The SHSU academic fall semester may be complete, but LEAP students are continuing to learn, in and out of classrooms. Accordingly, a group of LEAP students participated in a ceramics class this Monday, March 15, led by Professor Lauren Clay at the Dana G. Hoyt Fine Arts Building as an early participation in the Empty Bowls Fundraiser, which will occur March 4, 2026.
Our participation is the first phase of a three-phase fundraiser. As described by Professor Clay, our purpose Monday was to (1) shape our bowl, learning how to mold wet clay, explore the many options for designs and ornamentation, and to prepare for the kiln.
We will return in January to (2) glaze the bowl, and in March, some of us (3) will volunteer for the Empty Bowls fundraiser at the Wynne Home Arts and Visitor Center–a project we have assisted with since the program’s inception in 2008.
For our initial session, Professor Clay…
…demonstrated “underglaze transferring,” which involves creating a design on one medium and transferring it to the ceramic before shaping and kilning.
Thus, we created our design and waited for the design to dry…
…smoothed our clay, completed the transfer, and then put the clay over a mold to complete the bowl.
Not all of us did the transfer process; Professor Yawn, for example, had much trouble with his transfer, and proceeded without ornamentation.
Others, however, engaged fully in their creativity, exploring floral designs, innovative clay designs, or using laces or others props.
With the right imagination and dexterity, the possibilities are endless, and some of us were thrilled with our designs. I, on the other hand, didn’t feel like I quite got the hang of it, but was nonetheless satisfied with it as a first effort.
This participation also gave me the chance to see the beautiful Hoyt Fine Arts Building, making me wish I had explored this building earlier in my college career. And while the building was a little on the cool side, the experience itself left a warm feeling in all of us, a fitting outcome for participation in a worthy cause.
Despite a packed day in Huntsville—with Junk-a-Palooza and the Pineapple Run taking place simultaneously, and Rotary’s “Wine Fest” and a Sip N’ Shop event scheduled for later—the Wynne Home remained a go-to destination for local families eager to celebrate the season, drawing more than 200 people in attendance.
This year’s event was led by Wynne Home and Economic Development Events Coordinator Angela Robinson, along with Wynne Home Director Andrea Howard, and Administrative Assistant Lauren Payne. They were supported by an enthusiastic team of volunteers, including LEAP Ambassadors (some of whom drove in from Austin where they work as SHAIP interns in the Texas Legislature)…
…City Fellows Interns, Pre-Law Society members, and longtime community contributors Lois Stehlik, Nancy Ormsby, Janette Roesler, Stephanie Fors (our in-house chef!), and City Fellows intern Liv Hernandez.
To prepare for the festivities, volunteers arrived early to hide eggs—some tucked away in much trickier spots than others.
To make sure the games ran smoothly, a few volunteers even did a “test run” of the activities beforehand.
By 11:00 am, families began to arrive, and the children wasted no time jumping into the fun.
There was something for everyone: chalk, bubbles, hula hoops, jump ropes,
From cornhole…
Ring toss…
Velcro darts…
And the ever-tricky egg-and-spoon race.
This game is no easy feat, but that did not stop kids from giving it their all—even if it meant using a few creative tricks to stay balanced and win.
For those who preferred a quieter activity, the crafts table with Lois Stehlik and Nancy Ormsby offered a space to sit down and create something festive.
Not to mention, visitors could bring home their very own balloon art. Some opted for swords, while others wished for animals or flowers!
Then came one of the most anticipated moments of the day—the arrival of the Easter Bunny! Most children welcomed the Bunny with big smiles, hugs, and high-fives. A few were a bit unsure, but the Easter Bunny remained cheerful and kind throughout.
To fuel up before the big egg hunt, Stephanie generously prepared lunch for everyone—grilling around 200 hot dogs, served alongside chips and (hopefully not too messy) mustard and ketchup.
