NO DOUBT

Not one of my 60 students in art history had seen the film Doubt. Neither had I, for I was tired of the discussion of priestly pederasty, nasty nuns, etc. Needless to say, I was disappointed last year when the students chose to stage it, and so when I saw the Siena production I was pleasantly surprised and pleased that they could do so much with it. Just shows that art can trump text.




Ralph Blasting's direction led the student actors to present the story in a well timed and articulate way, with strong performances all around. Mahmood Karimi-Hakak's set was properly unsettling, its this sharp raked triangular areas setting up separate platforms that embodied the disunity of the central trio. Rob Thomson's lighting was masterful.
ptc

And from Professor Cindy Bates of
SUNY Empire State College:

The actors did a wonderful job throughout the performance. I especially loved the final scene between Fr. Flynn and Sr. Aloysius. The intensity of the scene was excellently played out and yet, it was also delicately balanced by the wavering line of whether or not Fr. Flynn was really guilty or not. The innocence of Sr. James was nicely balanced with her passionate heart throughout the production. And the actress playing Mrs. Muller brought to life the difficulty of her and her son's situations while also portraying a deep motherly love.

The set, lighting, and costume designs were all wonderful as well. I found the use of the platforms with their odd angles and somewhat severe rakes to be a great choice that helped symbolize the heart of the play. The stained glass windows set the atmosphere while also adding a delicate beauty to the set. I also found it provocative how they resonated symbolically with the heart of the play's discussion about the delicacy of truth and the shattering of a reputation like the shattering of glass.

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Scott Waldman at timesunion.com notes that "it's the location of the stage that makes a play intriguing." He quote Ralph Blasting's take on the theme of the play "as an exploration of how people struggle to make the right decision when the stakes are high and there is a limited amount of information."

ALL IN THE FAMILY

Sunday is music time for the Konye family - John-Kyle, Paul, and Mark - who assemble in Professor Paul's office to serenade our chambers. The shifting focus just indicates their activity, not my poor photography she said, pleading artistic license.

MAKING GLASS BEADS IN NEW CREA COURSE: ART & CHEM

Students from CREA's Art & Chemistry learned to make glass beads under the tutelage the dynamic duo, chemistry professors Kevin and Marina Kittredge. The trick is to keep the glass in the flame, and to keep it moving all the time. 

Some students got perfectly round beads, but all of them made interesting patterns.

Art history posters at Siena's Academic Celebration

MARIA SEGALA ('08) presents a poster on her independent study for a Robert Rauschenberg exhibition, upcoming during Senior Week and throughout the summer, in Foy Hall. Rauschenberg's prints have recently been a celebrated at the National Gallery in Washington. Segala's exhibition features five prints from the Chow Series of the 1970s. Her poster included a burlap panel to evoke the Purina Animal Chow bags from which Rauschenberg generated the series.

KATHERINE LEVINSON ('09) and KATHRYN HAMILTON ('08, not pictured) presented the work of the students of the Siena Class in Modern Art, Spring 2008. The students built the First Siena Sculpture Exhibition in March (booklet exhibited) and are currently preparing an exhibition of Women's Art from Siena Collections for June and July 2008 in the Yates Gallery of the Standish Library.

First Siena Sculpture Show

Jenna Buckley (’08,)
Kathryn Hamilton (’08)
Kristen Hans (’08)
Laura Lachell (’10)
Katherine Levinson (’08)
Megan Walsh (’08)

Students in MODERN ART have constructed the First Siena Sculpture Show in Foy Lobby, open throughout March. 

top left: drawing students working from exhibition

top right: MEGAN WALSH consults with Phyllis Chapman during installation

bottom: unpacking and examining the works

The sculpture is part of the Siena Art Collection, which got a major boost in 2007, with the accession of over 500 works from the Fine Arts Museum of Long Island. This donation was suggested by Siena student Heather Pirinea, and engineered by her father, Joseph Pirinea. We are thankful for their contribution to the academic life of Siena College. The exhibition would not have been possible without the direction of Siena Art Curator, Phyllis Chapman, and the able cooperation of the Events and Housekeeping Crews.

These Things were Offered to Me as Blessings

Friday night (February 15) the Union College Department of Music presented Branches of Words a program of dance and music set to the poetry of Hafez. Siena's Mahmood Karimi-Hakak collaborated with Ellen Sinopoli in directing the program. He voiced Hafez's Persian poetry as the dancers embodied it. The effect was extraordinary. The sound echoed the movement -- not only in grace but also in physicality -- for the Farsi was as highly textured, solid and physically three-dimensional as the dancers' efforts.

The program was well-paced, varying from poetry-dance to poetry-music to pure and exhilarating percussion of Zorki Nelson. Deeply moving was "I show Myself as I Am" with single dancer Sarah Pingel and Zoe B. Zak's classical accordion that drew out every form, every tension, every pulse. Reprised from last year's program two years ago was Munir Beken's Pottery Shards, this time laid into Hafez "Those who Stood up for Tolerance"; a new title "Into Dark Moods" gave it an even greater impact.

The fine Union College Music Hall allowed all the music, all the movement, all the poetry to move cleanly about the space and into our imaginations. I can't help but feel very jealous that we at Siena cannot offer our audiences the same opportunity to realize, with Hafez, that "These Things were Offered . . . as Blessings."

REVIEWS:
http://blogs.timesunion.com/reviews/?p=351
http://www.union.edu/N/DS/edition_display.php?e=1467&s=7657

CREA's Brian Massman at Cap Rep

Brian Massman, fondly known as Mass Man, appears in the Cap Rep's production of David Henry Hwang's M. Butterfly, performances from Jan 18-Feb 10. He plays the French ambassador to China. See http://www.capitalrep.org/season/butterfly/html for tickets and information. Mass Man teaches a number of courses in CREA: Intro to Theatre, Voice and Movement, Acting for the Camera, as well as Art and Society.

Siena theatre students will see and discuss the play with the cast on February 6 and 9th.