The BYU Arts Creative team has done it again! Last summer, they won several awards from the 45th Annual Design Competition of the UCDA. On February 26, 2016 they were awarded a Grand Gold Award and a Bronze Award of Excellence from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District VII. BYU Arts Creative received the Grand Gold Award in Design and Photography for the Contemporary Dance Theatre Poster created by Nick Mendoza and student designer, Sam Reed. Reed is a senior in the BFA Graphic Design program and had the opportunity to oversee the project from start to finish. “It was great to collaborate with the dance department, Nathan Balser, and photographer, Christopher Peddecord. They are great clients to work with,” Reed said. The Grand Gold Award is only presented to exemplary Awards of Excellence submissions where the gold awards from each category are judged a second time. Mendoza and Reed received one of only six Grand Gold Awards given. “We are grateful to win and be recognized with other prestigious universities such as Berkeley and USC. Sam and I have a great working relationship that has produced some great designs over the years,” Mendoza said. “I have been able to see him grow as a designer and I’m excited for his future.” The team also won a Bronze Award of Excellence in poster design for the Jazz Showcase Poster, designed by a recent graduate, Nicolina Brown. Out of more than 500 entries this year, only 195 gold, silver and bronze winners were selected. BYU Arts Creative consists of a team of students that supports all of BYU Arts productions by preparing the marketing materials, including graphics, posters and programs. Nick Mendoza, creative services manager for BYU Arts, oversees the students and regularly submits their work for awards. Several works from BYU were chosen in various categories. See a complete list of the Awards of Excellence here. http://www.casevii.org/Documents/Districts/DistrictVII/DVII_Awards_Excellence_2016.pdf

In a span of just a few months, three films from the Media Arts department have found success on a national stage including a big win at the South By Southwest Film Festival.

My job at BYU is... Administrative Assistant in the Theatre and Media Arts Department and Advisor to Divine Comedy. I work to help the TMA administration run smoothly to serve both faculty and students. Several evenings each week, I work with Divine Comedy, a student-run sketch comedy group, as they prepare sketches for their shows. When I have 30 minutes of free time, you can find me... talking to one of my sons or grandchildren, reading, or playing Words with Friends. The best-kept BYU secret is... Divine Comedy. They really are a fun, hard-working, extremely bright and talented group! My favorite part of my job is... the view of Y Mountain from my office window and the choral groups I can hear practice in the Madsen Recital Hall every day. My go-to comfort foods are... herbal tea and sugarless gum. I’ve hiked Y Mountain... maybe three times. My favorite Cougar athletes are... the Haddock twins, Lacy and Lyndie, who were in my ward and are on the BYU Women’s Volleyball team. I’m currently reading... The Boys in the Boat, The Book of Mormon and the Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book. I am in a 12-step program for compulsive eaters. I am constantly reading this book because I am a big proponent of the 12 steps, or the 12 steps of remedial repentance, as I often refer to them. I think the stories there are nothing short of miraculous, and I see changed lives every day because of the steps. Even the LDS Church has adopted these steps in their recovery programs, and I work them every day in my own life. On Saturday mornings you’ll find me... walking with my dad at the University Mall. My most cherished memory at BYU was when... I sang the BYU Fight Song with a children’s choir at Homecoming when I was about 8 years old in the Brigham Young Academy Building. My go-to BYU Creamery ice cream flavor (if I still ate ice cream) is... Roasted Almond Fudge. (I’ve been off sugar for six months! Yay!) My favorite spot on campus is... the trail above the Botany Pond. A close second is my father’s old office in the Clyde Building (he was a professor of mechanical engineering for 40 years!). And I love the openness of the BF Larsen gallery in the Harris Fine Arts Center. I’m most looking forward to... traveling someday and going on a mission! See Elizabeth at Cougar Queries.

