Urban Sustainability Forum at Willamette

Urban sustainability will be highlighted in a panel discussion at Willamette University Thursday, Nov. 9, at 11:30 a.m. in Cone Chapel on the second floor of Waller Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

The panel discussion will examine urban sustainability in Vancouver, B.C., and its applications to cities large and small around the globe. Lance Berelowitz, author of “Dream City: Vancouver and the Global Imagination,” Anthony Perl, director of the Urban Studies Program at Simon Fraser University, and David Ramslie, green building planner for Vancouver, will share experiences, insights and obstacles they have encountered along the continuing path to sustainability in Vancouver.

This Convocations event is facilitated by Willamette’s Office of the Chaplain and Willamette students, and sponsored by the University’s Public Policy Research Center and Canadian Studies program.

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Willamette University Presents “The Ash Girl”

Coming-of-Age Tale Explores Psyche
Willamette University Theatre presents “The Ash Girl,” its second show of the 2006-07 season, Nov. 10, 11, 16, 17 and 18 at 8 p.m. and Nov. 12 and 19 at 2 p.m., with a preview Nov. 9 at 8 p.m. The performance will be in the Kresge Theatre at Willamette University.

“‘The Ash Girl’ is a modern retelling of the classic Cinderella story in which the Seven Deadly Sins wreak havoc on mankind,” said theatre and dance professor Virginia Belt, who directs the play. “It is a wondrous story of the beauty and terror of finding the strength to confront the monsters in one’s heart.”

Written by Timberlake Wertenbaker, the play returns to the Central European roots of the fairy tale and its 1812 Grimm Brothers interpretation, exploring the conflicting emotions a teenage girl feels about her parents, sisters and boys, and about growing up to be a responsible and self-aware adult. Timberlake Wertenbaker has fashioned a beautiful story of the wonder and the terror of growing up, of and for our time.

“In a world filled with monstrous actions, there is something about fairy tales that reaches down and touches the core of our being, where many of these fearsome actions unite,” Belt said. In Wertenbaker’s thoughtful adaptation of the classic tale, familiar characters have a unique depth and emotion while contending with the monsters at their core: the seven deadly sins.

“In looking for a project on which Willamette University theatre and dance could collaborate, ‘The Ash Girl’ offered lyrical, heightened text, and unique characters and action that beckoned further dance interpretation — the Ash Girl and the prince meet at a ball, after all,” said Belt, who has danced professionally with such companies as the Indianapolis Ballet Theatre and American Festival Ballet. “In a sense it is a musical with no singing.”

Willamette University Theatre is pleased welcome guest artist John Parnham, a stage makeup and prosthetics expert, to the production. Parnham has been working in special effects makeup for film, television and theatre since 1995. Recently, his work has been seen in the films “Creep,” “Dark Morning,” “The Lurking,” “The Wish,” “Bale Rue,” the Holsten Pils beer commercial featuring the 450-year-old men, and the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony. His work for “The Ash Girl” will enhance the production’s fantastical landscape by turning some of the actors into human-animal hybrids.

The other technical elements of the production embrace the play’s enchantment. Scene designer and theatre department chair Chris Harris will conceive the play’s mystical landscape. Bobby Brewer-Wallin will invent the characters’ otherworldly costumes, and fellow theatre faculty member Vikki McGuire will design the production’s dreamlike lighting. “The Ash Girl” presents a remarkable opportunity for junior theatre major Ben Crop, who is creating the production’s vibrant soundscape.

The company features Alex Britain, an undeclared freshman from Bellingham, Wash., as Otter; Kiri Dyken, a senior theatre major from Angels Camp, Calif., as the Ash Girl; Drew Foster, a senior theatre major from Portland, Ore., as Angerbird; Cory Goble, a sophomore theatre major from Las Vegas, Nev., as Amir; Laura Hoff, a junior theatre major from Fresno, Calif., as Judith; Sarah Jo Kendall, a sophomore theatre major from Moscow, Idaho, as Ruth; Eliza Leoni, a senior theatre major from San Francisco, Calif., as Zerha; Britt Lauer, a freshman theatre major from Danville, Calif., as Lust; Tara McLauchlan, a sophomore theatre and psychology major from Woodinville, Wash., as Mother; Ben Nockles, a senior theatre and math major from Gresham, Ore., as Paul; Lesli Okorn, a senior theatre major from Tigard, Ore., as the Fairy in the Mirror; Charlie Owen, a senior theatre major from Asheville, N.C., as Pridefly; Jason D. Panzer, a junior theatre major from Puyallup, Wash., as the Man in the Forest; Annie Rimmer, a junior theatre major from Portland, Ore., as Gluttontoad; Kelsey Scott, a freshman theatre and English major from Napa, Calif., as Slothworm; Alex Smith, an undeclared freshman from Honolulu, Hawaii, as Greedmonkey; Whitney Tenold, a senior rhetoric and media studies major from Spokane, Wash., as Envysnake; Amanda Washko, a freshman theatre major from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, as Sadness; and Laura Wheatman, a senior theatre and English major from Pleasanton, Calif., as Owl.

