SFA University
January 25, 2018 - Heaven Umbrell was 10 years old when she helped her grandmother, a gerontologist, conduct research in cemeteries. Years later, Umbrell now brings her children along when she engages in research at Nacogdoches' historic Oak Grove Cemetery.
Umbrell, a Stephen F. Austin State University history graduate student, is working alongside members of the Friends of Historic Nacogdoches to create an index and map of Oak Grove Cemetery. She also is making a grid map of plots and digitizing written records of the people buried there.
When members of the Friends of Historic Nacogdoches contacted Dr. Perky Beisel, SFA associate professor of history, about some endeavors they hoped to accomplish at the cemetery, Beisel immediately thought of Umbrell.
“This type of work gives graduate students practical experience,” Beisel said. “It also demonstrates what SFA’s Department of History can help accomplish.”
Oak Grove Cemetery was originally named America’s Cemetery. It spans 12.7 acres and contains an estimated 1,000 gravesites. Many gravesites contain the remains of notable historical figures such as Thomas J. Rusk, a political and military leader of the Republic of Texas who served as its first secretary of war and as a general in the Battle of San Jacinto. Rusk was later a U.S. politician and served as a senator from Texas.
Other important historical figures buried at Oak Grove include Dr. Robert A. Irion, who was Sam Houston’s personal physician, and four signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Hundreds of tourists visit the cemetery each year.
An additional goal of the Friends of Nacogdoches is to obtain signage for each gravesite. “My research will give cemetery visitors access to these men and women and help tell their stories,” Umbrell said.
Umbrell expects to complete her portion of research by the end of spring 2018. Friends of Historic Nacogdoches anticipate the full project to be completed by the end of the year.
By Emily Brown, marketing communications specialist for Stephen F. Austin State University.
January 23, 2018 Nacogdoches — Stephen F. Austin State University’s dance program will showcase the SFA Repertory Dance Company in Concert, which premieres at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 25, in Turner Auditorium on the university’s campus.
An additional showing is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 26. Tickets cost $8 for students, $12 for faculty and staff members and senior citizens, and $15 for general admission and can be purchased at the door. All proceeds benefit the SFA dance program.
The SFA Repertory Dance Company is a select group of 20 dancers that performs and represents SFA locally, regionally and nationally at conferences, recruitment events and a variety of other venues. Dancers are selected through an audition process and have the opportunity to work with guest artists and other professionals in the field of dance.
The production will feature nine choreographic works created by SFA dance faculty members and guest artists, including Jennifer Salter, an artist from Houston who choreographed an intense, athletic modern dance, and Brixey Blankenship-Cozad, an artist from Beaumont who created a high energy, acrobatic hip-hop dance.
The Dimensions Contemporary Ballet Company, which comprises SFA students, alumni, faculty members and non-SFA dancers, also will perform under the direction of Heather Samuelson, co-coordinator of SFA’s dance program and assistant professor.
Samuelson worked on two pieces in the production — one with a trio of dancers performing a contemporary ballet dance to Vivaldi and the second an intense modern dance based on dementia research.
Haley Hoss Jameson, co-coordinator of SFA’s dance program and associate professor, also is presenting two works in the concert. One dance is a quirky modern piece that utilizes the strength of dancers and spoken text. Her second piece is a fun, energetic jazz dance performed in the classic 1980s style with the whole company.
“This dance will definitely amuse the audience and take them back to a time of high-cut leotards, sweatbands and big hair,” Samuelson said.
Adjunct faculty member Sarah Sanchez choreographed an athletic piece for the company.
“Her piece is a structured, contact improvisational dance that displays the dancers’ strength, control, connection to each other, and how movement can evolve organically through touch and manipulation,” Samuelson said. “There are moments of stillness that will draw the audience in deeper to the evolution of the dancers’ movement.”
Sanchez’s piece and Samuelson’s piece on dementia will both be presented at the South Central American College Dance Association Conference in March.
