Tristan Reynolds ’19, in conversation piano-side with pianist-composer and Transylvania music professor Gregory Partain.
The Rambler features campus photography
We all know that photography is crucial part of a millennial’s life, so why not see what those of us at Transy can come up with? Every two weeks, bi-weekly, we will feature entries of photos that are sent to us! You may send your own description of the photo, or maybe you have a story to send behind the image. Whatever this picture means to you, let the rest of us know on campus! Show everyone what photography means to you, show off that pretty picture!
Once all entries are received, we at The Rambler may even pick a favorite to make the feature photo for that issue of bi-weekly photos. Keep in mind that it is not a contest. As the editor of Extra, I would like to begin finding new ways to incorporate you, the reader, into the stories as much as possible. What better way to get involved in media than to share some of your very own media? So get out there and get to taking pictures and making memories happen!
Because this is the first rendition of the bi-weekly photo entries, I have chosen to feature a wonderful photo shot by our very own chief editor Megan Graft. It is an absolutely gorgeous picture of a wine glass beside a candle. Remember, this could be your photo next time!
Get Sprung: Five Kentucky Spring Break Options
Whoa! This semester is going by quick, am I right? Yes? No? Maybe? Well whatever your answer may be, spring break has finally arrived smack dab in the middle of the semester! Whether you plan on staying in for a whole week straight, watching Netflix, playing video games, or sleeping for the length of the break, there are plenty of fun options outside the ole’ home around the state.
- Red River Gorge & Natural Bridge
One of the many favorite outdoor activities when the weather gets warm, hiking! While there are many options for hikers in Kentucky, both Red River Gorge and Natural Bridge are close by Lexington to visit. Not only are they close by, but the parks themselves are only a few miles apart. They are located a few minutes from Stanton, Kentucky which is only about 45 minutes from Lexington. These two places are a spectacular trip that could be visited in a single day if you have the energy to get your body moving!
- Bourbon Trace Distillery
Assuming you are of age and you like bourbon, or maybe you just like learning about Kentucky history, the Bourbon Trace Distillery is a landmark of a business that flourished in the state. This distillery is one of the most famous in the world, and many who live here in Kentucky don’t even know it exists! As someone who has personally been there and toured, I can say it was both a fun and educational experience about the ancestry of Kentucky.
- Newport Aquarium
Newport is an awesome town just across the river from Cincinnati, Ohio! That alone could be a reason to visit, but the focused fame of Newport is its aquarium. It is known by many Kentuckians as a place you might have been taken as a kid or took a possible field trip to it in school. It is the nearest aquarium to Lexington, as Newport is only an hour and a half away, and is an extraordinary trip for a group of friends or a family who love seeing fish!
- Mammoth Cave National Park
The most historic park of Kentucky, dedicated to the country as a National Park. You can hike and camp as well as tour the caves! After all, Mammoth Cave is one of the longest cave systems in the entire world! Why not take a trip to find out what natural wonders await you in what the rivers and waterfalls carved long ago? Coincidently, it is located right outside Park City, Kentucky. It is a little further than other daytrip destinations from Lexington, clocking in around two hours for the drive time. However, in the end, it is worth the trip as it is a historical landmark and spectacle to see!
- The Louisville Zoo
The zoo is known to be a classic leisure activity, because who doesn’t love to see animals? Well maybe some people aren’t so keen with seeing exotic animals, but how about you? Located in the northwestern part of the state, the Louisville Zoo is a cheap and fun way to go and see animals that you wouldn’t normally get to see! That statement is an obvious one, as it is a zoo! Anyway, why not bring all your friends or family for a cool trip to see and interact with animals while also supporting a state business!
Whatever you choose to do with your spring break this semester, just keep in mind that there are all these options and so many more in the state of Kentucky!
Transy is taking a stand on trans rights. Here’s why they needed to.
Last week the Trump administration announced the withdrawal of Obama’s policy on transgender rights in educational programs regarding equal protection under the Title IX guidelines. The Obama administration had issued a formal guideline to colleges and universities which stated that schools “must not treat a transgender student differently from the way it treats other students of the same gender identity.” The Obama administration basically told colleges that the federal government interpreted Title IX rules to include protections for transgender people instead of only those who identify as cisgender.
