The View from Poly Heights

Vol. 1 / Issue 2Spring 2014

Texas Wesleyan School of Arts and Letters established the Distinguished Alumni Awards Program in 2013.

In the beginning of this year, the Distinguished Alumni Committee an-nounced the award winners, Jennifer Oliver Henderson and Tamlyn Rae Wright were recognized for their great work, effort, achievements, contribu-tions and loyalty to the university.

In 1996, Jennifer Oliver Henderson graduated in Art. She is the owner and founder of J.O., a design and marketing firm located in Fort Worth South. Before that she was the director of communi-cations for Texas Wesleyan University. J.O. has received many awards, among them the Gold ADDY, the PRSA Greater Fort Worth Worthy Award and the PIA Graphic Excellence Award.

Tamlyn Rae Wright is a 1992 graduate of Texas Wesleyan with a B.A. in Theatre and an M.F.A. in Theatre Design and Technology from Cal Arts University. She has a brilliant career and travels all around the world designing and work-ing with entertainers, awards shows and television awards shows. Some organi-zations that she works with include: The Emmys, the X Factor, America’s Got Tal-

School of Arts and Letters announces Alumni of Year award winners

Courtesy of Tamlyn Rae WrightWright with the Art Director award.

 ALUMNI, page 6

Arts & Letters 2 School of Arts & Letters

When most people hear of the small country of Nepal, they immediately think of the highest mountain in the world – Everest. Without a doubt, when one is traveling in the South Asian na-tion, the Himalayas always loom above. Yet, Nepal is also home to some of the richest cultural and religious systems on the globe. It is also politically important, situated between the countries of India and China.

For a group of 16 Texas Wesleyan students, Nepal became home for a few weeks last spring. The experience proved both challenging and richly re-warding.

The cross-disciplinary trip included students from both the College of Edu-cation and the Department of Religion, as well as a few from other scattered ma-jors across campus. The purpose of the trip was to introduce students to the vi-brant cultures of Nepal and South Asia, including specific religious systems, as well as the educational and social sys-tems of the region.

For those brave enough to under-take the challenge, students were offered the chance to climb a portion of the Mount Everest trail, leading to the great Buddhist monastery at Tengboche, a mountain community located at 13,000 feet above sea level. Here, one has spec-tacular views of the peak of the world’s

highest mountain. Along the way, students visited the

mountain school established by Sir Ed-mund Hillary, the British explorer, fol-lowing his first climb to the top of Ever-est.

Students also had the opportunity to attend a portion of an important annual religious festival, known as Mani Rim-du. This important festival marks the passage of the spirit through the under-

world after death, as one moves toward reincarnation and re-birth.

In addition to these opportunities, students visited some of the world’s old-est Hindu temples in Kathmandu, both urban and rural schools and the Univer-sity of Kathmandu.

As this trip, and others like it display, Texas Wesleyan sees the entire globe as a classroom and seeks to give students an array of opportunities to apply informa-tion learned in the classroom to real-world experiences. The leaders of this experience were Dr. Carlos Martinez, Dean of the School of Education, and Dr. Mark Hanshaw, chair of the Depart-ment of Religion and Humanities.

For more information about study-abroad opportunities, contact the Office of International Programs.

Courtesy of Mark HanshawTop: Wesleyan students arrive in Tengboche, at 13,000 feet above sea level, home of one of the world’s most important Tibetan Bud-dhist monasteries.Left: A Tibetan Buddhist monastery rests peacefully against the backdrop of the snow-covered Himalayas.

Wesleyan travels to the top of the world

Arts & Letters 3School of Arts & Letters

Wesleyan music professor premieres new musical piece in England

Professor and Music Department Chairman John Fisher traveled with South African soprano Suré Eloff   to England to debut Gregory Rose’s song cycle Avebury Stone Circles.

Over spring break the duo had two performances: one at the Church of St. Mary-le-bow, Cheapside, in central London, on March 13 and another at the site that inspired the music,  St. James Church, Avebury, Wiltshire,  on March 15.

Each concert presented two large song cycles for piano and soprano: Samuel Barber’s Hermit Songs, and the premiere of London-based composer Gregory Rose’s Avebury  Stone Circles. The seven-part song cycle by Rose was commissioned by Eloff, who is the wife of Wesleyan adjunct tuba instructor Vurl Bland. The cycle’s world premiere was performed at Texas Wesleyan on Oct. 24, 2013.

“I am thrilled to represent Texas Wes-leyan and spread the Wesleyan name,” Dr. Fisher said. He also pointed out that this could be the beginning of a stron-ger relationship between Wesleyan and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance – Professor Rose’s teaching base in the United Kingdom.