By Kasi Dickerson, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.
January 23, 2018 Nacogdoches – In 2018, America and the world will mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The College of Fine Arts and the Office of Multicultural Affairs at Stephen F. Austin State University, along with L.A. Theatre Works, will anticipate the anniversary with a touring presentation of the internationally acclaimed play “The Mountaintop,” written by Katori Hall and directed by multiple award-winner Shirley Jo Finney.
The performance is part of the College of Fine Arts’ University Series and will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus.
“This play takes us back, not to the idealism of ‘I have a dream,’ but to the contentious racial and class issues, the questions of conflict and social justice that led to Dr. King’s murder, and that still haunt America,” said Scott Shattuck, associate dean of the College of Fine Arts and director of the University Series. “It does so in fanciful and even shocking ways that no audience member would anticipate.
“We are grateful to present this controversial play in association with SFA’s Office of Multicultural Affairs under the leadership of Veronica Beavers,” Shattuck continued. “As Black History Month begins, we hope that this performance will stimulate important dialogue among students and other audience members that may not have attended University Series events in the past.”
On the evening of April 4, 1968, less than 24 hours after his famed “I’ve been to the mountaintop” speech, Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered outside Room 306 of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. In “The Mountaintop,” Hall fantasizes an unexpected conversation inside that room on the night before the assassination.
Recipient of London’s 2010 Olivier Award for Best New Play, Hall’s gripping re-imagining of events is “rife with humanity and humor as the great civil rights leader reveals his hopes, regrets and fears to a motel housekeeper that seems inconsequential, at first, to his destiny,” according to Shattuck.
“It was really important for me to show the human side of King,” playwright Hall said. ”During this time, he was dealing with the heightened threat of violence, he was tackling issues beyond civil rights – economic issues – and was denouncing the Vietnam War. So I wanted to explore the emotional toll and the stress of that. King changed the world, but he was not a deity. He was a man, a human being, like me and you. So it was important to show him as such: vulnerable.”
“The Mountaintop” stars Gilbert Glenn Brown (CBS TV’s “The Inspectors,” upcoming feature film “The Best of Enemies”) and Karen Malina White (“The Cosby Show,” “A Different World,” “Malcolm and Eddie”). The production will travel to 38 cities across the United States. “The Mountaintop” contains mature language and controversial themes.
For three decades, L.A. Theatre Works has been the leading radio theater company in the United States, committed to using innovative technologies to preserve and promote significant works of dramatic literature and bringing live theater into the homes of millions. The company’s public radio series, featuring stage plays performed by America's top actors augmented by interviews with the artists and others, can be heard on public radio stations across the U.S. The producing director is Susan Albert Loewenberg.
L.A. Theatre Works’ national touring program brings audiences at venues across the country the experience of a “live-in-performance” radio drama. Since 2005, L.A. Theatre Works has visited over 300 civic, performing arts and university venues. They last visited the SFA campus with “Dracula” in 2016.
Prior to the performance, Cleo House, director of the SFA School of Theatre, will present an informative talk at 7 p.m. in Griffith Gallery. The gallery is located across the hall from Turner Auditorium, which is inside the Griffith Fine Arts Building, 2222 Alumni Drive.
Single event ticket prices for the University Series are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and $10 for non-SFA students/youth. Tickets for SFA students are $3.
For more information, visit finearts.sfasu.edu, stop by the Fine Arts Box Office in Room 211 of the Griffith Fine Arts Building, or call (936) 468-6407 or (888) 240-ARTS.
January 18, 2018 - NACOGDOCHES, Texas — Stephen F. Austin State University’s Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture and the SFA Division of Environmental Science will host a public lecture beginning at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 5, in the Brundrett Conservation Education Building at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center, 2900 Raguet St., in Nacogdoches.
Heidi Grether, director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, will present “Perspectives on Environmental Protection and Regulation, Day-to-Day and in Crisis.”
