Willamette University Presents New Farce Written by Alumna

Willamette University Theatre presents “W(h)acked, an Immorality Play,” written by Willamette alumna Stephanie Timm, as its third show of the 2006–07 season.

Performances are Feb. 16–17 and 22–24 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 18 and 25 at 2 p.m., with a preview Feb. 15 at 8 p.m. They will be held at Arena Theatre in the Theatre Playhouse at Willamette University, 900 State St.

“W(h)acked, an Immorality Play” is a new farce with classic style where the members of the Underground Very Secret Hush Hush Ladies Serial Killer Club invite you to step into the ladies’ room and peek into the world of the followers of Sister Lottie Limerick, a serial killer of the days of old. Haunted portraits, hot janitors, evil plots and naughty secrets combine to make one wickedly hilarious evening. “W(h)acked, an Immorality Play” has received two staged readings at ACT Theatre in Seattle and premiered at Live Girls! in Seattle in October.

Playwright Stephanie Timm’s most recent work, “Crumbs Are Also Bread,” will premiere at Washington Ensemble Theatre in February. Timm, a 1999 Willamette graduate, also wrote “Frankenocchio,” which opened the 2004–05 season at the Empty Space Theatre in Seattle. Her short play, “Lil Heroes,” is a finalist for the 2006–07 Heideman Award. Timm is a principal playwright with Seattle Dramatists and a recent recipient of a GAP (Grants for Artists Projects) award from Artist Trust. She teaches at the Hugo House in Seattle and with the Young Playwrights Program through ACT Theatre.

Willamette student Kyle McBroom, a senior theatre and rhetoric major, will design lights for the production. Designers include department co-chair Chris Harris (set) and resident costume designer Bobby Brewer-Wallin. Their tasks include creating an ornate powder room that can be transformed into the covert meeting place of the club, as well as outfitting the femme fatales and their unfortunate victims.

The cast features Willamette students Corinne Becker as Abhorabelle, Sarah Hamilton as Detesta, Sarah Jo Kendall as Crueliet, Britt Lauer as Lottie Limerick, Tara McLauchlan as Revengaline, Annie Rimmer as Tormentina, and Aaron Smith as the many unfortunate men who come in contact with the Underground Very Secret Hush Hush Ladies Serial Killer Club.

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; matinees are $8 general admission and $6 for students and seniors. Contact the box office for specific pricing and details.

For more information contact the theatre department at (503) 370-6222 or go to www.willamette.edu/cla/theatre.

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Willamette Student Group Presents The Vagina Monologues

Willamette University’s Strength, Health, Equality (SHE) Club presents two performances of The Vagina Monologues Feb. 14 for V-Day, a global movement to end violence against women and girls.

This Obie Award-winning play by Eve Ensler — based on interviews with 200 women about their views on sex, relationships and violence against women — will be performed at 7:30 and 10 p.m. in Smith Auditorium at Willamette University, 900 State St. Tickets are $10, or $5 for Willamette students, and are available starting Feb. 7 at the Putnam University Center information desk. Proceeds will go to a local organization dedicated to ending violence against women and children.

Other activities for V-Day at Willamette include information tables in Putnam University Center Feb. 7 to 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and a red shirt campaign Feb. 14 that asks everyone on campus who has been affected or knows someone who has been affected by sexual or domestic violence to wear red. A silent art auction with a theme of “What Is a Woman?” will be held in Smith Auditorium Feb. 14 from 7 p.m. to midnight, along with the play performances.

V-Day raises funds and awareness through benefit productions of The Vagina Monologues. In 2006, more than 2,700 V-Day events were held in 1,150 communities and colleges worldwide. To date, V-Day has raised more than $35 million to aid efforts to end violence against women. The V-Day College Campaign strives to empower women to find their collective voices and demand an end to the epidemic levels of violence and abuse on their campuses, in their communities and around the world.

For more information, contact the Willamette University information desk at (503) 370-6300.

