Topic: Arts

Artists, musicians, to be showcased in APSU spring programs

April 10, 2008 |

The Austin Peay State University Department of Art will host Romancing the Vessel, an exhibition by Jim Pugh, an art major who is on track to receive his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art in May. Romancing the Vessel will premiere at 7 p.m., Monday, April 21 in the Don Jenkins Gallery, located in the Morgan University Center. A reception will follow the premiere.

Pugh’s exhibition will examine the vessel, both functional and non-functional. “The show is a collection of wheel thrown clay, and lathe turned wood vessels that exam form, texture and color,” he said. “Most of my work is designed to be used as well as enjoyed. The sense of feel is as important as sight when enjoying the pottery and wood bowls in this exhibition.”

Pugh began his college education at Louisiana College more than 50 years ago. After serving in the Vietnam War, he worked in graphic design and the printing industry. “(My life) has come full circle in a return to college to study art,” Pugh said. This exhibit is free and open to the public. «Read the rest of this article»

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Marsalis jazz quintet to play APSU

By Austin Peay State University | April 4, 2008 |

Classically trained trombonist and award-winning record producer Delfeayo Marsalis will present a concert sponsored by the Clarksville Community Concert Association and the Austin Peay State University Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts.

The Delfeayo Marsalis Jazz Quintet’s performance will begin at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 5 in the Music/Mass Communication Building Concert Hall. Tickets are $25 for adults, $12 for students and APSU students receive free admission with their student ID.

A native of New Orleans, Marsalis began studying trombone at the age of 13. He trained at the Eastern Music Festival and Tanglewood Institute and majored in performance and audio production at Berklee College of Music.

Marsalis began producing records at the age of 17. Since then, he has produced more than 75 major-label recordings for artists such as Harry Connick Jr., Marcus Roberts and Branford Marsalis.

He has toured internationally with jazz legends such as Art Blakey, Abdullah Ibrahim, Elvin Jones, Slide Hampton and Max Roach. During a tour with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Marsalis’s performance was filmed for the Ken Burns documentary, “Jazz.” «Read the rest of this article»

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APSU hosts 40th annual student exhibition

By Debbie Boen | March 20, 2008 |

This 40th Annual Student Exhibition is on display now through April 13 at the Trahern Gallery Austin Peay State University.We offer a mere tease of the exhibit, a sampling of what our artists have to offer. Hopefully it will entice you visit.

This annual student exhibition is an inspiration and a source of pride to me. Viewing this show gives me that other kind of food that is as necessary as air to a prosperous nation.

Art is a technique of communication. The image is the most complete technique of all communication.~Claus Oldenburg

In Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, she says that to recover our own sense of creativity and well-being we need to make “artist’s dates” with ourselves. We need to go out and see what others are doing, what the world is presenting to us in the way of creativity. Doing that is a huge source of food for thought and inspiration to us. «Read the rest of this article»

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My Way: Sixty years of Sinatra songs showcased at Roxy Theatre

By Christine Anne Piesyk | February 15, 2008 |

As a little girl, one of the stories my mother told me was of a trip to New York City with fellow singers to see a Carnegie Hall concert. My mother had other plans though, an ulterior motive for this Big Apple sojourn, and gave up Carnegie Hall for a chance to see a new young heart throb, a skinny crooner with dreamy blue eyes in one of his earliest performances … Frank Sinatra. It was 1942.

For nearly 60 years, old blues eyes — Frank Sinatra — was larger than life, a singer, movie star, and worldwide legend with 1300 songs to his credit. The Roxy Regional Theater captures a collection of the very best in their current production of My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra.

Even before the show began the mood was set with soft music from yesterday that hasn’t lost is charm — hummable, dance-able music that continues to endure. As the combo took their seats and began to play, as the singers stepped back in time, they carried their audience with them all the way. «Read the rest of this article»

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Barry Kitterman’s “The Baker’s Boy” arrives on bookstore shelves in May

By Debbie Boen | February 3, 2008 |

With the publication of his novel The Baker’s Boy coming in May, APSU Professor Barry Kitterman (at left) has brought a ten-year effort to a satisfying conclusion. Kitterman has worked as an editor for many years, and has watched as a number of his friends enjoy publication of their work.

“This is my first book. This is better,” he says with understandable satisfaction. He says that words like “dream book” and “inspiration” don’t work for him. “I just work hard at my writing.”

Set in Central America and in Middle Tennessee, The Baker’s Boy gives us two intertwined stories: In the first, Tanner Johnson, nearing midlife, has left his pregnant wife and taken a job as a baker, working nights, trying to avoid a shadowy presence that haunts him from the past. In the second, Tanner relives his painful experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer in Belize, where he taught at a boys’ reform school nearly a quarter century ago. Haunted by the past, he struggles to find the courage to accept his role as a husband and prospective father.

Years ago, Kitterman worked as a Peace Corps volunteer and teacher in Belize in Central America. He has also taught in China and Taiwan. «Read the rest of this article»

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Live from the Met HD continues in January with two productions screening in Nashville

By Christine Anne Piesyk | December 29, 2007 |

On the heels of a stunning production of Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet, HD Live from the Met will launch the New Year with an international high definition broadcast of Englebert Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel on January 1, 2008. The curtain rises promptly at noon in two Nashville Regal Theaters: Green Hills and Opry Mills.

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Holiday decorating on a budget

By Michael Covington | December 14, 2007 |

I hope this article finds you ready for the holidays. If you’re like myself, between the presents, the dinners, the family, the friends, and the endless to do lists you don’t have lots money for decorating for the holidays. If you’ve got a little free time and some creativity you can have a very memorable season.

First, let’s talk about the all-important meal table. You’re probably planning on having some friends and family at a table together for the holidays, so why not give them something good to look at besides your cooking. For this project, a little bit can go a long way. First, consider a tablecloth. Nothing dresses up a dull table like a tablecloth. Even a cheap one from Wal-Mart can help spruce the kitchen up. And, don’t even think about forgetting the centerpiece. What else will guests have to talk about when the awkward silences and family feuds set in? This is where some creativity comes in play.

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Trees of Christmas shown at Smith-Trahern

By Christine Anne Piesyk | December 13, 2007 |

The Trees of Christmas 2007, now on display at the Smith-Trahern Mansion, takes a look at Christmas “through the eyes of a child” and the medium of nursery rhymes.

Topping the displays is the mansion’s fireplace, decorated on the theme of a Teddy Bear picnic. The elegant oversized fireplace with its high mantle and ceiling tall mirror is festooned with a mix of garland and teddy bears (and picnic baskets) in all shapes and sizes. It’s a bit of whimsy, a bit of magic and a world of imagination at play. The result simply delights everyone who enters that festive burgundy room. One look, and you can’t help but smile. The fireplace was designed by American Flowergift Florist. «Read the rest of this article»

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