Grether brings a wealth of experience and knowledge from her time dealing with environmental disasters such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. During this time she served as the general manager for external affairs for BP’s Gulf Coast Restoration Organization, which was responsible for managing all aspects of external affairs post-spill across states located along the Gulf Coast.
Prior to leading Michigan’s environmental regulatory agency, which has federal delegated authority for a broad array of environmental programs, as well as state-specific authorities, Grether served as the deputy director of the Michigan Agency for Energy.
Grether also served as legislative director for the Michigan speaker of the house, as well as policy advisor to the Michigan Senate and vice president of environmental affairs for the Michigan Manufacturers Association.
She has received recognition awards for strategic communications and outreach, issues advocacy and crisis communications.
This lecture is free and open to the public. Parking is available at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center and nearby Raguet Elementary School, located at 2428 Raguet St.
For more information, call (936) 468-1185 or email fullersa@sfasu.edu.
January 18, 2018 - A faculty recital by Dr. Brad Meyer, director of percussion studies at Stephen F. Austin State University, has been rescheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 20, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.
Originally scheduled for Tuesday night, Jan. 16, Meyer’s recital was canceled because of the university’s closure due to inclement weather.
Meyer will perform “Mourning Dove Sonnet” by Christopher Deane, “Stop Speaking” by Andy Akiho and “Intersection Lines” from Meyer’s own composition, “Seven Images for Solo Concert Snare Drum.” Other selections to be performed include “Roar” from John Luther Adams’ “Mathematics of Resonant Bodies” and “Madera Viento y Metal” by Alejandro Viñao.
Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.
January 14, 2018 - The Children’s Performing Arts Series at Stephen F. Austin State University will celebrate Black History Month Thursday, Feb. 1, with performances of the Virginia Repertory Theatre’s “Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad.”
This stirring drama with music is a classic tribute to the great American who freed herself and hundreds of her people from the bonds of slavery, according to Diane Peterson, SFA Fine Arts Box Office manager and director of the College of Fine Art’s children’s series.
“Traveling by night and in extreme secrecy, Harriet Tubman’s courage helped to change the world,” Peterson said.
Audiences will learn of Tubman’s inspiring and adventurous life in this factual and deeply moving musical history lesson, written for children in second through eighth grade.
As the story unfolds, children will learn of Tubman’s early years in slavery, her escape to freedom, and her time as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. During the Civil War, Tubman becomes a spy for the Union Army, and later a nurse and scout. The North wins the war bringing emancipation to the slaves but that does not end Tubman’s struggle for freedom. She turns her attention to women’s suffrage and continues fighting for everyone who suffers inequality.
Teachers can incorporate this show into their curriculum with reading materials and activities outlined at http://va-rep.org/tour/guides/harriet.pdf.
Other upcoming CPAS performances are Super Scientific Circus on Wednesday, March 7; and “The Ugly Duckling” on Friday, April 27.
Performances are at 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on show dates in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus. Tickets are $7.50 for individuals and $6 per person for groups of 20 or more.
To order tickets, call (936) 468-6407 or (888) 240-ARTS. Visit the CPAS website at www.cpas.sfasu.edu for additional information.
Cutline: Two performances of “Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad” on Thursday, Feb. 1, at Stephen F. Austin State University will usher in local observances of Black History Month in February.
January 11, 2018 – The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music will present faculty member Dr. Brad Meyer performing a recital at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, January 16, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.
Meyer, director of percussion studies at SFA, will perform “Mourning Dove Sonnet” by Christopher Deane, “Stop Speaking” by Andy Akiho and “Intersection Lines” from Meyer’s own composition, “Seven Images for Solo Concert Snare Drum.” Other selections to be performed include “Roar” from John Luther Adams’ “Mathematics of Resonant Bodies” and “Madera Viento y Metal” by Alejandro Viñao.
