After spending countless hours in the studios in the basement of Scales Fine Arts Center, students put the finishing touches on their most prized creations. Running up the stairs, often just minutes before the deadline, they submit their work at the gallery—hoping a panel of faculty judges for the Student Art Exhibition will select their piece for the show.

Judges may choose works based on the artist’s skill, the level of improvement between a student’s first work and the work submitted, or the degree of challenge the student faced in creating the piece.

This year, works by 34 student artists were selected for the exhibition, which runs through May 20 in the Hanes Art Gallery. The show includes paintings, photographs, collages and videos.

Senior computer science major Stephen Parey combined his interests in computers and art for his work, “Rusty Motherboard.” Parey designed a copper plate to look like a futuristic computer piece by etching an intricate line pattern into it.

Cami Burruss, “Enroute”

“Working in the studio art department, it is always great to see what others are doing and gain inspiration and tips from their artwork.  The student exhibition is a great opportunity to see everyone’s designs and collaborate with them about their piece and the process behind it,” Parey says.

Those students selected enjoy seeing the pieces they have worked on throughout the semester displayed in the gallery. For some, studio art courses offer an opportunity to continue doing the art that they love; for others, the courses are a way to learn something completely new.

First-year student Cami Burruss took photography courses prior to college and enrolled in Introduction to Photography to further develop her skills.

“As a first-year student, I was not anticipating having multiple pieces presented and for the faculty to think my work strong enough to be part of the exhibition,” Burruss says.

In her first studio art course, Introduction to Sculpture, sophomore history and art history major Brittany Forniotis created “Bite,” which was selected for the exhibition.

“The opportunity to be a part of this show is a true testament to the nature of the liberal arts education that Wake Forest provides,” Forniotis said. “Even though I am not studying studio art, I have had the opportunity to experiment in the arts, and I feel encouraged by seeing my work displayed in a real gallery.”

Senior theatre major Dean Guerra knows the power of bringing stories to life on stage. He has experienced it in his classes and through his community of friends who are also drawn to theatre.

So when the drama club at a local school needed reenergizing, he gathered his fellow actors and took the lead.

Guerra recruited members of the Anthony Aston Players, a Wake Forest student organization dedicated to the promotion of arts, to join him in teaching acting, improvisation, voice and movement to sixth through tenth graders at Paisley International Baccalaureate Magnet School.

“When I found out Paisley’s drama club needed support, I jumped at the opportunity to co-sponsor the club and serve as student coordinator,” Guerra says. “I was excited to pursue my interest in theatre education and the art of theatre and positively impact young people.”

Guerra’s commitment to Paisley’s drama club earned him a grant from Wake Forest’s Institute of Public Engagement to help fund costumes and scenery for a performance last spring.

“Theatre helps to educate children in a way that is active and engaging; kids want to learn when they are having fun,” says Guerra. “Theatre has given me a sense of community, and at Wake Forest people have invested in me and cared about my success as a student and an artist. I wanted to do the same for students at Paisley.”

Guerra is a theatre and women’s and gender studies double major from Hockley, Texas. During his four years in college, he has participated in 43 shows in a variety of roles including actor, director, sound designer, light designer and stage manager.

After graduating, Guerra plans to return to his hometown to teach theatre to children. “My plan is to use what I have learned and experienced during my time at Wake Forest to have a positive impact on their lives,” says Guerra.

The “Big Tent,” a collaborative community art project between Wake Forest students and local high school students, was set up on Wake Forest’s Reynolda Campus for the first time on March 27 outside the Z. Smith Reynolds Library.

The tent event was held as a part of the University’s yearlong Faces of Courage celebration. Student groups came together to showcase the tent and to encourage their peers to think about diversity and identity on campus through art. Some of the projects and activities around the Big Tent included:

Not just one color

Members of Delta Xi Phi, Wake Forest’s multicultural sorority, helped students mix paints to create colors to match their skin tone. “We wanted to show that skin color is not just black or white. You might need to add a little yellow, purple or red,” senior sociology major Jessica Smith said.

Differences can connect

Senior religion major Sarah Hinshelwood, a member of Delta Xi Phi, passed out slips of paper to students at the event and asked them to write down what makes them unique. She then connected the individual pieces to make a chain, showing that our differences can connect us.

Not just one race

“Ambiguity in Race: The Haziness of Social Lines” by senior anthropology major De’Noia Woods and first-year student Tai Hensley uses photographs to deconstruct ideas about race. “It addresses the concept of being mixed race and being stereotypes because of a small feature, like a nose or mouth,” Hensley explained.

