Points of Pride lists faculty, student and alumni achievements. It is accumulated and produced three times a year, generally in January, March, and October.
Grants and Awards
Congratulations!! Karen Kunc, Cather Professor of Art, received the prestigious Printmaker Emeritus Award at the 36th Annual Conference of the Southern Graphics Council in March. The Printmaker Emeritus Award, created in 1978 and presented annually, is a distinction bestowed by the Southern Graphics Council on an individual who has demonstrated outstanding accomplishments and made lasting contributions to the art of printmaking.
The following faculty received Hixson-Lied Faculty Presentation of Scholarly/Creative Activity Grants in February:
- Scott Anderson, School of Music, $7,000, to support the UNL Brass Quintet's concert tour in the Czech Republic.
- Diane Barger, School of Music, $1,440, to support her collaborative performance at the International Clarinet Association Conference in Vancouver.
- Paul Barnes, School of Music, $1,700, to support his lecture recital at the 2007 American Liszt Society Spring Festival at the San Francisco Conservatory and to support his world premier of the solo transcription of the Lewis and Clark Concerto in New York City.
- Ariel Bybee, School of Music, $1,465, to support her presentation at the 11th International Willa Cather Seminar in Paris, France.
- Santiago Cal, Department of Art and Art History, $1,000, to support his exhibitions at the Baltimore Clay Works in Baltimore and the Art Museum of the Americas in Washington, D.C.
- Gretchen Foley, School of Music, $1,582, to present a paper at the International Conference of Mathematics and Computing in Music in Berlin, Germany.
- Dana Fritz, Department of Art and Art History, $1,600, to support her solo exhibition at Chateau de Villandry in France.
- Kevin Hanrahan, School of Music, $600, to support his presentation of a paper "From Brain to Human Culture: Interactions Between the Humanities and Neuroscience" at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa.
- Elizabeth Ingraham, Department of Art and Art History, $1,200, to support her presentation at the Foundation in Art: Theory and Education Conference in Milwaukee, Wis.
- Glenn Nierman, School of Music, $840, to support his presentation at the Symposium on Music Assessment at the University of Florida.
- Peter Pinnell, Department of Art and Art History, $800, to support his panel presentation at the National Council for Education in the Ceramic Arts Conference in Louisville, Ky.
- Alison Stewart, Department of Art and Art History, $880, to support her presentation at the 42nd International Medieval Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo, Mich.
The following faculty received Hixson-Lied Faculty Research/Creative Activity Project Grants in March:
- Kate Butler, School of Music, $2,025, to support travel and purchase of music related to her project entitled "Songs of Gian Carlo Menotti."
- Ann Chang-Barnes, School of Music, $4,500 to support costs associated with recording a CD with the Rastrelli Quartet in St. Petersburg, Russia.
- Kevin Hanrahan, School of Music, $1,845, to support research assistants for his project entitled "Auditory Feedback on Singing."
- Nicole Narboni, School of Music, $5,000, to support travel and recording costs to record the Complete Solo Works of Jean Francaix.
- Virginia Smith, Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, $4,190, for her project to develop a script for "My Occasion of Sin."
- Francisco Souto, Department of Art and Art History, $4,280, to support the purchase of equipment and materials for his project entitled "Printmaking Hybrids: A New Digital Approach."
The following faculty received Hixson-Lied Faculty Development Travel funding grants for the 2007 Spring term:
- Kate Butler, School of Music, $250, to participate in the Texas Tech Voice Symposium in Lubbock, Texas.
- Santiago Cal, Department of Art and Art History, $400, to attend the opening session of Artworld Digest Second Issue Event in New York City.
- Gretchen Foley, School of Music, $200, to participate in the Music Theory Midwest Conference at the University of Kansas.
- Kevin Hanrahan, School of Music, $2,000, to participate in the Summer Vocology Institute in Denver.
- Mo Neal, Department of Art and Art History, $1,000, to support an exhibition tour to New York City with students.
