News Archive

CSUSM Alumni Win Emmy

Kristina Kalchev and Ryan Beaton, 2017 Arts and Technology Alumni, won a 2017 Emmy for the Pacific Southwest for their video, Playtime, a promo about domestic violence. They also won 1st place for their promo at the statewide CSU Student Media Festival, competing with almost 200 entries. In addition, Kristina won 2nd place at the CSU Media Festival for her experimental video, Masks. 

Weather on Steroids: the Art of Climate Change Science

Weather on Steroids explores the changing climate on our planet, partnering artistic and scientific communities to create a visual dialogue about the vexing problem of how weather variability affects local communities. The exhibition investigates Southern California vulnerability to climate change, and draws on the region's scientific expertise at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, whose investigators are at the forefront of climate research.  New contemporary art, responding to the latest climate change research, reveals how extreme weather upsets the planet's balance.  By illuminating the reality of climate change, Weather on Steroids aspires to proactively stimulate public dialogue about one of the most important issues of our time.      

Participating artists: Tiersa Cosaert, Judit Hersko, Cheryl E. Leonard, Dana Montlack, Lilleane Peebles, Oscar Romo, M. Luna Rossel, Eva Struble, Paul Turounet, Ruth Wallen, and Allison Wiese.  Contributing scientists: Michel Boudrias, Michael Dettinger, Alexander Gershunov, Kristen Guiguis, Ralph Keeling, Manfredi Manizza, Art Miller, Walter Munk, David Pierce, Richard Somerville, and Shang-Ping Xie.  Contributing Historians: Judith Haxo, Caroline Isaacs, and Deborah Day.  Curated by Tatiana Sizonenko, Ph.D.with Science Consultant Alexander Gershunov, Ph.D. 

February 11 - May 21, 2017 Wisteria Cottage Gallery and June 10 - September 3, 2017 San Diego Central Library Gallery 

Professor Deborah Small and Tending the Wild

I am a member of the Chia Cafe Collective (CCC), a grassroots group of southern California tribal members and collaborators committed to the revitalization of native foods, medicines, culture and community. 

Our work honors the vast traditional knowledge and spiritual relationship to the land, and the nutritive and medicinal bounty the land offers us. Through workshops, classes, demonstrations, and native foods celebrations, as well as our forthcoming book, Cooking the Native Way, the CCC focuses on ways to re-incorporate native food plants into our daily diets to take back responsibility for our health and well-being. 

Many of these ancestral food plants are not only incredibly nutritious, but show remarkable heat and drought resistance, with the necessary resilience to adapt and survive in the face of climate change. 

With photographs, recipes, stories, and personal narratives, we offer ways to reconnect with the land through gathering, gardening, and cooking native foods and the preparation of medicinal plants as teas, tinctures, salves, and soaps. 

We promote an ethic of gathering and cultivating plants in a manner that is sustainable, and we stress the importance of preserving native plants, plant communities, and the land for the future generations of all species.

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Deborah Small is a Professor at CSUSM School of Arts and a devoted member of the Chia Café Collective. She is a contributing photographer and writer on Tending the Wild, presented by KCET. 

The recipes are from the Chia Cafe Collective's book, Cooking the Native Way, which will be printed and distributed by Heyday Press in 2017.

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THE SAN DIEGO READER HIGHTLIGHTS CSUSM'S THEATRE LECTURER, JASON HEIL.

Academic Year 2016-2017

Johnathan Berman shares Story Structure secrets for artists, as first CSUSM Arts professor to teach at Anhui University in China.  

Upcoming projects from Neil Kendricks and Carlos Pelayo

Wounded Sky is their collaborative video-art project. The video-art installation is one of four-to-five interactive video artworks that will be on display during the opening-night event for this international world-building summit exploring what the U.S./Mexico region will look like in 20 years. Learn more at: frontera 

They are launching our small, indie production company, KP Moving Pictures, and have several short-film projects in the works. Last summer, they filmed a short film El Taxista, written and directed by Carlos and they are in pre-production on Kendricks' short film Book of Skin, which rolls into production in late spring/ early summer 2017. Kendricks is also in production on his feature-length documentary Comics are everywhere 

In addition to the upcoming presentation of Wounded Sky, Kendricks' experimental short films Suspension and Memory Lines are currently on the film-festival circuit. 