Dancers in the production include Marley Abel, a sophomore psychology major from Ashland, Ore.; Tessa Allen, an undeclared freshman from Davis, Calif.; Sara A. Barnes, a senior rhetoric and media studies major from Portland, Ore.; Gabriele Rose Blahnik, a freshman biology major from Arcata, Calif.; Alexandra Ninneman, an undeclared freshman from Taos, N.M.; Lauren Pressler, a junior history major from Berkeley, Calif.; Cara Saunto, a sophomore economics major from Seattle, Wash.; Theresa Somrak, a sophomore anthropology and Spanish major from Ketchikan, Alaska; and Angela Whitney, a senior politics major from Point Reyes, Calif.

To purchase tickets, contact the Willamette University Box Office at 503-370-6221 or reserve tickets by email at thtr-tix@willamette.edu. Opening night is $12 for general admission and $8 for students and seniors. Most other evening performances are $10 for general admission and $6 for students and seniors. Contact the box office for specific pricing and details. The Willamette campus is at 900 State Street in Salem. For more information contact the Theatre Department at 503-370-6222 or visit their website at www.willamette.edu/cla/theatre.

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Museum Opens Exhibition of Seattle Painter

A major solo exhibition of work by Seattle narrative and symbolist painter Fay Jones will open Nov. 18 and continue through Jan. 20 at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University.

In conjunction with the exhibition, titled Fay Jones: Painted Fictions, the artist will present a slide show and lecture about her work from 5 to 6 p.m. Nov. 17 in the Roger Hull Lecture Hall at the museum. A preview reception will follow from 6 to 8 p.m. in the lobby and galleries downstairs.

Organized by director John Olbrantz, the exhibition will include Jones’ work from the past 15 years from Portland and Seattle collections, including the Microsoft Corporation, the Tacoma Art Museum, Harsch Investments and the Hallie Ford Museum of Art. Although Jones has shown in Portland since the late 1980s, the exhibition represents the first time a broad survey of her work has been seen in Oregon.

Fay Jones was born in Boston in 1936 and received her bachelor of fine arts degree in 1957 from the Rhode Island School of Design. In 1960, she moved to Seattle with her husband, Robert Jones, who accepted a position on the art faculty at the University of Washington. Although Fay Jones continued to paint in the 1960s and ’70s, her artistic career took off in the early ’80s as curators and collectors began to take a keen interest in figurative narration. Jones deals with a variety of autobiographical issues in her work.

Fay Jones: Painted Fictions is supported in part by grants from the City of Salem’s Transient Occupancy Tax Funds and the Oregon Arts Commission.

The Hallie Ford Museum of Art is located at 700 State St. (corner of State and Cottage streets) in downtown Salem near the campus of Willamette University. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The galleries are closed Sunday and Monday and will be closed Dec. 23 through Jan. 2 for winter break. Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for seniors and students. Children younger than 12 are admitted free, and Tuesday is an admission-free day. For more information, call (503) 370-6855.

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New Music Series to Present John Peel 60th Birthday Concert

New Music at Willamette University presents a free 60th Birthday Concert for Composer-in-Residence John Peel. The concert will present selections from three decades of Peel’s chamber and vocal music output. Performers will include the Oregon Symphony String Quartet, organist Paul Klemme, sopranos Janice Johnson and Allison Swensen-Mitchell, baritone Kevin Walsh, cellist Hekun Wu, and pianists Elise Yun and Janet Coleman.

Peel came to Willamette University in 1990 to occupy the newly created Irene Gerlinger Swindells Professor of Music Endowed Chair. Important recent premieres of Peel’s music include the “Concerto for Violin and Orchestra,” premiered by the Riverside Symphony in Lincoln Center with violinist Joseph Lin, and the “Sinfonia Romanza,” premiered by the Oregon Symphony in 2005 under Maestro James DePreist. At Willamette University Peel has taught music composition, as well as courses on opera, Wagner and the history of 20th century music. In addition he has created the concert series, New Music at Willamette, a series devoted to presenting the finest composers and performers of our time.

