Private lessons in voice, piano, guitar, Suzuki violin, drawing and photography offered through Community School of Arts

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Students in the Suzuki violin program from Evangel University's Community School of Arts play in the 2012 Christmas Concert.

Budding local artists of all ages have found a home at Evangel University’s Community School of Arts. Since 2008, the CSA has been offering classes in music, drama and art, uniting Evangel faculty and students with those in the surrounding community who share a passion for the fine arts.

Director Susan Sheets says the idea for CSA came during the 2007-2008 academic year when she and Dr. Michael Kolstad, chairman of the Music Department, shared a vision to offer classes and lessons in the fine arts to the surrounding community. The two met with Dr. Nathan Nelson, Humanities Department chairman, about including art and drama instruction along with the music. Together, they made the CSA a reality.

Opening to the community in 2008, the CSA initially offered classes and lessons in voice, piano, worship piano, guitar, Suzuki violin, drawing and photography. Since then, the CSA has decided to only offer private lessons. Instructors include Evangel faculty, graduate students and even qualified undergraduate students.

“It is a nice way for our EU music and art students to develop their teaching skills,” she says. “All of our student instructors are highly recommended to us by a EU professor.” 

Sheets says the instructors personally schedule, organize and promote their own lessons. While the instructors hold many lessons on campus, she says several instructors also teach in off-campus studios or from their homes. Recitals take place in Evangel’s Barnett Recital Hall.

Currently, the Community School of Arts offers lessons in drawing, digital photography, voice and several instruments. Sheets says the age range of students is 4 to 70.

“We are always adding new instructors and instruments options and are open to anyone who desires to teach private lessons in music, art and drama.” 

While the CSA does not currently offer any drama courses, Sheets says one of the plans for the future is to hold a community theatre production. Other goals include offering a public speaking class and music education classes to private preschools and schools that do not have music programs in their curriculum.  A community choir is also part of future planning.

Kolstad says the CSA serves as a valuable community outreach program for Evangel. He also says it allows fine arts students who may have never heard of Evangel to connect with the university.

“It is a wonderful recruiting tool,” he says. “For many participants this is their first exposure – and often only exposure – to the university.”

Anyone interested in beginning lessons can find the current lesson offerings on the Community School of Arts page. To get in touch with an instructor to set up lessons, email the CSA at CommunitySchoolofArts@evangel.edu for contact information.  

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Passionate Pursuit: Win or Lose, Teaching Life Lessons through Lacrosse

By Mike Lesczinski, Excelsior Life News Staff—

Mark Michalisin, executive director for Business Development in the Center for Educational Measurement at Excelsior College, spends his days working to increase degree completion in the United States through credit by examination.

By night (and weekend) though, you’ll have a better chance finding the loving father of two on the field coaching youth lacrosse - working to not only make the youngsters better players today, but better men tomorrow.

Growing up Michalisin was a hockey and football player, so when his boys took up lacrosse it was a bit out of his comfort zone. But he did what most dedicated fathers would do – he took up the sport as well, volunteering as a coach and learning side by side with kids who looked up to him. Today, five years later, Michalisin continues to coach a recreational team while accepting the additional responsibility of directing the Boys Lacrosse Program for the Niskayuna (New York) Lacrosse Club.

Without playing lacrosse yourself growing up, what did you have to do to prepare to coach the sport?

Our local high school coach and modified coach have been great supporters of the club, and I have learned the game from them as well as from my oldest son who plays for their modified team. I am also thankful for my assistant coach who was an All American lax player in high school and went on to play at LeMoyne College. Lacrosse is very similar to hockey, so I was able to pick it up fairly quickly, but my two boys constantly remind me what I need to do.

Has anything ever happened that perhaps you weren't expecting and were unsure how to deal with it?

This past season, I had a player who was being bullied by a teammate in school, and he was afraid to come to practice because of this boy. After speaking with the parents, I had a decision to make. I will not tolerate bullies and I think a bully is a coward. I talked to the high school coach about this to get his thoughts and I made the decision to suspend the bully for a week. It was the right call and I held a team meeting for both players and parents to discuss my policy towards bullying, and was overwhelmed by the support I received from the parents, including the offending child's parents. At the end of the season, the boy who was being bullied thanked me for helping him out and at that point, I knew coaching was what I wanted to keep doing.