Instead of continuing with the policy of the Obama administration, the Trump administration recently withdrew this guideline which offered protection from discrimination, bullying, and harassment in schools to transgender students. The power to interpret this part of Title IX, and therefore to protect or deny protections to transgender rights, is now being turned over to states and local school districts. They can either adopt policies similar to the withdrawn guidelines, which protect these students, or they can refuse to forbid the discrimination of this marginalized group.
According to Transy’s stated Title IX policies, the university “prohibits sex- and gender-based discrimination in educational programs”. Although the university’s official Title IX policy statement doesn’t clearly define sex and gender, it is apparent that Transy considers sex and gender two separate concepts.
For those of you that aren’t clear on the difference, sex is simply the physical difference between a penis and a vagina, while gender is a social construct consisting of various gender roles that are attached to a specific sex. You can see some of these gender roles played with and expressed on well-known websites similar to hdpornvideo. Check this hdpornvideo to see what hype is all about. When a person says that they’re a man or woman, that’s an expression of their gender identity. A person who’s transgender has a different gender identity than the one that matches their physical sex assigned at birth. A person can also express a non-binary identity, which means they aren’t necessarily identifying as a man or a woman in terms of their gender identity. Every aspect of life is harder when someone is transgender. From Transgender Dating, to deciding what bathroom they should use and what clothes they should wear, removing these transgender rights is making life more difficult for trans people.
Many people express their gender identity through following gender roles. Gender roles are essentially socially constructed rules that are differentiated by one’s sex. They assign typical characteristics, attributes, behaviors and lifestyles for both the male and female sex within society. These predetermined expectations shape and influence who a person is. Gender roles tell us that women are meant to be softer, quieter and more maternal than men, who are expected to be tough and macho, not even adult film sites conform by these social constructs any more, don’t believe me? Head on over to somewhere like Nu Bay.
All these different definitions can create legal questions when a law like Title IX doesn’t clearly define what is meant by sex and gender. The law isn’t clear, for example, on whether gender identity is protected under Title IX.
Transy, for its part, has taken a pretty clear position. Even though the Title IX handbook doesn’t clearly state how the school handles cases of discrimination or harassment towards transgender students, Ashley Hinton-Moncer, Transy’s Title IX Coordinator, states that it is the school’s duty to protect transgender students. She states that “With or without the federal guidance, I am committed to ensuring all students have the right to equal education free from harassment.” Hinton-Moncer is not the only staff member or professor on Transylvania’s campus that has gone on the record to commit to protecting trans* students. The Academic Dean, Laura Bryan, also stated Transylvania is committed to “creating a safe and respectful environment for all students, faculty, and staff, regardless of gender identity or expression.” It has been made extremely clear from the faculty, staff, and administration that our university believes in equal protection and validity of all genders on campus.
Transylvania’s position is the morally justifiable stance towards transgender rights in educational programs. Gender equality is a basic human right that should be implemented in law and society, and gender identity and trans* issues are a part of that. In the same way that Transylvania cannot discriminate against a female student based on sex, it is equally as absurd for Transylvania to discriminate against a student based on their gender identity. It’s encouraging and important that Transy takes a stand on this issue, and I’m glad they did. Last week I was reminded as to why I chose to get my education at Transylvania University when I heard the position they took regarding this important issue.
Megan Goins
Here’s what an obscure Czech dissident can teach Transy.
Václav Havel is not a widely known figure in the West. The Czech playwright, dissident, political activist, and eventual first democratically elected President of Czechoslovakia in the post-Communist era wrote for about thirty years on a wide range of political topics. Among his favorite themes, one that was of pressing importance in the oppressive atmosphere of Soviet-dominated Czechoslovakia, was the importance of simply talking to people, and of telling the truth.