The U.K. premiere had the same per-sonnel as the world premiere: Dr. Fisher playing the piano and Suré Eloff singing the soprano part.

Gregory Rose is an internationally recognized composer and conductor specializing in music of the 20th and 21st centuries. His song cycle was originally inspired by the Neolithic Henge monu-ments that surround Avebury village in Wiltshire, Southwest England.

The monuments were thought to have been completed  around 2600 BC. Like the more famous Stonehenge, Avebury has one of Europe’s largest outer circles. A monument like this has a henge, which is a bank and a ditch, an outer cir-cle, and two smaller stone circles in the center of the monument. Among sev-

eral older sites nearby is Silbury Hill, the largest prehistoric man-made mound in Europe.

The stone circles are almost certainly a site that witnessed prehistoric rituals and gatherings. In his composition, Rose imagined gatherings with pre-Christian

priests meeting for rituals or community assemblies.

Courtesy of John FisherTop: Dr. John Fisher performing at the Church of St. Mary-le-bow.Bottom: Flyer of John Fisher and Suré Eloff concert.

Arts & Letters 4 School of Arts & Letters

Last year’s celebration of the centenary of Benjamin Britten’s birth left none in any doubt as to his continuing signifi-cance. Although Britten had no pupils as such, his distinctive compositional style is almost invariably recognizable and the stature of his music, internationally, is such as to have cast a long shadow over subsequent composers who essay the same genres in which Britten was so eminent.

It must be exceptionally difficult for any composer today, let alone an Eng-lish one, to contemplate a song-cycle – in which Britten was pre-eminent – without feeling that the late composer is somehow looking over his shoulder. Nonetheless, in his latest such work, Gregory Rose has been able to create a large (28-minute) and important work wherein the influence of Britten is mar-ginal. At best, this lunchtime perfor-mance being given by the very gifted soprano who commissioned it.

The Avebury Stone Circles is the name of the Neolithic Henge monument around the village of Avebury, Wiltshire,

which comprises three stone circles. Rose’s texts reflect “imagined gatherings at these magnificent sites of pre-Chris-tian priests meeting for rituals, or casual assemblies of local communities.” Rose may have made it somewhat easier for himself by setting his own words, some-thing Britten never did, but in certain re-spects he has given himself several pretty tough nuts to crack, with such awkward lines as “the organic prisms are never smeared” and “have extirpated all ma-levolence” – lines such as Britten (and others) would not have felt attracted to or inspired by. There are seven songs in the cycle, and a nice touch is the use of “Ave” (as in Latin) from the first syl-lable of Avebury – thus giving the work a formal textural coherence – although the word “zone,” in the line “way beyond the twilight zone,” is surely superfluous (apart from carrying implications out-side of what Rose surely meant to con-vey).

One also felt the lack of variety in un-derlying motion – six of the seven songs have a similar quasi-Lento espressivo

pulse – yet as the settings progressed the notion of scoring them for chamber or-chestra, performed attacca, pushed itself forward as a realization of a work that, made a strong impression – the more so in this magnificent performance. Suré Eloff is a fine soprano, and as the vocal line fitted her like a glove – especially in the range D to G (a 9th to a 12th above middle C), where her tone was sublime – she gave an account which left a lasting impression.

The program began with Samuel Bar-ber’s Hermit Songs, written in 1953 for Leontyne Price, who premiered them with the composer that year (they re-corded the cycle soon afterwards for American Columbia). The recital there-fore opened with these superb settings by a greatly significant American com-poser, who would have been delighted with the account Eloff and her outstand-ing partner John Fisher gave. This was a truly impressive recital, that was re-peated at St. James Church, Avebury on Saturday, March 15 at 1 o’clock.

Fisher joins Eloff at Saint Mary-le-Bow for critically-acclaimed performances

Courtesy of John FisherJohn Fisher performing on piano and Suré Eloff singing at St. Mary-le-Bow.

Arts & Letters 5School of Arts & Letters

One unique aspect of the degree program that Texas Wes-leyan University is the inclusion of national and internation-al cultural travel experience. All music degree candidates at Texas Wesleyan are required to enjoy this opportunity at least once during their tenure in the program.