The Oct. 29 Birthday Concert will take place in Hudson Hall in the Mary Stuart Rogers Music Center on the Willamette campus. The public is welcome. For more information, contact the Willamette University Music Department at 503-370-6255.

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$10 Million Gift Opens New Chapter at Willamette University

The largest personal donation in the history of Willamette University will assist the University in constructing a $16 million, 46,000-square-foot academic building that will house the departments of mathematics, computer science, rhetoric and media studies, as well as digital arts and film studies programs, beginning in the fall of 2009. The building will also house the University's arts and technology program.

The $10 million total includes an $8 million gift from an anonymous donor, plus a $2 million contribution from the University's Board of Trustees. The remaining $6 million will be raised through ongoing fund-raising efforts. The gift and the commitment from the Board of Trustees were announced at the board meeting Oct. 14.

The $8 million donation is the second largest gift in University history; Tokyo International University of America contributed $11 million in 2003 in support of Kaneko Commons, an undergraduate residence hall that opened in August.

The $10 million contribution brings the Campaign for Willamette total to $85.1 million, which is 68 percent of the campaign goal of $125 million. The campaign was announced last December.

"This new academic building opens a new chapter in the life of this distinguished University," said Willamette University President M. Lee Pelton. "The additional space allows us to add 25 new professors to our full-time tenure-track faculty, an increase of 20 percent. The end result is increased mentoring and increased research collaboration among students and faculty. From the outside, it is a new building. From the inside, it speaks to opportunity and innovative pedagogy."

The new structure will be located on the northeast corner of the campus near Gatke Hall and running parallel to State Street. By moving several departments and programs into the new academic building, space will be freed in Collins Science Center, Eaton Hall and Smullin Hall for expansion in science, social science and humanities disciplines.

"The location of the new academic building is also significant for the City of Salem," added Pelton. "We are eager to welcome Salem community members who live and work near this location to visit the planned student gallery and the sculpture courtyard. From this location, across the street from the State Capitol and the Supreme Court Building, it is a short walk to the Hallie Ford Museum of Art and the Art Building."

The architectural firm and building contractor for this project have yet to be named.

The most recent campus construction projects include Kaneko Commons (2006), the art building addition (2003), Eaton Hall remodel (2003), Mary Stuart Rogers Music Center (1998), Collins Science Center renovation (1996) and the Olin Science Center (1996).

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Museum Showcases Contemporary Native American Prints

A selection of contemporary prints created at the Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts on the Umatilla Indian Reservation in northeastern Oregon will be featured in an exhibition at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University. The Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts Biennial opens Oct. 28 and continues through Dec. 22 in the Study Gallery and Print Study Center.

Several events are planned in conjunction with the exhibition, including an artist lecture, a panel discussion and a printmaking workshop.

Founded in 1992 by Native American painter and printmaker James Lavadour, the Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts seeks to create educational and professional opportunities for Native Americans to use their art as a vehicle for economic development. The facility, housed in the historic St. Andrew’s Mission schoolhouse, features a state-of-the-art printmaking studio, classroom, computer lab, library and gallery.

The exhibition, organized by faculty curator Rebecca Dobkins, features work created in the past six years by 15 contemporary artists from throughout the U.S., including Rick Bartow, Joe Feddersen, James Lavadour, Edgar Heap of Birds, Truman Lowe, Lillian Pitt, Kay WalkingStick and Marie Watt. A wide variety of printmaking techniques are represented, including lithography, etching, linocut, woodcut and monotype.

On Oct. 27 from 5 to 6 p.m., master printer Frank Janzen will present a slide lecture on the history of the Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts. Janzen is a graduate of the University of Victoria and is the Tamarind Master Printer for the Crow’s Shadow Press.

On Oct. 28 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Dobkins will lead a panel discussion with Native American artists about the impact of Crow’s Shadow on contemporary Native American art in general and their own work in particular. Included in the discussion will be Rick Bartow, Phillip John Charette, Joe Feddersen, James Lavadour, Lillian Pitt and Marie Watt.

The lecture and symposium will be held in the Roger Hull Lecture Hall on the second floor of the museum. Admission is free.

On Nov. 11 and 12 from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Janzen will return to Salem to offer a two-day workshop on monotype techniques. Students will work off of Plexiglas plates and will employ an etching press, giving them options for a variety of sizes and techniques such as the additive method, subtractive method, stencil work and use of non-traditional materials. No prior experience is necessary.

The workshop will be held at a yet-to-be-determined location in Salem. Cost is $100 per student for the two-day class. Enrollment is limited to 10 students and registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. Materials will be provided. Students are encouraged to bring their own lunch. To register, call 503-370-6855.

The Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts Biennial is supported by an endowment gift from The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde through their Spirit Mountain Community Fund, and by the Indian Country Conversations Series at Willamette University. Additional support has been provided by grants from the City of Salem’s Transient Occupancy Tax funds and the Oregon Arts Commission.

The Hallie Ford Museum of Art is located at 700 State St. (corner of State and Cottage streets) in downtown Salem near the campus of Willamette University. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The galleries are closed Sunday and Monday. Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for seniors and students. Children younger than 12 are admitted free, and Tuesday is an admission-free day. For information, call 503-370-6855.

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An Evening with Laurie Lynn Drummond

Critically acclaimed author Laurie Lynn Drummond will give a free reading Tuesday, Oct. 24, at 7 p.m. in the Mark O. Hatfield Library’s Hatfield Room at Willamette University.

Drummond’s first book, “Anything You Say Can and Will Be Used Against You,” explores the lives of five female police officers in Baton Rouge, La. The fictional stories come from Drummond’s experience working as a police officer for the Baton Rouge Police Department in the 1980s.

USA Today called the collection “riveting” and said Drummond “makes all of the crime novels and television shows seem like amateur guesswork.” The book is “so compelling that it’s difficult to stop reading.”

The New Orleans Times-Picayune said Drummond had authored “unforgettable, beautifully written stories.”

“Anything You Say” was a finalist for a PEN/Hemingway Award, and it won a Violet Crown Award and the Jesse Jones Award from the Texas Institute of Letters. One of the stories from the collection, “Something About a Scar,” won the 2005 Edgar Award for Best Short Story. The book has been translated and published in three languages.

In 2004 Drummond moved to Eugene, Ore., and joined the faculty in the MFA Program at the University of Oregon where she teaches fiction and creative nonfiction.

Olympia Vernon, current holder of the Hallie Brown Ford Chair of Creative Writing, is the event sponsor.

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Willamette President Lee Pelton to Moderate Gubernatorial Debate

Willamette University President M. Lee Pelton will moderate the Oregon gubernatorial debate at the City Club of Portland’s Friday Forum. The high profile debate will be Oct. 13 at noon at the Governor Hotel, 614 SW 11th Ave. in Portland. The public is welcome.

“President Pelton is a well-regarded civic leader, scholar and university president, and we are pleased to have him moderate one of the most important debates of this year’s election season,” said Wendy Radmacher-Willis, City Club executive director.

Pelton was appointed Willamette University’s 23nd president July 1999. Under his leadership, the University has increased its academic profile, successfully employing strategies to attract the best faculty and the brightest students from the state, the nation and the world. Since 2001, Willamette University has been ranked a top tier liberal arts college by U.S. News and World Report.

Pelton chairs the American Council on Education and serves as vice-chair of the Harvard University Board of Overseers. He has lectured and written widely on higher education, and is recognized for his knowledge of and commitment to diversity. He serves on the boards of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Oregon Symphony and Portland General Electric.

Pelton holds a doctorate from Harvard University and an undergraduate degree in English and psychology from Wichita State University, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1974. His area of academic focus is 19th century British prose and poetry.

He served as dean of the college at Colgate University (1988-91) and Dartmouth College (1991-98). At Harvard he taught in the English department and was the dean of one of Harvard’s 13 undergraduate colleges.

City Club of Portland is a nonprofit, nonpartisan civic affairs organization that promotes civic engagement and active citizenship to build a stronger community. Through unbiased research and compelling programs, the club connects citizens with ideas and issues that affect our community. The club is open to everyone who wants to interact with other citizens and shape the future of our city and state, providing a neutral forum for many diverse voices.

Doors open at 11:30 a.m.; the program begins at 12:15 p.m. and concludes at 1:15 p.m. Luncheon tickets are $20 ($16 for members of City Club) and must be reserved by 2 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11, online at www.pdxcityclub.org or by calling 503-228-7231, ext. 103. Coffee/tea table tickets ($5) and general seating ($5; free for City Club members) will be available at the door on a first-come, first-served basis.

A SmartPark garage is located one block away from the Governor Hotel at 730 SW 10th Ave. The Governor Hotel is accessible by bus, Portland Streetcar and MAX light rail.

The forum will be broadcast on Oregon Public Broadcasting and several television stations. People may also watch City Club Friday Forums online or purchase audio CDs, VHS videotapes or DVD videos of the program. For more information, visit www.pdxcityclub.org or call 503-228-7231.

Media are encouraged to attend and are invited to sit in general seating. Please contact City Club’s communications coordinator, Chris Cochran, prior to the forum to RSVP and sign in at the registration table on the day of the forum. For broadcast media, an audio press patch will be available, and a riser for videotaping can be provided with advance notice. Contact Cochran at chris@pdxcityclub.org or 503-228-7231, ext. 102.

