Members of the UAB Gospel Choir are heading to the sun and fun of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, May 16-19, 2013.
The group of 15, mostly singers, will be accompanied by Choir Director Kevin P. Turner, who also will serve as accompanist, with the choir's drummer. For three members, this will be their first international trip. The choir will perform music to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement being commemorated this year, and songs from its new CD "Nu-Soul City."
The choir will perform an evening show on the day of their arrival at Sugar Bay Resort and Spa on the east side of the island. On May 17, at noon, they will present a public performance in Charlotte Amalie. On Sunday, the choir will stretch its musical library with a performance at St. Luke's Episcopal Church for the 9 a.m. worship service.
“This is another international honor for us,” Turner said. "During our tour to England two years ago, we performed at Great Britain’s Seventh-Day Adventist Church Headquarters - the Advent Center. On this trip, we have been invited to perform at one of the area's most influential churches with strong ties with the University of the Virgin Islands. They have welcomed us with open arms.
The group will take tours of the islands by land and sea. They will stay at an all-inclusive hotel to help keep expenses down. The hotel has many free amenities for students to enjoy during the group’s free day on Saturday.
“One of our student singers, Sheena Bussey, is a graduating senior, and I believe that after all the hard work she's put in at UAB, she might be looking forward to just getting on the jet to rest her mind,” Turner said with a smile.
After performing, relaxing and enjoying the island, the group will return to Birmingham and prepare for their next performance, the UAB Gospel Choir Summer concert, to be scheduled for July at UAB's Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center.
Shannon Thomason, Thomason@uab.edu, is a media specialist in the UAB Office of Media Relations. Her beat covers the arts at UAB.
This week UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center (ASC) will present “Lux Somnia: Light Dreams,” a free digital art, light and music festival for the entire community. More than a year and a half in the making, the festival will feature the works of more than two dozen Birmingham artists, with a creative team of nearly 60 people involved from start to finish. Featured are live music, visual art installations, interactive fun and mind-blowing digital projections on the side of the building, plus food trucks, drinks and more.
This festival is special because it is the first time the ASC has created and curated an arts event featuring only local artists. Plus, amazing artistic works created by teams of UAB students and faculty from across campus will be on show.
Among the amazing digital works of art which will be projected onto the Southern façade of the ASC building is a giant, interactive video game, “Pacman Revisited,” created by students and faculty in UAB’s Department of Computer and Information Sciences. Audience members will get to play the game during the event.
A team of students in UAB’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and Enabling Technology Laboratory (ETLab) are creating a 3-D virtual-reality “Light Dream,” featuring a jet that will “fly” out of the building and back in (as seen in the promo video above). Established in 2002, the ETLab researches the application of virtual reality technologies to the problems of communication, visualization and training. This research guides development of software for large-scale, immersive virtual reality systems, advanced medical image processing, 3-D image acquisition and high-performance computing.
Festival-goers can play with “Touch Tone,” from the innovative young minds in UAB’s Time Based Media course in the Department of Art and Art History. “Touch Tone” is an interactive musical/visual project that incorporates human touch via the Makey Makey, which is billed as “an invention kit for everyone.” Participants will hold hands or touch to create sounds and projected visuals, centered on the festival’s theme of light. See this video to learn more on Makey Makey.
The festival is set for 7:30 p.m. each night, Thursday May 2, and Friday, May 3, with a rain date of Saturday, May 4. The festival is free and open to everyone. Visit www.alysstephens.org for more details. When the sun goes down, the light dreams begin!
Shannon Thomason, Thomason@uab.edu, is a media specialist in the UAB Office of Media Relations. Her beat covers the arts at UAB.
Turnipseed, who was a 19-year-old white college
student at BSC that year, heard about African-American students staging a sit-in
at the Woolworth's department store lunch counter downtown. She walked from her West
Birmingham campus to the demonstration and joined them. She was expelled
(though later readmitted) for her action.
“Our city's most courageous citizens fought
tirelessly to provide a better future for people of all races, and that must
not be forgotten,” said UAB SGA President Adrian Jones. “The march will allow
the citizens of Birmingham to come together and reflect on our deep heritage.”
Students will gather at Legion Field at 9
a.m. and walk to Kelly Ingram Park, which was the site of many showdowns between protesters and their detractors during the Birmingham movement.
Jones said that he and his fellow students feel it is
their duty to join in this reenactment.
“Since UAB is in the heart of downtown
Birmingham, I feel that our students should participate in the commemoration of
one of the key movements that took place in 1963,” Jones said. “UAB prides
itself on diversity and inclusiveness, and I feel that students should always
strive to embrace that diversity and understand its significance.”
