Volume II: Issue 15
Welcome to the middle of summer! People keep asking me if the University slows down in July and August. I tell them we're just as busy as ever. People of all ages enjoy our campus learning environment—from elementary school children participating in our youth camps to retirees exploring Shakespeare's plays through our senior programs.
Here are a few of the many SOU summer activities that are engaging students from under 10 to over 70 years old.
Pre-College/Youth Programs
Enrollment in Pre-College/Youth Programs is up 28 percent over last summer. Our new Kids U (ages 8–12) has been very popular. It features classes like Fantastic Fencing, Lego Engineers, Rockin' Ropes & Water, and Explosive Science. Upcoming classes include Video Game Design, Spies-R-Us, Hot on the Court & Cool in the Pool, and Manga Madness.
SOU faculty and staff receive a 20-percent discount on tuition for nonresidential programs. Visit the Pre-College/Youth Programs website for a complete list of offerings.
With 292 students attending, this year's residential ACADEMY 2008 camp was a wonderful success. In its twenty-eighth year of operation, ACADEMY is a weeklong experience allowing talented and highly motivated students to explore classes, lectures, cultural events, and recreational activities.
Congratulations to Academia Latina for drawing donations from the Carpenter Foundation ($8,500), Harry & David ($5,000), and the Naumes Family Foundation ($2,500). Coming up in August, Academia Latina is a one-week summer academic residential program for Latino youth in southern Oregon (grades 7–9). Academia Latina immerses participants in a university setting, exposing them to the possibilities of college and integrating classes, field trips, cultural experiences, and recreational activities.
Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation has awarded $10,000 to SOU's Native American Youth Academy, Konaway Nika Tillicum. The program also received $2,500 and $1,600 from the City of Ashland's Economic and Cultural Development Grant and the Rotary Club of Ashland's Community Support Foundation, respectively.
Konaway Nika Tillicum has forty-four students enrolled this year, including six who are traveling all the way from Sitka, Alaska, to participate in the program. This weeklong academy will conclude with students presenting Voices of the Seventh Generation on the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Green Stage from 12:45 to 1:45 pm on August 1. The show will feature performances of Native American and Alaskan Native song and dance, theatrical scenes, modern dance, poetry readings, and art exhibitions. Admission is free.
SOU is also hosting the International Piano Institute summer program. Internationally renowned pianists—Professor of Music Alexander Tutunov, Christopher Bowlby, and Ivona Kaminska—will prepare a group of talented young pianists for concert performance. The institute opens with a performance by the three master pianists and concludes with a student performance on August 2.
Students age 9–12 still have time to sign up for spots in the unique Sea Camp held at the Oregon Coast on August 17–20. This residential camp takes place in Charleston just south of Coos Bay. Students spend four days and three nights exploring the wonders of the marine and estuarine environments by hiking, observing marine mammals, tide-pooling, and taking classes in marine biology.
Senior Programs
We are proud of our Siskiyou Center's lifelong learning programs, which is one of the largest and most successful in the Northwest. Elderhostel, Senior Ventures, and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) all have a full summer schedule.
The Elderhostel program takes theatre enthusiasts behind the scenes of Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) summer productions, including Our Town, The Comedy of Errors, and A Midsummer Night's Dream, for an inside look at the art and craft of acting. Participants come away with a better understanding of what makes a classic play and which elements contribute to a memorable performance.
Senior Ventures offers excursions to Oregon Shakespeare Festival plays, tours of Ashland's finest restaurants, and classes taught by SOU and OSF theatre professionals. Lodging at SOU is part of the package.
Many adult adventurers are also looking forward to Osher Lifelong Learning Institute's full calendar in fall 2008, with courses being offered in both Ashland and at the new RCC/SOU Higher Education Center. Class topics include literature, art, history, science, natural history, politics, games, health, music, writing, film, theatre, dance, technology, and travel.
Higher Education Center Public Art Installations
As the RCC/SOU Medford Higher Education Center nears its grand opening, we are delighted to support the installation of three pieces of community art as part of Oregon's Percent for Public Art Program.
Lonnie Feather, a glass artist, created two painted glass walls that act as room dividers, providing both beauty and functionality. The first wall is located on the ground floor in the student welcome center; the second is on the third floor in the student lounge.
Richard Swanson has designed a series of large tiled, metal shapes for the wall of the center's front entrance. The design extends into the building's stairwell. While abstract, his piece relates to the culture, history, and landscape of the region. A symbol key on the front of the building helps viewers understand the artwork more fully.
Tim Prentice has contributed a sculpture consisting of three lightweight metal strips that move with the air currents. The piece will be located in the atrium, providing movement and graceful beauty to the entrance of the building. Above are examples of his previous work.
A ten-member committee selected the three regionally and nationally renowned artists from a submission pool of more than 100 entries. The center's community art was funded as part of the Oregon Art Commission's mandate that buildings with a construction or remodeling budget of more than $100,000 spend at least one percent of budget on commissioned public art.
Receptions in honor of Lonnie Feather and Richard Swanson were held at Rogue Gallery on July 9 and July 24, respectively. The reception for Tim Prentice will be held on August 28 at 3:30 pm in the Higher Education Center lobby.
Schuman Collection of Musical Instruments
Stephen Bacon, the conservator of SOU's Schuman Collection, recently returned from the Berkeley Festival and Exhibition. He took a number of the collection's eighteenth-century instruments with him, and I am delighted that our early Spanish baroque diatonic harp was discussed and played.
Thanks to Dr. Vicki Purslow for her role in overseeing the collection and publicizing this event.
Spanning European, Islamic, African, Asian, and American musical traditions, the Jack and Dorinda Schuman Collection includes more than 700 historical and ethnic instruments from ninety countries. Instruments such as the 1910 bass mandola from Vienna, Austria, have appeared in exhibitions at the San Diego Museum of Fine Art, Washington State University, and Whitman College.
Also part of the collection is a 1798 guitar from Naples, Italy, which has been described and photographed in a number of books, including Harvey Turnbull's The Guitar from the Renaissance to the Present Day and Alexander Bellow's The Illustrated History of the Guitar.
Another notable instrument is the 1708 cittern from Schwarzwald, Germany, which has been described and photographed in Francis W. Galpin's A Textbook of European Musical Instruments.
