Category: Arts

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Arts

Things to Eat: Guacamole

Guacamole.  For those of you who read my last article, forgive me for writing one more time about my love of Mexican food. I just could not pass up the opportunity to highlight one of the best culinary treasures on earth.

Courtesy of Gabe Jacobsen
Courtesy of Gabe Jacobsen

Guacamole can be simple, made with avocados, salt, and a little bit of lime, or it can be highly complex filled with various spices, fruits, nuts, herbs and even bacon (there are lots of variations to be found on the internet)!  It is equally diverse when served at home as an appetizer with chips or vegetables for dipping or as a condiment on an endless supply of different main dishes.

This week I am offering up an approximation of my typical recipe (I usually don’t measure) and will even provide some suggestions for ways to spruce it up if you want.  Samples will be available in the Office of Student Life on Monday until it runs out!

Ingredients:

  • 2 medium sized avocados (the best way to tell if they are ripe is if you push on them and there is a slight give – you want them to be a little bit soft, but not mushy or brown)

  • 1 clove garlic (fresh is best)

  • 1/2 jalapeño, finely diced (you can vary the heat level by using more, less or removing the veins and seeds inside the chile)

  • 1/2 cup chopped cilantro

  • 1/3 cup finely chopped onion

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt (plus more to taste)

  • 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

  • juice from 1/2 small lime

Directions:

Take 1 teaspoon onion, the clove of garlic, jalapeño, salt, pepper, lime juice and a good pinch of cilantro and put it in a blender (you can do this in a mortar and pestle or chop all the ingredients finely and try to mash them with a fork if you don’t have a blender.)  Blend until smooth.  Open the avocados by cutting lengthwise around the pit and pulling the two halves apart.  You can remove the pit by gently hitting the pit with the knife and then pulling the pit out.  With your knife, carefully cut a crosshatch pattern in each of the halves of the avocado and scoop the cubes out into a bowl with a spoon.  Pour the blended mixture over the avocado and gently toss to coat all the pieces evenly.  Add remaining cilantro and onion to the bowl and mash the avocado to your preferred consistency (I like mine to have some texture to it).  Add more salt to taste if you think it needs it.

If you want to try something different, you can add mango, papaya, peaches, or strawberries for a more tropical feel. Or, as I mentioned above, you can add bacon (think B.L.T. with avocado here and it doesn’t sound so weird).  Enjoy!

 

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Arts

Philharmonia Performance

On Wednesday April 24 at 8 p.m., the Houghton Philharmonia will be performing their final concert of the semester entitled, “Everything Old is New Again.” The performance will include three pieces: “Concerto for Horn” by Reinhold Gliere (conducted by graduate student Ethan Hall), “Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite No. 3 for Strings” by Ottorino Respighi, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5.

In choosing the music selections for this concert, conductor Dr. Mark Hijleh tried to look for something that would challenge the orchestra as well as be manageable in relation to the group’s skill level. All the pieces exhibit an ongoing and established repertoire of strong and dynamic music making. Each piece was important to its time, which led to the concert title.

Courtesy of Facebook.com
Courtesy of Facebook.com

The members of Philharmonia and their conductor have been hard at work practicing these pieces throughout the semester. Hijleh took over the orchestra this spring. Hijleh said that he has attempted “to create a space where each person could make their best contribution in creating an overall sound.”

In preparation for this concert, Philharmonia faced some challenges, such as performing each piece with a unique sound. The sound is dictated by the time period in which each piece was produced and those stylistic additions that would epitomize the distinctiveness of the work.

The length of each piece also demands a certain rigor of each of the musicians, with the longest piece spanning about 30 minutes. This puts even more emphasis on working together to create a unified sound. A certain mental and physical endurance is necessary to perform these pieces.

Sophomore Brandon Bennet, music education major, is the principal second violin. He has been participating in Philharmonia since the fall semester of his freshman year when he was the officer for the freshman class. Now as section leader, Bennet carries the greater responsibility of helping to motivate and push his section.

In preparing for the upcoming concert, he said that the piece by Beethoven “presented many challenges for the entire orchestra.”  As a result, Bennet said that Dr. Hijleh has been committed to “moving forward and not becoming stagnant” as an orchestra.

Bennet had recently seen Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 performed by Rochester’s Philharmonic orchestra.  Bennet said he is very “honored to be playing the same piece as an orchestra that is held in such high respect”.