Suspension will be screening at the upcoming London Experimental Film Festival, as well as the SeeMor Film Festival on the Isle of Anglesay, near the UK on Oct. 29. Thus far, Suspension has screened at Virginia's Staunton International Film Festival; the Buskopolis Festival of Cinematic Oddities, Serbia's Experimental Superstars Festival, Russia's Tochka Dostupa Contemporary Arts festival, and Ship in the Woods' Convergence exhibition at Cabrilio National Monument where the piece screened on the lighthouse's exterior. Memory Lines has screened at this month's INDIEhype Film Festival in Australia, as well as the Stockholm Experimental and Animation Film Festival, and San Diego CityBeat's 5 Minute Film Festival and it will be screening at Mexico's CinePobre Film Festival.      

Congratulations to Neil and Carlos!  

School of Arts student wins Emmy!

Congratulations to Luke Bisagna for winning an Emmy for sound design and mixing work for his work on Joshua Tree: Threatened Wonderland. Winner of four Emmy awards, Joshua Tree: Threatened Wonderland tells the story of Joshua Tree National Park, with its mysterious rock formations and iconic trees that have long provided a haven for those seeking an inspirational experience. The film also covers current threats from air pollution, fires, and global warming, which scientists believe may cause the disappearance of the majority of the joshua trees in less than one hundred years, changing this amazing wonderland forever.

Luke Bisagna’s sound design and mixing work on the film garnered him an Emmy win along with Telly and Communicator awards. Luke’s approach was to strike an emotional chord with the audience by providing a rich, immersive, and realistic sonic experience. He traveled extensively through the park on several occasions recording environmental ambience, wildlife, and other sounds unique to Joshua Tree in order to enrich his audio palette in post-production. He is also currently teaching at Palomar College. 

Jason Heil featured in Union Tribune!

San Diego Union-Tribune published article on Intrepid Theatre's production of "Art" featuring SofA lecturer Jason Heil. Congrats Jason!

Media Makers Fall 2016

We are pleased to announce the Media Makers Fall 2016 season at CSUSM, with the first event this Thursday evening. The workshops are intimate, hands-on and filling up fast, so interested students should email Kristine Diekman or Jonathan Berman for a place as below.

 

 

 

 

 

CSUSM Faculty Member Kaja Amado Dunn directs Emily Mann's 1995 Broadway play, "Having our Say, the Delaney Sisters' First 100 Years".
New Village Arts Theatre Carlsbad
March 17 - April 26, 2016

SofA was featured in the Cougar Chronicle article about the student exhibit in the ARTS 111 lobby. Check it out!

Take a look at this article in the ut sandiego! James Herbert discusses the diverse and dynamic college theatre scene throughout San Diego County, with a special shout out to the CSUSM School of Arts spring production of Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992.   

Dr. Ching-Ming Cheng, CSUSM piano professor, in concert!

Visual Arts Student Artwork Selected  for Student Veterans of America National Convention 

Congratulations to Ian Conner, CSUSM Visual Arts student, whose piece (pictured above) was selected as a finalist to be featured at the National Convention for Student Veterans of America in San Antonio TX in January 2015.  After SVA's National Convention, his work will be shipped to Washington, DC where it will be unveiled with the other finalists; the winning entry will be announced on March 26th.

VPA 321 Learning through the Arts

Back in October, Dr. Merryl Goldberg's and Prof. Kaya Dunn's VPA 321 Learning through the Arts class invited the fifth graders of King Chavez Schools Arts & Athletics Academy to the School of Arts at CSUSM.  The kids toured the campus and attended a performance of VPA 321 students' adaptations of Aesop's Fables. We recently received their thank you letters and had to share them.  If you need to smile today, you can take a peek.

CSUSM Graphic Design Contest

The CSUSM College of Humanities, Arts, Behavioral and Social Sciences is holding a student contest to create a graphic image for the Global Commitment Initiative(GCI). The GCI is a program designed to educate and engage the College, campus, and the borader community in a discussion about global issues, trends, and events. The program includes:

• educational opportunities (speakers, films, and performing arts events)
• social interactions (bringing our diverse campus populations together to share experiences and insights)
• actions (e.g. studying, teaching, working abroad) -community outreach activities

Contest Specifications:

• Create a graphic design to be used in all GCI publicity materials
• Graphic must include "CHABSS Global Commitment Initiative"
• Submit your high-res, two-color design to gci@csusm.edu
• Entries due by 5pm on Friday, January 23rd, 2015
• Winner will receive a $100 gift card to the University Bookstore. (And don't forget the Bragging Rights!)

