News and Events

Recognized as a thriving visual arts center for Maryland, the college offers music performances, films, dance concerts, debates, lectures and workshops, theatre productions, a daily campus television show, and art exhibitions. You can find information on upcoming events at:

• Arts and Culture Calendar of Events
• Center for the Arts Box Office

ANNOUNCMENTS

Volt Award Finalist 2012
Posted May 18, 2012
The Object Lab in the Department of Art + Design directed by Jan Baum was a finalist in the Technology Implementer category of the Volt Awards. The Volt awards technology implementer category recognizes organizations that use existing technology to enhance service offerings. The object lab at Towson which opened this past year is a research-based education, state of the art, rapid technologies and digital fabrication lab engaged in a range of digital technologies: 3-D imaging, digital modeling and rapid prototyping.
• smartCEO
• Object Lab

Amalie Rothschild Exhibit
Posted April 12, 2012
From April 19th – June 16 Towson University’s Department of Art + Design, Art History, Art Education is hosting works by Ms. Rothschild in the Center for the Arts Gallery. Throughout April and May are several events related to the exhibit including a lecture and book signing by Nancy G. Heller April 19, a lecture by Susan Isaacs on May 10, and a concert from the Randolph S. Rothschild Collection on May 10.
• Department of Art + Design, Art History, Art Education
• Baltimorecitybizlist.com April 10, 2012

Department of Art + Design, Art History, Art Education

Not Everything that comes out of the River is Trash
Posted May 18, 2012
Towson art students turned a broken rocking horse they pulled out of Back River into a piece of art. The horse will be among a number of pieces made from recycled debris to be auctioned at the Back River Restoration Committee second annual Trash Art auction.
• Baltimore Sun, May 13, 2012

New Work by Siegel
Posted April 12, 2012
Professor Nancy Siegel has had her recent book, The Cultured Canvas: New Perspectives on American Landscape Painting, published by the University Press of New England. Her new work written from aesthetic, sociopolitical, cultural, and literary perspectives explores myriad ways in which American visual culture can be evaluated through newly conceived thematic and ideological approaches.

Animation at Towson Commons
Posted Feb 29, 2012
Providing students with new opportunities can have its challenges. The Art and Electronic Media and Film Departments are working together to provide students with the opportunity to create a stop-motion film. A ground floor space at the Towson Commons was rented to, "have a large space to set up the sets that they're working with and move around the figures ... without being disturbed as they move from one class to the other," said Dean Picinich (Waldman, Towson U. Using Towson Commons for Animation Class,Towson Patch).
• Towson Patch
• Baltimore Sun, Feb 21, 2012

Baltimore Sun Interview Aumann
Posted Feb 29, 2012
Megan Auman, jewelry designer and educator gives her views to reporter Bartel, Baltimore Sun.
• Baltimore Sun, Feb 14, 2012

Faculty Selected to Present at National Convention
Riselle Abrams was selected to present at the National Art Education Association convention in March 2011 in Seattle, Washington. The presentation is entitled "The Baltimore Mural Project."

Faculty Exhibition
Jim Condron announced an exhibition of his paintings, The Pattern More Complicated, continues through October 14, 2011 at the Notre Dame of Maryland University. Condron's work focuses on elements within the landscape, the patterns and colors in the trees, grass and ground. His work appears nationally and internationally in galleries and museums as well as in corporate, university, public and private collections.

Department of Dance

A Long time in the Works
Posted May 18, 2012
Susan Mann choreographed a piece, which debuted at Columbus Dance Theatre’s show, “New Dance Project”, over mother’s day weekend. “She had been thinking about making the dance for 13 years, since experiencing the “tornado of emotions” she felt when her daughter left for college.”
• The Columbus Dispatch, May 10, 2012

American Dance Institute Artist-in-Residence
Posted May 18, 2012
Vincent Thomas will be an artist-in-residence with the American Dance Institute (ADI) in June 2013 with the Festival of New Works, which will showcase brand-new choreographic material from select choreographers in the D.C. area. After a year of pressure-free processes and free space, Thomas and two other D.C. choreographers will premiere works exclusively to the ADI audience. ADI established the Incubator as a way to provide a literal and emotional space around forward-thinking artists in order to cultivate and introduce new important works to the world of American dance.