Senior Isabel Sanders will be given the privilege this concert of being a student soloist in the piece “Concerto for Horn.”  She was provided this opportunity through a competition that was held last semester by the music department.

In her solo, Sanders said that a specific difficulty has been the memorization of her piece.   Although she is familiar with the music since she played it for her junior recital last year, this will be the first time in which she will play the piece from memory. With this in mind, Sanders said that she is excited for the chance to play a piece that she knows well and loves. Sanders also said that she hopes that those who come to listen to the concert feel moved by the music that the members of Philharmonia have dedicated so much of their time to this semester.

Sanders said that the most rewarding part of the performance will be “hearing the orchestra behind me, supporting me, [giving] me encouragement and inspiration to play better.”

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Arts

“The Magic Flute” Opera

Beginning on Friday April 19 Houghton College’s lyric theatre program will be putting on a performance of Mozart’s whimsical opera, “The Magic Flute.” According to the director’s note written by Dr. Conor Angell, the production is a fairy-tale narrative that mixes “slapstick humor with serious moral messages.” It mixes humor with powerful themes such as “light overcoming darkness”, making the production an enjoyable show for children, students, and even parents alike.

Courtesy of houghton.edu
Courtesy of houghton.edu

This “outlandish, fairytale kind of plot” will be brought to life by a chamber orchestra and a full cast and chorus, all led by director Angell and conductor Andrew Dibble. This opera features characters such as the Bird Catcher; an energetic, simple, and bumbling man by the name of Papageno played by graduate student Chris Olsen; and the sinister, cruel, and vengeful Queen of the Night played by sophomore Rachel Anacker.

In the director’s note, Angell said that Mozart “wrote some of the most beloved music of all time for his last opera, ‘The Magic Flute.’” This opera, a result of the collaboration between Mozart and his librettist, Schikaneder, was written primarily for the middle-class suburban theatre crowd, said Angell. Angell also said that it is unique that this production will feature more spoken dialogue than is typical, making it “similar to modern musicals.” Alongside slapstick humor and some strikingly serious and cruel instances, this beloved show also features a love plot full of twists that is sure to “pull the audience’s heartstrings,” as Angell said.

Though perhaps an unexpected choice as an opera, Angell said that those involved wanted to “balance the feasible with the ambitious.” Additionally, this opera will be performed in English, helping it to resonate with an audience that may not frequent the opera. Angell hopes that by using the chapel as a venue, the full opera experience will come through, aided by spectacular sets, powerful vocalists, and a superb chamber orchestra.

Angell went on to praise the work on the set design, led by junior art major Amy Coon. This production has been made possible by the initiative taken by many students to “stand up and volunteer.” “Go big or go home” seems to be the overarching idea, said Angell, with “bigger lighting, bigger sets, more costumes, and better lighting” all being a part of the show. Freshman Luke Duttweiler said, “The audience will enjoy the incredible costuming and the set.”

Everyone involved in the production has been preparing for this weekend since December, said Angell. Duttweiler said that the opera has been a “ton of work…but [that] it has a huge potential reward.” A show cannot go on without its crew behind the scenes, however, and sophomore Lara Larsson said, “we forget that a production is not simply performers on a stage. It truly is a team effort!”

“There’s this buzz amongst the cast and also around campus and the school of music,” said Angell. Larsson said that all who are planning on attending should “be prepared to smile, laugh, and be awed.” Houghton’s “The Magic Flute” promises to be a night filled with incredible sets, bright lights, and a stellar performance.

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Arts

“Annie” Performance a Hit

Last weekend, The Houghton Musical Theatre Players, also known as HMTP, performed “Annie”, a Broadway musical that tells the story of an optimistic orphan girl and her journey of finding a family and a home.

Set in New York City during the Great Depression, the musical also includes the economic and social tensions of the time through a musical number performed by homeless people and a particularly interesting scene which involves Annie, President Franklin Roosevelt, his advisors, and Mr. Warbucks.

Annie, played by Liana Wool, functions in this scene as the ultimate force of good feelings and bright expectations. The President, played by Mike Heyd, and his advisors join her in a reprise of “Tomorrow” after which they come up with the idea for The New Deal: the plan that changed the fortunes of America during the Great Depression.

While these scenes dealt with the very real and devastating poverty of the time, HMTP found moments appropriate for comic relief, blending both heavy and light concepts into an enjoyable presentation.