Spring 2015 Theatre Production Auditions

Auditions for the Spring 2015 Theatre Production of Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 will be held on Wednesday October 22nd from 11:45am-1:30pm in ARTS 220 and October 23rd from 11am-1pm in ARTS 342.

Prof. David Avalos Artist Exhibition

David Avalos, CSUSM professor of Visual Art, is a featured artist and co-curator of "In Lak'ech, San Diego to Denver: You are my Other Self." The exhibition is running August 15-October 4, 2014 at the Center for Visual Art at Metropolitan State University in Denver, CO. denverarts.org

Arts & Tech Student Art Exhibited in Chicago

Introducing the new School of Arts!

We are proud to announce that the Visual and Performing Arts department is now the School of Arts.

Please welcome Jacquelyn Kilpatrick, our Director of the newly formed School of Arts.  Dr. Kilpatrick received her M.A from CSU Fresno and her doctorate from the University of California Santa Cruz.  As one of 12 founding faculty at CSU Channel Islands, she developed and chaired the Performing Arts (interdisciplinary Music, Dance and Theatre), English, and Communication programs, and she has recently been a professor, Associate Vice Chancellor and Interim Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs at the University of Hawaii’s West Oahu campus.

2014 MediaFest Finalists Films Posted

Check out the winning films from this spring's MediaFest on our MediaFest page or on our Vimeo page.

CSUSM VPA Student Wins Wine Label Commission

Images from Seussical the Musical

Seussical the Musical 2014 from Ginny Scott on Vimeo.

Seussical the Musical was an overwhelming success, selling out seven of the eight shows.  We are so proud of the cast and crew led by CSUSM Theatre lecturer Kaja Dunn.  Here is a slideshow (courtesy of Jaz Althagafi and Jason Gonzalez) of images from the show.

Congrats Grads

Congratulations to all of our 2014 VPA graduates! Special recognition goes out to our graduating honors students who earned an overall GPA of 3.5: Megumu Aida, Sarah Attie, Luciana Byrnes, Zachary Chione, Drew Stanford, Joshua Fowler, Jordan Demulder, Julie Meram, Marilyn Huerta, and Laura Musgrove.
The ceremony for College of Humanities, Arts, Behavioral and Social Sciences will be on Sunday, May 25th at 9:30am.   

Winners from the 2014 CSUSM Student MediaFest

Congratulations to the winners from this year's CSUSM Student Mediafest!  This annual event celebrates the creative work in film and video of all students  in the university with their colleagues, friends, families and communities.  Thank you to all the students who submitted work.  We will post the winning videos soon--please check back soon.    Here is the list of winners:

• Best Script for the film Johnny & Lucy - Danielle Baldo
• Best Narrative for the film Johnny & Lucy - Niko Rodriguez and Cassie Jenness
• Best Documentary for the film Day Laborers - Ryan Denzy
• Best Experimental for the film A Dance Adaptation and Ensemble - Edgar Mendez
• Best Animation for the film Adam - Michael Elinn
• The CHABBS Deans Award for Nathan Bowser - Angelica Jacebo
• Best Social Justice Award for his work in the community and CSUSM students - Mark Day

VPA Student Art to be Displayed in Paris

CSUSM VPA is proud to announce that a mural created by Professor Kristin Moss’ VSAR 460 Art & Social Change class will be displayed as a poster in Paris  May 2014.  The mural was produced for The  Art Miles Mural Project “Expressions on Canvas,” which is an international exhibit of a thousand murals created by a half million people from more than 100 countries.   The murals present a “glimpse of cultural portraits which combine individual life experiences and powerful stories of traditions, myths, and memories into a common bridge to bring people together. “  Thank you to community partner Art Miles and UNESCO Ambassador Joanne Tawfilis for working with the class and getting our students’ work displayed. To learn more about the Art Miles Project, visit their website: art miles

Art work by Michael Berg, Alana Julian, John Konno, Karina Menezes, Jaclyn Perez, Joseph Reynolds, James Starnes, Patricia Starnes, Brad Statzer, Sarah Tillery, Amalia Wood, Liying Xiong, and Sayuri Fujita.