At 12:45 pm, it was finally time for the main event: the Easter Egg Hunt! Children were divided into two age groups—5 and under, and 6 and up. When the signal was given, kids took off running, eagerly scooping up eggs in every direction.
With 800 eggs hidden for the older group and 700 for the younger group, there were around 1,500 eggs in total—more than enough for every child to fill their basket.
Although the event officially ended at 1:00 pm, many families stayed afterward to play a few more games or proudly show volunteers the eggs they had collected.
The Easter Egg Hunt at the Wynne Home Arts & Visitor Center continues to be a heartwarming tradition that brings the community together for a joyful Saturday morning.
Michele Miller has spent over five decades documenting the world through her lens. Since beginning her photography career in the 1970s, she has captured scenes from across the globe, producing images that reflect both her technical skill and her keen eye for everyday beauty.
Her most recent exhibit, Canvasing the World, opened at the Wynne Home Arts and Visitor Center with more than 50 guests in attendance. The event, coordinated by Wynne Home staff members Angela Robinson, Andrea Howard, and Lauren Payne, welcomed community members for an evening of art and conversation.
A highlight of the exhibit was a display of Postcards Magazine issues, a local family-owned publication founded in 2009 by Karen and Wes Altom. Their son, Marshall Altom, has since joined the business, and the publication continues to be a staple in the Huntsville community. Miller has made a lasting contribution to the magazine, with 12 of her photographs featured on its covers.
During her speech, Miller reflected on her time as a photographer, explaining how her photos often resemble paintings due to being printed on canvases. Though she once aspired to be a painter, she felt she could achieve the same artistic affect through other means, so she turned to photography as a way to express that vision.
She then shared some of the stories behind her most memorable works.
One such piece is her photograph of Kylemore Castle, located in the Connemara region of County Galway, Ireland. Originally built as an estate, the castle has served as a home for an order of nuns for the past 100 years.
Miller also recounted capturing an image of a rare lotus flower from West Lake in Hangzhou, China, noting how difficult it is to find such a bloom and explaining the specific conditions required for lotus flowers to thrive. To further immerse the audience in her experience, she even brought lotus seeds to show the attendees.
Olivia McCaughan, with Her Favorite Photo from the Exhibit
Another captivating story came from her Canadian polar bear photographs. Miller described a rare opportunity to step out of a vehicle and photograph the bears. While others in her group carried large firearms for protection, she remained focused on capturing the polar bears as they played with one another in the snow.
Other notable images in the exhibit included the northern lights over Ireland, a hawk from the Galápagos Islands, the Oldest Wrought Iron Bridge in Birr Castle, Ireland, and a close-up of the Texas State Capitol Dome.
LEAP Ambassador Michelle Moya with Her Favorite Photo from the Exhibit
Miller’s photography encourages viewers to pause and observe the world with intention. Her images, taken from years of travel and observation, reveal the quiet beauty found in distant landscapes and everyday scenes.
Nataly Elizondo with Her Favorite Photo from the Exhibit
Canvasing the World will remain on display at the Wynne Home Arts and Visitor Center through June, giving the community the opportunity to visit the exhibit if one did not have a chance to attend the opening.
LEAP Students with Photographer Michele Miller
Carbonero Rotisserie
Since 2009, Carbonero Rotisserie has introduced Huntsville diners to the tastes of Salvadoran and Latin American cooking. Situated on 11th Street, the restaurant draws not only local residents but also travelers passing through, offering a flavorful experience that highlights authentic dishes from across Latin America.
The menu at Carbonero’s is extensive, offering a variety of dishes that showcase the richness of Latin cuisine. Among the most popular items are pupusas, ropa vieja, and crema de camarón. With so many options available, it may be difficult to choose, but diners are unlikely to leave disappointed.