I was first introduced to Havel’s work last semester, in Dr. Ken Slepyan’s survey course of wider Eastern European History. At the time, I read it more-or-less the same way I read most course material—lightly. However, lately I’ve been coming back to his work, especially his political essays. This column is a result of sitting with those essays, and thinking about how these writings from forty years ago might be useful to us, here at Transy, today. I’d like to take this column and introduce you to these ideas.
Before anything else, Havel writes that there is a basic moral duty to speak the truth. This seems like an obvious idea, scarcely worth mentioning, but it’s important to consider what exactly Havel means by truth. The truth is not simply facts that can be verified by one means or another, but are the facts that actually matter. If you’re talking about window tiles falling onto people, “we should talk about window ledges and not bring mankind into it.” Havel calls this type of untruth evasive thinking, and it forms the basis for his essay of the same name.
The truth, according to Havel, “is where the whole thing begins and ends, and all the other ifs, ands, or buts are just attempts to muddy the waters.” The parallels to the modern situation could not be clearer; how many times, usually in arguing about politics, do we try and divert the subject from an uncomfortable area to a topic that better favors ‘our side?’
The problem is that this evasive thinking does nothing but degrade our shared civic society. Without a shared reality, and a shared set of principles, then the social ties that keep us together will collapse. Given the divisive political climate, and the incredible acrimony over basic facts, the immediacy of this threat, of a collapse of our shared society, is ever-more pressing.
I want to take a moment and talk about this civic society. This is, essentially, the idea that we are tied to one another by our shared experiences and ideas with each other, and the fact of sharing creates bonds between us, outside of any outside influence. In his essay on Power and the Powerless, Havel describes these bonds as an “inner relationship to other people and to the human community.” The bonds are the basis for all other organizations, whether economic, political—or educational.
Transy, as what is for better or worse a somewhat insulated community, is ideally placed to become an incubator of the kind of civic society Havel envisions. In any given day, you, the reader, will probably make eye contact with a good part of the campus. We’re a small enough school for that to be an option. I’d like to use this column, reader, to ask you to start a conversation with someone you meet eyes with and don’t know. You might find you like them. One the other hand, you might find you don’t; that only makes it more important that you actually talk to them. Tell them the truth and nothing but, and listen when they do the same with you.
As some of the stories in this issue attest, Transy itself is reacting to the new political climate in a profound way. These tensions are deep and serious; that cannot be denied. They might be unbridgeable. But at the very least all of us should try to bridge them. And that’s the plain truth.
Crimson Compass overnights connect admitted students to campus
This Sunday, March 5, admitted students interested in Math and Science will be attending the third of six Crimson Compass events, which will allow students to have an overnight visit that speaks more to the actual Transy experience than the more traditional one-on-one overnight visit.
Over the rest of the semester, the admissions office will be hosting overnight events for students who have recently been admitted to Transy. Each of the 6 events, which are split up by academic areas of interest with two exploratory events for students who are more unsure of what they want to study, will host 50 students who will be housed overnight in the current empty rooms in Bassett Hall. At these events, admitted students will be able to stay overnight with other admitted students, where they will have more freedom to experience what a typical day and night at Transy is like with other students who may also soon be their classmates.
“It came from data that we have about students who visit Transy, and it’s that we know that students who come and do a visit with us and stay overnight are more likely to come here than students who don’t,” said Assistant Director of Admissions, Sarah Guinn.
With these events, Transy has the opportunity to host 300 students, which will give them the possibility to get ahead on the process that it takes to become an actual enrolled student at Transy. While they are visiting campus, they will be able to purchase parking passes with DPS, work with Human Resources on filling out work study paperwork (if it is included in a student’s financial aid package), and take the academic advising survey first year students have taken in past years during August Term. The Admissions Office hopes that this will help admitted students with the process of transitioning to enrolled students but that it will also enable the Admissions Office to have more time to continue recruiting students for the next class.
“We have been spending a majority of our summers instead of working on recruiting the next class, working with our enrolled, deposited students on getting them from deposit to ready to move in. And that’s great, and we love those students and want to help them, but we also need to dedicate more time to recruiting that new class,” Guinn explained about the hopes she has for the outcome of the events.