VPA Major wins the Library Video contest

Congratulations to VPA Major Edgar Mendez who won the CSUSM Kellogg Library Video Contest on April 17th for his dance-for-camera work.  As a student in DNCE 124 Screening Dance with Dr. Karen Schaffman, Edgar studied ways video artists and dance artists can collaborate.  Primed by his influences from the Arts and Tech faculty and interest in the course material, Dr. Schaffman invited him to create something with the Dance Ensemble class for the contest.  This work is part of an international project by Belgian choreographer Anne Terese De Keersmaeker's RE: Rosas! ROSAS REMIX PROJECT.  The Dance Ensemble is creating an adaptation for the upcoming spring dance concert on May 1st and 2nd.

Contest Winner!

CSUSM Theater Students Wow School Audiences Throughout San Diego County

VPA Launches New Concert Band!

The Department of Visual and Performing Arts is pleased to announce the launch of the CSUSM Concert Band this upcoming spring semester.  Any student, staff or faculty member is eligible to participate.  The band will meet on Fridays from 10 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. and will be a three-unit class for students.  However, members of the community may be able to join the band through Open University.  

If you are interested in learning more, contact VPA Music Professor Mtafiti Imara at mimara@csusm.edu or Music Program Director Bill Bradbury at bradbury@csusm.edu, and please indicate what instrument(s) you play and if you own them.

Video In The Community Project Wins Student Emmy Award!

Congratulations to CSUSM Students and Alumni Eli Morey, Sebastian Maselli, Heidi Lopez, Patrick Sattley and Stephen Cammell for their Emmy win! The video project was produced for North County Community Services Food Bank as part of the Spring 2012 Video in the Community class.  The food bank works with over 100 partner agencies to provide food assistance to those in need. The video project featured interviews with the Executive Director as well as many of the other partner agencies, and highlighted many of the programs and services offered by the Food Bank.  The video is currently featured on the Food Bank’s website, and is being used as an outreach tool for the community.  The Emmy’s are presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Pacific Southwest Chapter. This is the first Emmy to be awarded to CSUSM students. Read the full story!

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The 8th Annual CSUSM Media Festival Finalists are Here!

Where Art and Athletics meet

VPA Student Wins Poster Design Contest

VPA Music Major Releases Album on iTunes

Theater Internships a Major Success

VSAR Mural

CSUSM VPA is proud to announce that a mural created by Professor Kristin Moss’ VSAR 460 Art & Social Change class will be displayed as a poster in Paris  May 12-23, 2014.  The mural was produced for The  Art Miles Mural Project “Expressions on Canvas,” which is an international exhibit of a thousand murals created by a half million people from more than 100 countries.   The murals present a “glimpse of cultural portraits which combine individual life experiences and powerful stories of traditions, myths, and memories into a common bridge to bring people together. “  Thank you to community partner Art Miles and UNESCO Ambassador Joanne Tawfilis for working with the class and getting our students’ work displayed. 

Art work by Michael Berg, Alana Julian, John Konno, Karina Menezes, Jaclyn Perez, Joseph Reynolds, James Starnes, Patricia Starnes, Brad Statzer, Sarah Tillery, Amalia Wood, Liying Xiong, and Sayuri Fujita

End of Semester VPA Events! See you there.

New Show in the CSUSM Art Gallery

Shoe Sale on the Third Floor!

Panel on Theater for Social Change

SPRING AWAKENING

 Three VPA faculty shine at the 2011 Craig Noel Awards for Theater Excellence!

Congratulations Karin Filijan: Outstanding Lighting Design for Angels in America Ion Theater

Congratulations Robert Foxworth: Outstanding Lead performance in a Play, Male  And Pam Kragen, president of the San Diego Theater Critic¿s Circle and host for the evening. sd critics circle.org

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Faculty member Ching-Ming Cheng celebrates with President Haynes

following a remarkably wonderful debut concert at CSUSM.

Check out the video of Ching-Ming Cheng's Piano Concert.

