Art – Page 48 – Center for Law, Engagement, and Politics

Lively Day of the Dead at the Wynne Home Arts Center

Day of the Dead or Dia de los Muertos is a Mexican tradition that celebrates lost loved ones in a an intimate way, and it is celebrated at the Wynne Home Arts Center annually. For each individual lost loved one, family and friends build an altar that reflects the life they lived. The altar is composed of favorite foods, flowers, candles, and objects that they cherished. Those who celebrate this holiday believe that during the night the deceased will come and enjoy what they have left for them.

Similarly, the Wynne Home built two altars for the lost loved ones that made a great impact in Huntsville, Texas: Jesus Moroles and Barbara Tyson. The two artists have both done work for the Wynne Home as well as in the community. With both of the artists passing this year, the Wynne Home wanted to honor and commemorate their lives by building them altars. The altars will be on exhibit until November 12, 2015.

The Wynne Home provided tamales, traditional rice, and charro beans—foods that are popular for this holiday. There was also face-painting…

…coloring and art activities…

…and a showing of “The Book of Life” for children.

LEAP is very proud to volunteer at They Wynne Home—a place that advocates cultural diversity and art. It was a joy to see so many locals take part in this tradition that is cherished by many!

Moot Court Tournament: Texas Tech Law School, Day One

Even though the competition started at two, most of us started Friday early. We began preparing for the events, while one of our coaches scouted out the venue (Texas Tech Law School!) and explored some of the Jesus Moroles’ sculptures on campus.

But by the early afternoon, after countless hours of preparation, our nerves were beginning to set in. So, we ate. Our restaurant was a burger place called Spanky’s, recommended by former Junior Fellow Brandon Reese, who also happens to be an alum of Texas Tech Law School.

Spanky’s advertises its “world famous fried cheese,” and after the server told us that one basket is “only six sticks,” we ordered two baskets. What we didn’t know is that they cheese sticks are the size of a log.

But we got them down, along with some burgers, and that helped quell some nerves.

Armed with food in our stomachs, we headed to Texas Tech Law School. With the intensity of competition weighing on our shoulders, we had a few extra minutes to practice and prepare before the competition began.

After competing at the UNT Scrimmage a few weeks ago, our team had a better idea of what to expect; however, there are many unknown variables that a competitor cannot control such as: who your opposing team is, who the judges are, or what questions the judge’s will ask you. Today’s preliminary rounds consisted of three rounds where each team argued once on each side (petitioner and respondent) and a final coin toss round to determine which side each opposing team would argue.

The performances in these three rounds will then be used to determine who competes tomorrow, with the top sixteen teams advancing. Armed with that mission, we awaited the call to compete.

When the time came to disperse to our respective rooms for competition, our team felt prepared because we knew we invested a substantial amount of time into learning the problem case, developing our arguments, and refining our presentation skills. My co-counsel, Alejandra Galvan, and I argued on the petitioners’ side of the case in our first round.

For us, the petitioner’s side of the case is more challenging than the respondent’s argument. After each round, the judges provide feedback to the teams giving them the opportunity to improve in the following rounds. This proves to be a useful tool in going forward in the competition. As each round progressed, confidence among the group grew because the judge’s feedback was constructive and positive.

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After completing the final round, Texas Tech Law School catered dinner for us which allowed for a reprieve from the stress of the day while we waited on the final results and scores.

Participating in Moot Court has numerous benefits, one of which is getting to tour law schools during the competition. Dinner allowed us the opportunity to meet and interact with Texas Tech Law students to gain insight on their law school experience. We also had the chance to meet the Associate Dean of Admissions, LJ Bernhard, who gave us advice on law school applications. In addition to the skills you can acquire and refine, making connections and getting information is a benefit to the Moot Court experience.

Texas Undergraduate Moot Court Association gives awards to the top twenty speakers for the preliminary rounds.Our entire team was excited when Chelsea King won overall twelfth speaker.

Also, James Perry and Kristyn Couvillion, tied for the sixteenth spot giving them the opportunity to compete in a “play-in round” (equivalent to the wildcard in sports playoffs) tomorrow morning to determine who will win the sixteenth spot.

Following a happy first day of competition, we took lots of photos…

…including one in the very cool atrium, below a Thomas Jefferson quote…

We also got pictures of the group from UNT, a group led by Dr. Kimi King, who organizes the tournament.

UNT has been long-time participants and, as expected, their competitors did very well.

We also relaxed a bit…

…and enjoyed reflecting on the day while winding down. Well, James and Kristyn didn’t relax so much, but the rest of us did!