Along with becoming more acquainted with the resources at Transy, the Crimson Compass events are allowing the admitted students to start to make friends with other potential students, which in turn is helping them identify whether or not they can see themselves being a Transy student. Guinn speaks of a photo she has of four students hugging each other before leaving the first event after agreeing to room together in the fall.
“They’re starting to build that identity as a class,” Guinn said.
With the introduction of each of these resources for students Guinn explained, “It’s all about kind of what we’re trying to do, which is help students connect with each other, connect with faculty, connect with the people who are going to be their people when they decide to come here in a way that’s fun and engaging.”
Very few other colleges and universities are hosting events like these to help recruit students. Some universities, such as UK, tend to try to get students committed early by having them fill out housing forms and paying deposits before the May 1 college decision deadline; however, the admissions office wanted to find a way to grab the attention of admitted students in the way that UK is able to do but through more ethical means that do not put pressure on the students to commit before they are ready to.
“So that was kind of another facet of this program: ‘how can we give them that sense of committing earlier without putting pressure on them if they do need until May 1st to decide’” Guinn explained of the motivation for the Crimson Compass events.
Guinn explained that some students even committed to Transy and made their deposits during the event, and others made the decision to attend throughout the week following.
“We also want to let them know that if they’re ready for us, we’re ready for them,” Guinn said.
With events like these involving a large group of high school students who are mostly minors, there tends to be a fine line between providing the structure that they need to remain safe while also give them the freedom they need and are expecting to have as college students. Participating students must sign three different agreements: one is a form that leaves students liable for any damage they may do to the rooms where they stay (which is the same as the forms all Transy students must fill out and sign before moving into any Transy housing and after moving out), the second agreement is a waiver with emergency contacts, allergies, or any other types of special needs, and the third is an agreement of behavioral expectations, which states that if any expectations are broken, such as if a student leaves campus without permission, disciplinary actions will be taken, including rescinding a student’s admissions.
These measures allow for the student hosts to have an easier and better experience with the prospective students.
“The student hosts are primarily volunteers, so we want to make sure it’s a fun and pleasant experience for them too,” Guinn said.
If interested in being a student host for one of the next three Crimson Compass events, contact Sarah Guinn at sguinn@transy.edu.
New Residence Life Director open to input from students
This past month, Transylvania welcomed Kevin Fisher as the new Director of Residence Life.
Fisher attended Ball State University where he received his bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Fisher was a Resident Assistant at Ball State for three years. As he was nearing graduation, and still undecided on what path to take in life, Fisher was advised by someone to pursue student affairs.
“Someone tapped my shoulder and said ‘You’re really good at this Student Affairs thing, have you thought about doing this as a career?’ Which I had never considered,” said Fisher.
He went on to graduate school at the University of Central Missouri where he studied College Student Personnel Administration. After finishing his education, Fisher worked as a Hall Director at Westfield State University and most recently as an Area Coordinator at the University of Kentucky.
On why he transitioned from UK to Transy, Fisher explained, “I think I was looking for a position where I could have a greater impact on students.” He noted that he did have a great impact at UK, but due to its large size, it was not as immediate as it is here.
Fisher pointed to working with students as the thing he is most excited for at Transy.
“It gives me energy to be able to work with students day-to-day,” said Fisher.
He has a quote hanging on his office wall that reads, “Students are not an interruption to our work they are our work.” The quote is from University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and Fisher credits it as “the mantra that I try to live by.”
So far, his experience with students and the student residential staff has been, in his words, “phenomenal.”
“We have an exceptionally talented, energetic, and passionate group,” said Fisher.
Fisher is also looking forward to learning what truly makes a student belong to Transylvania.
“I don’t know if I see it as a challenge or an opportunity at the same time. Learning what the traditions and things that Transylvania students truly hold dear and value. Every institution has some kind of traditions or something that everyone is excited about,” said Fisher. “I’m excited to figure out what that is for the students currently and finding out how I can be a part of that or how I can impact that in a positive way.”