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University Earns No. 9 Peace Corps Ranking

Willamette University moved up 15 spots this year in the Peace Corps’ rankings for colleges and universities with the most alumni volunteers.

With 20 alumni currently serving in the Peace Corps, Willamette ranks No. 9 on the top 25 list for small schools, those with fewer than 5,000 undergraduates. Willamette tied with Lewis & Clark College and the University of Denver.

Since the Peace Corps’ inception in 1961, 265 Willamette alumni have joined its ranks. They have served in 79 countries, with top destinations included the Philippines, Costa Rica, Mali, Paraguay, Peru and Thailand.

In 2004, Peace Corps officials formally presented Willamette with a Certificate of Appreciation that states “The graduates of Willamette University have been an integral part of Peace Corps’ success overseas and its legacy here at home.”

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High School Students Invited to Computing Career Event

High school students interested in learning about careers in computer science and technology are invited to a free event Feb. 10 at Willamette University.

“Future Potential in Computing” is from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Cat Cavern, on the second floor of Putnam University Center. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m., with refreshments available.

Experienced academic and industry professionals will talk about careers, debunk myths about the profession and describe their day-to-day experiences working in the field. A panel made up of college faculty, industry representatives, current students and recent graduates will answer audience questions about topics such as career choices, what classes to take, and internships.

The event is sponsored by Microsoft, Google, IBM, HP, and the Northwestern region of the Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges. Students who register and attend will be entered into a drawing for a Zune digital media player, an HP digital camera and other prizes.

For more information and to register, visit http://www.willamette.edu/~gorr/outreach/ or contact Jenny Orr at gorr@willamette.edu or (503) 375-5314.

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Museum to Host Teacher Workshop and Gallery Talks

The Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University will host free gallery talks and a workshop for teachers interested in bringing their classes to see the forthcoming exhibition George Johanson: Image and Idea.

Elizabeth Garrison, Cameron Paulin Curator of Education at the museum, will teach the workshop to help teachers prepare students for a field trip to the museum, develop strategies to tour the exhibition, and propose ideas that reinforce the gallery experience and broaden curriculum concepts back in the classroom. The free workshop is Feb. 7 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the museum. Advance registration is required by calling (503) 370-6855.

Garrison has written a teacher guide on Johanson that will be available online after Feb. 7 at the Hallie Ford Museum web site.

The museum also will host an ongoing series of free gallery talks on the exhibition every Tuesday, Feb. 6 to March 27, from 12:30 to 1 p.m. Gallery talks will be presented by Garrison or a museum docent.

George Johanson: Image and Idea chronicles the life and times of this distinguished Portland painter, printmaker and teacher whose work focuses on bathers, swimmers, artists, and the streets and vistas of Portland, a place he has called home since the late 1940s. The exhibition runs Feb. 3 through April 1.

The exhibition has been 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. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. The galleries are closed Mondays. 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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An Evening with Brian Keith Jackson

Critically acclaimed author Brian Keith Jackson will give a free reading Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. in the Hatfield Room of the Mark O. Hatfield Library at Willamette University.

Jackson moved from Louisiana to New York in 1990 to pursue a career in the arts. Frustrated by images of black men in the media and their portrayal on stage and screen, he began writing plays, which were performed at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in New York for the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. For his efforts, he received fellowships from Art Matters, the Millay Colony for the Arts and the Jerome Foundation.

Jackson’s debut novel, “The View from Here,” won the First Fiction Award from the American Library Association Black Caucus and received a fellowship from the Millay Colony for the Arts. “The View from Here,” about an African-American wife and mother trying to keep her family together in the face of prejudice and economic hardship, was a bestseller in South Africa. The New York Times Book Review wrote that Jackson’s prose had “visceral pungency,” while People magazine likened him to Alice Walker and Toni Morrison, calling the book a “triumph.”

Jackson’s second novel, “Walking Through Mirrors,” is about a New York photographer who returns to his Louisiana roots and comes to terms with the flaws of his family. Kirkus Reviews wrote that it was “an intriguing and variant contribution. A lean and nicely told story.” Paper Magazine wrote, “Jackson’s prose prompts responses from both the head and the heart … via delivery that is clearly thoughtful, yet never contrived.”