One standout option is Combo Plate #4, which includes one quarter of rotisserie chicken, a pupusa, and sweet plantains. A variety of pupusa fillings is available, allowing diners to choose what best suits their taste. Options include pork (traditional), chicken, shrimp, and vegetarian selections such as jalapeños, mushrooms, loroco, cheese, and beans.
Another noteworthy offering is the chaufa rice. This dish features a fusion of flavors with scrambled eggs, cilantro, green onions, and soy sauce. Guests can choose between chicken, vegetarian, or a combination of chicken, beef, and shrimp. The dish is served with a house salad, making it a well-balanced meal.
For seafood lovers, the Mariscada is a highlight. This rich seafood stew includes shrimp, mussels, clams, crab, and tilapia in a creamy broth infused with fresh herbs and spices. Its bold and satisfying flavors make it a favorite among returning customers.
Those seeking something familiar yet flavorful may gravitate toward the tacos al carbon. Offered with chicken, pork, beef, or shrimp, the tacos are served on corn tortillas and topped with sautéed onions, fresh avocado slices, and pico de gallo. Beans and rice accompany the dish, rounding out a satisfying and hearty meal.
Carbonero Rotisserie stands out in Huntsville for its commitment to authentic Salvadoran and Latin American cuisine. With a menu full of rich, flavorful dishes and a welcoming setting, it offers a memorable dining experience that keeps people coming back. Whether you are exploring Latin cuisine for the first time or looking for a familiar favorite, Carbonero’s is worth a visit.
3 Spoons Yogurt
Next door to Carbonero Rotisserie is 3 Spoons Yogurt, a frozen yogurt shop known for satisfying the sweet cravings of Huntsville residents. It is a popular stop for a dessert or snack, whether after dinner, lunch, or in the middle of the day.
With a wide variety of frozen yogurt flavors and toppings, there is something for everyone to enjoy.
Among the customer favorites are cake batter; cake batter mixed with New York cheesecake; and strawberry and banana…
Whether you are finishing a meal at Carbonero Rotisserie or simply looking for a refreshing treat, 3 Spoons Yogurt offers a satisfying way to enjoy what Huntsville has to offer. With its multitude of flavors and casual (colorful) setting, it is a sweet stop worth making in Huntsville.
The Wynne Home Arts & Visitor Center is one of our favorite places in town to visit, and it took little prompting for Chrissy Biello and I to assist at the opening reception for for Kahne Smith’s “Water Song” Exhibit. Featuring dozens of works, mostly pastels, the exhibit was probably my favorite since moving to Huntsville.
A Board Member of the International Association of Pastel Societies, Smith is both a studio and plein air artist. With a focus on landscapes, her work, especially her plein air, call to mind key aspects of the Impressionist Movement, with a style that is all her own.
The art works evoke a sense of the profound, and this sense is echoed by captions that include quotations from famous Western artists, writers, and poets, such as Norman McLean and Andrew Wyeth.
With a healthy audience on hand, the Wynne Home Program Coordinator, Angela Robinson, introduced the show…
…followed by Smith’s husband, George, introducing the artist…
…which was, in turn, followed by an eloquent and brief discussion by the arts.
The brief remarks offered a chance for more exploration of the artwork…
…discussions with Smith…
…mingling…
…and sampling of the food provided by Friends of the Wynne.
It was a special evening for us, so much so that we purchased Ms. Smith’s books so that we could return to her beautiful images.
We are beyond grateful to have experienced this beautiful collection at the Wynne Home Arts & Visitor Center and look forward to future exhibitions that continue to enrich our lives and our community.
Every three months, the Wynne Home Arts and Visitor Center opens a new exhibit, and last week’s opening of Molly Campbell’s “Phoenix Rising: A Retrospective” proved to be very impressive. It was also one of the best attended openings, with approximately 100 or more individuals on hand see Campbell’s art and hear from the artist.
Dr. Ralph and Linda Pease were there; as were Derrick Birdsall, Paul Olle, Betty Nelson, Susan Madely Stevenson, Kristie Stevens, Ann Staples, Jaspyr Sanford, Nancy Gaertner, and many of Ms. Campbell’s children and grandchildren.