Since he has only been here for a month, Fisher does not plan on making any immediate changes. Instead, he plans on listening to the students and staff about what they would like to see change and becoming familiar with the culture.
“I think folks often fail if they come in and just start changing things without understanding the culture and understanding the population of the people they’re working with,” said Fisher.
Moving forward, Fisher hopes the campus feels they can approach him and share their experiences with him. He noted that if someone is having struggles that he does not want them to “sugarcoat” it.
“My passion is working with students. Truly,” said Fisher. “I really hope that folks see that throughout the work I do on campus.”
Top 15 Songs: Spring Break Edition
Listen to the full playlist via Spotify, or the YouTube Links below!
“I Gotta Feeling” by The Black Eyed Peas
“The Lime Tree” by Trevor Hall
“Hello” by Martin Solveig ft. Dragonette
“California Gurls” by Katy Perry ft. Snoop Dogg
“Instant Crush” by Daft Punk ft. Julian Casablancas
“Stole The Show” by Kygo ft. Parson James
“All Summer Long” by Kid Rock
“Dani California” by Red Hot Chili Peppers
“Often” by The Weeknd (Kygo Remix)
“Summer” by Calvin Harris
“Bed Peace” by Jhené Aiko ft. Childish Gambino
“That’s What I Like” by Bruno Mars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPIm_ZZ0yVw
“Beautiful Now” by Zedd ft. Jon Belllion
“Crickets” by Drop City Yacht Club ft. Jeremih
“Come a Little Closer” by Cage The Elephant
Art and Music Happenings On Campus March 1st-March31st
Wednesday, March 1, 2017-Friday, March 31, 2017.
ART TALK: What is Social Practice Art?
Wednesday, March 1st @5:30pm, MFA Morlan Gallery.
What is social practice art? Come talk with Art History professor Dr. Emily Goodman to find out!
Central Kentucky Concert Band Concert
Sunday, March 5th @3pm, MFA Haggin Auditorium.
The Central Kentucky Concert Band is widely recognized as the premier adult concert band in the Commonwealth, as well as one of the finest ensembles of its nature in the southeastern United States. Originally formed as the Bluegrass Concert Band, the name was soon changed to the Central Kentucky Concert Band as the ensemble began to attract players from throughout the Commonwealth, as well as southern Ohio and West Virginia. The band performs classic works by composers such as Brahms, Bach, Beethoven, Grainger, Holst, Vaughan Williams, Arnold, Sousa, King, Fillmore, Rossini, Offenbach, Verdi, Orff, and De Nardis as well as modern works by Margolis, Gillingham, Whiteacre, Camphouse, Giroux, Holsinger, and many others. Come hear this wonderful band perform a variety of music!
Delcamp Visiting Scholar Concert: Music by Alice Gomez
Wednesday, March 8th @7:30pm, MFA Carrick Theater.
Alice Gomez is an American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers award-winning Latina composer, has received numerous composer awards from the ASCAP, and has served as Composer-In-Residence with the award-winning San Antonio Symphony, The Midland-Odessa Symphony, the Performing Arts Center of Gallup, New Mexico, and the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, a renowned Chicano music and arts center in San Antonio, Texas. Come hear this talented composer perform her inspiring music!
Faculty and Guest Artist Recital: Loren Tice and Dominique Bellon
Thursday, March 9th @7:30pm, MFA Carrick Theater.
Come hear Transy’s own music faculty, Loren Tice, and Eastern Kentucky University’s music faculty member, Dominique Bellon, perform some wonderful music!
Lexington Gallery Hop
Friday, March 17th @5-8pm, Morlan Gallery.
Happy St. Patrick’s day! The LexArts HOP is one of Lexington’s most anticipated visual arts celebrations, and it happens on the third Friday of every other month! Tour dozens of galleries free of cost, starting at 5pm! Since Transy’s own Morlan Gallery participates in the Lexington Gallery Hop, it’s a good place to begin!
2017 Judy Gaines Young Book Award
Tuesday, March 21st @5-6:30pm, MFA Carrick Theater.
