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MAGAZINE FALL 2012 DEAR FRIENDS: n this issue of the Sweet Briar Magazine you will find several pieces on various aspects of the arts, among them a profile of artist and alumna Fay Chandler and an article on the new Barton-Laing Professorship in Art History, along with highlights from the theater, dance and creative Iwriting programs. At a liberal arts college, studio and performing arts play a central and rich role. Some students make art in preparation for a career or a lifetime avocation. Others make art to explore the possibilities for expressing ideas in new media. Research increasingly indicates that asking students to express themselves artistically fosters creativity that expands their ability to analyze and solve problems in any field. Many students who do not make art study it. The arts can be viewed through the lenses of many academic disciplines — economics, history, psychology, sociology, cultural studies, philosophy, religion, anthropology. And the arts play a role in many of the professions students will enter — obviously, for example, arts management (a very strong program here at Sweet Briar, by the way) or education; perhaps less obviously, economic development or psychotherapy. Whatever their majors or career goals, students benefit from contemplating paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures, installations and videos by learning to look attentively and thoughtfully. The same is true, of course, of listening to music or watching theater or dance. If we learn how to attend to them, the creative expressions of others open vistas that our own experiences could never reveal. The arts of all cultural traditions are an indispensable stimulus to thinking inclusively and broadly about what it is to be human. For all these reasons and more, at Sweet Briar the fine and performing arts remain at the center of the liberal arts. I hope this issue will provide you an interesting peek at the many ways the arts infuse campus life. Best, Jo Ellen Parker, President SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE MAGAZINE POLICY FIND SWEET BRIAR ONLINE The magazine aims to present interesting, thought- Thanks to former provoking material. Publication of material does not indicate sbc.edu editor Zach Kincaid endorsement of the author’s viewpoint by the magazine or Twitter: sweetbriaredu College. The Sweet Briar College Magazine reserves the right for his tireless to edit and, when necessary, revise all material that it accepts Facebook: sweet.briar.college for publication. Contact us anytime. energy and creativity YouTube: youtube.com/sweetbriarcollege MAGAZINE STAFF in remaking this Jennifer McManamay, editor/staff writer Janika Carey, staff writer publication. Meridith De Avila Khan, photographer Sarah Lindemann ’13, contributing photographer Zach has accepted a Catherine Bost, designer position as director Contact information Office of Media, Marketing and Communications of marketing and communications at PO Box 1056, Sweet Briar, VA 24595 (434) 381-6262 another private institution. [email protected] SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Paul G. Rice, chair Please see sbc.edu/about/board-directors for the full sbc.edu/magazine Executive Committee and board members. SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE ALUMNAE Association Mollie Johnson Nelson ’64, president Printed by Progress Printing Company Please see sbc.edu/alumdev/current-board for the full board. Contents Sweet Briar Magazine | Fall 2012 Features 8-13 14-18 20-23 24-25 26-27 Boston Art’s Big Cat-roversy Real-world Stage Wright Home Away Grande Dame Wildlife economists Experience 2012 graduate From Home? At 90, still coloring study environmental Sweet Briar interns follows her passion UVa’s young writers outside the lines cost of hunting ban covered the map dig this place Departments Cover 2-7 28-33 34-69 artwork: On the Quad Because of You Class Notes & “Mirror Image,” 2005, Summer Scholars; 21st-Century Learning Alumnae News 64 x 48 inches, latex on Teaching Teachers; Spaces; Art History Fulbright in Turkey; canvas, Fay Chandler, A New Dean; Yoga Gets a Lift; Seniors Up The M&M Files; from the collection of Man; Salty Winners; the Ante Reunion Snapshot; Larry Bell Arts Galore A Poet and a Painter SBC.EDU | SWEET BRIAR MAGAZINE 1 Summer Scholars SPENCER BEALL ’14 WAS ONE OF NINE Sweet Briar students who received an Honors Summer Research Program scholarship in 2012. Beall spent much of her time in Cochran Library researching the project, in which she translated art commentaries from pre-20th century French writers and critics and discussed how changes in social and cultural norms are reflected in these texts. Professor Marie-Therese Killiam supervised her work. 2 SBC.EDU | SWEET BRIAR MAGAZINE Wrangling Wigglers in the Name of Science IN JUNE, SWEET BRIAR AND LYNCHBURG COLLEGE hosted the “Central Virginia Consortium Conference,” the result of a 19-month project funded by a $199,502 grant from the Virginia Department of Education. During the 2011-12 school year, 17 local teachers were trained in inquiry