“When you think of the 50th anniversary, you
realize that it really wasn't that long ago,” he said. “It is important to take this time to remember
what so many did for us 50 years ago. 50 years from now, the next
generations will be able to thank us for continuing to move Birmingham forward.”
You can follow the marchers on Twitter at @UABwalkNmyshoes.
About the blogger: Marie Sutton, masutton@uab.edu, is a media specialist in the UAB Office of Media Relations. Her beat includes humanities, social sciences, the School of Education and student life.
UAB's Mervyn H. Sterne Library was awarded a grant to help educate the community about the people, places, history, faith and culture of Muslims living around the world.
The “Bridging Cultures Bookshelf: Muslim Journeys” grant was presented by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association. As part of the grant, the library received a collection of books and videos for exhibition, as well as a one year subscription to the “Oxford Islamic Studies Online” database. All books can be checked out at the circulation desk.
In addition to providing reading materials about the Muslim culture, the library will also host several events throughout the year. On Wednesday, April 10, some of UAB’s renowned Middle East scholars will converge to discuss “Unity in Diversity? The Muslim Middle East, Then
and Now.” The free, public event is from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in room 102 of Heritage
Hall located at 1401 University Blvd.
Presenters include Nikolaos Zahariadis, Ph.D., professor of government; Lamia Zayzafoon, Ph.D.,
professor of foreign languages and
literatures; Walter Ward, Ph.D., professor of history; Stephen Miller, Ph.D., professor
of history; and Gregory Mumford,
Ph.D., professor of anthropology.
The event is cosponsored by the Department
of Government, UAB Political Science Club, UAB Muslim Student Association and Birmingham
Islamic Society. For more information, contact Imelda Vetta at 205-934-6364.
About the blogger: Marie Sutton, masutton@uab.edu, is a media specialist in the UAB Office of Media Relations. Her beat includes humanities, social sciences, the School of Education and student life.
For
24-year-old filmmaker Ingrid Pfau, UAB was a place of firsts. It was the place
where the Birmingham native first became a filmmaker and where she was
first diagnosed with epilepsy. The
2011 UAB alum who majored in environmental science filmmaking told her story of
living with the neurological disorder in a five-minute film that was recently named runner-up at
The Neuro Film
Festival in San Diego presented by the American Brain Foundation.
“I was honored to be selected,” said Pfau who today is
pursuing her master's degree in science and natural history filmmaking at Montana State
University. “I learned that the more personal
your story, the more global it is.”
While
in the second semester of her freshmen year at UAB, Pfau had a seizure that “freaked
out” her roommates, she said. They immediately took her to UAB’s emergency
department.
“It
was very convenient that there was a world renowned-hospital next to my
dormitory,” said Pfau.
While
a student, she had to learn how to wade through the world of epilepsy and filmmaking, and faculty like Rosie O’Beirne and Michelle Forman in media studies and Michael Sloane,
Ph.D., in the UAB Honors College, were
a big help.
“UAB
was one of the biggest support systems I have ever had.”
Life
as a filmmaker with epilepsy is not easy, Pfau said. She is limited because the
medicine she takes makes her sleepy. Plus, she must get a lot of rest, which means
she cannot conduct life like a typical graduate student who works into the wee
hours of the night.
“That
would surely guarantee a seizure,” she said. As a matter of fact, she had two
seizures yesterday.
But,
hearing the stories of those who were touched by her film gives her
encouragement.
“The most rewarding has been the reaction by people,” she
said.
A man from the United Kingdom told Pfau that he cried when he
saw her film. He told her that it demonstrated what he had been telling
his doctor for years. He shared the video with his physician.
After
Pfau graduates in 2014, she would like to create more films, including a
30-minute to one-hour piece on how families deal with epilepsy.
“There
are a lot of stories that need to be told.”
About the blogger: Marie Sutton, masutton@uab.edu, is a media specialist in the UAB Office of Media Relations. Her beat includes humanities, social sciences, the School of Education and student life.
Theatre UAB grads are creating magic, and they're making it happen on stage and screen in Birmingham and across the country.
Department alum Luke Harlan is directing a show that just opened off-Broadway, and he is one of just three people recently accepted into the prestigious Yale School of Drama Master’s Program in Directing. Harlan, who graduated in 2008 after directing the department’s award-winning production of “The Laramie Project,” has been working in New York City since graduation. The play he is currently directing, “Honky,” is enjoying its world premiere at Urban Stages on West 30th Street. The offer to join Yale's program was a perfect opening-night present.
Recent graduate Stephen Webb, whose play “Postcards to J. Bird” was produced by the department two years ago, has been accepted by the Carnegie Mellon Master's program in playwriting.
