News @ the Peck School of the Arts

Alzheimer's Patients Turn To Stories Instead Of Memories

NPR Morning Edition
May 14, 2012

Ask family members of someone with Alzheimer's or another dementia: Trying to talk with a loved one who doesn't even remember exactly who they are can be very frustrating.

But here at a senior center in Seattle, things are different.

On one recent day, 15 elderly people were forming a circle. The room is typical — linoleum floors, cellophane flowers on the windows, canes and wheelchairs, and walkers lined up against the wall...

Go to NPR to listen to the story.

FUTURE STUDENT - South, Sheboygan Falls students awarded Ruth DeYoung Kohler scholarships

Sheboygan Press
May 10, 2012

Just as he did during his audition for the scholarship, accomplished actor and vocalist Evan Braun "stole the show" for a moment at Sheboygan South High School's annual scholarship program Wednesday evening when it was announced he was a recipient of the 2012 Kohler Foundation Ruth DeYoung Kohler Scholarship for artistic excellence.

Braun, a senior at Sheboygan South High School, was one of two students to be awarded the prestigious scholarship...

He has been accepted into the Peck School of the Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. An accomplished actor and vocalist, he has performed nine major roles in school and local productions ranging from "Les Miserables" to the opera "Aida."

Evan received a Wisconsin State Music Association Exemplary Soloist award and was a national qualifier in forensics events. He was named a winner of the 2012 JMKAC Senior Honor Recital...

Visit the Sheboygan Press to read the full article.

THEATRE FACULTY - Senior Circles: TimeSlips program helps recognize the strengths of people with dementia

Chicago Tribune
May 2, 2012

Here is what the stories say: "She is riding an ostrich and singing to herself. 'Imagination is funny. It makes a rainy day sunny.'" "He's going to the land of ice cream and cookies...to the land of peppermint airplanes." "Their eyes are laughing, saying listen to me!" Based on pictures presented to them, three different groups of people with dementia created these parts of three stories.

These stories are the result of an innovative, creative storytelling project called TimeSlips, an inexpensive and effective group storytelling method that "helps people with dementia reaffirm their humanity and connect with staff, family and friends." Instead of pressuring people with dementia to remember, TimeSlips encourages them to use their imaginations, to creatively express themselves through storytelling...

Read the full article at the Chicago Tribune.

Mainstage Theatre takes a new look at a classic

By Beth Stafford
UWM News
May 2, 2012

The “Three Sisters” (from left), Masha (Megan Stapleton), Olga (Caitlin Wolf, standing) and Irina (Sola Thompson), rehearse as Fly Steffens makes notations to the script of the adaptation she wrote. (Photo by Troye Fox)

The “Three Sisters” being presented by UWM’s Peck School of the Arts Theatre Department May 2-6 is an original adaptation directed by Associate Professor Rebecca Holderness and crafted by student Fly Steffens – a “to-the-point, blunt take on what’s happening in this play.”

Holderness, director of the Mainstage Theatre production, describes playwright Anton Chekhov as “a seminal writer in theatre literature, whose works you want an audience and your students to experience. He was one of the first to explore the lives of people in all of their dimensions.”

Visit UWM News to read the full article.

Undergraduate research surprises at symposium

By Angela McManaman
UWM New
April 19, 2012

More than 150 students and a panel of 85 judges made for the largest and most dramatic Undergraduate Research Symposium in the event’s four-year history Friday afternoon in the Union Wisconsin Room.

Nigel Rothfels, director of the Office of Undergraduate Research, had to extend his speech by several minutes as the final tabulations were made and names of the winning student researchers were passed to the stage.

Four state fair-style ribbons were to be awarded to one winner, each, in first through third place, plus the inaugural OUR award for best oral presentation. Instead, there were ties in three categories. Ribbons were shared, but every student walked away with a prize between $50 and $200, supported by the Graduate School...

Visit UWM News to read the full article.

Kenilworth Open Studios April 21

By Beth Stafford
UWM News
April 16, 2012

It’s free! It’s fun! It has something for everyone!

Visitors to last year’s Open Studios toured one of Kenilworth’s art studios. (Photo by Alan Magayne-Roshak)

Kenilworth Open Studios is an opportunity for the entire community to celebrate and experience the work created by Peck School of the Arts faculty, alumni and students. The fun happens on Saturday, April 21, from 11a.m.-2 p.m. throughout the building at Kenilworth Square East, 1925 E. Kenilworth Pl.

Lively and hands-on, the event includes art and film exhibits, live music, dance, theatre performances and more...

Visit UWM News for the full article.

Open Studios: TCD’s Guide to Gallery Night

By Carly Rubach
ThirdCoast Digest
April 16, 2012

Get ready for Gallery Night with TCD’s hand-picked list for exhibits and events. Spring Gallery Night is Friday, April 20, and remember, the gallery gallivanting doesn’t have to stop on Friday night!

Be sure to check out the Peck School of the Arts‘ (PSOA) Kenilworth Open Studios event from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. on Gallery Day. The exhibit will be packed with five floors of action and will feature more than 100 artists.

“This is the best way to get a taste of everything the school has to offer,” says Ellen Schupper, Director of Marketing and Community Relations for the PSOA. “Students, faculty and alum will all be hosting, presenting and showing their work.”

Visit ThirdCoast Digest to read the full article.

Recommendations for Gallery Night & Day

By Mary Louise Schumacher
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
April 12, 2012

...If you are planning to go to Gallery Night & Day this weekend and are readying your itinerary, I offer you a CliffsNotes-esque version of your options. Of the many exhibits and events you have to choose from, here are a few I’d recommend.

Brooke Thiele and UWM’s Kenilworth Building
2155 N. Prospect Ave.

Brooke Thiele, an adjunct professor of art at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, has been a deer hunter since she was 12 and an artist all of her life. For her “Serving Still Hunting” art installation, she brings the male-dominated sport into a domestic context, the cozy, sweet-smelling, cake-baking world often associated with women.

The Nature of Mutation at UWM

88Nine RadioMilwaukee
March 13, 2012

Bill Watson knows a good script when he reads one, and he has brought a compelling story to the UWM Peck School of the Arts: The Nature of Mutation. This play brings together various conflicts: Creationism vs. Evolution, science vs. faith, technology vs. nature, old vs. new, parents vs. youth---you know, all the things that make for a pithy news story. But the difference here is that a cast of young actors, a veteran director, and a fascinating play come together to create something beyond a headline.

I met with Bill Watson at my other "office", and then bounced down to UWM to watch and record a bit of the tech rehearsal, and talk to a couple of the young actors involved in this very topical production...

Visit 88Nine RadioMilwaukee to listen to the podcast.

THEATRE FACULTY - Cast Excels in In Tandem's 'The Chosen'

By Steve Spice
Shepherd Express
March 7, 2012
 
In Tandem's fine new production, Chaim Potok's The Chosen, thoughtfully illustrates the paradox of two highly principled young Orthodox Jews living in Brooklyn in households with completely divergent approaches to the Talmud. Reuven Malter (well played by Eric Schabla) is a modern Jew less inclined to pursue a destiny dictated only by tradition, but willing to follow his father's footsteps to a life of teaching and writing. Danny Saunders, however, adheres to the strict, unvarying principles adhered to by a father who finds it unnecessary to speak and communicates with his son only through Reuven, Danny's new friend...

Bill Watson is stentorian in a riveting presentation of Rabbi Saunders and James Tasse brings a needed, sympathetic portrayal to Reuven's father...

Visit the Shepherd Express online to read the full article.