Artmajorsandmusicappreciationstudents experience different means ofcreativity Art To an art major, the senior art show is as exciting an event as graduation.Tony Slate's showwas no exception . Slate's was the first student exhibit of the 1995-96 year. He represented the art department well, paving the way for a successful year. Both faculty and visitors to the showmade many positive comments. The guest book, which Slate created himself, contained remarks ranging from "you rock" to "an incredible gift from God." Watercolors of Scotland were some of Slate's favorites. He experimented with many types of art, ranging from pencil , acrylic and oil to ceramics and other threedimensional forms . Watercolor was his medium of choice. Slate suffered from "artist's block" for a year and a half, and he attributed his creative recovery to learning to use watercolor, a form he had never tried before. Slate said he took much of his subject matter from his spiritual life and emotions. He enjoyed abstracts because they allowed him to express his feelings freely. "They don 't take as much time because of the spontaneity, " he said. "But that's what makes them exciting." While spontaneous abstracts may have been less time-consuming, other pieces were more tedious. Some of Slate's works took him up to 10 hours to complete. His show contained works of art created between the fall of 1991 through the summer of 1995. This investment of time was acknowledged by Slate's academic adviser, Dr. John Keller. "The senior art exhibit requires the student to create the pieces, mat, frame, name, arrapge, hang, price and advertise. It is the capstone experience of their four years," Keller said. Slate plans to be a secondary school art teacher, his dream since kindergarten. In the record of his childhood years which Slate's grandmother kept, she recorded that he wanted to be an artist. After surviving artist's block, investing a substantial amount of time in his senior art exhibit, and completing a variety of courses in art and teaching, Slate is ready to realize his dream. - Wendi Keller Music Last fall , several music appreciation students experienced an unusual twist in their class: they were co-taught by professors of music, Dr. Warren Casey and Dr. Jeff Hopper. According to Casey, it was not "one of the regular, dry, run-ofthe-mill" general education classes. "Something different happens in our class every time," he said. Hopper added, "We try to Daniel Adams , M.F .A., Assistant Professor, Art Warren Casey, Ph.D. , Professor, Music, Director, Bands Steve Choate, M.F.A., Instructor, Art Patricia Cox, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Music Faye Doran, Ed.D., Professor, Art Cliff Ganus, D.M.A., Professor, Music Bill Hollaway, Ph.D. , Professor, Music Jeff Hopper, Ph.D. , Professor, Music, Director, Honors Symposium John Keller, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Art Paul Pitt, M.F.A. , Professor, Art Don Robinson, M.A. , Professor, Art, Department Chair Arthur Shearin, D.M.A. , Professor, Music, Department Chair Neva White, M.M. , Associate Professor, Piano and Voice make the class more animated, energetic and attention-grabbing than most other classes." "Dr. Hopper and Dr. Casey use a variety of unique and creative techniques to get their points across clearly," said freshman Kim McKinnis. "For example, each list of terms placed on the overhead projector is accompanied by funny pictures. Sometimes they sing along with the songs they present in class." "There are a couple of things we hope to accomplish by teaching this class together," Hopper said. "One is that we want students to realize that there is more than one way to look at things. " Casey contributed yet another perspective. "We also want the students to understand music by showing them how and why it was written throughout history so they can make reasonable comments as to why they do or don't like it." "Sharing the teaching gives each instructor a chance to make certain that the other instructor is covering material and giving as broad a look as possible, " Casey said. Casey and Hopper enjoyed teaching music appreciation together, and they expressed the hope that team-teaching large classes in appropriate subjects will stay around for a long time. - Michael Carter
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