Wynne Home staff members Angela Robinson and Peyton Conley coordinated the program, with Robinson doing the introduction.
Promising to speak for a shorter time than “my husband thinks I will,” Ms. Campbell provided an overview of her work, totaling more than 50 pieces.
Moreover, the work included ceramic sculptures, metal sculptures, oils, ink, and multi-media. It was not only a “retrospective,” but also comprehensive.
The title of the exhibit stems, in part, from the fact that Ms. Campbell’s home caught fire during COVID. Only three pieces were lost; all of her other pieces emerged intact and, from the looks of the pieces in the gallery, unharmed. With art also symbolizing a type of rebirth, the exhibit was well titled. Her works reflect her interests, which include her family, dance, and outdoor scenes.
The LEAP Ambassadors, as always, enjoyed seeing familiar and friendly faces, meeting new people, interacting with the Wynne Home staff, seeing Ms. Campbell’s beautiful art works, and meeting the artist!
In other words, it was a typical Wynne Home opening!
On November 4th, Yvette Mendoza and I explored the beautiful art exhibit at the Wynne Home Arts and Visitor Center. The trip began with a tour of a passage that led to the driveway holding some of Jose Moroles’s art sculptures!
The finely carved stones were placed at the entrance of the 19th century Wynne Home. Yvette pointed out the architectural structure of the house which consisted of gorgeous Greek Corinthian columns.
Upon entering the home, we were greeted by some of the attendees of the reception and the Cultural Service Manager, Sarah Faulkner! Taking a look into the Art Exhibit, which happened to be a first-time experience for me, I was in awe of the wonderful artwork on display.
Yvette and I went through the art pieces by gathering knowledge of the artists and the medium they used for the art piece. We learned about the different forms of art and conversed on the difference between oil and acrylic paint.
Throughout the exhibit, we saw the works of Scott McCarley which included a beautifully sculpted piece of wood and stone that, appropriately, was named “Wood and Stone”!
We also had the honor of meeting Betty Liles, the artist of one of Yvette’s favorite pieces, “Quiet Evening”. The painting contained cool tones of nature with swaying trees and a river. Mrs. Liles brought charismatic energy into our conversations and told us more about her paintings.
My favorite piece from the art exhibit was “Mountain Mist” by Al Hogue. To me, this piece represented the horses moving forward from the mountains they once grazed on. The intricate detailing in this piece was absolutely eye-catching and gave a sense of mystery.
Yvette and I also toured the home. Throughout the home, we were met with a variety of art pieces from renowned artists like Charles Pebworth…
…and local artists. We were able to take a deeper look into the historic legacy the home provides to Huntsville.
The Wynne family founded the house in the 1880s, since then the Wynne home has been a foundation of Huntsville. It was such an insightful tour and the art exhibit gave me a great perspective of Huntsville’s local art!
This past weekend was rather eventful for the LEAP Ambassadors, and on Saturday evening Jessica and I volunteered at the Wynne Home Arts & Visitor Center Harvest Festival. We arrived a few hours early before the event to assist with a fall festival at the beautiful historic home and art center. Inside the outdoor classroom, Cultural Services Manager Sarah Faulkner and Admin Assistant Caitlin King had begun to set up the food, which included a candy bar, pita chips with an assortment of hummus, and Frito Lay Scoops for chili from McAlister’s. After we were satisfied with the display of the food, we began setting up the drinks table, craft tables and all other decorations that needed to be placed on the yard.
Needless to say that The Wynne Home’s beautiful backyard was fully utilized during the Harvest Festival, with the two craft tables set up in the yard and dispersed lawn chairs for the crowd that came to listen to musician Scott Morrison.
