California artists Kristine Diekman ’79 and Tony Allard created a decidedly Midwestern show for the Peter Paul Luce Gallery in McWethy Hall. “FUTURE GEN” explored the humanplant interface throughout history—specifically related to corn—using narratives, animation, video, audio, and largescale drawings. The exhibit closed in mid-February.
Diekman chairs the visual and performing arts department at California State University in San Marcos, where she and Allard teach video art.
The artists tapped Cornell students to record their audio environments, and then mixed the recordings into a surround sound audio landscape for the exhibit. Mount Vernon farmers were interviewed about breeding, planting, harvesting, and marketing local crops.
“‘FUTURE GEN’ is hybrid folklore, incorporating elements of poetic retrospection on the history of corn and artistic musings on its future,” says Diekman.
The gallery also hosted a fall exhibit of woodfired ceramic works by five alumni:
Leila Denecke ’72, a former pottery instructor at the Minneapolis Museum of Art, earned a 2001 Artist-In-Residence award in Seto, Aichi-ken, Japan, and a 2004 McKnight Artist Fellowship. She lives in Minnesota.
Barbara Reinhart ’76 has earned the Frederick Layton Special Achievement Award, plus a Travel Fund Grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board. She is an assistant professor of art at the University of Wisconsin in Waukesha.
Gary Hootman ’86 has a studio in Swisher, Iowa, and works exclusively in stoneware, with forms that range from delicate tea bowls to large outdoor sculptures. He has exhibited in Australia, South Korea, Japan, and throughout the United States.
Takusuke Kawasaki ’92 has worked closely with his father, Chitaro Kawasaki, chair of the ceramics department at Kyoto Seika University in Kyoto, Japan, and the venerated Japanese potter Shiho Kanzaki. Kawasaki has a studio in Shigaraki.
Joe Cole ’00 spent two years as apprentice for Mark Hewitt in Pittsboro, N.C. Cole makes pots for potteries in the Seagrove, N.C., area. |
Kristine Diekman ’79 during the installation of “FUTURE GEN” in the Peter Paul Luce Gallery on campus.
Untitled,
Leila Denecke ’72
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Pledging revised, resumed
Eight social groups participated in fall pledging during the November block break, agreeing to abide by new guidelines on dress, behavior, and alcohol use.
Last March, pledging was suspended among the college’s 14 social groups. Incidents of inappropriate conduct among students, campus vandalism, and complaints by Mount Vernon citizens and businesses during two years of spring pledging led to the suspension.
A Pledging Task Force of administrators, faculty, and students—both social group members and unaffiliated students—solicited input from other students, faculty, and staff, along with alumni and community members. The task force created several rules for pledging, which were approved by social group representatives and college officials. Among them were requirements to follow a plan to substantially reduce alcohol abuse and the impact of alcohol abuse on the community, to refrain from wearing clothing with inappropriate language or themes, and to submit a pledging plan for approval by a Pledging Standards Committee of students, a faculty member, and an administrator. A mandatory community service project was added to pledging, and 100 students volunteered 300 hours around Mount Vernon and Cedar Rapids on the final day of fall pledging. For a full Pledging Task Force report go to www.cornellcollege.edu/cssg/.
About 30 percent of Cornell’s 1,150 students belong to social groups, which bear Greek names but no national affiliations.
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Record-setting performance
Senior center Dan McClanahan scored a schoolrecord 51 points to lead Cornell past Grinnell, 125-119, in a November shoot-out
in Mount Vernon. The old school record for points in a game belonged to Lloyd Olmstead ’53, who scored 43 in 1951.
McClanahan also set Cornell marks for most field goals in a game (21) and most field goals attempted in a game (27), besting records by Chad Wisco ’79 and Ed Ashmore ’71 (16 field goals made) and Mark Christoffersen ’89 (23 field goals attempted).
For his success, McClanahan was named conference athlete of the week.
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Dan McClanahan of Davenport eyes the basket against Grinnell. He scored a schoolrecord 51 points. |
