Lyon College’s assistant professor of art said a recent anonymous donation that created a new 3,000-square foot studio gives current students some much needed space in which to work, and will also be a major asset when it comes to recruiting future students into the program.

Chris Valle said the nameless donor gave almost $55,000 to Lyon College, and added that it was the recommendation of President Walter Roettger and Dean John Peek that approximately $25,000 of this money be allocated to renovate a "rundown storage area" in the Scottish Heritage Building into a viable studio space built specifically for the art department.

The remainder of the funding was subsequently spread among the various areas of the fine arts program to aid with trips and scholarships in theatre, music and art.

"It takes our upper level students out of the Fulkerson Studio in the Alphin Building, where things have been somewhat chaotic at times due to lack of space, and gives them their own individual studio area," Valle said.

Having those individual studio spaces distinguishes Lyon College from most other schools in the area.

"We are one of the very few colleges that offer individual studio spaces for undergraduate students," Valle said. "Having it will really accelerate their growth and education. It really opens it up for them."

The individual studios and critique area was constructed much like a graduate program set-up, he added. Every studio class, including Art 101, uses the critique area to review and discuss work – work that can be viewed in a professional format.

The new space includes an open gallery with track lighting, two computers, a ventilated room for using volatile chemicals, a bathroom and several personal studios for upper-level students. This new space also allowed room to expand the sculpture area in the old studio and increased the space for studio classes held there.

In addition to adding new space, the facility frees up room at Fulkerson Studio for the improving sculpture program being developed by Valle and Merritt Johnson, the new assistant professor of art.

"We’ve added some new tools in Fulkerson like a drill press, belt/disk sander and a band saw," Valle said.

Valle also has a personal studio in the newly renovated area, which will enable him to be more available to students outside of class. It also allows him to show them the progression of an idea through to completion.

The new facility will serve to benefit the College as well because of its value when recruiting future students. The art program has been steadily growing since Valle joined the faculty in 2003, and the space addition will help continue and improve upon that trend, he said.

"It’ll generate more interest in our art program," he said. "Being able to offer upper level students their own individual studio working space will be a major recruiting tool for the College."

Valle said much credit is due to the maintenance staff and the individuals who helped renovate the space over the summer, most of the time without air conditioning.

"They turned a rundown storage area into a viable, professional-looking studio space," he said. "We appreciate their hard work."

Students Sarah Fendley, Eric Bork and Emily Fleming critique a work in the art department’s new 3,000-square-foot studio space.

The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra will perform in concert Thursday, Oct. 19, at 7:30 p.m. in Brown Chapel Auditorium.  First Community Bank, Lyon College and the Batesville Symphony League will host the concert.

Directed by David Itkin, the orchestra will perform the Mozart Flute Concerto No. 2, featuring flute soloist Carolyn Brown and the Beethoven Symphony No. 8. The event will be first in the activities associated with Homecoming Weekend. 

Maestro Itkin will not present a pre-concert lecture as he has in years past. Instead, the North Arkansas Youth Orchestra will give a demonstration at 6:45 p.m. in Bevens Music Room prior to the ASO concert.

ASO tickets are free to Lyon students, faculty and staff. They are available to the public at the following locations: Citizens Bank; Liberty Bank; Kendall Financial; First Southern Bank; Eastman; Eagle Mountain Assisted Living; Roller-Couch Funeral Home; ConAgra Foods, Harry Reeve, violins; KFFB 100.1 FM; Rick Reeve Bow Shop; Batesville Daily Guard; Atlas Asphalt Inc.; WRD Entertainment Inc.; GDX Automotive; Merchant’s and Planter’s Bank; ASCIIi mailing; and Select Shots.

Tickets may also be reserved in advance by e-mailing Keith Melson at First Community Bank at kmelson@firstcommunity.net.

Tickets may be picked up at the box office on the day of the concert. 

While still a boy growing up in the Bronx, N.Y., Jason Sommer learned that his immigrant father, uncle and aunt had survived the horrors of Nazi labor camps, including Auschwitz.

As a man, he incorporated those once-secret stories into award-winning poems that have earned him the prestigious Whiting Foundation Writers’ Award, the Anna Davidson Rosenberg Award and the New England Prize, among others.

And on Tuesday, Oct. 24, at 11 a.m., Sommer will visit Lyon College to speak about his life and work and to answer questions about both. Later that evening at 7:30 p.m., he’ll give a reading of his work. Both appearances will be the Bevens Music Room and both are free and open to the public.

Sommer has been a playwright, translator, director and creator of comedy routines he subsequently performed on Irish National Television. He is one of the few writers invited to read his work at the National Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. His books include "The Man Who Sleeps in My Office," "Other People’s Troubles," and "Lifting the Stone."

He is professor of English and writer-in-residence at Fontbonne University in St. Louis, Mo., where he lives with his wife and three children.

"His poems are essential," Andrea Hollander Budy, Lyon’s Writer-in-Residence, said of Jason Sommer. "Reading them, we recognize their truths as our own."

The Lyon College Visiting Writers Series, the Visiting Fellowship in Creative Writing, and the Heasley Prize Reading Series all provide outstanding opportunities to anyone interested in reading – or writing – fiction, poetry, drama and creative non-fiction.