He presented a variety of songs by different musicians such as Frank Sinatra, Johnny Cash, and more for the crowd to choose from. The crowd loved him and were appreciative of Scott for allowing them to choose what song he should play next.
The first craft table included mini-foam pumpkins where guests, mainly the children, could express their artistic abilities by painting and adding stickers to them.
The other craft required a little bit more attention to detail and more fine motor skills since they had to trace a leaf pattern onto festive paper, cut it out and then decorate it with glitter and stickers using mod-podge. Then if desired, the leaves could be hole-punched and strung on a twine string to be displayed as a garland decoration, or an ornament.
All of the LEAP Ambassadors as well as SHSU student Erin Juarez, made their own leaves and connected them on a string. The Wynne Home kept our leaves and said that they would hang them up inside the home! I can imagine Ms. Stephanie or Professor Yawn having a laugh while trying to identify which leaf belonged to whom if they were to see them hung up.
Before the event wrapped up, Ms. Faulkner and Caitlin drew out a name from the raffle bowl to see who would be walking away with a fall-themed coffee basket. To add to the suspense, they had Scott announce the winner, but he did not announce it right away. Instead he told the crowd that in his hand he was holding the name of the winner but would not announce it until after he played another song. At the end of the song, he announced that the lucky winner was SHSU Geology Professor David Moss. Afterwards, he continued to play more songs and closed with one of his favorite songs, during which the children of professor Moss came up and donated money in his guitar case.
It was a fun way to spend our Saturday evening, and we are glad we were able to help the community and Ms. Faulkner.
On Saturday, June 27, the LEAP Ambassadors drove in from most parts of Texas to help out our adopted community of Huntsville. One of us drove from San Antonio, one drove from Tyler, one drove from Houston. Our destination was the Wynne Home, for an afternoon of painting and cleaning.
To build some energy, we stopped by the friendly and local confines of Mr. Hamburger, where some of had our first taste of this local favorite. We enjoyed the burgers and shakes!
Apart from exploring local culinary options, our mission today was to help out at the Wynne Home. The Wynne Home has a staff of 2.5 employees, and is, therefore, heavily reliant on volunteers. And in this regard, the Wynne Home is a hub of sorts in the community. The Texas Thyme Unit of the Herb Society of America assists the Wynne Home with its Ella Ruth Herb and Children’s Sensory gardens, the Friends of the Wynne support the arts at the Wynne Home (and in the community), and numerous citizens volunteer their time to serve on the Wynne Homes committees. So, it was an honor to help out by doing some touch-up painting in the children’s garden and some basic cleaning.
The Children’s Sensory Garden has a number of plants, and students are invited to touch, smell, taste, and even hear the plants and each of those sensory sections.
Among those plants are stones for hopscotch, and these were a little worse for the wear.
Concrete mushrooms also grow throughout the garden, and these, too, had seen better days.
With improvement in mind, we tackled the easy ones first: the stones.
The colors chosen by the Wynne Home staff were vivid, and even with just the first coat of paint, the colors were popping.
Although the temperature was only 93, it seemed much warmer. We estimated the humidity to be approximately 4,000,000, and so an unexpected challenge was having our sweat drip into the paint and dilute the colors. Fortunately, the Ms. Sarah Faulkner kept us hydrated, and we continued to plug away.
We quickly learned who was in the best shape, and to protect reputations, we will not discuss this matter further. Although we would note that we had to help Professor Yawn up the Wynne Home stairs after about an hour…
One of the nice things about painting is that it provide some immediate gratification, as you see the designs take shape and the colors become more vivid.
Following the painting, we turned our attention to the Wynne Home sign up front, which had weathered snow, ice, heat, humidity, and high winds, just in the last six months!
After much scrubbing, we were happy with the new-ish look, and we at times felt we were in the clouds!
It was a wonderful day. The Wynne Home was beautiful prior to the touchups, and we felt we had a little role in beautifying it further!
Center for Law, Engagement, and Politics 