Music brings people together

Gerson Lanza, a senior history major, and Lee Gan, a sophomore finance major, perform tap steps as members of the Setting the Groove Tap Dancing Club. The club represents how it is not only race and ethnicity that make students unique, but also their diverse interests and talents.

Stereotypes can break people

“Unraveling” by senior biology major Mary Alyce McCullough and Mt. Tabor High School student Jon Cunningham is made from wire, fabric and windows. The piece deals with stereotypes of culture, ethnicity and race. The broken windows represent the violence that can come as a result of racism. The fabric represents the assumptions that can contribute to race relations.

Whether it’s Owen Wilson on the set of “You Are Here,” or Michael Landon Jr. filming his upcoming movie, “The Ultimate Life,” Winston-Salem has become a hot spot for North Carolina’s thriving film industry. And from a student-run film festival to a graduate program in documentary film to an undergraduate film studies program, Wake Forest is part of the “action.”

Scene 1:  The Reynolda Film Festival

Since 2008, the student-run Reynolda Film Festival has evolved into a weeklong series of speakers, panel discussions, workshops and film screenings for aspiring writers, directors, designers, and animators who dream of a career in the film industry.

Ed Burns

The keynote speaker for 2013, Ed Burns, is an Academy Award-winning actor, producer, writer and director. Festival staff chose him for his “dedication to low-budget filmmaking.” His work includes: “Saving Private Ryan,” “The Brothers McMullen” and “The Fitzgerald Family Christmas.”

In addition to Burns, Wake Forest graduate Curt Beech (’94), an Academy Award-winning art director whose credits include “Lincoln,” “The Help” and “The Social Network,” will discuss setting the scene in film.

Screenwriter Josh Olson, known for his work on “A History of Violence,” will discuss the art of storytelling.

The event includes a student film competition. More than 60 films were submitted this year, including films from Spain, Canada, Afghanistan, Belgium, and the United Kingdom. Twelve of these films have been named finalists — three films in each of four categories: narrative, animation, experimental and documentary. Finalists were selected by panels of peer and professional judges, and one or more will open each of the feature films and events, giving each filmmaker an opportunity to be shown in front of leading industry professionals. The four winners will be announced and screened on the final day of the festival.

“I’m passionate about creating conversations around the arts,” says senior Rebecca Moberly, who is co-organizer with junior Connor McCarthy.  “And this year promises an amazing group of speakers.”

“For students and members of the Winston-Salem community interested in gaining experience and information about working in the industry the Reynolda Film Festival is a great way to get inspired,” says McCarthy.

The Festival is co-sponsored by WAKE TV, the Department of Communication, the Film Studies Program and the Documentary Film Program.

A complete schedule of films, panel discussions and speakers is available here.

Scene II: The Wake Forest Documentary Film Program

The Documentary Film Program (DFP) expresses Wake Forest’s motto, Pro Humanitate, through passionate storytelling. The program, originally the nationally acclaimed Documentary Institute at the University of Florida, moved to Wake Forest in 2010.

Offering students the option of an MA or MFA in documentary production, the DFP produces award-winning and socially significant documentary films.

DFP students tell local stories and raise awareness about community issues such as the challenges refugees face (“The One Who Builds”), immigration (the “Where are you From” project), and the importance of art as a form of healing for teens (“Ink From My Soul”).

“The DFP has a definite place in the regional community,” says professor Peter Gilbert, whose documentary “Hoop Dreams” was nominated for an Academy Award. “And synergy will continue to develop as students filmmakers tackle tough issues that raise awareness and encourage conversation.”

Regional film festivals like the RiverRun International Film Festival held annually in Winston-Salem, offer DFP filmmakers a unique chance to have their films screened and recognized, if they’re accepted. This year, five DFP student films will be shown in RiverRun’s North Carolina Shorts category. The program features the best short films received from N.C. filmmakers.

Professors in the DFP program continue to make films while they teach, giving students opportunities for hands-on professional work. One example: The Imagination Project. Five teams, each made up of third-year DFP graduate students and an undergraduate student, are making five different films on artists of the Holocaust. “They are gaining the experience of working for a client, Yad Vashem in Israel, and the short films they create will become part of the museum’s exhibit—gaining the students and Wake Forest worldwide attention,” says Gilbert.

Scene III: Film Studies Program

There are 40 students in film studies at Wake Forest. The interdisciplinary program started in 2004 and continues to grow in popularity, as has the number of students in the communication department interested in media studies.

