School of Fine Arts

Arts, sciences faculty collaborate on grant-winning Quark Adventure

University of Kansas design professors are part of a collaborative group of KU physicists, designers, educators and writers who recently received a nearly $200,000 grant from the Kansas National Science Foundation EPSCor (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) to execute an interactive multimedia education project, Quarked! Adventures in the subatomic universe. This project was created to introduce school children to quarks, nature’s tiniest building blocks.

The Quark Project, led by Alice Bean, professor of physics and astronomy, will help develop methodologies for presenting abstract science topics to children. The project is designed to help children ages 7-12 understand the world of science, specifically the world of subatomic physics. The production of this project is centered at KU, where a multidisciplinary team will design and produce educational and entertaining content for a mixture of outreach materials such as an interactive website, video animations and museum distribution shows/programs. Read more.

Student vocalists tour Europe

The KU Choir, conducted by John Paul Johnson, returned this summer from an eleven-day European tour.

The group, composed of 44 students from eight KU choirs, traveled to Europe from May 25 through June 4, touring Venice, Salzburg, Vienna and Prague. Johnson, director of choral activities, and Paul Tucker, associate director of choral activities, accompanied the students. In addition to Johnson and Tucker, graduate teaching assistants Henry Heller Smith, Hugo A. Vera, Eric Foley and Stanford Felix attended, as well as tour manager Amy Horton and Myra Strother, physician from Watkins Medical Center.

Before heading to Europe, the group prepared an extensive audition in order to perform at the prestigious Dom Cathedral in Salzburg, St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna and St. Nicholas Malastrana in Prague. The audition process included submitting past choral performances, event programs, a list of repertoire and a philosophy of the choral program, and a detailed resume of for Johnson’s career. After careful review by individual panels, the group was chosen to perform at all three locations. In addition, the group sang at the historic San Salvador Church in Venice and participated in a shared concert with Chorgemeinschaft Berndorf/Veitsau at Pfarre Berndorf in Vienna.

While in Europe, the students and faculty also took advantage of sightseeing opportunities, such as a walking tour of the Mozart House in Salzburg and landmarks such as the Vienna Opera House. These outings allowed the students to study the culture and rich musical history of the European cities. Read more.

Department of Art faculty exhibit work at annual show

University of Kansas art faculty will exhibit various works at the Annual Art Department Faculty Exhibition at the Art & Design Gallery on campus. The exhibit runs from 2 to 4 p.m. Sept. 25-Oct.12. This exhibition features works by both current and emeritus KU art faculty, and it is free and open to the public.

For more information about the Annual Art Department Faculty Exhibition, please contact the department at 785/864-4401.

Visit the School of Fine Arts website for more information.