Budy initiated the Visiting Writers Series in 1991 when she joined the faculty. This year, however, since Budy will serve as one of the featured writers, the name has been altered to the Contemporary Writers Series.

She will close the series on Nov. 28 in celebration of her newest poetry collection, "Woman in the Painting," recently released by Autumn House Press.

For more information about these programs in literature and creative writing at Lyon, please contact Budy at (870) 793-1766 or at: ahbudy@lyon.edu.

Cave explorer to visit Lyon for convocation program

Geologist and noted cave explorer Louise D. Hose will visit Lyon College for a convocation at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 30, in Nucor Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.

Dr. Hose has traveled the world in an adventurous pursuit to better understand unusual geologic sites, particularly some of the world's most intriguing caves. She has more than 30 years of experience in research, education, exploration and conservation efforts, including the exploration and investigation of caves in New Guinea, England, Greece, South Africa, Oman and Yugoslavia. Some of her most noted work has been featured twice in National Geographic magazine: http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0304/feature2/index.html http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0105/feature4/index.html

Dr. Hose left a 13-year career in higher education and academic research to help the National Park Service establish the new National Cave and Karst Research Institute in Carlsbad, N.M., over the last three years. During her professorial career, her work was sponsored by her academic institutes and organizations including the National Science Foundation, U.S. Forest Service, National Geographic Society, National Speleological Society, and two foreign resource management agencies.

She considers working at Westminster College in Missouri under Dr. Walter Roettger's mentoring to be the best years of her academic career and regrets that the experience was cut short by his appointment as Lyon College's President.

She also served six years as a director of the National Speleological Society and has edited their multi-disciplinary, refereed scientific publication for more than seven years, the Journal of Cave and Karst Studies: http://www.caves.org/pub/journal/

Dr. Hose holds a Ph.D. in geology from Louisiana State University, an M.Sc. in geology from California State University, Los Angeles, and a Bachelor's in Secondary Education from Arizona State University. Prior to her Ph.D. program, she taught junior high school, worked as a geologist in the petroleum industry, and spent 15 months with the U.S. Geological Survey.

While at Lyon, Dr. Hose will also accompany a group of Lyon students on a wild cave tour at Blanchard Springs Caverns. The event is sponsored by the Student Activities Council and the X-treme Adventure Squad (XAS).

Lyon College’s Homecoming Court announced

Lyon College has announced the members of the 2006 Homecoming Court:

Freshmen Ashley Waller of Pocahontas and Josh Looney of Springdale; sophomores Katee Castleman of Batesville and Levi Rogocki of Norfolk; juniors Natalie Marlin of Evening Shade and Matt Owens of Lake City; and seniors Allyn Dodd of Searcy, Rachel Miesner of Boonville, Shannon Alexander of Winnsboro, Texas, Garrard Conley of Cherokee Village, Ben Thielemier of Pocahontas and Dustin White of Jonesboro.

Homecoming ’06 weekend will run Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Homecoming coronation will be between the soccer games Saturday afternoon, at approximately 2:30 p.m.

Japanese drum ensemble performs Osuwa Taiko, a Japanese drum ensemble, performed and presented a workshop at Lyon College on Oct. 7 as part of the Japan Lecture Series. Above, the ensemble demonstrates their amazing prowess in Japanese-style percussion. Below, members of the audience were invited on stage to try their hand at playing the drums.                                                                                                                               Photos by Eric Stewart

A benefit established to honor a dedicated teacher who lost her life in a tragic accident will do something she didn’t get the chance to do herself  –  help send her grandchildren to college.

The Beverly Tapp Benefit, a concert/auction with all proceeds going to the Beverly Tapp Memorial Fund, is scheduled for Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. at the Second Baptist Church in downtown Little Rock.

Beverly was killed recently when a driver suspected of being under the influence of cocaine crashed his car into a Hardee's restaurant where she and some of her fellow teachers from Newport schools were eating.

Her son is Lyon alumnus Jeff Tapp. Jeff’s wife, April Slayton Tapp, also graduated from Lyon and the couple now lives in Newport.

The duo Chase Missy – comprised of Chase Gipson and Missy Speer-Gipson, both Lyon alumni – will provide the entertainment.

The event is being coordinated by Lyon graduates Jerra Quinton and Bethany Pitts, Lyon’s former director of career development, Pitts is now a technical writer for Electronic Data Systems (EDS), the fiscal agent for Arkansas Medicaid.

The fund was established to help with the future college educations of Beverly’s grandchildren.

"Obviously Jeff and April are still dealing with the loss, and we’re hoping this event will not only raise financial support but will also remind them that there are tons of people who care about them and want to show their support," Pitts said.

Those interested in supporting the event can do two things, she added.

"Come out and join us on Nov 18 and listen to great music, buy some coffee and dessert, and bid on some of the items for silent auction," Pitts said. "Also, consider donating an item or service if you own your own business. We’re accepting silent auction donation items such as artwork, gift certificates, etc. Be creative."

For more information on the benefit event or the Beverly Tapp Memorial Fund, contact Pitts at: bethany.pitts@eds.com.