Faculty of Fine Arts - Annual Report 2003-04
Art/Art History
Chair: Wendell Arneson
There were 39 Studio and eight Art History majors that graduated in the class of '04. The second "Survivor Weekend" was held during Interim break with ten student participants. Sixteen professional art/art history speakers were sponsored to come to campus including Tyree Guyton. There were 47 student solo and group shows in the DeGroot Student Gallery and the Flaten Museum mounted seven major exhibitions, three Senior Thesis shows, as well as the sabbatical show of faculty members Meg Ojala and Ron Gallas, and the Peace Prize Forum show of visiting artist Apo Torosyan. Mary Griep returned from a three-year leave in Asia. Wendell Arneson and Mac Gimse (retired) exhibited major pieces at the Peace Prize forum. Marie Fritz Perry received a Nygaard grant for continuing work in the Visual Resources Center.
Dance
Chair: Janice Roberts
New hires included Kyle Caron as technical director and Sean Wesche as music director/accompanist. New policies were developed by the department for senior distinction projects. Jan Erkert came to campus as Guest Artist in Residence in classes and rehearsals. The department again participated with Art/Art History in the Survivor Weekend experience. Other visiting ensembles included a West African drummer and a visiting company from Seattle. A new interim course was offered - Dancing with the Computer. The new entry level course, Exploring Dance, was offered. Nineteen performances included presentations in Kelsey, the Wagner/Bundgaard Theatre, and outside spaces. Thirty students and faculty attended and performed in the American College Dance Festival in Salt Lake City. Heather Klopchin and Anne von Bibra received a Freeman grant for infusing Japanese and Asian studies into the dance curriculum. Sherry Saterstrom led an interim program to Costa Rica and Anthony Roberts created Swing a Club , an interdisciplinary performance piece for which he choreographed, developed text, and composed electronic score.
Interdisciplinary Fine Arts
Program Director: Susan Bauer
The decision to phase out the IDFA program was made during this year. The first year students will be allowed to complete their major during the three year plan. Peter Hamlin, Matt Rohn, Steven Reiser, and Susan Bauer taught in the 03-04 program. Eight seniors graduated with the IDFA major. The program continues to use the Contract Student form and the Integrative Folder to administer and assess the progress of students as they complete their work. The Sheridan/St. Olaf collaboration was a highlight of the year - a semester long project with interaction between Sheridan high school students and faculty and students at St. Olaf with on campus visits and performances at both sites.
Music
Chair: Dan Dressen
Interim Chair: Gerry Hoekstra
During 03-04 the department celebrated its 100th anniversary with a series of recitals, concerts, and other events. As part of this historical mark, honorary degrees were awarded by the college to Frederick Fennell, Dominick Argento, Helmuth Rilling, and Leon Fleischer. Rilling conducted the St. Olaf Orchestra, St. Olaf Choir, Chapel Choir, and Cantorei in a performance of the Brahm's Requiem with alumni soloists Mary Boelke Wilson ('92) and Bradley Ellingboe ('80) at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis. The Alumni Series included recitals by Sharon Moe ('64), John Schwandt ('94), Kathleen Thompson ('83), Timothy Plambeck ('83), and Timothy Smith ('89). Kent McWilliams, piano faculty member, organized a highly successful noon (community time on Thursdays) recital series featuring St. Olaf music faculty performers. A highlight of the spring was the presentation - after being selected in blind auditions by MENC judges as the best in each category - by the three major ensembles (St. Olaf Choir, St. Olaf Band, St. Olaf Orchestra) as headliners for the "St. Olaf Night" - a concert in Minneapolis for the 1400 participants in the Music Educator's National Conference. The third of three years of the Meet the Composer residency with Mary Ellen Childs was completed and a three-day workshop for composers was organized by the student new music group, Musika Nova, culminating in a concert at the Southern Theatre in Minneapolis. Changes in department personnel included the retirement of Kenneth Graber and the resignation of Peter Hamlin, who is leaving to take a position at Middlebury College, his alma mater. Partly in response to the NASM review, an audition process for entry into the BA music major was instituted for all entering students starting that program.
Theatre
Chair: Karen Wilson
Interim Chair: Dona Freeman
Five mainstage plays were produced with near-capacity attendance at each: 5,624 people attended 33 performances, up 362 from the 02-03 season. The Man Who and The Shape of Things were produced in Haugen and the American Clock, The Winter's Tale, and Appalachian Dream were staged in Kelsey. Nanya Ramey provided designs for two productions, Twin Cities actors Andrea Wollenberg and Emil Herrera taught courses, and a public speaking course was taught during interim by Larry Schnoor. Visiting artists/writers gave workshop presentations and talks, including Nill McCullum, Virginia Burke, Peter Moore, Matthew Howe, Graydon Royce, Marianna Arroz, and Timothy Mason. New York City's Living Theatre group came to campus in February to do a collaboration with rehearsals and performances of Not In My Name , an anti-death peanalty piece. The honor society Theta Alpha Phi and the student-run Five Guys Theatre collaborated to produce ten pieces, inclluding a festival of Christopher Durang plays.
Thirteen theatre majors graduated in the class of '04, five earning departmental distinction. Chair Karen Wilson was on sabbatical for the second half of the year working with the Minneapolis Playwrights' Center and also working with state licensure guidelines for secondary theatre educators. Brian Bjorklund served as Vice Chair for the Publications/Newsletter for the U.S. Institute for Theatre Technology, Northern section. Bill Sonnega contributed a chapter to the 20th Century German Theatre and Drama journal, and Steven Reiser was technical director for Loyce Houlton's Nutcracker Fantasy tour to Wisconsin. Gary Gisselman was awarded a Freeman grant to meld Japanese history/culture with the curriculum and Dona Freeman collaborated with alumni and students to perform Collected Stories , first in the Haugen Theatre and then at the Minneapolis Playwrights' Center.
