College of Fine and Applied Arts

Students in the family and consumer science program at Appalachian State University participated in a food drive competition with their counterparts at Western Carolina University. While they collected 18 boxes of food to benefit the Watauga Hunger and Health Coalition, they lost the competition to WCU. As a result, they will display a WCU pennant for the remainder of the semester in their classroom. Pictured are Dr. Mary Dean Coleman-Kelly, left, freshman Emily Boland, senior Maegan Eichinger, freshman Melanie Klaus, senior Darren Deyton and Dr. Marty Root.

There really were no losers in this competition. Students in health and nutrition courses at Appalachian State University and Western Carolina University participated in a food drive known as the Western/Appalachian Food Fight.

Students from each class collected food items for local food banks for one month with the class collecting the most items per student declared the winner.

Students from Appalachian collected 639 total items or four items per student while the WCU class collected 2271 items or 52 items per person. The loser displays the other school’s pennant in their classroom for the rest of the semester.

The food collected by the Appalachian students will benefit the Watauga Hunger and Health Coalition.

“Even though both our total collection and our collection per student was less than WCU, we still have a huge pile of good food here – about 15 boxes – and it will help a lot of people in need,” said Marty Root, assistant professor in the family and consumer science program at Appalachian. “I’m very glad that we did the competition. We have done a good thing for our community and for the understanding of our students of the nutritional problems all around them.”

Chad Everhart, AIA, presented at the Architecture Exchange East Conference in Richmond, Virginia, on Nov. 14. The presentation, titled “Building Compression: Designing for Efficient Habitation,” focused on design strategies for making buildings smaller and more efficient.

Everhart, an assistant professor of Building Science at Appalachian State University, has explored the concept of small building for the last two years in his academic research as well as in his professional practice as a registered architect.

Wildlife Biologist Bob Cherry and members of the Appalachian State University Chapter of Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Back row (left to right): Tim Hefflinger, Tyler Laminack; Middle row: Heather Paige Preston, Nathaniel Smathers, Connor Rice; Front row: Nate Warren, Gwyn O’Leary, Kayoua Lee, Lindsay Steinmann, Jackson Miller, Whitney Crossen. (Photo © 2008 Appalachian Friends of the Parkway / Heather Paige Preston)

The Appalachian State University Chapter of Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway met at Sims Creek Saturday, Nov. 8, to help the National Park Service remove debris from a dismantled dam.

Chapter members Gwyn O’Leary, Kayoua Lee, Lindsay Steinmann, Whitney Crossen, Nathaniel Smathers, Connor Rice, Nate Warren, Tim Hefflinger, Tyler Laminack, Jackson Miller, and Heather Paige Preston spent three hours removing buckets of concrete chips and larger pieces of the dam in a volunteer effort that saved the National Park Service approximately $5,000.

“It was the hardest work we’ve completed,” said Appalachian Friends President Nathaniel Smathers, “but it was certainly worth it.” Debris from the dam, a structure thought by Park Service personnel to be built by the Sims family more than 50 years ago, was carried out by hand and wheelbarrow along the trail bordering Sims Pond at Blue Ridge Parkway Milepost 296.

Chapter member Gwyn O’Leary fills buckets with dam debris along Sims Creek Trail, Saturday, Nov. 8, 2008. (© 2008 Appalachian Friends of the Parkway / Heather Paige Preston)

“The Park Service received a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to have the dam removed to restore the creek to its natural flow for the benefit of the fish,” said Bob Cherry, wildlife biologist for the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The contractor wanted an additional $5,000 to remove the debris, Cherry said, so Parkway personnel turned to Appalachian State University’s Blue Ridge Parkway Liaison Office for help.

The Appalachian State Chapter of Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway answered the call — the first student organization to do so, Cherry said.

Chapter member Nate Warren pushes a wheelbarrow containg large portions of concrete along the trail. (© 2008 Appalachian Friends of the Parkway / Whitney Crossen)

It was a love of the Blue Ridge Parkway that prompted students in a Communication department class at Appalachian to create the campus organization during the fall 2007 semester.

Since then, the club has grown to include majors as varied as business, recreational management, elementary education and criminal justice.

“The varied backgrounds of the members show how much the Blue Ridge Parkway adds to the quality of students’ lives,” said Heather Paige Preston, the club’s faculty adviser.

“They love the resources the Parkway provides and are dedicated to helping preserve and protect it for everyone’s use.”

Appalachian Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway is a student-run club dedicated to preserving and protecting the Blue Ridge Parkway. Members seek to promote the natural beauty, ecological vitality and cultural distinctiveness of the Blue Ridge Parkway through volunteer services and special events.

For more information about Appalachian Friends of the Blue Ridge Parkway, contact Heather Paige Preston at (828) 262-2449 or at prestonhp@appstate.edu.

by Josh Jarman, Public Relations Intern, College of Fine and Applied Arts

Appalachian State University’s student flexography team from the Graphic Arts and Imaging Technology (GAIT) program in the Department of Technology took two top awards at the Inaugural Phoenix Challenge College competition on April 26, in Dallas, Texas.

The Phoenix Challenge Foundation is an organization of industry professionals who are dedicated to encouraging today’s youth in exploring the exciting career opportunities available to them through the Flexography printing industry. Flexography is a printing process which uses laser-engraved rubber plates. Flexography is typically used to print packaging materials such as brown cardboard boxes, retail and shopping bags, food and hygiene bags and sacks, flexible plastics, self-adhesive labels and wallpaper.

The flexography skill-based competition challenged teams to devise a packaging solution for a new healthy energy drink that would be able to compete with existing brands. Appalachian State University was one of eight colleges that chose to compete, including Dunwoody College of Technology and California Polytechnic State University.

