Successes

Andres Montenegro, assistant professor of computer animation, was a selected artist in the IDEAS 2014 Digital Art Exhibition, and International Digital Media Arts Association Conference, on November 5-7, at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. His piece, The Phenomenological Targets, is an installation based on interactive animations developed through augmented reality and mobile technology. He also presented an artist talk about his work in animation and interactive immersive environment based on his awarded-winning animation The Little Quest of Petrovsky as the creative focus. He also participated in the International Digital Media Arts Association Conference at Utah Valley University with a research paper titled "Two Phenomenological Notions Expressed in the Interactive Art of Jeffrey Shaw and Myron Krueger," to be published in the International Digital Media Art Journal.

Several IPFW music majors walked away with honors at the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Indiana State Competition Nov. 1, 2014, at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana. NATS is the largest organization of teachers of singing in the world. Twenty-one IPFW music majors were among more than 350 vocalists in this year's competition. Students study with individual voice instructors Sam Savage, assistant professor of voice, and associate music faculty members Ashlee Bickley, Julie Donnell, and Mark Stachofsky and were accompanied on the piano by Donna Hartleroad, Elena Bardi, and Jodi Thomas. The winners included:

Kristopher Andorfer - 1st Place Sophomore Men

Senior Women

High School Women

One of Sara Nordling's fiber works was included in The Red and the Black, a group exhibition at the World of Threads Festival in November, along with a solo exhibition of her work at another location. The shows ran the month of November at various locations in Oakville, Ontario. The festival examines traditional and contemporary art approaches to fiber arts, crafts and textiles. Nordling is an associate faculty member in Fine Arts. 

Blane Pressler ('04, theatre) recently appeared in his one-man show It Will Never Happen at Ozark Actors Theatre, developed with NYC music director David Maglione. Late this year Pressler will go back to redevelop his one-man show for its NYC debut in early 2015. In November, he starred in a new musical, Wendy's Shadow, presented at the Irvington Town Hall Theatre's New Work Series in Irvington, New York. The musical has been in development for more than a year and Pressler was featured on the YouTube channel Famous in New York singing "My Name is Hook," a number from the show.   

Stephanie Lochbihler ('12) graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology and also performed on the Williams Theatre stage in 2010 in the comedy Noises Off! She is currently working on a Ph.D. in psychology at Indiana University Bloomington and was featured in a  Compound W commercial on the company's web site. Enoy! 

Ron Lewis, associate faculty member in VCD, has been appointed Digital Media Assistant in IPFW's Center for Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT). This new opportunity gives Lewis an opportunity to use his numerous talents in design and computer graphics and technology to help instructors across campus create a more contemporary learning environment for their students.

Paintings by Jason Stopa ('07, painting) were part of Junction, a group exhibition at the Edward Thorp Gallery in New York City from Sept. 12 - Oct. 25, 2014. Other painters featured in the exhibition included Mark De Long, Sarah Faux, Kurt Lightner and Russell Tyler.

Kari Larsen ('13, painting) has started a fashion design business with her design partner Ron Ostlund Jr, called Ostari Couture.

Artworks by senior fine arts major Andrew Dubache and alumnus Jeremy Stroup ('13, sculpture) are currently featured in the 10th Regional Exhibition at Artlink from Dec. 12 - Jan. 14, 2014.