in the exhibition are Adrienne Antonson (Charleston, SC), Pinky/MM Bass (Fairhope, AL), Jon Coffelt (New York, NY), Leslie Kneisel (Atlanta, GA), Nava Lubelski (Asheville, NC), Preston Orr (Savannah, GA), Susan Harbage Page (Chapel Hill, NC), Marilyn Pappas (Cambridge, MA), Mireille Vautier (New York, NY), and Rachel Wright (Mobile, AL). All of the works in the show contain at least some sort of fiber--string, hair, thread, yarn, etc.  According to Sloan “Fiber is the central metaphor, as it is evidenced to be visibly fragile, yet through the mend, it becomes durable, and at times, indelible.”
 
The “Pentagram of Loss” performance will include music and choreography and will conclude with a piece of artwork; the remains of the materials from the performance will be left as the final piece. According to MM Bass “[‘Pentagram of Loss’] is about the fragility of the human body, the space of loss and our inner-connectedness. We are left with only traces.” College of Charleston music student Wade Davis will provide improvisational cello accompaniment to the six performers involved in this performance.
 
The Halsey Gallery is located within the Simons Center for the Arts, 54 St. Philip Street. Parking is available in the St. Philip Street Garage. Gallery hours are Monday-Saturday, 11 – 4 p.m., or by appointment. For more information contact the Halsey Institute at (843) 953-5680 or visit
http://www.halsey.cofc.edu <http://www.halsey.cofc.eduhttp://www.halsey.cofc.edu> .

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BEN RUSSELL TO BRING UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE WITH FOUR EXPERIMENTAL ETHNOGRAPHIES

The College of Charleston’s Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art will present Four Experimental Ethnographies with Producer/Director Ben Russell as part of the Southern Arts Federation’s Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers in Room 309 or the Simons Center for the Arts on Friday, Nov. 7, 2008. Following a screening of his films, Russell will engage the audience in a discussion about the films and his work as a filmmaker. All events are free, with the public encouraged to attend.

“Tjúba Tén” (“The Wet Season”) is an experimental ethnography recorded in the jungle village of Bendekondre, Suriname, at the start of 2007. Composed of community-generated performances, reenactments and extemporaneous recordings, the film functions as both an examination of a rapidly changing material culture in the present and a historical document for the future. Whether the resultant record is directed toward its subjects, its temporary residents (the filmmakers), or its Western viewers is a question proposed via the combination of long takes, materialist approaches, selective subtitling and a focus on various forms of cultural labor.

In addition to “Tjúba Tén,” filmmaker Ben Russell’s screening will feature three additional experimental ethnographies: “Daumë,” “The Red and the Blue Gods,” and “Black and White Trypps Number Three.”

Ben Russell is an itinerant photographer, curator and experimental film/video maker whose works have screened in spaces ranging from 14th-century Belgian monasteries to 17th-century East India Trading Company buildings, from police station basements to outdoor punt squats, from Japanese cinematheques to Parisian storefronts, from the Sundance Film Festival to the Museum of Modern Art. A Guggenheim award recipient, Russell began the Magic Lantern screening series in Providence, RI. He has created films about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the exploration of Easter Island, Richard Pryor, and the end of the world. Russell has a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University and a Master of Fine Arts from the Art Institute of Chicago. His films have won awards at the Festival EntreVues in Belfort, France, the Chicago Underground Film Festival, Silver Lake Film Festival, Milwaukee Underground Film Fest, Onion City Film Festival, and the Ann Arbor Film Festival. His projects have received funding from the Rhode Island State Council for the Arts, the Forbes Fund, and the New England Moving Image Fund. He currently resides in Chicago, IL.

The Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers is a program of the Southern Arts Federation, a not-for-profit regional arts organization making a positive difference in the arts throughout the South since 1975. Southern Arts Federation is supported by funding and programming partnerships with the National Endowment for the Arts and the state arts agencies of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. For more information on the Southern Arts Federation and its programs visit www.southarts.org.

The Halsey Institute is located in the Simons Center for the Arts, 54 St. Philip St. Parking is available in the St. Philip Street Garage. Gallery hours are Monday-Saturday, 11 – 4 p.m., or by appointment. For more information contact the Halsey Institute at (843) 953-5680 or visit www.halsey.cofc.edu.

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THE HALSEY INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART TO HOST ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP EVENT, SILVER MOON BASH

The Advisory Board of the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston’s School of the Arts will host its annual membership event, SILVER MOON BASH on Friday, November 14 from 5- 7 p.m. in the Halsey Gallery and Simons Center foyer, 54 St. Philip St. The membership event will feature music by the fabulous V-Tones, food provided by Ted’s Butcherblock, as well as fine wines courtesy of the Wine Shop. Directly following the bash will be a special presentation in Alumni Hall (inside Randolph Hall) by artist/ pharmacologist Vance Gellert entitled Smoke and Mirrors: A Journey to Healing Knowledge. The evening’s festivities are open to current, new, and renewing members of the Halsey.

Each fall, the Halsey Institute features a membership renewal event with a moon theme; this year is the SILVER MOON BASH. Guests are invited to tour the current exhibition-- MEND: love, life & loss, in the Halsey galleries, have their very own Souvenir Moon photo taken by Squire Fox, and check out the newest Patrons Prints available for Postmodernist members and above. Festive attire is suggested, as the event will feature a roving anti-fashion show by local designers in response to the MEND exhibition.