His third novel, “The Queen of Harlem,” won the Distinguished Writers Award from the Middle Atlantic Writers Association. The book is about a young African-American man raised in the suburbs who retreats from wealth and privilege to discover his true self.

Jackson has written about art and culture for The New York Times, New York Magazine, The Observer in London, Paper, Nylon magazine and Vibe magazine, and he has contributed to several anthologies and gallery and museum catalogs. He is currently working on his fourth novel, “SIC.” He lives in Harlem.

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Museum Opens Exhibition by Portland Painter

A major retrospective of work by George Johanson — a distinguished Portland painter, printmaker and teacher whose work focuses on bathers, swimmers, artists and the streets and vistas of Portland — will open Feb. 3 and continue through April 1 at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University.

Organized by Professor Roger Hull, George Johanson: Image and Idea will trace the artist’s career over a 60-year time period and will feature 68 works drawn mostly from regional collections. The exhibition represents the first time Johanson has been honored with a major retrospective.

Several lectures are planned in conjunction with the exhibition. Hull will present a slide show and lecture about Johanson’s career Feb. 2 from 5 to 6 p.m. in Cone Chapel, on the second floor of Waller Hall. A preview reception will follow from 6 to 8 p.m. in the lobby and galleries of the museum. On March 3 from 2 to 3 p.m. in the Roger Hull Lecture Hall at the museum, Prudence Roberts will discuss Johanson’s work as a printmaker. Hull and Johanson will discuss the artist’s life and career April 1 from 2 to 3 p.m. at the museum.

Born in Seattle in 1928, Johanson attended the Portland Art Museum School in the late 1940s, where he studied with Oregon modernists Louis Bunce, William Givler, Jack McLarty and Michele Russo. Responding to the work of these artists as well as to the New York School and European avant garde, Johanson forged a mature style and range of imagery characterized by its graphic immediacy, intense coloration and exuberant figuration.

A full-color, 128-page book will be published in conjunction with the exhibition. The book will include an extensive essay by Hull and more than 110 color plates and black and white illustrations. In his essay, Hull will discuss the inter-textual nature of Johanson’s work and the significance of his subject matter. As with previous Hallie Ford Museum of Art publications, the Johanson book will be distributed through the University of Washington Press, Seattle and London.

George Johanson: Image and Idea 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 Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. The galleries are closed Mondays. 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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World-Renowned Cello Octet to Perform

The Grace Goudy Distinguished Artists Series will present Cello Octet Conjunto Ibérico Monday, Feb. 12, at 7:30 p.m. in Hudson Hall at Willamette University. The octet will perform with conductor Elias Arizcuren and soprano Pilar Jurado.

Based in Amsterdam, Conjunto Ibérico is the only full-time cello octet in the world. The group of cellists has performed Spanish and South American music around the world and has inspired top composers like Philip Glass to write for them, resulting in 60 premieres and 13 CDs.

Soprano Jurado has performed worldwide, drawing praise for her vibrant, charismatic voice and winning international awards, including the 1998 Ojo Crítico Prize, given to the most promising artist of her generation. An award-winning composer, Jurado has written for Conjunto Ibérico.

The eclectic program will feature pieces by Heitor Villa-Lobos, Philip Glass and others, and combine musical elements from American jazz, Brazilian folk songs, Turkish dances and European classical music. Many works, such as Cristóbal Halffter’s “Fandango” for eight cellos, are pieces of stunning instrumental complexity.

“Irresistible sensuality and obsessive rhythm merge into a grand unity; classical and Brazilian influences are perfectly in balance,” wrote Amsterdam’s Luister magazine. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma said, “This ensemble is a treasure indeed. Elias Arizcuren is a true visionary, who has achieved something absolutely unique with his group.” Gramophone magazine wrote, “The group is a model not only of sublime musicality, but of bravery in their choice of repertoire.”