“We seem to increasingly live busy, over scheduled lives. Films become a great escape from those lives, where we set aside two hopefully uninterrupted hours to enjoy a complete, exciting and engaging story,” says Woodrow Hood, director of the film studies program. “We have reactions to watching films, and some of us want to know why we reacted in the way we did. Film studies helps give us answers to that ‘why’ question. Studying film is ultimately a process of self-discovery in many ways.”

Courses from departments and programs across campus including East Asian languages, art, communication, English, humanities, Romance languages, sociology, theatre and dance, and women’s and gender studies offer an interdisciplinary approach to film study. Students work with expert faculty and filmmakers who share their passion for film and production and encourage creative, critical and theoretical thinking about film.

Wake Forest’s first Latino graduates, Carlos Perez (’65) and Peter Bondy (’67), were honored March 21 on campus at the Celebration of Latino Heritage. The event was part of the ongoing Faces of Courage series, marking Wake Forest’s 50 years of integration and the University’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Perez came to the United States from Cuba as part of Operation Peter Pan, a program that brought many Cuban children to the U.S. in the early 1960s.

While a student at Brevard College, he made a weekend visit to Winston-Salem, toured the University and decided to transfer to Wake Forest. “I went, I saw, I fell for it,” he said. He enrolled in 1963 and became the first Latino graduate in 1965.

During the celebration of Latino heritage, Perez spoke to a standing-room only audience about the impact the University has had on his life and shared memories of playing intramural softball with Wake Forest sports legends Brian Piccolo and John Mackovic.

He also talked about his academic experience. “I could not have asked for better people as teachers,” he said. “They were knowledgeable, caring and demanding yet fair.” Inspired by his time at Wake Forest, Perez earned his doctorate and became a professor at the University before going on to teach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Bondy, who is originally from Ecuador, was also quick to note his lasting and meaningful relationships with Wake Forest faculty, many of whom he credits for his professional success as an actuarial consultant in Baton Rouge, La. These mentors included “surrogate parents” Dean Dyer and his wife as well as professors King and Campbell of the Romance Languages department.

Bondy continues his connection to Wake Forest by serving on the Board of Visitors and the Global Programs Advisory Committee. As a part of the committee, Bondy has influenced the education of thousands of Wake Forest students through initiatives including the establishment of the Flow House in Vienna and the creation of first-year seminars.

As he spoke about his experience as a Wake Forest alumnus, Bondy said, “It is awesome to be able to tell others what Wake stands for and what they can look forward to enjoying.”

After the awards presentation, the celebration continued with traditional Latino performances by Wake Forest’s Salsa Club and the Mexican dance group, Ballet Folklorico.

Both honorees were surprised by their selection as recipients of the “Faces of Courage” award. Perez said, “I never did anything like Jackie Robinson or Rosa Parks.”

Senior Nancy Aguillon, president of Wake Forest’s Organization of Latin American Students (OLAS), said of Perez and Bondy: “Your courage paved the way for students like me to be here.”

Over spring break, seven students will be visiting art galleries in New York City from March 13-17 to select works of art for the University’s Student Union Collection of Contemporary Art. The buying program is believed to be the only one of its kind in the country, one where students are given the opportunity to make the final decisions about which works of art will be added to the University’s collection. The goal each year is for the students to purchase the best quality works with the funds available to them which reflect the current times. From Picasso’s L’Ecuyere (1960) to Jasper Johns’ Flags (1967-68) to Alex Katz’s Vincent with Open Mouth (1970), to Keith Haring’s Untitled (1982), to Christian Marclay’s, Memento (Hearing is Believing) (2008) the collection has grown to more than 160 pieces — paintings, prints, drawings, sculpture, and photography. Many of the artists represented in the collection are also represented in major collections across the world, according to Heather Childress, curator of the Wake Forest University art collection.

Students participating in the trip were selected through a competitive application process. They have been studying art for nearly four years and spent months reading art journals, researching trends in contemporary art and debating with one another about the artists they find most interesting.  Slowly they narrow their focus to a select group of artists and works to view in New York. Once they hone in on artists whose work they like, they write to galleries asking to see what works are currently on the market by these artists. They review the works available before their trip, and during the trip, they view the top choices, negotiate with gallery owners and decide as a group which works will become the newest additions to the collection. “Over the course of their experience, students learn not only about choosing and purchasing contemporary art, they learn about themselves,” says art professor Jay Curley, who for the second time is traveling as an adviser on the trip. “When they start the process of preparing for the trip, they are overwhelmed and slightly intimidated by the New York gallery world. By the end, they are on their mobile phones walking through Chelsea bargaining with these same galleries.”