In Deane’s “Mourning Dove Sonnet” for vibraphone, the composer requires a performer to employ both standard performance techniques, as well as progressive procedures such as bowing of the bars with bass bows, producing harmonics of certain notes, and bending the pitches of bars, Meyers explained.
“Seven Images” was composed after Meyer returned from a clinic and performance tour in Slovenia where he visited a modern art museum in Ljubljana.
“As soon as I entered the museum, I was immediately captivated by several large-scale installations,” Meyer said. “These installations stayed in my memory long after I had left Slovenia. Because of my fascination with the museum and its art, I decided to create seven snare drum solos based off of seven of the most memorable installations and pieces of art I witnessed.”
“Stop Speaking” is a contemporary piece for solo snare drum and digital playback. It was commissioned for the 2011 Modern Snare Drum Competition hosted by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
Viñao used electronic sounds to extend and transform the resonance and timbre of the marimba for “Madera Viento y Metal.”
“The harmonies in ‘Madera Viento y Metal’ follow not only the logic of the notes and scales on which the piece is based, but are also dictated by the colors and resonances resulting from the interaction between the marimba and the electronics sounds I created for this work,” the composer writes. “This interaction is dynamic, changing from moment to moment as the music unfolds.”
The recital is part of the School of Music’s Calliope Concert Series.
Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.
January 2, 2018 Nacogdoches — As seed catalog season quickly approaches, SFA Gardens invites fellow gardeners to join in the third annual Nacogdoches Seed Swap beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 20, at the Brundrett Conservation Education Building at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center.
All viable flower, herb, vegetable and tree seeds may be swapped, whether they were purchased at a nursery or saved from your own garden.
“Seed swaps are the perfect opportunity to build community relationships by connecting through growing food and sharing our abundant resources,” said Kerry Lemon, head of the Thomas J. Rusk School Garden and former assistant education coordinator at SFA Gardens.
Participants should bring their seeds labeled with the variety and year collected or bought. Seeds do not need to be individually packaged. They can be brought in their existing packets or containers. Envelopes will be provided for attendees to take home swapped seeds.
Volunteers will help attendees display their seeds on appropriate tables — vegetable, herb, flower, tree, mystery, etc. After all the seeds are organized, swapping begins. There is no limit to the number of seeds participants may take home, but generally, participants should bring home about as many seeds as they brought. Newcomers also are welcome to attend to begin to build their “inventory” of seeds and meet new friends.
“Previous seed swaps drew many gardeners who were eager to share their saved seeds, best tips and garden tales,” said Jocelyn Moore, assistant education coordinator at SFA Gardens. “Some seeds from past swaps were saved through many years, including the Longhorn Okra, saved for more than 15 consecutive years.”
The event is free and open to the public. Donations are gladly accepted and support Nacogdoches Naturally, the SFA Gardens afterschool gardening club. For more information, contact Moore at moorejv@sfasu.edu.
December 15, 2017 Nacogdoches – Registration is underway for private lessons and group classes offered for the 2018 spring semester by the Music Preparatory Division of the School of Music at Stephen F. Austin State University.
Besides the usual 16-week private lessons in piano, harp, violin, voice, bass, classical guitar, saxophone and cello, Music Prep is introducing early childhood music classes in the coming spring, according to Pat Barnett, director of the Music Preparatory Division.
“This is an exciting new offering for the children in the community to experience music and learning,” Barnett said, “and we highly recommend the program.”
Dr. Kristin Lyman, coordinator of music education in the SFA School of Music, will lead the classes beginning Tuesday, Jan. 30, at the Music Prep House at 3028 Raguet St. Bounces, wiggle, tickles, clapping, tapping, songs, beat and movement will be explored by newborns to 18 months; 18 months to 3 years; and 3 to 5 years of age, along with their parents.
Another new Music Prep offering is unique 45-minute private piano lessons for two children at a time, taught by Theresa Moon.
“The piano students will meet with Mrs. Moon at the same time and learn to play piano and discover the mysteries of the instrument,” Barnett said.