Individually, Tobie Windham and Shinelle Azoroh have starred in plays and films all over the West Coast. Together, they are a creative husband and wife team living in West Hollywood, working as writers, producers, actors and teachers. Windham is currently performing in “The Whipping Man” for Virginia Stage Company, and Azoroh was recently seen as Malcolm X’s daughter in the Lifetime movie “Betty & Coretta.” She can also be seen in a new TV commercial for Taco Bell’s Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos; look for her in the laundromat.
Department alumna Hannah Hughes has appeared in a lot of films, but now she has starred in one that was screened at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival and won a coveted distribution deal as a result. The upcoming found footage horror anthology sequel “V/H/S/2” was screened at South by Southwest (SXSW) and will be in select theaters in October.
Alumnus Patrick Johnson was recently elected vice-president of City Equity Theatre (CET), Birmingham’s sole professional theater operating under agreement with the Actors’ Equity Association. He is working as stage manager for CET’s production of “Ruined” by Lynn Nottage, co-directed by Jonathan Fuller and UAB Assistant Professor of Theatre Cheryl Hall. This summer, he will return to the stage in CET’s production of Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer-winning drama “August: Osage County.”
The popular Birmingham production company Theatre Downtown has named UAB Theatre Department alumnus and actor/director/playwright Daniel Martin as its new artistic director.
Award-winning 2010 alum Dustin Canéz is stage manager for this weekend’s Opera Birmingham production of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.” Most recently, he was assistant director for New York City’s Resonance Ensemble run of “R.U.R.,” with a script adapted by UAB Assistant Professor of Theatre Lee Shackleford.
Visit Theatre UAB online for more updates on students and graduates, as well as the latest news from the department.
Shannon Thomason, Thomason@uab.edu, is a media specialist in the UAB Office of Media Relations. Her beat covers the arts and events at UAB.
On Sunday morning,
March 3, a convoy of about 60 UAB students will trek down to Selma, Ala., to commemorate, soberly, the acts of Bloody Sunday. The
group will join hundreds – possibly thousands – from around the country who will converge
for the annual walk along the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge.
“It is important to use this cultural excursion as an
opportunity to renew the various social and racial justice causes of the U.S.
Civil Rights Movement for contemporary social and racial justices issues,” said
Raphael Richard, coordinator of multicultural and diversity programs at UAB.
On March 7, 1965, 600 marchers walked along the bridge in a peaceful
protest of the murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson, a 26-year-old protester who was killed by an Alabama state
trooper. Area police mobbed the group, spraying them with tear gas and beating
them with billy clubs. Images of the attack made international headlines. Shortly thereafter, the country joined together for the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
“By participating in Jubilee and the re-enactment of the
Edmund Pettus Bridge crossing, we want students to be able to reflect on Jimmie Lee Jackson’s vision for his city and country that was cut short by his death,” Richard
said. “We hope that students will be able to create their own vision and wishes for their hometown, Birmingham and our country today as a tribute to his contribution to the U.S. Civil Rights Movement.”
The group will arrive in Selma for the pre-march rally at the
Historic Brown Chapel Church, and will then participate in the re-enactment of
the bridge crossing.
"This trip commemorates the progress we’ve made," Richard said, "but I feel
we must also reflect and acknowledge that we still have work to do.”
About the blogger: Marie Sutton, masutton@uab.edu, is a media specialist in the UAB Office of Media Relations. Her beat includes humanities, social sciences, the School of Education and student life.
Art and music fans will have a unique opportunity to experience an ephemeral event Friday, Feb. 22, at UAB’s Visual Arts Gallery.
The gallery will host a free closing reception for the exhibition “A Letter Edged in Black,” by artist Pete Schulte, with a live sound installation by Andrew Raffo Dewar, soprano sax, and Brad Davis, electronics. Schulte’s installation starkly changes the gallery’s everyday look, with darkly painted walls, window treatment, drawings and a sculpture.The musicians will improvise as a response to the gallery space and art works, Schulte said.
“I’m really excited about this opportunity,” said Schulte, assistant professor of art at the University of Alabama. “These two musicians are incredible composers, artists and improvisers. This experimental sound piece will be integrated into the exhibition.” Dewar is assistant professor of Interdisciplinary Arts in New College and the School of Music at UA.
The idea for the exhibition evolved out of Schulte experiences traveling in Italy, where he met up with Dewar in Venice. The textures, tonalities and surfaces found on the city walls and chapels are a direct influence on the show, Schulte said. Many of the works respond in mood to that country's distant past, while remaining firmly rooted in the here and now.
“Eventually, I started telling Andrew about the ideas I had for the installation and we decided we wanted the nature of the collaboration to be integrated and unexpected – an immersive, full-body experience between the space, art, audience and sound."
