Ann Fessler

Ann Fessler is a Professor of Photography at Rhode Island School of Design. Her significant contributions to the field of photography have been recognized by the Harold Jones Distinguished Alumni Committee and she was honored as the award’s 2007 recipient. A specialist in video and audio installation art, she received her BA in Art from Ohio State University, her MA in Media Studies from Webster University, and her MFA in Photography at the University of Arizona.
Her artistic career, grounded in the study of photography and subsequently addressed in video, installation art, and non-fiction writing, includes the gap between lived history and recorded history and the problems of representing others in words and pictures. Her work explores and challenges issues of family and identity from a feminist perspective.

Hancock, Sevigny, Eller, and Shelton

UA Alumna Stevie Eller has funded an endowed faculty chair in The University of Arizona School of Dance. President Robert Shelton made the announcement during The President’s Club luncheon at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix.
The Stevie Eller Chair for the Director of Dance was established in part to reward and retain Jory Hancock, head of the UA dance program since 1990.
“Jory has been absolutely fabulous in leading one of the most elite dance programs in the country,” said Stevie Eller, who was a member of the UA dance club, Orchesis, as a student in the 1950s. “Jory is a highly sought after educator and choreographer, and I felt compelled to do my part to keep him at the UA where he belongs.”

Val Lehnerd

Val Lehnerd has made graphic design his life. Though he began his career as a firefighter, Lehnerd spent the last five years earning his BFA in Visual Communication. The circumstances leading up to his pursuit of a new career are both tragic and remarkable. In 1994, he was involved in a life-threatening, work-related accident. Surviving with fifteen broken vertebrae, he spent the next two years in bed and had to learn to walk again.
Lehnerd asserts that art and creating have always been at the core of who he is. He decided to go back to school and earned his BFA this December, graduating with high honors.
Lehnerd credits his success to a positive attitude, determination, and strength: “I have overcome some large obstacles that have forced drastic changes in my life,” he states, “but those obstacles did not stop me from achieving my goals, [they] only made me stronger.”

Tim McKiernan

Tim McKiernan, a recent BFA Acting graduate in the School of Theatre Arts, was selected on January 19 as the recipient of the second annual Jack Wagner Showcase Award. The award, donated by UA Theatre Arts alumnus Jack Wagner, is presented to a graduating senior from the BFA acting or musical theatre program, and provides an opportunity for the recipient to appear in a small, one-time role on the CBS soap opera, "The Bold and the Beautiful," in which Wagner plays Dominick “Nick” Marone. The winner was selected at the Showcase of Talent; a program which provides theatre students the opportunity to audition for industry professionals.
“I loved my time, as well as the people, at the University of Arizona. The experience and memories will be with me forever,” says Wagner. “I’m grateful to be in a position to give something back to the drama department that gave so much to me.”

John Kilkenny

“Producing Special Effects in Science Fiction Movies” was presented on Thursday, January 31, 2008 at Optical Sciences Building. John Kilkenny is an executive vice president at Twentieth Century Fox where he heads the visual effects department. John oversaw the effects on Night at the Museum; X-Men: The Last Stand; Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Aliens vs. Predator- Requiem, and many other “event” movies. Prior to joining Fox, John produced the visual effects for Star Trek Insurrection and I Robot, the latter earning him an Award nomination for best achievement in visual effects. John is an alumnus of The University of Arizona. He graduated in the 1980’s and is a member of the College of Fine Arts Hanson Film Institute Industry Council.

Katie Hundere

Katie Hundere, a Media Arts junior in the Producing program, recently sold a marketing idea to FX, the network best known for “The Shield,” “Nip/Tuck,” and “Rescue Me.” This idea was born out of an assignment for U.S. Media Now, a course taught by Professor Kevin Sandler, in which students designed three multi-platform programming and advertising strategies for the comedy “It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” To prepare for this assignment the class held a conference call with the FX marketing department to discuss the network's brand essence. Students then created their own strategies. The top ten were forwarded to FX where their favorite was chosen. Hundere's idea of integrating eBay into the fabric of “It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia” so wowed the FX executives that they decided to buy it.

Goddess of Roses

Artist, writer, scholar, and mentor, Joanna Frueh, a performance artist and an adjunct instructor in the School of Art since 2007, is the 2008 recipient of the Women’s Caucus for Art (WCA) Lifetime Achievement Award. The award, in recognition of Frueh’s remarkable accomplishments in the visual arts, was presented to her in Dallas, Texas, on February 23rd, 2008. An affiliate society of the College Art Association, the WCA was founded in 1972 and is dedicated to creating opportunities and recognition for women in the arts. The Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded annually in celebration of the outstanding achievements of women working in the arts.
In addition, in early September, her solo show, Goddess of Roses, was presented at the Marroney Theatre in the College of Fine Arts in conjunction with the 2007 School of Art Faculty Exhibition. Goddess of Roses is a celebration of living wholeheartedly.

Photo by Frank Gohlke

Frank Gohlke, Professor of Photography at the School of Art and the first Senior Fellow of the Institute for Photographic Research at the Center for Creative Photography, is a prominent and internationally-acclaimed figure in American photography.
Gohlke‘s most recent achievement is his exhibition at the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas: Accommodating Nature: The Photographs of Frank Gohlke. After its stay in Fort Worth, Accommodating Nature will be exhibited at the Center for Creative Photography from August through October of 2008.
The arrival of Frank Gohlke and his involvement with the School of Art and the CCP as both educator and scholar marks the University’s readiness to move ahead into a future that emphasizes its recognition of photography as an integrated discipline of creation and scholarship.

Patrick Holt Wins “Best Costume Design”

School of Theatre Arts Assistant Professor Patrick Holt recently won the 2007 Denver Post Ovation Award for “Best Costume Design” for his work on A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. Winners were determined by theater critic John Moore from among the 154 Colorado productions opening after January 1 that were either reviewed or observed by all Denver Post critics. “It was a real honor to receive this award for my work in Colorado,” Holt says. “It was a magical experience with a magical play. It was a true honor to open the Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s 50th anniversary season, and the fact that other people enjoyed it makes the entire experience even more fulfilling as an artist.”
His work has been seen across the country, from the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego to the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, and on HBO, CBS, and the A&E networks. (Caption for photo: Patrick Holt's award-winning costume design for A Midsummer Night's Dream.)

Stevie Eller Dance Theatre

The Stevie Eller Dance Theatre was included among Arizona's 18 Greatest Architectural Achievements. The list was compiled and announced recently by the Arizona chapter of the American Institute of Architects, in conjunction with the national AIA's 150th anniversary.
The Stevie Eller Dance Theatre is both a performance site and a teaching studio for the School of Dance. "Eller is all about movement," said Peter Dourlein, associate director of UA Facilities Design and Construction. "People recognize that it's good architecture, different and exciting and still sympathetic to its location," Dourlein said.
"Buildings have to do more than be a space; they have to inspire people," Dourlein said. "The Stevie Eller Dance Theater is a great recruitment tool. The School of Dance is getting great faculty and students because they want to come here, and not just because of the teaching. It's also because of the great facility."