What has been your biggest challenge?

Besides coaching my son, which is by far the most challenging because you can't show favoritism and he has to listen to me long after the game is over, I think the biggest challenge is the balance between winning and teaching the kids how to lose with dignity and that if you want to be the best, you need to work hard in practice. The other challenge is dealing with parents of both your kids’ and the opposing team's parents. Parents can be extremely hard on kids and even harsher to an opposing team’s kid during a game, and I find myself reminding everyone that this is a kid's game, and it is for fun.

As a youth coach what is your most important responsibility?

To not only make sure the kids have fun on the field but also to learn to play the game the right way with sportsmanship and respect.

Sports are a great way to teach children a variety of life lessons: the importance of commitment; overcoming obstacles to achieve something greater; to be gracious in defeat does. What do you think lacrosse in particular can teach a young person?

The importance of teamwork, the ability to work with others towards a common goal, and to respect your coaches, teammates, opponents. I also try to make sure they become better young men both on and off the field.

What have you learned about yourself in the process?

It is an honor and privilege that these parents allow me to coach their kids. It is the most rewarding time for me to be on the field teaching these kids the right way to play as well as preparing them to act accordingly on and off the field as well. I stress that the lessons learned on the field carry over to the classroom as well as home. To see a kid's face when they score their first goal is priceless. I learned that I enjoy teaching and coaching and win or lose, I feel I am making a difference in their lives and they in mine.

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Parade demonstrates lessons learned about Carnaval

Students taking part in a Winter Term course explore world traditions through art.

 ****
Students taking the Carnaval in the Black Atlantic course paraded across campus Thursday afternoon dressed in colorful garb fashioned from shredded T-shirts and other recycled materials.

They braved the wind and cold—temperatures dipped into the lower 30s—tossing strands of beads to passersby and stopping in several different locations along the parade route to perform a dance they choreographed themselves.

The Winter Term course, taught by Assistant Professor of Art History Courtnay Micots, explored the origins of festivals along the trans-Atlantic trade route and their evolution into a contemporary art form.

Students in the class discussed the political and social significance of these festivals in places such as the Caribbean, Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia and New Orleans. Many appeared to be pure entertainment but were really developed out of a type of resistance.

“For those in the know who are part of it, it provides a sense of community. It provides a voice to air grievances,” Micots said. “Whether it’s grievances with local authorities, politics or religion, it’s a chance to express their ideas and their heritage. It’s an opportunity to free oneself of the everyday with this aversion to the rules.”

Micots didn’t just want her students to learn about the festivals, complete with parades, masquerade, lavish costumes, music and dance—she wanted them to experience them.

First, she asked them to write about the character they would perform in what she called the “Fancy Dress” parade and then they were charged with creating costumes, choreographing dances and arranging for musicians to accompany them.

“The papers give them the background but from a scholarly point of view,” Micots said. “The parade gives them a chance to be within it.”

They showed up with their makeshift costumes and handmade masks and even brought along fire dancer Jenny Milligan who twirled a flaming hoop, an addition that definitely surprised Micots.

“It’s kind of unexpected, but you never know how these things are going to turn out, which is part of the fun,” Micots said.

Taylor McLean ’14, a religious studies major, took on the role of Pierrot Grenade, a character who was born in France and moved to Trinidad.

“He yells at people and spells thing to prove his intelligence,” McLean said.

Writing about the character and then playing him during the parade, made Grenade come alive for McLean.

“It’s definitely more of a real-life approach to classroom studies,” she said. “I never would have expected to be parading through Elon. This is truly, to me, the Elon hands-on experience.”

Pitchy Patchy, Pierrot Grenade’s counterpart in Jamaica, was performed by Brittany Washington ’13. Pitchy Patchy is part of the Christmas festival called Jonkonnu.

Washington, a journalism major, cut colorful T-shirts and bandanas into strips and pinned them all over her clothes in an attempt to duplicate the character she wrote about. It helped her understand the time and effort spent to bring a festival to life.