The college competition’s goal is to raise awareness through national competitions to promote the growth of flexography in the educational systems throughout North America.

Each team gave a 20-minute presentation about their energy drink to a panel of five judges.

Appalachian’s team consisted of Kierston Kahrs, Lindsay Hopkins, Erin O’Bryant, Tracy Chavis, Natalie Kirkley and Meghan Wagner. The women created “Evolve,” a drink that won both Excellence in Research and Excellence in Concept. Appalachian was the only team to win multiple awards out of the five possible.

“They have to be the most synergic group and most creative group I have ever worked with,” said Michelle Surerus instructor in the GAIT program. “I’ve been at three other universities and the students here are bright and motivated with rare exception.”

The Appalachian team did not just present a concept but instead they went beyond the required task and created the actual drink. During the presentation, a few of the judges tasted “Evolve” and were presented with a packet including T-shirts, product samples, armbands and other branding tools in the same way that they would be presented to a potential client.

The team members took turns sharing information with the judges about their product.

“Evolving implies progression,” said Kahrs. “More than 50 percent of people polled were concerned about the environment.”

The team designed the label of “Evolve” to be edible and the rest of the packaging to be bio-degradable.

“Appalachian went well beyond what the competition asked for,” said Bettylyn Kraft, executive director of the Phoenix Challenge Foundation. “Michelle Surerus did a phenomenal job with the team; you could tell they put a lot of hours into it.”

Kraft went on to say that one of the most humorous parts of the competition was that she actually flew on the same plane as the Appalachian team. Kraft said she could tell the team was from Appalachian by their excited flexography discussion that she overheard while waiting to board the plane. Kraft introduced herself to the team, and they all shared a laugh about the chances of traveling on the same plane together.

“The powerhouses were Dunwoody College of Technology and California Polytechnic State University,” said Surerus. “We came up out of nowhere. Our success has produced good exposure for Appalachian, and has allowed pride to develop and recruitment opportunities to flourish.”

Kraft believes that if the professors are excited about what they are doing then the students will share that enthusiasm.

“There were tears in Michelle’s eyes when her team won those awards,” said Kraft. “Michelle is one of the unique professors who will make sure every student has a unique and memorable experience that they will treasure for a lifetime.”

To learn more about the flexography or the GAIT program at Appalachian State University contact Michelle Surerus at 828-262-7539 or visit www.tec.appstate.edu.

Image credit: portrait of Faith Ringgold by Grace Matthews

Renowned artist and author Faith Ringgold will address campus and community members Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 7 p.m. in Plemmons Student Union’s Blue Ridge Ballroom at Appalachian State University. The lecture, “Faith Ringgold: More Than 50 Years,” is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by Catherine J. Smith Gallery.

“Faith Ringgold: More Than 50 Years” surveys the artist’s life and work from more than five decades. Ringgold’s inspiring, humorous and always very human stories showcase her life and work as an artist, activist, author, teacher and parent.

In her talk, Ringgold reflects on the Civil Rights Movement, and shares images from her numerous books and more than 100 paintings including “The Women on a Bridge Series,” “The French Collection,” “The American Collection” and “The Coming to Jones Rd. Series.”

Ringgold’s work invokes a dialogue about racial histories and representations. She employs an array of mediums to comment on her perspective as a woman and an African-American artist working at a time of social instability and widespread change. Her quilts are inspired by past African-American experiences and yet still touch on the racial dialogue occurring in the present moment.

Ringgold was born in 1930 in Harlem in New York City. She began her artistic career more than 50 years ago as a painter. Today, she is best known for her painted story quilts, which combine painting, quilted fabric and storytelling. At a young age, she learned the art of quilt making and sewing from her mother and her great?great grandmother, which later influenced her work with quilts and fabrics. Ringgold’s training is a combination of life lessons, family tradition and formal education. Her academic education includes both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in art from The City College of New York.

Ringgold is professor emeritus at the University of California, San Diego, where she taught art from 1987 until 2002. Previously, she taught in the New York Public School System for 18 years.

Ringgold is the recipient of more than 75 awards including 18 honorary doctor of fine arts degrees. She has received numerous fellowships and grants from the National Endowment For the Arts, The La Napoule Foundation Award, The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, The New York Foundation For the Arts Award and The American Association of University Women.

Ringgold’s art has been widely exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the world. Her art is included in many private and public art collections including: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The National Museum of American Art, The Museum of Modern Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Chase Manhattan Bank Collection, The Baltimore Museum, Williams College Museum of Art, The High Museum of Fine Art, Newark Museum, Phillip Morris Collection, St. Louis Art Museum and The Spencer Museum. Ringgold’s public commissions include Flying Home: Harlem Heroes and Heroines, two 25-foot mosaic murals installed on the uptown and downtown platforms of the 125th Street Independent Rapid Transit Subway station in New York City in 1996.

Ringgold has also illustrated and written numerous children’s books that are distributed worldwide. Her first published book, the award-winning” Tar Beach,” was released by Random House in 1991 and has won more than 30 awards including a Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children in 1991, as well as the Coretta Scott King Award for the Best Illustrated Children’s Book of 1991. Tar Beach is based on the story quilt “Tar Beach,” from Ringgold’s “The Woman On A Bridge Series.” The story quilt is in the permanent collection of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. Ringgold currently lives and works in Englewood, N.J.

In addition to sponsorship by Catherine J. Smith Gallery, additional support for the event is provided by the Office of Multicultural Student Development. Parking is available in the College Street parking deck. Additional parking is located in the Rivers Street parking deck and in the lot behind the Plemmons Student Union on Howard Street.

For more information about the Catherine J. Smith Gallery or Plemmons Student Union, visit www.art.appstate.edu/cjs/ or studentunion.appstate.edu.