A Collection For Students

The University art collection provides students, faculty and staff with a unique opportunity to live with art, says art professor Joel Tauber, who is this year’s faculty trip mentor along with Curley.

“Through the art buying trip, the University brings art and culture to campus,” says Tauber. “At our liberal arts university, we are invested in developing ourselves as full people. Exposure to these works enriches the lives of everyone on our campus.” “Students grab lunch at Chick-fil-A and sit in Benson among works of art that have been recognized as significant works in their time. While some students simply enjoy the works for their aesthetic value, others find time to ponder the meanings, contradictions and challenges raised by the works they pass each day,” Curley says. While all of the students participating in the trip have a special interest in art, each brings a unique perspective and background. As they draw upon knowledge from other classes and from their personal experiences, they work together to keep the diverse interests of Wake Forest’s current students in mind. “We hope to bring back works that will stand out in our saturated environment,” says Curley. “We want students to look closely and slow down their perceptions in order to unlock meaning.”

The Collection: Past and Present

Mark Reece (’49), dean of men and College Union adviser, developed the idea for the trip 50 years ago, before the University even had an art department. In 1963 Reece, and then faculty members Edwin Wilson (’43) and J. Allen Easley and two students drove to New York City, explored the contemporary art galleries there, and came back with a dozen works of art for the University. Looking ahead to the next 50 years of the trip, Curley and Tauber hope to involve more students in the art buying process — developing a program to foster relationships between Wake Forest students and the artists of the purchased works, perhaps one in which the artists would visit Wake Forest and present their work in a student curated exhibition. “Perspective art students ask us about how they can become involved in the trip before they even enroll as students here,” says Tauber. “The trip has really become a part of the Wake cachet. And we’re looking forward to finding new ways to expand the experience University wide. ”

Lion dancers, drummers, and kung fu performers joined Wake Forest students and the community to celebrate the “Year of the Snake” at The Chinese New Year Festival on Feb. 16.

This annual event, hosted by the Wake Forest Asian Student Interest Association (ASIA) with support from the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Chinese Student Scholar Association, featured performances and activities to highlight Chinese culture.

Students from the Chinese School of Winston-Salem (K-6 graders) gave a special presentation. Dressed in traditional red, blue and purple, they presented a talent show including poetry and musical acts.

Festival goers sampled authentic Chinese dishes such as dumplings, rice cakes and fried red bean cakes. Red envelopes filled with chocolate gold coins were given out as part of the celebration. These represent the Chinese tradition of presenting money to friends and family during the holiday. The red color is thought to bring good luck.

“We love opportunities to share our cultural practices not only with the Asian student community at Wake Forest but also with the rest of the students and the community,” said senior Ting Jiang, president of ASIA. “We want guests who are unfamiliar with our culture to experience it while learning the meaning and the significance of the holiday.”

The Chinese New Year is the most important traditional Chinese holiday. This 15 day festival begins on the first day of the lunar calendar and marks the beginning of spring. The holiday has been observed for centuries and is celebrated worldwide.

“My favorite part of the event is seeing that the guests love the delicious food and the exquisite performances we have prepared for them,” Jiang said. “Nothing is better than knowing that our guests will go home and share their experiences with their loved ones.”

Anita Ostrovsky on stage in “VOX.”

One by one, students take center stage in the Ring Theatre and share personal stories about sexuality, isolation and identity conflicts. Without costumes or scripts, the “actors” take part in a devised production of their own creation.

The ensemble of Wake Forest students spent three weeks with visiting actor and director Tim Miller producing “VOX” (which is Latin for “voice”) — creating a production based on their own personal stories, experiences and memories.

In this Q&A, Anita Ostrovsky, a senior from Johnson City, Tenn., majoring in theatre and Russian, shares what it was like finding her voice and talking about the challenges of being a first generation American with Ukrainian parents.

Q: How did you decide what part of your life story you wanted to tell? 

 A: As I went through a week of workshops with Tim, my feelings about my family and identity kept popping up. Growing up as a first-generation American with parents who spoke Russian at home made me feel conflicted. Many cultural nuances that were handed down to me from my family conflicted with cultural nuances in the U.S. I felt myself having to determine whether to align myself with the values they grew up with or with those that my American peers supported.

Talking about these experiences seemed natural. As director, Tim stressed that we let our strongest feelings come to the top.  My final piece in “VOX” is a sum of all the pieces I did in the rehearsal process.

Q: How do you communicate your story to the audience during your performance?

