Student Achievement Week

May 29, 2006

Student Achievement Week showcases performances, visual art, student awards

Student Achievement Week—an eclectic mix of performances, presentations, visual art, and awards—begins in earnest June 3 and ends June 10.

Noam Berg's The New Guy, a
digital print, is one of the pieces available at the Annual Print Sale.

Art aficionados have a chance to get a jump on Achievement Week at the Irwin Scholars Exhibition, which continues through June 17.

Another early draw is the annual exhibition of works by students in the Science Illustration Program, continuing through June 11. The annual Chautauqua theater festival is performed June 1–4. A Midsummer Night’s Dream opera will be presented June 1–4.

During the week itself, the Annual Print Sale is a great opportunity to see the professional quality of the printmaking program. Lithographs, intaglio etchings, digital prints, and handmade books will be among items for sale on June 9 and 10. Running in conjunction with the print sale is the Spring-Quarter Open Studios event.

Research takes center stage at several events, including the Humanities Undergraduate Research Award Colloquia, the Faculty Mentor Program Undergraduate Research Colloquium, the Undergraduate Research Poster Symposium, the Environmental Studies Symposium, the Thesis Exhibition for Digital Arts and New Media, and the Undergraduate Linguistics Conference.

A highlight is the campuswide Awards Ceremony June 9 at the College Nine/College Ten Multipurpose Room. (See profile on this year’s winner of the Strauss Award, one of the students to be honored at the event.)

The crowded schedule for Achievement Week includes:

• Spring 2006 Open Studios. The UCSC Art Department presents student work in the studios and courtyard of the Elena Baskin Visual Arts Center. All media, including painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking, drawing, book arts, digital, and intermedia, are on display. Friday, June 9, noon to 4 p.m. Free and open to the public. For further information, contact Maya Paulding at (831) 459-2272.

• The Annual Print Sale is an extraordinary display of undergraduate artwork and a showcase for the printmaking program and facilities at UCSC. Hundreds of original prints will be for sale in a variety of media.The event will run in conjunction with the Art Department's Spring Quarter Open Studios. Friday, June 9, and Saturday, June 10, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Baskin Visual Arts. For further information contact Veda Ozelle at 459-3686.

• The Irwin Scholars Exhibition 2006. Established in 1986, the William Hyde and Susan Benteen Irwin Scholarship fund has now grown to more than $700,000, providing annual acknowledgment to the Art Department's finest students. These scholarships are considered as recognition given by the faculty to the top 5 percent of the program. The Sesnon show features the work of Irwin Scholarship recipients in a wide variety of art forms including painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, installation, and electronic media. (See related story: http://currents.ucsc.edu/05-06/05-15/brief-irwin.asp) The 2006 Irwin Scholarship exhibition is on view in the Mary Porter Sesnon Art Gallery at Porter College through June 17, Tuesday-Saturday, noon to 5 p.m.

• The Sesnon Gallery is also hosting a Digital Arts and New Media Thesis Exhibition June 8-18, from noon to 5 p.m. The MFA program serves as a center for the development and study of digital media and the cultures they have helped create. For more information go to: http://digitalarts.ucsc.edu/

• The annual ‘Illustrating Nature' exhibition shows student works from the Science Illustration Program, and continues through June 11 at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History, 1305 East Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz. Hours are Tuesdays through Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (See story)

• Student film screening. Join the students of Film 172, Film and Video Studio, for a screening of final projects at the end of the quarter, Friday, June 9, 7:30 to 11 p.m. in the Media Theater. The screening is free and open to the public. (See film.ucsc.edu for more information.)

• Dance Theater Production, Signs and Syndromes. Artistic director Ted Warburton, UCSC colleague Mark Franko, and guest choreographer Sommer Ulrickson work with student dancers in a diverse production including a telematic Internet collaboration with dancers in Los Angeles, a small chamber piece featuring baroque and ballet influences, and a work that incorporates movement, dramatic elements, and prop manipulation. Presented by the UCSC Theater Arts Department, it will be performed June 1-3 at 7 p.m., and June 4 at 3 p.m., in the UCSC Mainstage, Theater Arts Center.

• Benjamin Britten's opera, A Midsummer Night's Dream. English composer Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) composed this full-length opera in 1960 and set it to texts in William Shakespeare's enchanting play. Directed by Brian Staufenbiel, it features top student singers and the UCSC Orchestra conducted by Nicole Paiement. Presented by the UCSC Music Department, it will be performed at the Music Center Recital Hall June 1-3 at 7:30 p.m., and 2 p.m. on June 4. (See story)

• Electronic Music Concert. A concert of music and visualizations is presented by students of the electronic music studios and the Digital Arts and New Media program, with a special appearance by Gamelan Lumina. Presented by the Music Department, the free program will be performed on Saturday, June 10, at 7:30 p.m. at the Music Center Recital Hall.

• Chautauqua, UCSC's annual festival of student playwriting, directing, design, and acting celebrates its 27th year. There's a rotating lineup, so audiences are encouraged to attend multiple performances to see the festival's complete offerings. The free shows are presented by the UCSC Theater Arts Department at the Second Stage, Theater Arts Center, at 7 p.m. June 1-3, and 2 p.m. June 4.

• Environmental Studies Program Symposium. Students pursue an interdisciplinary curriculum with emphasis on conservation, restoration, policy, soil ecology, agroecology, and education. This symposium--a compilation of their research projects and composed of visual and written material--will take place on Wednesday, June 7, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in the Interdisciplinary Sciences Building, Room 221.

• The seventh annual Undergraduate Research Poster Symposium, showcasing a wide variety of research projects by students in the Division of Physical and Biological Sciences and the Jack Baskin School of Engineering, will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. June 8 at the Thimann Courtyard. (In the event of rain, the posters will be displayed in the lobby of Earth and Marine Sciences.)

• Humanities Undergraduate Research Award (HUGRA) Colloquia. Award winners will present their research on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, June 6, 7, or 8 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Stevenson Fireside Lounge. Contact Norma Ray for details, (831) 459-4477.

• The Faculty Mentor Program (FMP) is a two-quarter undergraduate research program designed to encourage and prepare Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) students for future graduate study in the arts, humanities and social sciences. Students participate in a weekly seminar during the winter and spring quarters, along with a 10- to 12-hour commitment to a faculty-sponsored research project. Students will present their research projects at the FMP Undergraduate Research Colloquium from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. June 1 and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 2, at Bay Tree Conference Room D. For information, contact Michelle Handy at (831) 459-2296.

• Each spring quarter, linguistics and language studies students present their research at the UCSC Undergraduate Linguistics Conference. A linguistics graduate who has gone on to a career in linguistics or a related field is invited to give a keynote presentation. A large number of linguistics undergraduates attend this conference, as well as most of the department's graduate students and faculty. This year’s Linguistics and Language Studies Annual Undergraduate Conference will be held on June 8, from 2 to 6 p.m. in the Silverman Conference Room at Stevenson College.