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25 Artists to Attend Print Fair as Art Benefit Theatre Arts Announces the 2004-05 Season Students on the Road Summer 2004 Greg Spencer Writes New Novel "The Welkening" Staff |
Master Plan Update That plan, as you know, is under review by county officials and will come before the Montecito Planning Commission this fall. A recent, well-attended public hearing on the draft environmental impact report at Montecito Union School, while involving a number of comments and complaints by those opposed, was both cordial and encouraging. The draft Environmental Impact Report is a very positive document that identifies several aspects of the master plan update that will cause beneficial effects, something almost unheard of in the world of Santa Barbara County planning. Once the master plan update is approved, the college hopes to break ground on two new buildings - the Adams Center for the Visual Arts and the David K. Winter Science Hall. The college's recent capital campaign raised more than $57 million for these two buildings and other program improvements. Meanwhile, the college recieved a $1 million anonymous gift to help us as we plan to launch another capital campaign next summer. Part of that effort will be adding staff in college advancement. Two new senior associates for major gifts were hired in July: Jeff Sieck ('96) and Mona Motte Wilds. Jeff comes to us from Los Olivos Realty, where he was operations manager. He has an extensive background in business systems analysis and information technology and is conversant in German, a skill he sharpened as a ski instructor in Austria in 2002-03. Jeff graduated from Westmont in 1996, and his mom is Westmont trustee Nini Sieck. Mona has been development director at Laguna Blanca School the past eight years and has extensive experience in fund-raising, development, and alumni and community relations at private colleges. Jeff and Mona will be responsible for soliciting gifts of $5,000 or more. In recent weeks, OCA also has hired several new people to support the college's goals in the areas of alumni/graduate giving, planned giving, and foundation and corporate relations. You may know that at the president's direction, we are executing a startegic plan to reach a grad giving paricipation rate of 50 percent. Richie Nolan has been promoted to assistant director of annual giving and Serena Bos was hired to support Director Sarah Camp in alumni and grad giving. In foundation and corporate relations, Zoe Stewart has joined the offices of Director Lori Call and Senior Associate of Major Gifts David McCurry to bolster our strong foundation and corporate relations efforts. Julie Rubio recently transferred to support advancement systems and donor relations. You may notice a bit of "musical offices" in coming weeks as we look for space for these new employees and plan for additional help leading up to the campaign. As always, if you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to call me at ext. 7188 or e-mail clundberg@westmont.edu. We will keep you posted on new developments. 25 Artists to Attend Print Fair as Art Benefit Each artist will sell their original fine art prints (not reproductions). The funds raised for the printmaking program will be used for supplies, scholarships and equipment. Printmaking is an elective course as part of the art major, specializing in wood block, etching and solar plate printing techniques. Among the Santa Barbara-area artists who will attend are: Tony Askew, Gerry Aspen, Virginia Butterfield, Nance Cole, Rica Coulter, Anna Griffin, Elaine, LeVasseur, Saritha MargonTrui Nazzetti, John Moses, Jerilynne Nibbe, Loren Nibbe, Sara Norquay, Don Zimmerman and Siu Zimmerman. Theatre Arts Announces the 2004-2005 Season Mitchell Thomas, Westmont's new full-time, tenure-track professor, opens the season with his production of Craig Lucas's "Reckless" Oct. 28, playing weekends through Nov. 6. in Porter Theatre. The Theatre Arts Department also will feature a residence of one of the world's most visionary theatre ensembles, DO-Theatre, St. Petersburg, directed by Evgeny Kozlov. Members of DO-Theatre will be in residence from Sept. 13- Oct. 5. They will teach master classes, develop short theater works, and will show their acclaimed visual theatre piece "Birds Eye View" at the 2004 Lit Moon World Theater Festival Sept. 25- Oct. 3 at the Center Stage Theatre in downtown Santa Barbara. The Fall Dance Concert, Dec. 2-4, choreographed by faculty members Erlyne Whiteman and Victoria Finlayson and featuring the Westmont Windancers, showcases the uniqueness of Westmont's dance program. "Both Erlyne and Victoria create dances that blur the lines between dance, theatre and performance art," said Theatre