Join us for the 2017 Judy Gaines Young Book Award presentation, reading, and book signing. Crystal Wilkinson won this year’s award for her “The Birds of Opulence.” Senior Justin Wright won the student award.
Faculty Recital: Clyde Beavers, Angela Eaton, Merrilee Elliott
Tuesday, March 21st @7:30pm, MFA Carrick Theater.
This Transy faculty recital features Clyde Beavers, cello instructor, Merrilee Elliott, flute instructor, and Angela Eaton, pianist. Come see these talented members of Transy’s music faculty perform!
ART TALK: Sean Starowitz
Wednesday, March 22nd @5:30pm, MFA Morlan Gallery.
Starowitz is a 2010 graduate of the Interdisciplinary Arts program at the Kansas City Art Institute and a 2012 Rocket Grant recipient with support from the Charlotte St. Foundation, Spencer Museum of Art and the Andy Warhol Foundation, as well as a 2014 Charlotte St. Foundation Visual Art Award Fellow. He has contributed writings to Proximity Magazine and Temporary Art Review and has lectured at Queens College in NY, UCLA’s World Arts and Cultures Department, and at American University in D.C. Starowitz currently lives/works in Bloomington, Indiana as the Assistant Director of Economic Development for the Arts.
ART TALK: Meredith Brickell & Wes Janz
Wednesday, March 29th @5:30pm, MFA Morlan Gallery
Meredith Brickell presents work in national and international exhibitions and is the project leader for the House Life Project. She has been an artist-in-residence at the Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Center (Denmark), Watershed Center (Maine), and Threewalls (Chicago). Brickell holds a Masters of Fine Arts in Ceramics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a Bachelors of Art and Design from North Carolina State University, and has completed the Core Fellowship program at Penland School of Crafts (NC). She is an Associate Professor of Art at DePauw University in Indiana.
Wes Janz is a Professor of Architecture at Ball State University and the founder of onesmallproject. Janz was recipient of Ball State’s Outstanding Teacher Award in 2006, and in 2008 he was a finalist for the Curry Stone Design Prize, awarded to breakthrough projects that have the “power and potential to improve our lives and the world we live in.” He was curator of “small architecture BIG LANDSCAPES,” which was exhibited at the Swope Art Museum in Terre Haute, Indiana, in winter 2010. Come attend this intriguing art talk, featuring two highly accomplished people.
General Student Recital #1
Thursday, March 30th @12:30-1:30pm, MFA Carrick Theater.
Come watch Transy music students perform for their GSRs! This will be the first round of 2017 General Student Recitals.
Electronic Music Student Recital
Thursday, March 30th @7:30pm, MFA Faculty/Staff Lounge (in The Raf beside the music/Dart lab).
Do you like hearing electronic music? Do you like supporting Trany’s music students? Then this is an event you won’t wanna miss! Come hear Transy’s own music tech students show off their original compositions!
Transylvania University Theater: FESTIVUS
Thursday, March 30th @7:30pm, Little Theater.
A celebration of Transy student playwriting and performance!
Weekend #1: New Writing and Performance
Thursday, March 30th–Saturday, April 1st @ 7:30pm, Little Theater
Capstone Creative Work: Senior Theater Majors Jared Auton, Justin Wright, Mollie LaFavers, Katie Brewer-Calvert, Haberlin Roberts, and Storytelling Major Christopher Perez present their final creative work.
Ten-Minute Plays: Concert readings of new plays by W’17 Playwriting students.
My Mother#*!^%#! College Life: In 40 monologues and a few choruses, this ensemble questions everything they encounter: social justice and sexual identity, self-awareness and relationship boundaries, future prospects and roommate etiquette. What emerges is a humorous and heartbreaking portrait of a new generation struggling with higher ed’s promise of “personal transformation.” This world premiere reading features dramatic monologues written by 17 Transy student poets and playwrights and will be published by Dramatic Publishing.
TU Chamber Orchestra Concert
Friday, March 31st @7:30 PM, MFA Haggin Auditorium.