A Last Day in Dallas

After a roller-coaster weekend at UNT Law, we had a half of a day left in Dallas before returning to SHSU. We decided to use it by having a little fun and enjoying good food.

We could have had both in Klyde Warren Park, one of Dallas’s newest success stories. Known as the “front lawn of the arts district: for its proximity to the arts district, the park provides an interesting 5-acre public space for families to enjoy a morning or afternoon. It also has a ring of food trucks, offering fare of every kind, making it a great place for a group as diverse as ours to go. But because we like to explore, we had our fun at Klyde Warren Park, before moving elsewhere for lunch.

There are large green spaces at Klyde Warren, with a .45-mile walking trail around it. Along the trail or mini-recreation areas: a kids’ park, a board-game station, a reading library station,

a putting green, a Foosball table, and an amphitheater. The amphitheater can be used for bands and such at night, but is used for yoga at 10am daily. The day we were there, almost 100 people were participating in the yoga relaxation/exercise techniques.

But our primary purpose was to throw the frisbee around, and we soon learned who could catch.

Austin, for example, can catch. In the picture above, notice the Jordanesque-shadow. Of course, he played college football until this year, so we expected him to be athletic.

As it turns out, though, Kaitlyn Tyra can also catch, and she may be a dark-horse for our Spring 2015 Charity Football game.

Professor Yawn is getting up there in age, but we let him play because he grades us.

We think Megan can catch, but we aren’t really sure. She had a strict rule to only move one step in any direction, which earned her the name “One-Step Chapa.” Here she is impersonating a stork.

But the day wasn’t particularly intense for any of us.

Notice the halo over Professor Yawn’s head.

Following some more fun, we had to call it a day at the park…

…and return to the hotel. As we preparing to check out, the hotel went dark. The electricity went out. The LEAP Center Ambassadors pride themselves on adaptability, but this was difficult for Constance Gabel, who was stuck in the hotel elevator. The fire department was called…

…and Constance was extricated from the hotel elevator.

Just in time for us to eat at Twisted Root, a restaurant that specializes in burgers and root beer. Their burgers are wonderful, and their root beer is interesting. The flavor of the day was “Irish Creme Root Beer,” which was better than the root beer from the last time we were there: Grape Root Beer. Of course, that was better than their “Coconut Root Beer.” Their regular root beer is excellent. And their burgers are great.

One of the interesting aspects of their restaurant is that, when you order, they provide you with a name from popular culture as your signal that your burger is ready. In our group, we had Eva Mendes (Kaitlyn), Serena Williams (Beatriz), Apollo Creed (Austin, of course), Matlock (Yawn), Mike Modano (Brian Aldaco), and others. It was interesting to see who knew which references, a process that led Austin to say, “Son, you need to watch more television” to one of the newer members.

With a general consensus that Twisted Root is a good place to lunch, we allowed Constance one more groupie for the weekend…

…and headed home.

But not for rest and relaxation! The week ahead involved our weekly meeting (Monday), a law-school application workshop (Wednesday), a Moot Court Practice (Thursday), a volunteer meeting (Thursday), the showing of Nosferatu (Thursday, whew), a Mock LSAT (Saturday), and a volunteer event (Saturday).

More to come!

Moot Court Scrimmage: Aftermath

After an intense 24 hour period competing and observing Moot Court proceedings, the LEAP Ambassadors, Moot Court participants, and members of the pre-law cohort decided to relax a bit, explore the history of Dallas on a Segway, and fill their bellies.

The relaxation involved some downtime at the hotel, followed by an ice-cream treat.

Shortly thereafter, another treat was in order. We stopped by Segway Nation for a tour of Dallas on a segway.

It was a beautiful time of day, what movie-makers call “magic hour,” and we made the most of it with pictures.

But, of course, with it turning a bit dark, Austin felt he need to serve as a protector of the group, and adopted a secret-service/tough guy look.

At first, not everyone felt totally relaxed…

…but eventually everyone got the hang of it, and we headed off to see Dallas.

The segway tour took us to Pioneer Plaza, a large outdoor sculpture that consists of 49 bronze steers and 3 riders created by sculptor Robert Sommers. Note that it appears that Alex is saluting when, in fact, that it is a longhorn projecting in front of her face.

The tour, led by excellent guides Doug and Jack, also took us by I. M. Pei’s Dallas City Hall, where we were able to turn and see the beautiful Dallas skyline which, according to our guides, is regularly listed as one of the five most beautiful in the US.

