1780 – The Official Blog of Transylvania University

1780 | The Official Blog of Transylvania University

Transylvania hosts garden party May 16 to unveil new rain garden signage; free and open to the public

LEXINGTON, Ky.—On Wednesday, May 16, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Transylvania University will host a garden party to unveil new signage for Transylvania’s rain garden, one of the first in Lexington. A traditional sign has been created by Kayla Kidwell-Snider ’12 and Barbara Grinnell, Transylvania’s graphic designer. Kidwell-Snider has also created hand-painted interactive signage for the garden. These signs are blocks mounted on a threaded rod. Each side of the block has different information, such as a picture of the plant with the name, a picture of an animal that uses the plant, a fun fact about the plant and information on when the plant blooms or where to plant it. The party is free and open to the public and representatives from the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government will attend. The garden signage is the final component of Transylvania’s nearly $4,900 Stormwater Quality Grant that the university received in December 2010 from the LFUCG. The grant was to fund education initiatives related to water quality, specifically, how people’s actions can impact water quality. With the grant money, which Transylvania matched at 50 percent, the sustainability office has held workshops on rain barrel making, rain gardens and environmentally friendly lawncare for faculty, staff and students. Last May term, the office also hosted Town Branch Tuesdays to increase stormwater quality awareness, including a progressive lunch garden party, a scavenger hunt, a water festival and storm drain painting. For more information, contact the public

Juried student exhibition runs May 4-18 in Transylvania’s Morlan Gallery

LEXINGTON, Ky.—The Juried Student Exhibition runs May 4-18 in Transylvania’s Morlan Gallery.  All students who made art during the 2011-12 academic year were invited to show their work in the exhibition. There are about 50 pieces, from 30 artists, on display. At a public reception honoring the artists on Friday, May 4, several jurors’ awards were presented, including the Dean’s Purchase Award and the Lampton Prize. Each year, William F. Pollard, vice president and dean of the college, selects one piece to receive the Dean’s Purchase Award and become part of Transylvania’s permanent collection. The Lampton Prize is named in honor of artist Nana Lampton and given to a student of exceptional creative vision, a fierce work ethic and natural leadership. Junior Hunter Kissel, from Louisville, Ky., received the Dean’s Purchase Award for his oil painting, 3. Senior Ryla Luttrell, from Shepherdsville, Ky., received the Lampton Prize. Other awards went to: Printmaking: senior Julia Sebastian, from Nicholasville, Ky. Sculpture: senior Katelynn Ralston, from Winter Haven, Fla. Ceramics: senior Lauren Hatchett, from Henderson, Ky. Video: junior Paul Brown, from Owensboro, Ky., and sophomore Zach Stanley, from Prestonsburg, Ky. Sophomore Raelyn Nickerson, from Springfield, Ohio, received honorable mention in sculpture. Senior Sara Escobedo, from Wheaton, Ill., received honorable mention for ceramic sculpture. Morlan Gallery is open weekdays, noon to 5 p.m., and the exhibit is free and open to the public. For more information go to www.transy.edu/morlan or contact Morlan Gallery Director

Polashek’s compositions to be performed by gEARbox Ensemble April 28 at Land of Tomorrow Gallery

Tim Polashek LEXINGTON, Ky.—Contemporary music composed by Transylvania University music professor Timothy Polashek will be performed Saturday, April 28, at 7:30 p.m. at Land of Tomorrow Gallery, 527 East Third St., Lexington. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted. The concert will feature Polashek’s “Engravings for Prepared Snare Drum, iPad, and Computer” and “Echoes of Steel: Electro-Acoustic Music for Drum Set”—both performed by percussionist Brad Meyer—and “Micro-Coastings: Electro-Acoustic Music and Video.” Polashek and Meyer are founders of the gEARbox Ensemble, which performs contemporary acoustic, electro-acoustic and electronic music and commissions and premieres works by established and emerging composers. Micro-Coastings is Polashek’s first extensive use of video in a composition. “The video camera, like the microphone during the recording of my sound sources, was positioned to frame objects more closely in order to capture things expressively,” he said. “All the sounds and video were taken from in and around my family’s home in Lexington.” Polashek writes in a variety of media and styles including vocal, instrumental and electro-acoustic music, text/sound compositions and interactive performance. His work has been performed all over the world, and he directed the Studio 300 Digital Art and Music Festival at Transylvania, which was held in September 2011 and featured more than 60 works and exhibitions by artists and musicians from eight countries. Land of Tomorrow Gallery facilitates the making and showing of experimental works of art, design, and music. For more information, visit www.landoftomorrow.org.

See 1,000 handmade dolls at community potluck April 4 at Kentucky Theater; project sponsored by Transylvania’s Community Engagement class

LEXINGTON, Ky.—If you spot a handmade doll hidden in the nooks and crannies of Limestone Street in the next few weeks, feel free to pick it up and give it a good home. It will likely be one of the 1,000 fabric, clay and wooden dolls that Transylvania University students and community members have made as part of the university’s Community Engagement Through the Arts (CETA) class. The public is invited for a sneak peek at the dolls during a community potluck dinner Wednesday, April 4, at 7 p.m. at the Kentucky Theater. The event will also feature live music and Lexington Mayor Jim Gray will speak at 7:30 p.m. The 1,000 Dolls project is the latest in a series of projects spearheaded by the class, whose goal is to strengthen the relationship between the university and the community by engaging in artistic community projects. Previous CETA classes have made quilts and applied temporary murals to downtown buildings, all while interacting and working with residents of Transylvania’s downtown neighborhood. The popular class, taught by art professor Kurt Gohde and English professor Kremena Todorova, has developed somewhat of a following, with community members regularly attending class sessions. The idea for the 1,000 Dolls project came from local artist Ed Franklin, who makes and hides dolls around town and posts clues to finding them on Facebook. Those who find the dolls get to keep them. This spring, CETA class members have coordinated

Transylvania University’s art program graduates the largest class of art majors to date; senior exhibition, "Ten," runs April 2-20

Hansel’s Sewn. LEXINGTON, KY—Transylvania University’s art program is graduating a record 10 art majors this year: Isabel Barr, Alison Cahill, Sara Escobedo, Allison Fender, Kara Hansel, Ryla Luttrell, Alexis Schuman, Julia Sebastian, Megan Wainscott and Kayla Weber. The culminating event of their Transylvania arts education is their senior thesis exhibition appropriately titled, “Ten,” opening April 2 and running through April 20 in the Morlan Gallery. There is a reception for the artists on Friday, April 20, 5-8 p.m. as part of the Lexington Gallery Hop. The gallery is open weekdays from noon-5 p.m. and is free and open to the public. Barr is a studio art and education double major. She grew up in Takoma Park and Bethesda, Maryland. She plans to receive a master’s degree in art therapy from the University of Louisville and create an after-school program for special-needs children. Cahill is an art major and art history minor from Richmond, Ky. Her primary medium is photography and she has recently worked with Triple Play Productions taking sports action photography. After graduation she plans to pursue her passion for art. She is currently looking into the photography and ceramic fields. Escobedo is a studio art major minoring in biology and Spanish from Wheaton, Ill. She hopes to pursue a career that will lead her to working with animals and expanding her artistic endeavors. She works in digital illustration, ceramic, mixed media sculpture, carving, painting and costume-making. Fender is