pedagogy and developed, implemented, assessed and reviewed experiment-driven lessons to create six fully integrated STEM (science, technology, engineering The project launched in March and math) units for grades 4 and 5. During the 2011 under the lead of chemistry conference, the 17 teachers demonstrated the new professor Jill Granger and lessons for their “students” — 80 of their colleagues from engineering director Hank Yochum, across the region. along with adjunct biology professor Arlene Vinion-Dubiel. Teacher participants were walked through the hands-on lessons and techniques, which ranged from introducing squeamish kids to live All six STEM lessons and instructional videos can be earthworms to racing matchbox cars carrying magnets to learning downloaded for free at stem4teachers.org. Conference about induction and electrical engineering. Fifth-grade lessons instructors and attendees planned to implement the lessons included “Earth Shaking Tsunamis,” “Dance by Numbers” and in the 2012-13 school year in the city of Lynchburg and “Cookie Mystery.” surrounding counties. 25 and Counting IN OCTOBER, PROFESSOR BILL KERSHNER celebrated his “first 25 years” in the theater department with a “Silver Soiree.” The party was held following the Oct. 20 performance of the Sweet Briar Theatre musical “The King and I.” Kershner is theater’s longtime director and became chair of the Performing Arts Division when it was formed in spring 2011. The division is composed of the music, theater and dance programs, as well as musical theater, which was added as a major at that time. SBC.EDU | SWEET BRIAR MAGAZINE 3 ARTSAPALOOZA EVERYWHERE YOU LOOKED ON CAMPUS Page 26). The five-week camp brought in nearly 200 this summer, a young scribe, thespian, painter or high school students interested in fiction, non-fiction, sculptor was liable to look back at you. The College poetry and song- and scriptwriting. hosted the second Blue Ridge Summer Institute for Both art camps also engaged with Endstation’s Young Artists, known as BLUR, attracting 30 high Playwrights Initiative through workshops and school writers, actors and visual artists from all over readings and attended several performances. In the country. addition, they visited the neighboring Virginia Center Meanwhile, Endstation Theatre Company, a theater for the Creative Arts, where practicing artists-in- troupe in residence at Sweet Briar, added an extra residence of all genres shared their experience with month for the fifth season of its Blue Ridge Summer the youngsters. Even the June 29 derecho that cut Theatre Festival, with a second outdoor Shakespeare some sessions short couldn’t suppress the vibe brought production. BLUR students were able to work about by this confluence of eager young talent, with the festival, as did the University of Virginia’s veteran teachers and dynamic artists, all brimming renowned Young Writers Workshop, which took with excitement for their crafts. place at Sweet Briar for the first time (Read more on ‘Salty’ Winner One to Watch LEAH BUSQUE, A 2001 SWEET BRIAR COMPUTER SCIENCE GRADUATE, took home the award for overall Entrepreneur of the Year at the Sweet Briar business department’s second Salt Block Project Awards Dinner in October. Busque is the founder of TaskRabbit, a website that lets people and companies outsource odd jobs to pre-screened “runners” who bid against one another for the work. Since launching in 2008, her company has raised $40 million in funding and operates in nine U.S. cities. TaskRabbit has been profiled in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian and on CNN, Fox News and ABC News. Earlier this year, Busque made Fast Company’s list of the “100 Most Creative People In Business,” and Inc. Magazine named her one of “15 Women To Watch In 2012.” TaskRabbit’s most famous runner is ABC’s Katie Couric, who recently tested the service on her show. Other “Saltys” went to Marti Beller, CEO and co-founder of PlanG, and Bob Vosburgh, founder and president of 9g Enterprises. 4 SBC.EDU | SWEET BRIAR MAGAZINE New Dean of Enrollment STEVEN W. NAPE BEGAN WORK AS DEAN OF ENROLLMENT management at Sweet Briar College on May 29. Nape started his career at Gordon College in Barnesville, Ga., where he served as director of institutional research and director of enrollment services. In 2000, he moved to Randolph-Macon College, where he was director of admissions, then dean of admissions and financial aid. From 2009 to 2011, he served as vice provost for enrollment planning and management at Radford University. Nape comes to Sweet Briar from Enrollment Intelligence, an enrollment management consultancy where he worked as the managing vice president. He holds a bachelor’s with a double major in philosophy and economics from the University of South Carolina, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He also received his Ph.D. in economics from USC. Slave Dwelling Project JOe McGIll Of The NATIONAl TruST for historic Preservation created the Slave Dwelling Project to preserve and interpret structures that once housed enslaved blacks.

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