The tour also took us by the Kennedy assassination site on Elm Street. The students had a chance to get off the segways and walk to the “X” spots, which mark where the Oswald’s shots hit Kennedy.

We also entered the Kennedy Memorial, designed by Philip Johnson, one of the great architects of the 20th Century.

Speaking of Johnson, we were also able to go to Thanksgiving Square, a public space he designed in the 1970s as a means of racial and cultural healing. With a replication of Rockwell’s “Golden Rule” painting…

…and the “Ring of Thanks,” where visitors are encouraged to stand and offer thanks. From the center of the ring, the sound reverberates, symbolically echoing the many things for which we are thankful. In our group, thanks went to family, opportunities, school, and even the LEAP Center.

Thanksgiving Square also has a spiral chapel adorned with one of the largest stained glass assemblages in the world. The glass, designed by Gabriel Loire of France, is designed to become brighter as it ascends and moves to the center.

In the midst of such beauty, it was easy to be thankful.

And with that, we returned to the segway base, where we shed our helmets and headed to Hoffbrau Steaks (thanks for the recommendation, Doug!) and enjoyed a robust end-of-the-day dinner.

But before heading out we gave a few more thanks: to our LEAP Ambassadors, who came to Dallas to cheer on their Moot Court friends; to the Pre-Law cohort, who came to check out the action and consider joining the team for next year; for Kristyn, who decided to stick with the “team” rather than go home; and to our coach, Jean Loveall, who spent a lot of time teaching us the finer points of law.

Moot Scrimmage: Day One Showdown!

It’s been an educational weekend for SHSU’s first-ever Moot Court team. Following a pleasant evening at the Art Department’s Gala (where the students spent some enjoyable time with Dan Phillips)…

…the Moot Court Team embarked on a late-night trip to Dallas, where the UNT Law School’s Moot Court scrimmage was scheduled. More than fifty teams competed, making this the largest scrimmage in the Texas Undergraduate Moot Court Association’s history.

The set-up for such a scrimmage is as follows:

Day One: There are three rounds of tournaments, which serve as qualifying rounds. Each team is scored in points, with the points determining which team wins and which team loses. The won-loss record then determines whether the teams compete on Saturday (teams need to win two of their three rounds, with a tie-breaker based on a complex system of schedule strength and points). The points are further used to determine individual awards.
- Points: Speakers are scored on four dimensions, each constituting up to 100 points. An award-winning speaker will likely accumulate 360 or more points (90+ average) over the four dimensions: knowledge, response, forensics, and demeanor
Day Two: Day two then follows in a playoff-style system, with winning teams proceeding to the next round. There are four such “playoff” rounds, moving from the “Sweet Sixteen” to the finals.

The logistics alone are a daunting enterprise. Registration, for example, ended at 11:30am on Friday, and only then could tournament directors begin the pairings and room scheduling processes. Between 11:30 and 2:00pm, a series of orientations (e.g., bailiffs, coaches, competitors) took place, while other tournament officials tried to finalize the schedule. It was an impressive display of organization!

We were a bit anxious, but we tried to enjoy ourselves….

…pairing off into teams during orientation…

…

Between orientations and a quick lunch, we grabbed what study time we could come by…

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…with help from our coach.

…but, ultimately, game-time arrived, and we began the tournament.

The Tournament

A typical contest includes an 18 minute argument from the petitioner (split between the two team members), followed by a 20 minutes argument from the respondent (again, split between the two-team members), followed by a two-minute rebuttal from the petitioner (the time for rebuttal can be modified up front, but two minutes is a typical time).

The tournament is run by a tournament director. This tournament’s director was Andrew Sommerman, who is the founder of the American Undergraduate Moot Court Association and a local Dallas attorney. Also helping run the show was Dr. Kimi King, who works tirelessly to help her students and to help keep the tournament moving on schedule.

Three judges oversee the competition, interjecting as they see fit. A “hot” panel interjects often; a cold panel interjects rarely. Some contestants enjoy the give and take; others do not. A good judge will pose questions designed to assess the competitors’ knowledge, strength of arguments, and ability to think on their feet. Some judges are better than others at directing such questions.

Following the contest, the competitors (and audience) leave the room, giving the judges time to complete their ballots and prepare remarks. Once the ballots have been completed, the judges ask the competitors to return and go over the strengths and weaknesses of the competitors. Good judges mix specific and general advice and do so constructively. Less helpful judges speak in vague generalities or offer idiosyncratic advice based on their personal/ideological reactions. Fortunately, few judges fell in the latter category, and even they can be helpful, because such judges exist on the bench in real life.