1a. "Miroirs" (Part 1 of 2) Maurice Ravel
1b. "Miroirs" (Part 2 of 2)
2. "Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23" Frederic Chopin 
3. "Piano Sonata in C major, No. 60 Hob.XVI:50" Joseph Haydn 
4. "Chaconne in D minor" Ferruccio Busoni

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CSUSM Sets Press Conference for Feb. 9

President Haynes to Share Innovative Program which Improved Standardized Reading Test Scores by Nearly 90 Points.
San Marcos, CA.  California State University San Marcos (CSUSM), in collaboration with the North County Professional Development Federation, the San Diego County Office of Education and ten North San Diego County school districts, will hold a press conference on Thursday, Feb. 9 at 10 a.m. to discuss the groundbreaking results from DREAM (Developing Reading Education with Arts Methods), a four-year arts integration program funded with a nearly $1 million grant through the United States Department of Education Office of Innovation and Improvement.   
President Haynes, CSUSM president, will announce that elementary student test scores in reading improved an astonishing 87 points as a result of DREAM's initiatives. The program¿s goal was to train 3rd and 4th grade teachers to use visual arts and theater activities to improve students' reading and language arts skills.

Begun in June 2009, the program offered one week Summer Institutes coupled with coaching by professional artists throughout the year. Ten school districts have had teachers participate in the project, including Carlsbad, Encinitas, Escondido, Fallbrook, Julian, Oceanside, Ramona, San Marcos, Valley Center Pauma and Vista, representing 141 teachers and approximately 3,000 students. During the press conference, elementary students from the Vista Academy of Visual and Performing Arts will perform one of the theatrical lesson plans to demonstrate how using theater to teach literacy is an effective instructional tool.  

Students in classes where teachers integrated theater to teach reading scored much higher on the reading comprehension and inference standardized tests. 

The press conference will be held at the North County Regional Education Center at 255 Pico Avenue, San Marcos.

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VPA's own Judit Hersko

Judit was awarded the 2011-2012 President's Outstanding Faculty Award for Scholarship and Creative Activity.

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Professor Bill Bradbury SCORES!

Meet the Chair! 

Merryl Goldberg is the Chair of Visual and Performing Arts at California State San Marcos, a professional saxophonist and mom. She's also an avid boxer. More info about Merryl Goldberg

VPA Department Welcomes Robert Foxworth

VPA Senior Project Short Video "SomaSleep"

VPA majors Lance McCormick and Lauren Radel created this video composite animation mixing video, still images, and hand drawn elements. The concept of this project is to raise awareness about the viewer's role in a technologically advanced world. Inspired by the books 1984, Brave New World, and Fahrenheit 451. SomaSleep won awards for Best Animation and Juror's Choice in the 2011 Student Media Film Festival at CSUSM.  

VPA Senior Project Short Film "Eros"

VPA majors Michael Colasardo, Jermaine Jackson, and Kai Norwood collaborated to make a short film about love, "Eros". This film won the awards for Best Cinematography and Audience Choice in the 2011 Student Media Film Festival at CSUSM.  

Doris Bittar in Art of the Middle East

Doris Bittar, adjunct in visual arts is featured on the blog and website: Art of the Middle East.   

New Public Service Videos

Arts and Technology students Lauren Radel, Jermaine Jackson, Jeff Warlick create public service videos for CSUSM parking services!  
Check them out:

• Carpooling
• Sprinter
• Biking
• Walking

Earth Day Celebration

VPA students rock earth day celebration with recycled art fashion show, dance, music, sculptures, and interactive art projects! VPA Dance Studies professor Karen Schaffman teams with High Tech High North County for a semester long collaborative learning class with  college and high school students as they focus on the theme of Earth Day!  

Check out the pictures, blogging and videos!

Theater students in Misanthrope "Make the most of Moliere's words and wit".

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Students Present Original Puppet Plays!

As a part of their learning, VPA 321 "Learning Through the Arts" students present original puppet plays to 3d graders from San Marcos!  And, the reviews are in: the kids LOVED the performances as they learned about nature, literature, and science.

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Mural Class Update!

VPA Chair Publishes New Book

6th Annual CSUSM Student Media Festival

Friday, May 13, 7pm, Arts 111

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Check out the work in VPA 181! 

Our new class created a mural

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VPA's own Judit Hersko

Check out American's for the Arts salon for Arts Education featuring Merryl Goldberg blogging nationally:

• Educating Kids in the "Race to Somewhere"
• You're the Arts Department Chair and You Box?!
• In the Principal's Office: The Art of the "Absolute Basics" of Schooling

Breaking news!  VPA launches two new minors!

Minor in Music Technology and, Minor in Video and Film Production 

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Congratulations to the Playwrights, Directors, Cast and Crew of the 2010 New Play Festival for a terrific showing at the Kennedy Center Theatre Festival!