Crowd favorites were Miss Hannigan, played by Janelle Conklin, and Rooster, played by Aaron Young. Despite having only five weeks to memorize lines and put together the majority of the performance, the actors seemed beautifully rehearsed and very comfortable performing together. The orphans, as an ensemble, displayed a particular comfort and chemistry with each other. Director Wynn Horton said, “The orphans were the easiest to teach; they just had to be loud and have lots of energy.”

Josh Mertzlufft, who played Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks, commented on the diversity of the cast and crew and that diversity’s implications for the performance. He said, “There were people from everywhere [on campus] involved. There was no stereotype. We were really a cross-section of the campus, and the group was definitely not dominated by music majors.”

Horton and the cast felt that they could fulfill a greater calling while enjoying their talents in music, acting and dancing; 25 percent of the profits from the ticket sales went toward the Hillside Family of Agencies. Hillside, based out of Rochester, provides a wide variety of services, one of which happens to be adoption.

Because Houghton regularly deals with social justice issues both locally and globally, supporting an agency that provides help with adoptions is in line with the college’s overarching goals.

Mertzlufft said, “There is a campus drive for social action, and a lot of groups on campus are concerned with raising awareness. Not as many are actively pursuing those convictions. Sometimes, Houghton is being more of a mouth than hands and feet. ‘Annie’ was a way to be active.”

Elisabeth Nelson, a sophomore who played one of the orphans, said, “My greatest memories come from creating new relationships and meeting many different people. I would not have gotten to know some of the people I did without ‘Annie’, and that is what I will take away from my experience.”

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Arts

Things to Eat: Bread

The first time I made bread, it turned out like a rock. I asked my mom what had happened. You killed the yeast, she told me. If you want to make bread, know this before anything: don’t add boiling water to the yeast. If the recipe says warm water, then that does not mean boil water and let it cool for a few minutes before using it. My sister does that, but I’m wary. I turn the hot water faucet on as hot as it will go.

Courtesy of Isabel Sanders
Courtesy of Isabel Sanders

There are basically two kinds of breads: quick breads and yeast breads. Quick breads include things like banana bread. Yeast breads take much longer to bake, roughly two hours give or take for the whole process, and include your typical sandwich breads. You can make an enormous variety of breads. I used to make bread every Sunday morning last year when I lived in a townhouse. I started with basic wheat bread: water, yeast, butter, a little brown sugar, wheat and white flour. Then I branched off into other wheat bread recipes. Then oatmeal and rye. Finnish pulla.

After you realize that warm water does not mean boiling water, making bread is pretty simple, especially if you choose a standard recipe like the one outlined above. Things get more complicated if you branch off, but if you can buy ingredients and read a recipe, you’ll be fine. For example, rye flour and the caraway seeds make rye bread rye. Trying out new bread recipes might mean buying other kinds of flour, adding molasses, eggs, or even cocoa powder to your dough, or shaping the dough into braids or circles.

Baking bread usually occurs in this sequence: mix ingredients, knead dough for eight minutes, let dough rise in bowl for an hour, punch risen dough and form into loaves, let dough rise for half an hour, bake for thirty minutes. And the result? A slice of bread way heartier and tastier than the flimsy pieces you usually find in the grocery store. Kneading bread can also be therapeutic. Don’t have time to make bread? Try walking down to the co-op and buying some of theirs. Yum, I mean YUM.

Lastly I would advise future bread makers not to be afraid of failing. Even a semi-experienced bread maker like me still has the occasional rock loaf that didn’t rise. Just feed it to the birds and try again!

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Arts

Things to Do: Delectable Collectables

Some of our readership may not be aware that Houghton Safety and Security’s very own Gordon Arber is also a small business owner. He and his wife Debbie own Delectable Collectables, formerly The Old Garage next to the firehall in Angelica on West Main Street.

Courtesy of Gordon Arber
Courtesy of Gordon Arber

“I’ve been dealing in antiques and collectibles for at least 30 years,” Arber said. “I just love it.” Delectable Collectables offers a diverse selection of glassware, furniture, comics, toys, primitives, records, jewelry and art. The inventory is constantly changing.

“I always wanted to have my own co-op, and then this building was available in Angelica, so we tried it on a rent to own basis,” said Arber. This is their fourth year owning the business, and he and his wife were able to buy the building last year.

Delectable Collectables has around 25 vendors that rent space, and last year they were able to purchase 20 new display cases. They rent the display cases to vendors, and vendors can also pay for space in the store by the square foot. “Many of my vendors have sales periodically,” Gordon said.