For our team, the rounds were immensely helpful. While they didn’t turn out well in terms of wins and losses, they did turn out very well in terms of gaining information and experience. For Kaitlyn Tyra, she said it was a good opportunity to “gain a realistic view of the competition in the state.” This, she continued, was particularly helpful for a first-year team such as SHSU, which hasn’t seen the competition before. For Austin Campbell, the trip was helpful because it helped build “synergy among most of the team’s members.” For Kristyn Couvillion, it allowed “observation of the state’s best speakers, and the skills they have, as well as the benefits of receiving specific feedback from judges.”

Photos are not encouraged in the tournaments (especially for those in smaller rooms, where they can be distracting), but we have a couple of action photos. One is of Kristyn…

…and one is of James Perry…

By the end of the evening, teams waited patiently to see which ones would make the cut, and perform on Saturday.

Sadly, this did not include SHSU teams. It was, however, a good end to the day, and the students were satisfied with their work.

For the winning teams, the day would start early the next day, with coin tosses at 8am. Most of the losing teams went home. SHSU’s moot court team, however, didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to see the winning teams in action another day, hear more of the questions that judges ask, and to learn more about the process. In that spirit, we went back to the hotel, to prepare for another day of Moot Court.

Art + Community = A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening

The Art Department sponsored a nice evening for friends and supporters of the arts, honoring alumni, former faculty, and local artist/builder Dan Phillips. With all the LEAP Center Ambassadors on hand, plus some of the “friends of the LEAP Center,” it was a great way to kick off the end of the week.

This was the Art Department’s second such gala and, again, chair Michael Henderson emceed the proceedings. He was gracious and thankful, and repeatedly thanked the sponsors and the many people who support the arts in the community.

Community, in fact, was the explicit theme of the evening. We were happy to note that of the 29 registrants for heART of Huntsville, 19 were attendees at the Gala!

The stars of the evening, however, were those being honored. Henderson invited Linda Pease to memorialize local artists who passed away in the last year…

…and the Department honored alums Kim Cook and Dan Pratt; Art Department Scholarship winners; local art supporter and POLS faculty Jim Carter, who passed away in 2013; and former faculty Emmette Jackson, Charles Pebworth, Gene Eastman, Jimmy Barker, and Stanley Lea. While the former faculty were not able to attend, Lea’s wife, Ruth, did attend.

Mayor Mac Woodward introduced the the major award of the evening…

…which went to Dan Phillips for his support of the arts in the local community. Phillips, of course, is a local builder, whose previous careers include work in Military Intelligence, the Dance Faculty at SHSU, and newspaper writer.

Phillips said very nice things about his wife, Marsha, who is a partner in the Phoenix Commotion enterprise and works as a part-time mentor at SHSU after a long career teaching at HISD. Fifteen years ago, the two embarked on a new career building homes “made from unwanted materials for low-income people.” They’ve now completed 24 projects, and their structures dot and enrich the community, adding character to a small, historic town, work that earned Phillips this well-deserved honor from the SHSU Art Department.

Postscript: Following the gala, seven of the LEAP attendees headed to Dallas for their first-ever Moot Court scrimmage, which will be described in future posts!

Art and Architecture in Huntsville

With the fourth week of heART of Huntsville came a focus on architecture with, of course, a healthy dose of art. After weeks focusing on campus art, outdoor sculptures, David Adickes, performing arts, and Richard Haas, the final week of the program focused on three homes in the Huntsville Cultural District: The “Bone Home,” the Kellogg-Pritchett House, and the Wynne Home.

Part of what made the final week special was that Anina Moore, the Director of Communications for the Texas Commission on the Arts, traveled to Huntsville to observe the program. This was her first real visit to Huntsville, and we hope she enjoyed it!

Her visit, and our final week, kicked off with a tour of Dan Phillips’ Bone Home. For many of the Ambassadors, it was our second visit to the home, but for Ambassador Kaitlyn Tyra, it was a first-time visit. Phillips began with an overview of his philosophy, his company (Phoenix Commotion), and his work.

His talk is always engaging, mixing construction realities, with political preferences (e.g., recycling, sustainability), and philosophy (aesthetics).

From there, the tour began. The students posed with Phillips in the kitchen…

…where observers can note the intriguing floor patterns, and the bone-top counters. They also got a good look at the bone-bedecked stairway…

…and the bottle-cap bedroom floors.

The back-door patio, which connects the home to the studio, is also worth noting. The wall is adorned with decorative bones…

…and guests can rest in the bone chairs and bone table-top…

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…and enter the studio through a door equipped with bone handles.