A: I use the whole stage and move from one corner to the other to communicate the dichotomy and to explore the question, “Am I a loud, proud American or a poised, quiet, Ukrainian/Russian ballerina?” I also strive for high-energy performances that excite the audience while making them think. I incorporate my dance training into the piece to give it that energy. Its heart lies at its very instinctual and a bit improvisational nature.

Q: Can you describe the relationships that developed among cast members?

A: Tim encouraged us to delve into hard issues from the start. He provided an environment where we were all comfortable with each other. To help us organize the play, he encouraged us to look at how our stories connect, and I think the audience members will see these connections. Some stories are very heart wrenching. All are raw and real. We supported each other, and I respect everyone in the cast so much for opening up their hearts first to their peers, and now to the community, to share their thoughts and experiences.

Q: What do you hope that the audience will take away?

A: For my story, I want them to understand that a person’s identity is not black or white, and that an individual can identify with more than one culture even though the values of each can conflict. I think immigrants and first-generation Americans will identify with my piece.

“VOX” runs through February 10 in the Ring Theatre of Scales Fine Arts Center. Click here for ticket information.

In a Ferris Bueller moment, Greg Murr’s post graduate plans took a turn. This 1993 graduate in studio art headed to Albuquerque, N.M., for graduate school, which propelled him on a course to Italy, New York City and Germany.

This spring, Murr is returning to Wake Forest to teach printmaking classes in the art department as a visiting faculty member. His words of advice, relax, “The future unfolds before us, one way or another.”

Q: How do you come up with ideas for your artwork?

A: I’ve met so many artists whose rich life experience or background provides material for their creative output. Upon entering college I didn’t sense I had any extraordinary content to draw from. So I turned to my interests within liberal arts classes, whether philosophy, history, the sciences or literature. In time I learned to connect ideas from these disciplines with my appreciation for nature and how we experience the phenomenal world. I think it’s important to permit oneself the freedom to explore new interests as they arise and bring together seemingly incongruous ideas as a means of making discoveries.

Vanity and Pearls, 2012, acrylic polymer, graphite on canvas
29.5 x 31.5 inches

Q: You have been working on a series featuring dogs mingling about strands of pearls and high-heeled shoes. What inspired this idea?

A: To be true, it was the act of following the general election campaigns in 2008 that so spurred me to share my impressions of our social, political and economic reality. But adding to this was a casual aside made by professor Anne Boyle nearly 20 years ago in one of my English classes at Wake. I recall Dr. Boyle suggesting that high-heeled shoes aren’t simply an extension of the leg, but a means by which culture and fashion insure a woman’s vulnerability, it being so difficult to flee from danger while in heels. She also offered the possibility that, apart from adorning, bracelets and other jewelry may suggest something of bondage. I recently returned to this conversation in drawing dogs among high-heeled shoes that, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, encourage discussion about our own animal nature. Through these disarming subjects, I’m trying to look at our keen consumer behavior and the very core of capitalism, too. Could capitalism itself evidence human nature, as we seek security through the earned material rewards that we use to define and protect us?

Q: What advice do you have for students planning to become artists?

A: Oh geez—another college confession. Okay, when I was at Wake Forest I had a convertible car I adored. I kept it under a car cover in a garage off campus and rarely drove it for fear of depreciating its value. My senior year, I decided to live a little, à la Ferris Bueller, and made a road trip with a friend to Florida for spring break. Needless to say, it wouldn’t be a confession if all had ended well; on the way back to campus, I drove unwittingly into an ice storm, slid into a guard rail and did just enough damage to total it. As Ferris would say, I killed the car. But pretty quickly I saw the burden it had been, and was ultimately liberated to reevaluate former post-graduation options. I chose a far-away MFA program in New Mexico, which in turn led me to Italy, New York and Germany. The point is that the future unfolds before us, one way or another. Our opportunities aren’t always the ones we anticipate.

Q: What do you hope to teach your students in your printmaking class?

A: Printmaking is quite process-oriented. Learning about and practicing these media will give students a whole different language with which to express themselves, and a means of comparison to newer technologies that they already know. Learning any creative process can be a bit like stepping into a foreign culture, with different attributes, capacities and guidelines. We step outside our realm of comfort not just to learn a new place, language or way of thinking, but to better understand the world from which we’ve come.

Humanistic inquiry is at the heart of Wake Forest’s liberal arts tradition. Together, faculty and students bring to life scholarly and undergraduate research, campus and community programming, and interdisciplinary activities that connect the humanities with science, social science and artistic fields. Here are some of last year’s highlights.