When Arizcuren’s cello students approached him in 1989 with the idea of starting a cello octet, he thought the idea was preposterous. Too respectful to laugh at his enthusiastic students, the bearded Spaniard asked where they would find music for eight cellos. The fledging group began performances with a handful of formal pieces. Today the group has a repertoire of more than 150 pieces, including 65 original works written for them by leading composers, many from Latin America. Arizcuren would like to elevate Spanish and Latin American composers to the same level of audience familiarity as European classical composers.

Concert tickets are $20 for adults and $12 for students and seniors, and are available at the Pentacle Theatre Ticket Office, 145 Liberty St. NE, at (503) 485-4300. There is a service charge. Tickets are also available at the door. For more information contact the Department of Music at (503) 370-6255.

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Columbia River Tribal Leaders to Speak at Willamette on Founders Day

Tribal leaders Carol Craig of the Yakama Nation and Louis Pitt of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation will speak Thursday, Feb. 1, at Willamette University about “Ancestral Rights and Responsibilities.”

This free public event is at 7 p.m. in the Mary Stuart Rogers Music Center and is preceded by a 6 p.m. reception. The dialogue takes place on Willamette’s Founders Day and is part of the Indian Country Conversations series.

Craig and Pitt will offer an introduction to the history of Columbia River tribes and the treaties negotiated with the U.S. government in the 19th century. They will discuss the ongoing responsibilities — shared by the tribes, the federal government and the public — implied by these treaty rights, particularly to protect salmon habitat.

Craig is the public information manager for the Yakama Nation Fish and Wildlife Resource Management Program in Washington. In 2002, she was one of four finalists for Portland-based Ecotrust’s Buffet Indigenous Leadership Award in recognition of her efforts to educate the public and tribal communities about native people’s traditions, cultures and treaty rights. That same year, she was given the Spirit of the Salmon Award from the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission for her public outreach education throughout the Pacific Northwest. Craig has been widely recognized for her achievements in Native American journalism and public affairs.

Pitt is the director of government affairs and planning of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon. He works with state and federal officials and is on the communications team for the proposed Bridge of the Gods casino project. A former Columbia River Gorge commissioner, Pitt has served as a tribal appellate judge, as a member of Gov. John Kitzhaber’s transition team, and on the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Committee.

This event is on Willamette’s Founders Day, recognizing the university’s founding by Jason Lee and other Methodist missionaries who came to the Willamette Valley in 1834 to open an Indian mission school. In 1842, Lee and the missionary community established a school for children of settlers called the Oregon Institute; this marked the founding of what is now Willamette University. Two years later, the original Indian Manual Labor School was closed.

On Founders Day 2005, Willamette held a Ceremony of Renewal with regional tribes to acknowledge its Indian mission legacy and begin a new chapter in the mutual history of Oregon’s tribal communities and the university. At the ceremony, President M. Lee Pelton announced the establishment of a lecture series to bring guests from Indian country to the campus and the broader Willamette Valley for dialogue, teaching and learning.

The Indian Country Conversations series is sponsored by the President’s Office and the College of Liberal Arts dean, and is coordinated by associate professor of anthropology Rebecca Dobkins in consultation with the university’s community-based Native American Advisory Council.

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Hekun Wu and his Cello Go to New York

Music faculty member Hekun Wu will join some of the world’s finest musicians this month at New York’s Carnegie Hall. He will perform Jan. 22 as a cellist at a benefit for relief efforts in the war-ravaged African area of Darfur.

As well as being the music director and conductor for the Salem Chamber Orchestra, Wu is a world-class cellist who has performed across Europe, Asia and the U.S. At Carnegie Hall, he will be part of a specially assembled orchestra of musicians from around the globe, including members of the New York Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and others. The group will give a single performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s “Requiem.”

For more information about the event, called “Requiem for Darfur,” visit http://www.democracycouncil.org/darfur.cfm. To learn more about Wu, visit “Hekun Wu: Playing a New Song.”

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