I have had the opportunity to visit Delectable Collectables myself, and my favorite part of the trip was the $1 grab bag. After spending an hour browsing in the shop, it felt silly to leave with nothing, and this was a cheap but unique option.

Each grab bag is a surprise; after purchase you can open it and see what little treasures you are coming away with. My favorites were an old pin, a tiny address book, and a diva tattoo. It was exciting to discover what was in my grab bag!

Delectable Collectables is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. year round. “Like” their page on Facebook, and stop by the shop next time you are in Angelica to support a community member and a local family-owned business. As Arber said, “It’s a fun place just to come and browse and go down memory lane.”

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Arts

Annual Film Festival

The annual Film Festival is on Friday, April 12 this year, a night for Houghton’s amateur filmmakers to showcase their current creative endeavors. The first event of the evening, a formal event, will first feature a “Blue-Hue” pre-party that will be hosted at 8 p.m. in the Van Dyk lounge.

arts&sports_filmfestThe competition, following the pre-party, will take place in Wesley Chapel promptly at 9 p.m. As in any competition, the judging and awards will follow the screenings. Categories this year range from animation and comedy to commercial and drama. According to one of the judges in the competition, Sally Murphy, points are awarded according to different elements of the films such as acting, directing, and cinematography.

The awards are given for achievements such as best actor or actress, best cinematography, best editing, and of course, best picture. The competitive nature of the festival aside, contestant Aaron Fitzgerald, senior, regards it as an opportunity to “celebrate the work of filmmakers on campus.” Cory Martin, junior, said that the purpose of the festival is a chance for students to proudly “display their art to the public.”

Expectations are high for this year’s turnout. “In the past, the Houghton Film Festival has been a big letdown for me. The content was not good. It did not provide a good context to show something you had worked hard on. It was a popularity contest,” said Fitzgerald. “On further inspection, the quality of work and the attitudes of the people submitting films this year seems to be a much higher level and I am happy that I submitted something.”

Submissions this year range from the serious to the comical; “some are stupid and make you scratch your head and laugh, and others are on a more serious note,” senior contestant Andrew Jones said. From an animation film based on a Richard Simmons’ dance video submitted by Martin, to a short film-poem that adapts Ulysses by Tennyson entered by Fitzgerald, this year’s entries are sure to both entertain and encourage thought-provoking dialogue for filmmakers and attendees alike.

This evening would not be possible, of course, without the interest of Houghton students in the art of filmmaking. Jones is looking forward to the Festival as an opportunity to showcase his videos on a larger scale than the in-class critique. Jones said, “Video is such a big part of our culture and it’s great when I can contribute my own ideas and stories. I just enjoy telling stories through film, and much like writing, acting, singing, or painting, film is just another way you can tell a story in an engaging and entertaining way.”

Senior Nicholas Quigley said, “I wanted to submit my piece to share with my friends what I actually do as a communication major.” His entry, Visions, is a submission in the Drama category; he said that his piece “is an ambiguous piece that takes you on a journey in and out of this guy’s head as he deals with his darkest time in his life. What I love about the piece is its ambiguity that leaves the viewer open to interpreting it as they want.”

This year’s Film Festival is a celebration of film that offers a chance to view some fantastic amateur films by fellow students. Murphy said that it is an opportunity to “feel a little Hollywood glam,” making this an event that students will not want to miss.

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Arts

Atoms for Peace Release Album

“Atoms for Peace” is variously referred to as either a supergroup ‘including’ or a side-project ‘belonging to’ its most famous and influential member, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke. Technically speaking, it might better be described as a supergroup formed as the result of a side project of a side project, considering that the band’s first and only album originated due to a string of live performances of Yorke’s 2006 solo release, which was, in itself, a foray away from Radiohead.

Courtesy of collapseboard.com
Courtesy of collapseboard.com

It was in 2009 that Flea (bassist for Red Hot Chili Peppers), Mauro Refrosco (Forro in the Dark percussionist and tour performer for Red Hot Chili Peppers), Nigel Godrich (Radiohead producer), and Joey Waronker (Beck and R.E.M percussion journeyman) joined Yorke to provide live renditions of his highly computer-generated The Eraser. The chemistry and material developed during the practice sessions for this tour period would, several years later, materialize into the group’s February 2013 Amok.