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Artist Demonstration and Workshop Planned at Museum

The Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University will host a second free artist demonstration and a jewelry workshop for adults in conjunction with its Recycled Art exhibition, which continues through Nov. 4.

On Oct. 21 from noon to 4 p.m. in the museum lobby, mixed media artist Marita Dingus will demonstrate how she fashions dolls, baskets and wall hangings from found objects. Dingus holds a bachelor of fine arts degree from Temple University and master of arts and master of fine arts degrees from San Jose State University. Inspired by African and African-American folk art, she is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a National Endowment for the Arts Travel Grant to study and travel in Africa.

Jewelry artist and educator Laurie Hall will lead a jewelry workshop for adults entitled “Found Objects + Narrative” from 1 to 4 p.m. Nov. 4 in Room 301 of the Art Building on campus. Participants can bring their own found objects, saved memory pieces or personal photographs, or select from a wide range of materials on hand to create a unique, meaningful piece to wear in the tradition of found object and narrative jewelry.

Hall holds a bachelor of arts degree from Willamette and a master of arts in teaching degree from the University of Washington, where she studied with legendary jewelry teacher Ramona Solberg. Hall taught at Mercer Island High School and The Bush School in Seattle for many years and is represented by several galleries in the United States.

Admission to the workshop is free, but advance registration is required. Space is limited to 25 students and will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis. To register, call (503) 370-6855.

Recycled Art is supported in part by grants from the City of Salem Transient Occupancy Tax funds and the Oregon Arts Commission.

The Hallie Ford Museum of Art is located at 700 State St. (corner of State and Cottage streets) in downtown Salem near the campus of Willamette University. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The galleries are closed Sunday and Monday. Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for seniors and students. Children younger than 12 are admitted free, and Tuesday is an admission-free day. For more information, call (503) 370-6855.

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Organizer of Nationwide Climate Change Discussion to Speak at Willamette University

“Seen Inconvenient Truth: Now What? Focus the Nation on Solutions to Global Warming” will be presented by Eban Goodstein, an economics professor at Lewis & Clark College and the organizer of a national discussion on climate change. The lecture will be Tuesday, Oct. 24, at 7 p.m. in the Paulus Room in the College of Law at Willamette University.

Goodstein is organizing Focus the Nation: A Global Warming Educational Initiative, which will engage faculty, students and staff at more than 1,000 U.S. universities and high schools in a nonpartisan discussion of climate stabilization. The project will also involve religious, civic and business organizations, and will culminate Jan. 31, 2008, in a one-day symposium to be held simultaneously on campuses across the country.

“Focus the Nation could be a catalyzing event on par with Earth Day 1970 that could help turn the national conversation about global warming from fatalism to constructive engagement,” Goodstein said.

Goodstein’s current research focuses on the economics of global climate change. He is the author of “Economics and the Environment” and “The Trade-off Myth: Fact and Fiction about Jobs and the Environment.”

He serves on the editorial board of Environment, Workplace and Employment, is on the steering committee of the Center for the Applied Study of Economics & The Environment, and is a member scholar at the Center for Progressive Reform.

For information about Focus the Nation, visit www.focusthenation.org.

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“Welcome to Zambia” Celebration Slated

The Elizabeth Bowers Zambia Education Fund will host a “Welcome, Welcome to Zambia” celebration Wednesday, Oct. 25, at 7 p.m. in the Cat Cavern in the University Center at Willamette University. The event is free and open to the public.

The evening will include Zambian food, music and art, and multimedia presentations about Zambia. People will also have an opportunity to learn about the work of the education fund, which was founded in 2004 by Willamette Professors Linda and Gerry Bowers as a legacy for their daughter Beth who died in a bicycle accident while serving in the Peace Corps in Zambia. The nonprofit organization provides education scholarships for girls living in Lumwana West, a small village in remote Northwest Zambia. The Bowers will share memories of their recent trip to Africa to meet “Beth’s Girls,” 65 girls in grades 8-12 who are sponsored by the fund.

“These girls wouldn’t receive an education without scholarship aid,” said Linda Bowers. “With a basic education young women are better equipped to support themselves, their families and their communities.

“The event will demonstrate the success of the organization’s work in action,” Bowers said. “I hope people will join us to learn about this fascinating culture and worthy cause.”

The scholarships are administered by World Vision Zambia. The fund is also currently building a library in the village in conjunction with the Peace Corps Partnership Program.

For more information visit www.bethsgirls.org or call 503-370-6248.

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