Article Features Dance Faculty
Jayne Bernasconi, Dance, is featured in the article, "Fulfill your superman fantasy at Yoga-on-York" in the Towson Patch, Sept. 17, 2011.

Baker Award Winner
Shodekeh Talifero, Dance Accompanist, was selected by a jury of national experts to receive the 2011 Mary Sawyers Baker awards along with two other local artists. Each artist will receive $25,000 and be featured in an exhibition at The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) from September 7 – October 2, 2011, including a celebratory Late Night event on October 1 where Ms. Chen and Shodekeh will perform. The winners were presented on Maryland Public Television’s ArtWorks Special: The Baker Artist Awards 2011
• For more about The Baker Award Winners
• For more about Shodekeh: "Embody", A Festival & Series of The Vocal Arts -
•

Department of Electronic Media and Film

Fun New Animation
Posted May 18, 2012
Phil Davis, Electronic Media & Film, spent two years creating an animated music video for his friends, the Spinto Band. The video premiered May 15 on National Public Radio's "All Songs Considered" blog. • To view it

Department of Mass Communication and Communication Studies

Professor Becker in the News
Posted Feb 17, 2012
Professor Amy Becker was quoted in the article, “Maryland native at center of Komen controversy steps down,” Baltimore Sun, February 8, 2012.

• Professor Becker was also quoted in Should Obama Go on Vacation While Markets are So Skittish? CNBC, August 12, 2011.
• She has published an article to appear in Social Science Quarterly exploring what factors influence public support for same-sex marriage. The article, "New Voters, New Outlook? Predispositions, Social Networks, and the Changing Politics of Gay Civil Rights," examines public acceptance of homosexuality and support for same-sex marriage across age cohorts.
• She attended The White House Twitter Town Hall  primetime news conference with President Obama on Wednesday, July 22 at 9 p.m. Eastern Time. Becker will be among the 140 individuals who follow the White House Twitter feed and signed up for a chance to attend.  The 140 is the number of characters allowed in a tweet. Becker recounted her experience as one of about 30 "tweeps" in the audience at President Barack Obama's July 6 Twitter Town Hall, in her blog, Fresh Politics, New Media

• Baltimore Sun Article

•

Professor Vatz in the News
Posted May 18, 2012
Richard Vatz was the guest on Marc Steiner's WEAA show on May 14, where he discussed the rhetoric of the presidential election, including whether President Obama's position on gay marriage hurts or helps him politically. The two also discussed whether Mitt Romney's bullying as an 18 year-old, whether it is a basis for not voting for him or whether Democrats are trying to make social issues part of the agenda to distract voters from using the economy to judge the president.

• Vatz get's quoted in Baltimore Sun article, “Legal scholars demand death penalty repeal.” Baltimore Sun, February 28, 2012

• Richard Vatz debated the keynote speaker, Theodore Sheckels, Randolph-Macon College, at the Maryland Communication Association Annual Conference on Oct. 14. The topic was “Resolved: Maryland and the Nation Would Benefit from a Healthy Dose of Conservatism Over the Next Two Years.” Vatz also helped arrange for the conference reception speaker to be former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich.

Department of Music

TU Symphonic Band Travels Beyond Towson
Posted March 15, 2012
Dana Rothlisberger, music Professor and the Towson University Symphonic Band were selected to perform a concert for the College Band Directors National Association Eastern Division conference at Indiana University of Pennsylvania on March 2, 2012. The featured soloist was Marguerite Levin, clarinet professor at TU from 2002-2011. Rothlisberger and the Symphonic Band also presented a Performance-Plus clinic for the Maryland Music Educators Association convention at the Baltimore Convention Center on February 24, 2012.

Music Faculty Host 2nd Annual Jazz Festival 2012
Posted Feb 29, 2012
Jim McFalls and Dave Ballou, hosted the 2nd Annual Jazz Festival January 20th and 21st, with the help of a number of other Towson Faculty and Kappa Kappa Psi students. The event was an educational experience for all involved. In attendance were local middle and high schools jazz bands, each having the opportunity to perform and receive feedback, as well as, various clinics to attend, exhibitors to check out and the opportunity to see a performances by guest artist Dave Samuels and the 10 piece jazz/improvisation ensemble, Lubbock.