Music Prep offers 12 weeks of musical study with SFA music major students. Lessons in violin, cello, classical guitar, trumpet, voice, French horn, fiddle and other instruments upon request are offered. The student instructors are referred by their major professors and have a high level of mastery of their instrument, Barnett explained.
Group classes offered are Music Theory Adventures, taught by Laura Treadaway; Adult Piano Class, taught by Dr. Ping-Ting Lan; Pineywoods Youth Orchestra, directed by Dr. Evgeni Raychev; Pineywoods Fiddlers, directed by Brenna Campbell; and The Raguet Strings, directed by Brenda Josephsen. The Pineywoods Fiddlers, begun by SFA music major Emily Williams, will be continued by Campbell.
Registration forms for the 2018 spring semester are available on the Music Prep website at www.music.sfasu.edu/prep and are being accepted now. The forms may be downloaded and turned in to the Music Prep office. Sixteen-week private lessons begin the week of Jan. 8, and 12-week private lessons begin the week of Jan. 29. Contact the Music Prep office at (936) 468-1291 for more information.
Shirley Watterson and Dr. Robert Blocker, a former chairman of the SFA Department of Music, founded the SFA Music Preparatory Division in 1980.
Compound Patented by SFA’s National Center for Pharmaceutical Crops Shows Promise in Treating Cancer
December 14, 2017 Nacogdoches — A plant many consider destructive may have just redeemed itself by offering promise in fighting cancer.
A team of researchers at Stephen F. Austin State University’s National Center for Pharmaceutical Crops, located within the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agricultural, has spent years researching giant salvinia, a noxious plant species known to overtake waterways and kill aquatic life.
The researchers’ work has recently led to a U.S. patent for an anti-cancer compound, Salvinol. Lab trials conducted at the NCPC verify Salvinol can slow and, in some cases, completely inhibit the growth of a wide range of cancer cells, including pancreatic and lung cancer cells.
“People often turn to tropical locations to search for medicinal compounds, but that requires a lot of money and resources,” said Dr. Shiyou Li, research professor and director of the NCPC. “Instead, we turned to a native and invasive species in our own backyard.”
During the past two decades, Li and SFA research scientists Guangrui Deng, Zushang Su, Ping Wang and Wei Yuan have isolated more than 2,000 chemical compounds from roughly 1,300 species. Many of these compounds are currently undergoing rigorous lab trials to verify their pharmacological potential.
In the quest to isolate potential anti-cancer compounds, Li and his team also made a revolutionary breakthrough in the control of invasive species. Endogenous biocide, or endocide, is a concept developed by Li that refers to the chemical compounds within a species that, when exposed, have biocidal effects on that species. Moreover, these biocidal effects are species specific, meaning surrounding unrelated species are not negatively affected.
While this concept initially focused on giant salvinia, research has shown that the endocide concept can be used to control numerous other plant and animal species, including fire ants.
“This is the most amazing thing I have seen in my career,” said Dr. Steve Bullard, SFA provost and vice president for academic affairs. “The science community is not fully aware of Dr. Li’s work yet, and that is why it is so important to protect this intellectual property through patents.”
The NCPC also is collaborating with the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to investigate how anti-inflammatory compounds in turmeric, an herbaceous perennial plant, can be used in cancer treatment.
The NCPC, formerly known as the Center for Medicinal Plant Research, was established in 2004 through U.S. congressional appropriations and has received support from former U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and U.S. Congressman Louie Gohmert. Its primary mission is improving human health through the discovery of novel anti-tumor and anti-viral agents from native and invasive species.
Li said that both the offices of Hutchison and Gohmert provided invaluable support during the past 20 years, and as his research moves forward, he hopes to develop new partnerships and investors to further the center’s mission.
Visit forestry.sfasu.edu/ncpc to learn more about the NCPC.
Story by Sarah Fuller, outreach coordinator at Stephen F. Austin State University’s Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture.
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