- Virginia Smith, Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, $600, to participate in the Theatre Communications Group National Conference in Minneapolis.
- Francisco Souto, Department of Art and Art History, $500, to participate in the Southern Graphics Council National Meeting in Kansas City.
The following faculty received UNL Research Council grants in March:
- Michael Hoff, Department of Art and Art History, $1,366, to support distinguished lecturer James Russell in October.
The following faculty received Layman Fund Grants from the UNL Research Council in March:
- Paul Barnes, School of Music, $10,000, to support his project, "Commemorating Lewis and Clark: The Final Stages-Philip Glass and Beyond."
- Karen Kunc, Department of Art and Art History, $10,000, to support her project, "Visualizing the Urban/Rural Divide as Political/Political Prints."
- Virginia Smith, Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, $9,980, to support her project,"Local Wonders: National Distribution."
Faculty
John Bailey, Larson Professor of Flute, gave a lecture on classical music in the U.S. before and after the Civil War for the Midwest Civil War Civilian Conference in Joliet, Ill., in January. He played the Mozart Flute and Harp Concerto with Lincoln's Symphony Orchestra in March. He also arranged for guest flutists Maria Harding (Omaha Symphony Principal Flutist) and British Flutist/Composer Ian Clarke to visit UNL this past spring.
Diane Barger, Associate Professor of Clarinet, was the featured guest artist for the 2007 Alabama Clarinet Retreat held on March 3-4 at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. Barger performed in recital and as a master class clinician throughout the weekend. She also hosted the 11th annual Midwest ClariFest at UNL on March 30, where her guest artist was world-renowned bass clarinetist Michael Lowenstern.
Paul Barnes, Associate Professor and Co-Chair of Piano, was featured on the National Public Radio Performance Today program on Jan. 31 in a broadcast of his recording of Philip Glass' Orphee Suite in honor of Glass' 70th birthday. Barnes' recording of Glass' Piano Concerto No. 2: After Lewis and Clark on the Orange Mountain Music label received an enthusiastic review by Gramophone magazine last December. Barnes began a month-long tour of Asia during March with a recital at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, traveling there to Shanghai, where he performed and taught at the Shanghai Conservatory High School, and to Nankai University in Tianjin, where he performed a solo recital. He also performed and gave master classes at Seoul National University and Kyoungwon University, and performed at the 2007 American Liszt Society Festival at the San Francisco Conservatory.
William Grange, Professor of Theatre, is in Vienna, Austria, serving as the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Humanities and Cultural Studies at the University of Vienna. Grange was also the recipient of an Arts and Humanities Enhancement Grant in support of a project entitled "German and Austrian Actresses of the 19th Century."
Peter Bouffard, Lecturer of Guitar, and Rusty White, Associate Professor of Bass, released a new collaborative guitar/bass duo CD entitled "Contrafactum."
Glenn Nierman, Associate Director of the School of Music and Steinhart Professor of Music Education, was nominated for the University's prestigious Pound-Howard Award last fall. Nierman's term as President-Elect of the North Central Division of the MENC-The National Association for Music Education began in January with a visit to Senator Chuck Hagel's and Senator Ben Nelson's offices to discuss the effects of the No Child Left Behind legislation on arts education in schools.
Clark Potter, Associate Professor of Viola, recently conducted the Premiere Orchestra at the Alabama All-State Orchestra Festival in Tuscaloosa Feb. 9-11, and the Reno (Nev.) All-City High School Honors Orchestra Feb. 22-24. The Alabama orchestra also gave the premiere of his latest composition, Violations of an Original Boyhood Theme, his third piece composed for young orchestras.
John W. Richmond, Professor and Director of the School of Music, served on the accreditation team of the National Association of Schools of Music for Rutgers University.
Students
Liz Love (B.M.E. senior) has been invited by national audition to join the Disney All-American College Band at Disneyland this summer. She is one of only 20 college students from across the country to be selected for this band.