During winter break, the students visited Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, of Brazil. They departed on Jan. 2 and returned Jan. 13. Twenty-one students, two faculty members, Jose Cubela and Arjola Miruku and two faculty instructors Dr. Fisher and Dr. Ilka Araujo traveled to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. They spent four nights in São Paulo and five nights in Rio listen-ing to music, sampling the food, meeting the people, and even speaking a little Portuguese. During the trip, they enjoyed daily walking tours in each city, noting the presence of music in various locations and settings. The greatest moment of the trip came on day seven with the visit to Corcovado and the Christ the Redeemer statue. All of Rio, and Brazil as a whole, can be symbolized with this one image. It is also one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

The students got a chance to experience music outside the classroom and also learn about a different culture in a way that will only make them better individuals for the future ahead.

Music Department students take on Brazil

Courtesy of John FisherTop: Students visiting the Villa-Lobos Museum with his StatueRight: Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) Statue at the Top of Corcavado

Arts & Letters 6 School of Arts & Letters

ent, The Academy Awards, Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas, The Grammys, and the 2004 Democratic National Conven-tion. She has won four Emmys and has received seven Emmy nominations for her Art Direction.

“Tamlyn has achieved these honors by her hard work and ability to work with the many people it takes to make a na-tionally broadcasted event occur,” said Joe Allen Brown, professor of the theatre and Dean of the Freshman

Some Basic criteria to be qualified as a candidate for the Distinguished Alumni Award is proven accomplishments in some areas including professional at-tainment and achievement, community service, Texas Wesleyan University loy-alty and support, and integrity and char-acter.

“What we hope is that the students maintain contact with their professors or if they are involved with different or-ganizations on campus that they keep in touch with them,” said Steven Daniell, Dean of Arts and Letters. “Texas Wes-

leyan University tries to offer the best to every single student. We are really hop-

ing that they succeed, so we can share their success with the current students.”

ALUMNI continued from page 1

Courtesy of Jennifer Oliver HendersonJennifer Oliver Henderson is the owner and founder of J.O.

Kendra Irons is a visiting assistant professor of religion and philosophy at Texas Wesleyan University with an M.A. in Theological Studies from Asbury Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in Religion from Baylor University. Dr. Irons began teaching in 2003 at George Fox University, a Christian school in Newberg, Oregon. She decided to come to Texas Wesleyan University and teach religion, currently, in her religion classes at Wesleyan, Dr. Irons has more freedom to introduce feminist theology and inclusive and expansive language than she had at George Fox University. In her course “Women and the Bible” she focuses not only on women biblical characters but also on feminine imagery and gender issues in the Christian tradition. “Language shapes how we construct reality and not the other way around,” Dr. Irons said. “I believe that until we change our language, we will continue to live within the strictures of pa-triarchy.”

One of Dr. Irons next steps is the upcoming trip to Ireland this May with Texas Wesleyan University religion students.

All about Dr. Kendra Irons

Courtesy of Kendra IronsDr. Irons spending quality time with her dog.

Arts & Letters 7School of Arts & Letters

Wesleyan is full of active and engag-ing organizations. Creative writing is an art and here at Wesleyan’s Playmar-ket we have artist who shine. Connie Whit-Lambert has been instrumental in promoting and encouraging students to write and have the student’s work take a life of its own. The group meets on con-stant bases and has also started an orga-nization on campus called Phi Epsilon Nu. This organization is for students, alumni, and anyone at Wesleyan who has a strong passion for writing.

All students have the privilege of pre-senting their work and turning their work into a play presented to the cam-pus. A student by the name of Brittani Evans had the opportunity to have her play “Positive”, come to life at Cherry Lane Theatre, in New York City. Through these opportunities, other students are able to gain from these experiences and teach others the way. John Humphrey is another student who says it’s nothing like writing a great sample of work and get-ting feedback from audience’s reactions. Students of Playmarket would agree that it has been an experience for them and

will continue to shine as artists.Playmarket will present their last ses-

sion of work at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 4, 2014. The presentation will consist of selected scenes and the work from

Wesleyan Playwrights. We hope you all come and support our Wesleyan artists whose flames burn bright for Wesleyan.

Playmarket latest session scheduled for May

Kelsi Holland/Rambler StaffTop: students of Playmarket paying attention to Connie Whitt Lambert. Bottom: Connie Whitt encouraging the students to write.

Arts & Letters 8 School of Arts & Letters

Ekere Tallie, poet, educator, speaker and poetry editor of “African Voices,” graced Texas Wesleyan’s Martin Hall. On March 25, as keynote presenter at the 33rd annual Goostree Symposium. Tallie discussed “Success is…success ain’t: re-defining what it means to make it.”

On being an artistTallie described her work as an ex-

ploration of silence, sexism, racism and herbalism. But, it is not at all what some people think of when they think about having a job. “In fact, it’s not even a job,” Tallie said. “I see it as a calling and my life’s work. I write about all sorts of things: Pretty much anything that is im-portant to me. If I learn something, and I think it’s useful to you, I have to find some way to pass it on.”

