Art Education

Visiting artist shares new ideas for art education
By Ford Rasmussen

A visiting art educator will be conducting professional development workshops for art teachers this week at the Cache County School District's office.

Stacey Salazar, an art education researcher and leader of the workshop, said she is here to be a resource for local teachers.

In her first workshop, Salazar will provide teachers with research based teaching strategies to incorporate "play as a learning process." Her second workshop will cover "finding and sharing meaning" in art course curriculum.

Salazar said student exploration provides greater engagement, but too often art lessons become just about the process and technique

"I want students to still have opportunity to grow as creative beings," she said.

Nadra Haffar, the Education Curator at the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, has attended Salazar’s workshops before. Haffar said the workshops are useful for any discipline in education.

"What you learn from these can be applied always," she said.

The workshops will be held at the Cache County School District's office in the Greenville Room at 2017 N. 1200 East in North Logan today from 4 to 6 p.m. and Wednesday from 4 to 6 p.m.

Immigrant Photography

Art exhibit shines light on Utah immigrants
By Ford Rasmussen

Artwork produced by Bachelor of Fine Arts undergraduates at Utah State University went on display Monday in the Cain College of the Arts galleries. One of the students hopes to promote cultural understanding with her photography series.

On the west wall of the Projects Gallery were hung six portraits taken by Martha Diaz Adam. Diaz, who works for the International Student Council at Utah State, met with Utah immigrants who inspired her to produce a photo series on the topic.

One part of her series, “The Agony of Misconception,” features portraits of three Muslim residents of Utah. She said she wants others to better understand the culture these people come from. Some immigrants get called names for wearing their headscarves, Diaz said. But for them, "to wear this, they feel proud," she said.

In her portraits, Diaz has emphasized the refugees' clothing by digitally repeating the patterns as the backdrop. She said their clothing reveals the respect these people have for their culture and religion.

Kaitlin Cooper is a senior studying music therapy at Utah State who has performed at local concerts aimed at fostering awareness on refugee issues. She said she likes that Diaz is helping to bring this cultural issue to light.

"It's a big issue in our country right now," she said. "The more people that know about it the better."

This project, which Diaz had worked on since January, is her final project before graduation. Projects don’t always take months to complete, but she said this time she “wanted to do something big.” Diaz said she hopes to go on to graduate school and continue making artwork on this topic.

The work of Diaz and four other seniors will be on display this week in the art galleries. The galleries will feature work from other BFA students over the next couple weeks. Doors are open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m to 5 p.m.

Museum and Music Series

Composer excited by Utah premiere
By Ford Rasmussen

A musical score that premiered in Utah on Sunday got enthusiastic reviews from its composer, who said it was the best performance in the history of the 12-year-old piece.

The piece “Variations Alchemisticae,” commissioned by the Chamber of Music Palisades, has been performed dozens of times, said American composer Byron Adams. He has been present at about 10 of the performances, in places such as Colorado, Los Angeles and England.

Adams, who had never been to Utah before, attended the Museum and Music concert at Utah State’s Caine Performance Hall on Sunday. He sat on the upper aisle closest to the stage during the event. The concert’s musicians consisted of members from the Utah Symphony and the Fry Street Quartet.

“There have been no better performances, and it was beautiful in every way,” Adams said. He said that these musicians “internalized” the work, saying they excelled for their attention to dynamics.

Austin Chadwick, a student in music education, was in the audience with several other music students. He said that “Variationes Alchemisticae” was his favorite piece performed at the concert. “What he was trying to portray through the music, he did very successfully,” Chadwick said about the composer.

The song tells various emotional stories throughout its 25-minute duration. For Adams, it is a spiritual piece inspired by his interest in alchemy. He said the song signifies, “submission to the power of the universe.”

Due to the renovations of the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, only one more Museum and Music event will be held this semester. The last concert is scheduled for April 20th. It will take place in the Caine Performance Hall at 7:30 p.m.