Though surely crucial to the finished product, the names of the producers and percussionists are, perhaps unsurprisingly, not nearly as eye catching as is the renowned moniker Flea. Almost always performing in some state of undress, this is the same Flea who, in the early days of RHCP, joined his bandmates on stage wearing nothing more than a single, strategically placed sock; it is also, perhaps less famously, the same Flea who voiced the feral child character of “Donnie” in the now classic cartoon show, The Wild Thornberrys.

Such a past doesn’t seem to immediately accord with Yorke’s social activism and highbrow music recognition. The seeming disparities between Yorke’s public image as the chic albeit weird British vegan and Flea’s long, and very punk American history are bridged by a single word: ability. Only a bassist with the technical skill and acumen that Flea has would stand a chance of turning anything that Yorke made on his laptop into a playable, performable track.

Flea is evident throughout Amok, making himself immediately apparent in the opening track, ”Before Your Eyes,” and particularly integral in tracks such as “Stuck Together Pieces” and “Reverse Running.” Without his invigorating line delivered starting a minute into “Dropped,” something like a sped-up version of Weezer’s “Only in the Dreams,” the track would lose both momentum and appeal.

Although neither the riffs nor the jumpy, explorative bass are completely beyond the punk and funk roots with which he is so long acquainted, Flea does, overall, settle into an uncharacteristically understated role. His consistent bouncing along underneath Yorke’s familiar “Creep” croon and varying degrees of synth inundation doesn’t so much overwhelm the Chili Peppers legend as it does sublimate him, making him more of a textural accent than a center of attention.

While playing find-the-Flea throughout Amok provides a familiar point of reference, navigating the more computerized extremities of the album is a much more nebulous task. Speaking to Rolling Stone about the sessions that produced the album, Yorke commented, ”One of the things we were most excited about was ending up with a record where you weren’t quite sure where the human starts and the machine ends.”

This certainly seems to be the effect. There are points in certain tracks that seem to occur in a realm entirely above where traditional instruments and voices can follow, such as the whole of “Ingenue” or the psychobabble interlude in “Unless.” Luckily for the group, this ethereal realm also happens to be where Yorke’s voice seems most comfortable.

Whatever the finer technicalities behind the particular indefinable noises happens to be, it is hard not to appreciate them simply for their immaculate precision. They are hard to explain and figure out, but, somehow, they “just work” and we appreciate it. Indeed, isn’t this the way we often think about and thank our machines? This, it seems, is precisely Yorke and company’s point.

While both the intriguing collaborative product of RHCP and Radiohead and the mysteriously alluring mechanization are worth considering, Amok is, as a whole, a journey to nowhere. The album lacks the energy and smart distinctions, subtle or otherwise, needed to alert the listener to progress or development. There are no maps and no landmarks; a writer for Pitchfork describes it as “giving a perpetual sense of jogging in place.” It is ironic that an album which ends with the repeated lines, “to run amok, run amok, run amok,” does, in fact, pan out like a treadmill stuck on some useless in-between speed.

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Arts

Fine Arts Seminar: Learning from Guest Artists

As part of the recent additions to the art department, the Fine Arts Seminar (FAS) has become a weekly investigation into the dialog of contemporary artists and their work. The seminar, which is held from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday evenings, is a course centered on building community between all students, faculty, and community members in the discussion of current studio practices and design industry issues.

Sample of Jennifer Litterer's, guest artist, work
Sample of Jennifer Litterer’s, guest artist, work

Art and design majors are required to take the course for at least six semesters, and the course’s lab fee goes directly to bringing in guest artists. The debut of the weekly seminar was last fall and featured Philadelphia-based designer Alan Espiritu and painter Ann Piper, among others. This spring’s FAS students have engaged with photographers, printmakers, and painters, and will even be host to Houghton graduate Erin Bennett Banks, a well-established illustrator.

Junior Amy Coon commented on the seminar’s value to art students, saying, “I’ve found it to be one of my least demanding classes in terms of workload, yet it is the class that I’ve gained the most from during my college experience. It has taught us how to pursue our passions and gotten us in touch with artists who have succeeded in doing just that.”

Last week’s guest artist Charles Beneke delivered a lecture titled Radiative Forcing and shared his work depicting and dealing with environmental issues in industrialized America. Beneke talked about his experience coming from the undergraduate program at Kenyon College, the MFA program at the University of Connecticut and his travels to Finland and Greenway to further explore these issues as an artist interested in photography, printmaking and painting.