Arts Chair John Blondell. "Consequently, our program speaks to what is contemporary, vital and relevant about the art form, rather than what is encrusted by decades of tradition." The season continues in February with Blondell's production of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" weekends Feb. 25 - March 5, 2005. Last done at Westmont in 1990, the play affords great challenges for the entire artistic team and appeals to a wide variety of audiences. "I've been casting far and wide for something new to do," Blondell said. "But then I started to think about doing something old; something I've done before. When I last did this play it was one of the most memorable experiences of my career. Play-as-Dream has been a fascination of mine for quite some time." The season concludes with the New Works Festival, April 22-23. The festival gives theater and dance students the opportunity to develop their own work using different theater art forms and multimedia. "This is an exciting year for us," Blondell said. "We have a new fauculty member, have programmed some exciting performances and have created a lively residency for a world-class company. We hope more and more people will venture into the hills of Montecito to see the kind of work we do." Students on the Road Summer 2004 At a time when most college students take a summer break, hundreds of Westmont students continue to grow in their vision and understanding of the world and to develop their ability to live effectively for Christ in the midst of complex needs. Service projects span the globe and offer students wide-ranging opportunities: Guatemala-Kinesiology Guatemala Japan Jordan Portugal South Africa Tonga Greg Spencer Writes New Novel "The Welkening" "the Welkening: A Three-Dimensional Tale", published by Howard Fiction, tells of four high school friends who discover what makes them misfits in Skinner, Oregon, makes them "fit" to resolve a great evil that has begun to ravage an alternative dimension called Welken. At the same time a third story-line develops as another character reads aloud a novel she has been writing. The four friends must learn the meaning behind the convergence of the three worlds. The word "welken" is Old English, meaning "firmament, the vault of heaven the place where deity resides." It's used in Shakespeare 12 times (spelled "welkin"), and Charles Wesley's first draft of "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" was actually "Hark How All the Welkin Rings." Though appealing to junior high-aged readers, it is anticipated that many adults will enjoy it as well. "The Welkening" is more complex than the Harry Potter stories, so it is hoped that Spencer's novel will achieve a wide reasership similar to the Potter series. Spencer also wrote "A Heart for Truth: Taking Your Faith to College." For more information go to: www.thewelkening.com. Prayer Requests You may recall the name Rudy Carrasco from Harambee Center in Pasadena who spoke in chapel this past year. Rudy has been a longtime devoted friend of Westmont. This weekend his 4-year-old son, Kafi was diganosed with leukemia. Please keep this family in your prayers. Retta Peattie, mother of Dana Vander Mey, died on July 15. During the past six months she had been in declining health. Many in her family were able to be at her bedside. Her lifelong passion was helping ethnic minorities. Please keep the family in your prayers. Continue to uphold Erlyne Whiteman, associate professor of theatre arts, and her family in prayer as she helps her mother transition into an assisted-living home. Pray that her mother will feel well-cared for in her new home and that Erlyne and her brother will feel at peace about her well-being. Hold the Date Update on the Westmont Pool Please watch for an all campus communication about a celebration BBQ to re-open the pool. Thank you to all he staff and faculty who have had to field the logistics on this surprise project! Promotions/Changes Michele Mollkoy, Orientation interim coordinator Dorothy Palmquist, full-time technical services assistant Michalle Pombrio, athletics/kinesiology secretary Christy Postma, administrative assistant to excecutive vice president Julie Rubio, advancement services assistant Johnathan Taylor, five month temporary position as PC/workstation support New Faces on Campus Ray Gonzales, facility maintenance worker III, electrician Clark Morgan, admissions counselor Liza Philips, temporary coordinator of student ministries temorary assistant to first year programs Elizabeth Rusinak, temporary assistant in off campus programs Job Board Assistant to Housing Director Construction Project Coordinator, Physical Plant Director of Conference Services Secretary, Math & Computer Science, 25 hours/wk.; 9 months/yr. |