The closing reception is 5-9 p.m. at the Visual Arts Gallery, 900 13th St. South. The show will hang through Saturday. Admission to the gallery is always free. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday; the gallery, which is part of the UAB Department of Art and Art History, is closed on Sunday and holidays. Call 205-934-0815.
“A Letter Edged in Black” is part of a series of exhibitions that have been uniquely realized and conditioned by the sites and circumstances in which they are shown, said John Fields, interim director of the gallery.
About the blogger: Shannon Thomason, Thomason@uab.edu, is a media specialist in the UAB Office of Media Relations. Her beat covers the arts and events at UAB.
Laughter gave way to tears at UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center when the talented teens of ArtPlay’s Make It Happen Performing Ensemble joined older performers and Project1Voice to present a staged reading of "Four Little Girls: Birmingham 1963."
The play, written by Christina Ham, was presented on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2013, to invited guests, including family members of the four girls killed in the infamous 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. The reading was brought to Birmingham by Project1Voice, founded by Birmingham native and New York City-based actor and producer Erich McMillan-McCall.
This reading was the first workshop performance held to determine how the production can best be replicated in other communities. Productions of this play will be performed in Birmingham, New York City and cities across the country on Sept. 15, 2013, the 50th anniversary of the 16th St. Baptist Church bombing. It will be streamed live online around the world.
The play portrays Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley and Addie Mae Collins, four girls who are bursting with promise and excitement for the future. They share their hopes and dreams against the backdrop of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement; it all comes crashing down when the girls are killed while preparing for the church’s youth day service.
ArtPlay Teaching Artist Alicia Johnson directed the ensemble, which had just 30 hours of rehearsal time. An invited audience of the girls’ family members and friends, as well as theater performers and presenters, laughed as the characters on stage did what little girls do: dream of cotillions, pretty dresses, going to college and their future careers and families. The audience cried when, after the play, four young women dressed in clothes reminiscent of 1963 sang “You Don’t Know What I Could Have Been,” a UAB Gospel Choir song written by Choir Director Kevin P. Turner. The performers received a standing ovation and an overflowing of praise from the visibly moved audience.
Through this unique project, ArtPlay and Project1Voice provided a significant, unique educational and performance opportunity to young people in the Birmingham community.
“The synergy that began in Birmingham can be emulated in cities all across our nation,” McMillan-McCall said. “Project1Voice will work to emulate Alabama’s example in other states.”
Shannon Thomason, Thomason@uab.edu, is a media specialist in the UAB Office of Media Relations. Her beat covers the arts and events at UAB.
Key players, caregivers and community activists from across
the state converged at the University of Alabama at Birmingham last week to
discuss “Ending AIDS in Alabama.” Their mission was to lay the groundwork for a
strategic dialogue and walk away with action items to get them
closer to eradicating the disease. The event was sponsored by the UAB Center for AIDS Research, the UAB School of Medicine and the National Minority AIDS Council.
Organizers challenged the audience to write down three
personal goals for the meeting. Then, they launched into a daylong discussion
of the major issues that prevail across the state, including testing, linkage to
care, retention and reengagement in care.
Attendees sat in a circle, listened to expert panelists, then chimed in with opinions. Among the attendees was Mary Elizabeth Marr, director
of the AIDS Action Coalition in Huntsville. She talked about her successes and
challenges while serving her population.
With the help of grants, she has provided important
educational training such as instructing families of recently released prisoners
about reunification issues. Marr encouraged the audience to branch out of their walls to connect with other agencies that may be able to help further
their causes with resources and advice. Doing so proved beneficial to her, she
said.
Janet Johnson, a peer mentor with the Alabama Department
Public Health who is HIV positive, shared her story of living with the
disease. Based in rural Arab, Alabama, she was 30 miles from Huntsville and 60
miles from Birmingham. She painted the picture of the face of the HIV positive
person living outside of access to major care.
“We know the fear,” Johnson said. “We know the discrimination. We know the
stigma. We can hold their hand.”
Attendees discussed the shame and blame that many HIV-positive
patients face when they are diagnosed. They also talked about the challenges of
providing care to patients who are homeless and substance abusers.
The group mentioned the need for linking their services
together, as well as the need for an online repository for data that will cut
down on the red tape for patients needing to make appointments.
“We can have an impact when you put the pieces together,”
said Chris Retan, executive of the Aletheia House. “We can take what we have and
create partnerships.”
About the blogger: Marie Sutton, masutton@uab.edu, is a media specialist in the UAB Office of Media Relations. Her beat includes humanities, social sciences, the School of Education and student life.
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