The course has proven to be a very tangible exposure to the possibilities in the art world. “I find Fine Arts Seminar to be an important class that definitely helps college students envision what future career paths they can explore,” said freshman Allyson Murphy.

The seminar is part of the new Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree that the department offers. Professor Jillian Sokso, current head of the art department, explained that “by moving upper level course work from media-specific classes to interdisciplinary, team-taught studio and seminar courses, we are meeting a need to stay as current as possible with our degree offering, finding applied vocational tracks that are current and relevant.”

Amanda Irwin, a sophomore art major with plans to go into Museum Studies, has attended the Fine Arts Seminar during both semesters.  “I’ve found this experience to be humbling and richly authentic,” Irwin said. “Every week I find myself being challenged by the wide range of ideas, creativity, and dedication that is evident in the visiting artists.”

In addition to speaking as the guest lecturer, the guest artists are available to students to give one-on-one critiques of their work. This practice, in the fashion of a graduate level program, exposes students to an outsider’s feedback and knowledge. “Having an outside artist coming into our studio and giving a raw reading of our work is incredibly valuable,” said Coon. “It not only gives a fresh perspective on our work, but it confirms a lot of the advice that we hear from our professors.”

Additionally, the students participate in writing an ongoing blog about the guest artists and the conversations that they spark in the seminar. The blog can be found at http://houghtoncollegefineartsseminar.wordpress.com/.

An open invitation is extended to faculty, students and community members who wish to take part in the conversation each week in the Center for the Arts Room 145.

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Arts

Student Juried Exhibition

Courtesy of Andrea Pacheco
Courtesy of Andrea Pacheco

Saturday, March 16 was the opening reception of the Student Juried Exhibition, a collection of artwork submitted by Houghton students and selected by visiting artist Kevin Shook.  Shook is an Associate Professor of Art & Art History at Birmingham-Southern College, and specializes in printmaking and digital media.  In addition to selecting which of the submitted artworks would be displayed in the show, Shook also chose at least ten pieces to be awarded with between $25 and $200.  Additional awards were given by President Mullen, the First Gentleman, and various art faculty members.

Each student was allowed to submit up to five works, and many took full advantage.  In the days preceding the show, canvases and prints could be seen through the windows of the gallery piled against walls and pedestals, awaiting Shook’s judgment and the skilled hands of Gallery Director Renee Roberts and her assistants to arrange the show.  Submission was not limited to art majors; any students on campus interested in art could submit their pieces.  The tremendous response from students, as well as the open submission policy, resulted in a full, vibrant, and incredibly diverse show.

Unlike Ortlip Gallery exhibitions in the past, including previous Student Juried Exhibitions, this year’s show possesses very few common threads throughout the pieces.  The color schemes are varied and disconnected.  The mediums range from woodworking and ceramics to painting and drawing, and from book-making and textile art to printmaking and graphic design.  And the pieces vary in size; they are sketch-pad sized and teapot-sized, they are teeny tiny and they are monumental.  So perhaps it is fitting that the central focus of the room—the movable wall containing the title of the show—is painted in flashy fuchsia, a color not found in any other piece in the room.  And that hanging upon that wall is a lovely abstract oil painting by Lindsay Burgher, which is made up of greens, yellows, blues, pinks, and oranges—representing in one work the splashes of color seen in different works throughout the room.

The medley of submissions is also accurately represented by the array of awards presented.  The Presidential Purchase Award and the First Gentleman’s Purchase Award went to pieces of two different media, Katelyn Kloos’ woodblock print Misty Morning in County Cork and Megan Loghry’s ceramics piece Great Balls of Fire, respectively.  The Moss Award for 3rd Place went to a colorful oil painting entitled Bad Company by Kelly Ormsby.  Rebecca Dygert’s sweet and wistful litho The

First Dance took home the Alumni Award for 2nd Place.  Art Gallery, the witty watercolor by Megan Tennant, received the Paul Maxwell Memorial Award for 1st Place.  And the Ortlip Award for Best in Show was presented to Alexandra Hood’s beautiful and elegiac litho, In Time.  Several other awards were given, representing a small percentage of the assortment of submissions from package design all the way to photography.

The Student Juried Exhibition will be on display in the Ortlip Gallery until April 18.  All students are encouraged to take the time to swing by and check it out.  Find out which other submissions won awards, take in the beauty of all the pieces of art, and appreciate the talent and hard work of fellow Houghton students.