The studio was determined by Constance to be the perfect place for a selfie or a groupie:

…and she may have gotten every person in the photo! Mr. Phillips is in the front center, alongside Huntsville artist Lee Jamison, the owner of the Bone Home, George Boone, and the aforementioned Anina Moore.

Following the Bone Home tour, we made our way to the Kellogg-Pritchett House, where Mary Laura Gibbs offered a wonderful tour.

The foyer, Victorian parlor, and Gazebo room were the highlights, although the top-secret attic is always a treat. Adding to the pleasantness and education of the evening was the presence of Lee Jamison, who did much of the artwork in the “KP” house. In particular, he did Gazebo room, which is painted in mural fashion as though it were an actual gazebo, replete with sky-views, vine-covered lattice, and the obligatory animals (e.g., hummingbird) attracted to foliage. The artwork also gave participants a chance to search for these animals, including the Texas-themed butterfly, seven-legged spider (said, Lee Jamison: “I’m an artist not a mathematician!”), and red, white, and blue snake.

And Constance enjoyed the photographic possibilities of the parlor.

As SHSU students, it was also helpful to learn about “Professor Joe Pritchett,” who owned the home, and who was the Dean of Students for more than three decades. Interestingly, he rode his horse to school until the 1930s.

With a fond farewell, to the KP house and its four porches…

…we headed to the Wynne Home, where we enjoyed their community art exhibit and heard from Ms. Moore about the work of the Texas Commission on the Arts.

The food, prepared by Sharon Rose, and sponsored by the Friends of the Wynne, was wonderful! It contributed greatly to everyone’s cheerful time:

The heART of Huntsville program brought many wonderful people together, and it was an amazing opportunity to learn more about art, artistic venues, local artists, and the community in general.

The heART of Huntsville will be offered again next year in September and October.

Down with the Downtown

For the third week of heART of Huntsville, participants were taken to Huntsville’s historic downtown to see parks, art, and fine arts at multiple locations, followed by a fine dinner at Carboneras.

Leading this tour was Linda Pease, the city’s long-standing public art authority. Pease isn’t an artist, but she has been behind much of the beautification of the community for the past forty years or so, and she offered an oral history of Huntsville’s art scene.

The tour began at Founders Park, on the southeast corner of 10th and University. This small park was created in the late 1980s at the springs that served as a meeting place between Huntsville’s founding father, Pleasant Gray, and the Bedias Indians. From the spring sprung Huntsville, as more settlers settled, business thrived, and civilization eventually flowered. The site recreates the springs with a small, shallow pond, and artists Monica Taylor and Larry Zink created statues of Indians at the site.

Taylor and Zink also contributed to the downtown area by assisting Richard Haas with his revitalization of the downtown square. Haas, an artist, informal architect, and unofficial “urban planner,” created 14 art works in the downtown area in the 1990s.

Perhaps the finest of these artworks is the three-part mural of Sam Houston on the east side of the Smither Building on University Avenue and 11th Street. This mural depicts Sam Houston in battle, with the Indians, and as gentleman of Huntsville, Texas.

Other key works include the faux Roman ruins, the mural of Leadbelly on Sam Houston Avenue, and the movie posters on the front of the Old Town Theater.

Speaking of which, the group also got a tour of this theater during a rehearsal of King Lear. Participants were able to explore the theater’s balcony…

…watch portions of the play…

…and meet many of the cast and crew…

…and truly see “behind the scenes”…

Bruce Chabot, a professor at SHSU’s English Department, is the director of the play, and the production crew graciously provided some comped tickets to members of the first-ever heART of Huntsville cohort.

Another downtown treat is the Art Department’s “Satellite Gallery” at 1204 University Avenue. Here, art students and art alumni display their work for the public. Following a quick tour of this gallery, the group headed to the historic Cafe Texan, where Linda Pease shared more information about Richard Haas….

…pointing out the work he did on the Leadbelly Mural…

…and discussing many of the other Haas detailing around the square.

Interestingly, Haas has produced more than 60 exterior murals in his career, and more than twenty of them have been destroyed by the elements or, more often, by construction projects. But his work still exists around the world, in Fort Worth…

…in New York…

[Richard Haas wall painting on South Street and Peck Slip.]

…St. Louis…

…and many other cities.

Interestingly, however, the largest concentration of his works is in Huntsville, Texas.

With help from the LEAP Center, Art Department, and the Huntsville Public Library, Richard Haas will be in town November 19th, 2015. He’ll deliver remarks on campus and at the Huntsville Public Library, where he has donated the studies for his Huntsville murals.

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