“They used their own money to make their costumes, and they took a lot of time,” she said. “I can really appreciate their more elaborate costumes. They take some real time to make.”

Dressed in a bright blue dress with a pillow stuck under the back to accentuate her bottom, Emily Turner ’13, an art major, embraced her role as Dame Lorraine, a mockery of a French plantation owner’s wife. She wore a white straw hat and twirled a matching blue umbrella above her head.

“It’s a retaliation after the Trinidadian slaves were freed,” Turner said.

Hearing about the traditions and then researching and writing about the characters kept the information fresh in her mind.

“It’s helpful to act out what we’ve been learning,” she said.

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by Roselee Papandrea Taylor, Staff Last Updated - 1/25/2013

View the original article here

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Parade demonstrates lessons learned about Carnaval

Students taking part in a Winter Term course explore world traditions through art.

 ****
Students taking the Carnaval in the Black Atlantic course paraded across campus Thursday afternoon dressed in colorful garb fashioned from shredded T-shirts and other recycled materials.

They braved the wind and cold—temperatures dipped into the lower 30s—tossing strands of beads to passersby and stopping in several different locations along the parade route to perform a dance they choreographed themselves.

The Winter Term course, taught by Assistant Professor of Art History Courtnay Micots, explored the origins of festivals along the trans-Atlantic trade route and their evolution into a contemporary art form.

Students in the class discussed the political and social significance of these festivals in places such as the Caribbean, Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia and New Orleans. Many appeared to be pure entertainment but were really developed out of a type of resistance.

“For those in the know who are part of it, it provides a sense of community. It provides a voice to air grievances,” Micots said. “Whether it’s grievances with local authorities, politics or religion, it’s a chance to express their ideas and their heritage. It’s an opportunity to free oneself of the everyday with this aversion to the rules.”

Micots didn’t just want her students to learn about the festivals, complete with parades, masquerade, lavish costumes, music and dance—she wanted them to experience them.

First, she asked them to write about the character they would perform in what she called the “Fancy Dress” parade and then they were charged with creating costumes, choreographing dances and arranging for musicians to accompany them.

“The papers give them the background but from a scholarly point of view,” Micots said. “The parade gives them a chance to be within it.”

They showed up with their makeshift costumes and handmade masks and even brought along fire dancer Jenny Milligan who twirled a flaming hoop, an addition that definitely surprised Micots.

“It’s kind of unexpected, but you never know how these things are going to turn out, which is part of the fun,” Micots said.

Taylor McLean ’14, a religious studies major, took on the role of Pierrot Grenade, a character who was born in France and moved to Trinidad.

“He yells at people and spells thing to prove his intelligence,” McLean said.

Writing about the character and then playing him during the parade, made Grenade come alive for McLean.

“It’s definitely more of a real-life approach to classroom studies,” she said. “I never would have expected to be parading through Elon. This is truly, to me, the Elon hands-on experience.”

Pitchy Patchy, Pierrot Grenade’s counterpart in Jamaica, was performed by Brittany Washington ’13. Pitchy Patchy is part of the Christmas festival called Jonkonnu.

Washington, a journalism major, cut colorful T-shirts and bandanas into strips and pinned them all over her clothes in an attempt to duplicate the character she wrote about. It helped her understand the time and effort spent to bring a festival to life.

“They used their own money to make their costumes, and they took a lot of time,” she said. “I can really appreciate their more elaborate costumes. They take some real time to make.”

Dressed in a bright blue dress with a pillow stuck under the back to accentuate her bottom, Emily Turner ’13, an art major, embraced her role as Dame Lorraine, a mockery of a French plantation owner’s wife. She wore a white straw hat and twirled a matching blue umbrella above her head.

“It’s a retaliation after the Trinidadian slaves were freed,” Turner said.

Hearing about the traditions and then researching and writing about the characters kept the information fresh in her mind.

“It’s helpful to act out what we’ve been learning,” she said.

Email Author Your Email *
Message *
by Roselee Papandrea Taylor, Staff Last Updated - 1/25/2013

View the original article here

Read More