Mary Gaetz (MFA Theatre) will represent the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film at the National Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival April 16-22 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. She won the Society for Stage Directors and Choreographers Competition at the KCACTF Region V Festival in January. She also won the Inge Festival Directing Competition at the KC/ACTF Region V and will represent UNL at the 26th Annual William Inge Theatre Festival in Independence, Mo., April 25-28. UNL graduate students Flynt Burton Wingrove, Jim Hopkins, Greg Parmeter and Rachel Charlop-Powers will perform their award-winning scene.
Kristi Michael (M.M clarinet), Julie Neal (M.M. clarinet) and Leigh Ann Singer (M.M. flute) were selected to be members of the 2007 International Youth Wind Orchestra at the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE) Conference in Killarney, Ireland, this July. The orchestra is an ensemble of approximately 50 outstanding young musicians, ages 18 to 25, from around the world.
Thirty-four representatives from the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film were in attendance at the regional Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival in Ames, Iowa, in January. MFA Directing student Brian LaDuca's production of "Speed the Plow" was selected by a pair of regional respondents to participate at the regional festival.
After an internship with Pathé Pictures during the summer of 2006 working on Academy Award nominee "The Queen," Rosemarie Lenosky (B.F.A. Film and New Media senior), has been invited to be one of the student interns at the American Pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival in Nice, France.
UNL printmaking faculty and students participated in a Collaborative Printmaking Residency at the Fine Arts Academy in Helsinki, Finland, during spring break in March. Professors Karen Kunc and Francisco Souto, 2nd year MFA graduates Maranda Allbritten, Sherry Black, Eriko Fugita, Anne Ruehrmund and 1st year MFA graduates Jewel Noll and Joshua Norton participated with 10 Finnish and international students, along with Professor Antti Tanttu and Lecturer Maija Albrecht of the Academy of Fine Art in Helsinki.
Thorin Meyer (B.F.A. Film and New Media senior) and Sam McCoy (B.F.A. Film and New Media junior) were selected to film interviews and create footage for a documentary during the Fulbright Academy of Science and Technology Conference in Panama City, Panama, in February. The two students were flown to Panama for five days to document this international gathering of scientists and educators, and they worked with other filmmakers from the U.S. and Costa Rica to create the documentary.
Sandy Veneziano, graduate of the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, adjunct professor, and member of the Hixson-Lied Advisory Board, spearheaded a trip to Los Angeles for seven Theatre and Film students during spring break in March. The participating students were Candace Frank (B.F.A. Film and New Media senior), Matt Harrell (B.F.A. Film and New Media senior), Robby DeFrain (B.F.A. Theatre and B.F.A. Art senior), Christopher Edward Jonak (B.F.A. Film and New Media junior), Rosemarie Lenosky (B.F.A. Film and New Media senior), Jesse Mason (B.F.A. Film and New Media senior) and Brandon Nelson (B.F.A. Theatre senior). Activities included trips to Western Costume and Disney, Warner Brothers, ABC and Sony Studios, where they watched tapings of "Gilmore Girls" and "Grey's Anatomy." While at Disney, the students met Nne Ebong, who is the director of current programming for Touchtone Television. They also met with Duncan Henderson (producer of "Dead Poets Society" and "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"); former UNL graduate and art director Dan Proett; recent guest film director Donald Petrie and his brother, Dan Petrie; and President of Sony Animation Sandy Rabins.
Alumni
Sarah Firth MacMillan (M.F.A. Art 2006) had an exhibition entitled "Pink Grow Green" at the Hunter College Department of Art in New York City in January.
Affiliated Units
The Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center and Arts Are Basic teamed up to host an artist-in-residence project featuring world renown film/video artist Jon Jost this spring. In addition to teaching digital video production in the Lincoln Public Schools and in Valentine (Neb.) area public schools, Jost taught public classes on digital cinema at the Ross.