The author of the poetry collection “Karma’s Footsteps” has shared her voice through poetry, fiction and non-fiction writing at events and universities across Europe and North America. She also writes to those whom she refers to as “Continuum” through her blogs: “The Sage Honey: Writing about my journey into the world of plant medicine” and “The Sage Mama: A spirited place for all things Mama.”

“To: Continuum” is a novella - a series of letters scheduled for release in Sep-tember - where Tallie writes to young writers and artists. In the series, she shares her ideas on social justice, experi-ence in the craft of writing and being a writer – an artist.

“Being an artist means your heart will break and break and break again,” Tallie said, “and it’s your job to mend it.

“When you create art, you have medi-cine in your hands.”

On critical thinkingTallie shared a single thought that

has since influenced her life as a moth-er, writer, herbalist and educator. “The thought went like this: ‘most of the ideas that are floating around in my head are not mine.’ I want you to sit with that.” Consequently, she affirmed a major el-ement of the Wesleyan culture - critical thinking.

“Once you start thinking critically,

you will never stop,” Tallie said. “The problem is that once you start thinking critically…you will never be comfort-able again.”

Tallie suggested that thinking criti-cally enables one to examine his order surroundings and celebrate the beauties therein. Likewise, critical thinking per-mits one to identify injustices and take actions in personal and global resolu-tions.

“Consider the fact that we all are coming from a tradition of people who fought authority and made sacrifices in order to do what they thought was

right,” she said. Which leads to success “My success…would have to do with

creating community, teaching, mentor-ing, and contributing to the legacy of the writers, the activist and the cultural workers who came before me,” Tallie said.

Throughout her speech, Tallie chal-lenged the individual Goostree attendees to think critically, and in doing so, to ex-amine their individual ideas of success. She explained that it was only through thinking critically that she discovered her own definition of success.

Goostree Symposium enriches poetic side

Courtesy of Ekere TallieEkere Tallie explores silence, sexism, racism and herbalism in her work.

Arts & Letters 9School of Arts & Letters

Dr. Gladys Childs visiting assis-tant professor of religion, was the fea-tured speaker for Chapelwood UMC`s Women`s Retreat in January and at John Wesley UMC`s Women`s Retreat in February.

She has been speaking at conferences for a long time. The retreat`s sponsors always had keynote or ‘featured’ speak-ers. “I just wanted to be included in that group”, Dr. Childs affirmed. A few years ago, she happened to give a speech at a national conference, and after that childs has been invited to be the featured speaker at several events.

“My main goal when I speak at re-treats is to encourage the participants to live out the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22 – 23) by honoring God, others, and themselves,” Dr. Childs said.

In the Chapelwood retreat, she fo-cused on spiritual growth whether her listeners were new to the Christian faith or if they had been a Christian for their whole lives. However, in the John Wes-ley retreat, she focused on helping each participant in creating a spiritually ful-filled life, doing much introspection and goal setting.

Being a featured speaker is not just about teaching. It is also a about learn-ing. “Everyone has a story that is worth being heard,” Dr. Childs said, “I have found something beautiful in each woman I get to know, and they each have made amazing contributions to those around them.”

Achieving success is all about how much passion, effort and dedication is spent on each goal. It is essential to truly believe in the dreams, honor God and pursue happiness.

For the next retreats, she states “I wouldn`t mind expanding from Christian educators conferences and women`s retreats to lead retreats for whole churches and for youth groups.”

Childs serves as featured speaker at Chapelwood and John Wesley Retreats

Caroline Kajihara/Ram IMGDr. Childs was the featured speaker for Chapelwood UMC’s Women’s retreat and encouraged the participants to live.

Arts & Letters 10 School of Arts & Letters

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Wesleynotes is the official news-letter for the School of Arts and Letters at Texas Wesleyan Univer-sity. It is produced by Ram Inte-grated Media Group, a student inte-grated marketing communications group at Texas Wesleyan University. Special thank you to Dr. John Fisher for the current issue.

Arts and Letters

Dean:

Dr. Steven Daniell

For more infromation, contact the Dean of Arts and Letters office at 817-531-4900 or come by Polytech-nic United Methodist Church, 256.

reportersKelsi Holland

Caroline KajiharaSara PopovicBelma HumicPaula Justice

Dakota Bagget

editorsKelsi HollandCaroline KajiharaSara PopovicBelma Humic

Dr. Kay Colley - faculty liaison

Claudia Ikeizumi - graphic designer

First Name First NameLast Name Last NameLast Name First Name