Come support Trany’s Chamber Orchestra and listen to some beautiful music!
Morlan Gallery: social practice through art
The most recent exhibition at the Morlan Art Gallery provides a social commentary on many important issues that plague modern society including mass incarceration, the role that religion plays in promoting justice, and the future of the Appalachian region, among others. Each piece of art makes a statement about a social problem and in doing so allows the viewer insight into what it means to live in a place and to fully engage in its community. In the same vein, each artist conveys a unique perspective through social practice art, which is an art medium that incorporates aspects of social life and encourages collaborations between individuals, communities, and institutions.
Transylvania professors Kremena Todorova and Kurt Goehde invited social practice artists, which should come as no surprise since Goehde and Todorova are the masterminds behind the “Unlearn Fear + Hate” campaign. Dr. Todorova explains that she and Professor Goedhe, “chose various artists for the ways they engage various communities and use art to connect and heal. Their projects have involved working with church-goers, girls who live in undeserved neighborhoods, rural folks, and many others demographics.Through this they draw attention to issues at the core of our contemporary life: poverty, mass incarceration, race and race relations, our inability to talk across party lines, and many others.” These artists include Maria Lind Blevins, Meredith Knapp Brickell, Wes Janz, Mark Manjivar, Sean Starowitz and Michael Strand.
Lexington based artist Meredith Knapp Brickell came up with the idea for the zines, which the Busy Bees created and helped to organize the project alongside Busy Bees leader, Felice Salmon. This after-school program consists of a group of girls from the north Lexington area; their experiences out and around their community are detailed through photographs they have taken, and observations about the spaces they live in are described in the zines. A free copy of the Busy Bees zines are available near the entry to the Morlan Art Gallery.
Artist Maria Lind Blevins’ pieces on the ties between women and the braiding of hair shows how this tradition brings women together including a time lapse video on different braiding styles. Artist/activist Michael Strand focuses on the impact that religion has on individuals and their communities. He accomplished this by writing letters (which are on display in the gallery) and examining various religions. Strand also took photographs of a Christian pastor, a Buddhist monk, a Jewish Rabbi, and Muslim individuals. The representation of each religion is significant to the theme of togetherness that is woven into—and frankly
essential to—each religion.
The pieces by Sean Starowitz are centered on Appalachian people, how integrated coal is within the daily lives on Appalachians, and where younger Appalachians see the region in the year 2027. Starowitz opens a dialogue called the D-LAB, in which he partnered with The Appalachian Media Institute, the Appalshop Archive, and next generation youth leaders from Eastern Kentucky. He has included drawings of three specific buildings that can be seen on several Eastern Kentucky byways, as well as a video of former coal camps in the counties of Lynch, Jenkins, and Bedham. Mark Menjivar’s piece, “My Sadness Goes On and On,” is a collective piece that compiles sad songs in order to promote individual expression and how essential it is to allow oneself to feel things that are not altogether pleasant. A chair is provided next to a set of headphones that is tucked in a corner of the gallery to ensure that the viewer has privacy when listening to the sad songs.
The artworks by Wes Janz are thought-provoking about the fact that mass incarceration is a system that profits based on the number of people within prison systems. One such piece incorporates the popular comic-turned-television-special icon, Charlie Brown. Janz has found twenty-eight different men that are behind bars, all named Charles Brown. He shows this in his work by setting up a line of Charlie Browns all facing one direction. His other artworks include Barbies and other figurines trapped in cages as each is supposed to evoke an emotional response about the mass incarceration problem in America. Each artist has something different to offer the viewer, but social justice issues exist within all of the pieces.
“The Places We Live” offers insight into what it means to be both from and part of a place. The importance of social practice art is shown in how it causes its viewers to think and process social conflicts that may seemingly affect one group, but in reality, social conflicts affect all of us. “The Places We Live” demonstrates how a society does and can connect its people through artwork. In the words of Todorova, “each of the artists makes art as a way of asking us to be fully human.”
“The Places We Live” will be at Transylvania University’s Morlan Art Gallery from February 21-March 29 (closed for spring break).