At 7:30 p.m., members are invited to cross the street to Alumni Hall for a special presentation by 2008-09 Patron Print artist and pharmacologist, Vance Gellert, entitled Smoke and Mirrors: A Journey to Healing Knowledge. Gellert has devoted the past four years to researching and photographing traditional healing rituals and medicines in South America.  An exhibition of his work will be shown at the City Gallery at Waterfront Park November 15 – January 4, 2009. The artist works collaboratively with the healers to make photographs that capture and convey the healing experiences and environment. This exhibition and presentation are co-sponsored by the City of Charleston’s Office of Cultural Affairs, the Medical University of South Carolina, and the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art.

The SILVER MOON BASH is co-sponsored by Gil Shuler Graphic Design; Bee’s Ferry Veterinary Hospital; Worthwhile; Gibson, Thompson, Guess Architects; AAA All Occasions Rentals; Ted’s Butcherblock; and the Wine Shop.

The Halsey Gallery is located within the Simons Center for the Arts, 54 St. Philip St. Parking is available in the St. Philip St. garage. Gallery hours are Monday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m., or by appointment. For more information, contact the Halsey Institute at (843) 953- 5680 or visit halsey.cofc.edu.

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General SOTA Highlights

THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON ANNOUNCES ITS NEW MASTERS OF ARTS IN TEACHING IN PERFORMING ARTS

The Graduate School of the College of Charleston is pleased to announce its new Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) in Performing Arts offered jointly by its School of the Arts and the School of Education, Health, and Human Performance. This is a degree designed to meet a critical need in the South Carolina Lowcountry schools which are experiencing significant shortages in teachers qualified to teach choral music, dance and theatre.

The M.A.T. in Performing Arts offers three concentrations: choral music, theatre and dance. Applications for the Choral Music concentration are currently being accepted for degree seekers beginning January 2008. The Theatre concentration is scheduled to begin in Summer 2009, followed by the Dance concentration. Specialty coursework required for degree completion in each concentration relates directly to the requirements of the State Department of Education for teacher certification as well as the respective specialty professional association and the national accrediting body, the National Association for the Accreditation of Teacher Education.

“For many years, we have been asked why we don’t have a program in performing arts education because there is such a critical need for teachers in the arts, and because we have strong programs in arts and education at the College of Charleston,” said Frances Welch, Dean of the School of Education, Health and Human Performance. “I am thrilled that working collaboratively, we have designed an outstanding program.”

Bonnie McCarty, one of two Program Directors for the MAT in Performing Arts explains, “this degree offers the opportunity for accomplished performing artists to become highly qualified teachers. The Schools of the Arts and of Education, Health and Human Performance are excited to provide such a program which will directly enhance the educational opportunities for Pk-12 students in South Carolina.”

Information regarding the Graduate School of College of Charleston can be accessed online at www.cofc.edu/gradschool. Further information on The School of the Arts can be found at http://www.cofc.edu/sota/, and the School of Education, Health and Human Performance can be accessed at http://www.cofc.edu/SchoolofEducation.

College of Charleston has long been dedicated to providing a high quality, rigorous education with strong emphasis on the liberal and fine arts to students enrolled in both its undergraduate and graduate programs. Its School of Education, Health and Human Performance was reaccredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education in 2005. In addition the music programs in the School of the Arts are fully accredited by the National Association for Schools of Music.

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WAYLAND HENRY CATO JR. GIVES $1.5 MILLION GIFT TO THE COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON

The College of Charleston is proud to announce that Wayland Henry Cato, Jr. has given, on behalf of himself and his wife, Marion Rivers Cato, the College’s School of the Arts a $ 1.5 million gift. The amount is the largest single gift ever given to the College of Charleston School of the Arts.

The announcement comes less than a month before the School of the Arts begins construction on a new state-of-the art facility next to the current Simons Center for the Arts building on St. Philip Street. In appreciation of their support of the School of the Arts, the College of Charleston will name the new arts center the “Marion and Wayland H. Cato Jr. Center for the Arts.”

Groundbreaking ceremonies for the new facility are scheduled for June 3 at 9:30 AM.
"For many years, Wayland and Marion have contributed significantly to the education and development of South Carolina’s students. Their efforts on behalf of the College of Charleston alone have impacted our state in ways we could not have anticipated, and many of the recipients of their generosity have become outstanding public servants themselves,” says College of Charleston President Lee Higdon. "In their tireless dedication to the arts, Wayland and Marion have demonstrated their recognition of the link between the development of the individual and the stimulation of creative thought in all disciplines. Above everything else, however, Wayland and Marion have shown what it means to be true public servants."

Wayland Henry Cato, Jr. is a distinguished business leader, family man and philanthropist whose generous support of higher education, here at the College of Charleston and elsewhere in the Carolinas, has enhanced educational opportunities for hundreds of students. He is the Chairman Emeritus of The Cato Corporation, a chain of women’s apparel stores. . Since 1997 he has been a member of the Board of Directors of the College of Charleston Foundation. Both personally and corporately, he has generously endowed scholarship programs at the College of Charleston.

Marion Rivers Cato is a talented author, dedicated community volunteer and devoted citizen of Charleston. In 1991 Marion Rivers Ravenel published Marie Ravenel: From Childhood to China, an account of a medical missionary in revolutionary China in the 1920s. She authored a biography of her father, Rivers Delivers: The Story of L. Mendel Rivers, which was published in 1995. Marion Rivers Cato is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Historic Charleston Foundation and South Carolina Educational Television, and a member of the Board of Visitors of Converse College. She is a former member of the Board of Directors of Charleston Ballet Theatre and Huguenot Society of South Carolina.

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