Reyes Performance
Reynaldo Reyes performed the 3rd All-Beethoven Piano Sonatas Concert at CCP The Web Magazine [The Philippines], August 5, 2011.

Professor Schmidt
Posted Feb 29, 2012
Professor Carl Schmidt will speak about Randall Thompson at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia on March 3, 2012 before the Philadelphia Singers performance of Thompson’s Requiem. On March 18, 2012 he will speak at The Johns Hopkins University Shriver Hall Concert Series on works by Mozart and Chopin before distinguished pianist Richard Goode’s performance.

Department of Theatre Arts

Continuing to Learn
Posted May 18, 2012
Tom Casciero has been invited to attend the Margolis Method Certification Program for university professors and has been given a partial scholarship from the Association of Theatre Movement Educators. The Margolis Method is a highly dynamic physical approach to actor training that synthesizes the skill-sets of Actor, Director and Playwright. This residency program uses the praxis of academic and physical training to give theatre educators advanced techniques and pedagogies for use in the classroom or profession.

Supporting Theatre Across Countries
Posted March 15, 2012
Associate Professor, Naoko Maeshiba, worked on SHINSAI: Theatres for Japan, a fundraising event for Japanese theatre artists in the northern part of Japan hit by a great quake and tsunami. She was an assistant director/interpreter for the event at Cooper Union in New York and contributed visual expression as a choreographer/performer for the event at Center Stage in Baltimore.
• WJZ-TV, March 11, 2012

Theatre Arts Hosts Russian Theatre Administrators for US State Department
Posted Feb 29, 2012
In early February, Towson University’s Department of Theatre Arts welcomed eight Russian theatre administrators who were on a three-week tour of the United States sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Office of Citizen Exchanges of the United States Department of State. While at Towson, the Russian visitors, who represent major theatres from across that nation, attended workshops and lectures presented by theatre faculty, observed classes, and visited rehearsals for the department’s upcoming production of Picasso at the Lapin Agile.

Theatre Faculty Noted in D.C. Theatre Scene
Posted Feb 29, 2012
Stephen Nunns, Juanita Rockwell and Yuri Urnov were included in Lorraine Treanor's feature, "Acme and Unsaddest team up for rogue waves," in the January 31, 2012 issue of D.C. Theatre Scene. Nunns cofounded The Acme Corporation with Lola Pierson.
• Article

Costumers Legacy
Georgia Baker reviewed costume design portfolios at the national conference of the U.S. Institute of Theatre Technology, March 7 to 11 in Charlotte, N.C. Her legacy of costume research, design and production continues to enrich the experience of Towson students today. Read her story in the Towson Alumni Magazine 2011.

TU Dance Team Wins 14th Title
Posted March 15, 2012
Tom Cascella, dance team coach, led The Towson University Dance Team to win the 2012 National Dance Alliance (NDA) Collegiate National Championship their 14th Consecutive National Championship, in Daytona Beach, Florida. 
• WBAL-TV, March 12, 2012

• Web cast video, 2011
• CBS Local News, 2011
• Fox Local News, 2011
• Press Release 2011 (Optimized PDF)

Asian Arts and Culture

Note Worthy Exhibition
Posted March 6, 2012
The Asian Arts Gallery is exhibiting works by iona rozeal brown, February 9 - May 12.
• BmoreArt, March 6
• Asian Arts and Culture

Fears Do Not Stop Performers
Suewhei Shieh, director, brought performers from Japan who took the stage at Towson despite fears over disasters at home.
• Carroll County Times, March 22, 2011

College of Fine Arts and Communication
Center for the Arts, Room 3001 (map)
Hours: Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Phone: 410-704-3288
Fax: 410-704-6026

	Gerald Cleaver, internationally acclaimed percussionist and composer, presented master classes, workshops and concerts during his week long residency coordinated by professor Dave Ballou. Read More.