There was one important characteristic Director Julia Ashworth was looking for in the student actor playing the lead role in BYU Arts' newest production, The Taste of Sunrise. He needed to be deaf. This month at BYU, the Department of Theatre and Media Arts is putting on a bilingual contemporary drama — opening on March 10 for a 13-show run in the Harris Fine Arts Center's Margetts Theatre — where every line spoken will also be signed. Every character has a shadow signer: an actor who moves and acts with him or her on stage and signs all the lines in American Sign Language. The lead role of Tuc — a man struggling to navigate the path of loss, love and language in his silent world — is played by Ben Featherstone. Feathersone is deaf, but wears a cochlear implant so that he can read lips and hear vibrations. Two other cast members are also hard of hearing: David Hampton (who plays Dr. Grindly Mann and other characters) and Jason Keeler (who plays Roscoe). Many of the cast members are fluent in ASL or have taken ASL classes at BYU. Set against the backdrop of the Roaring Twenties in Illinois, this award-winning drama explores the cultural complexities of deafness with great humor and compassion. Ashworth hopes this significant story will provide equal access to hearing, deaf and hard of hearing audiences in the community. 'I feel privileged to bring together deaf, hard of hearing and hearing actors to find the best way to tell this significant story,' said Ashworth. 'Producing The Taste of Sunriseaddresses issues of equality that are important to me as a theatre artist.' Acting is a new experience for Featherstone. He took on this role to prove to himself that being deaf isn't a limitation. He hopes that when the audience sees him on stage they will feel empowered as well. 'It doesn’t matter if you’re deaf, or if you’re hearing,' said Featherstone. 'What matters is that you are important in God’s eyes. There is no difference, we’re all equal. That’s the message I would share with the world.' The Taste of Sunrise is the second play in Suzan Zeder’s critically acclaimed Ware Trilogy, which will be presented throughout the year in its entirety in partnership with Utah Valley University. Tickets are $8-14, with discounts available for alumni, students, employees, senior citizens and groups. Tickets can be purchased in person at the BYU Ticket Office in the Harris Fine Arts Center or Marriott Center, by phone at 801-422-2981 or online at byuarts.com. PHOTO: The Taste of Sunrise: Katie Hyatt, Emma Flynn; Jake Earnest, Jonas Tucker; Katie Jarvis, Nell Hicks; Ben Featherstone, Tuc; Brittni Henretty, Dr. Alexis Graham; Abbie Craig, Maizie. Photography by Mark A. Philbrick/BYU Photo. Copyright BYU Photo 2016. All Rights Reserved. Performance Dates: March 10—12, 16—19 and 22—25 Times: 7:30 p.m., with a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday March 19 and 26 Location: Margetts Theatre, Harris Fine Arts Center, BYU Price: $8-14 (discounts for senior citizens, BYU students, groups and alumni) Tickets: Available in person at the BYU Ticket Office in the Harris Fine Arts Center or Marriott Center, by phone at 801-422-2981 or online at byuarts.com

Brigham Young University’s School of Music will present “Jazz for Kids II,” with the Jazz Legacy Dixieland Band as part of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Family Concert Series on Saturday, Mar. 5, at 11 a.m. in the de Jong Concert Hall of the Harris Fine Arts Center. Admission is free, thanks to a generous donation from the Sorenson Legacy Foundation, but all attendees age two years and older need a ticket. Children of all ages are admitted to this performance (including babes in arms). Tickets can be reserved at familyconcerts.byu.edu. Directed by Steve Call, the BYU Jazz Legacy Dixieland Band will play the music of New Orleans, a city where elements of spiritual songs, blues, ragtime and military bands merged to give birth to Jazz, America’s unique and contribution to the world of music. The audience will learn about and hear the music of Buddy Bolden, Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver and Louis Armstrong, who were the first great jazz musicians. The Beverley Taylor Sorenson Family Concert Series was created to introduce the joy of music to children and youth. All family members are encouraged to attend regardless of age.

The stars of BYU’s production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast maintained their luster during the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) hosted in Hawaii bringing home multiple awards.“We really, really showed well,” said George Nelson, director of the tale as old as time.

When a small group of artists assembled themselves in Taos, N.M., in the early 1900s, they had a few goals. Beyond just capturing stunning Southwest landscapes and imagery, they wanted the world to see it – getting their works traveling was an M.O.

The lens of a camera does an incredible job of capturing the most nuanced detail within the scope of its frame. However, even the most sophisticated lens has limitations when compared to the human eye. BYU Professor Paul Adams found the same is true when taking on a seemingly straight forward photography assignment: there is often more than what you had expected to see through the lens. - See more at: http://news.byu.edu/news/capturing-coronation-photography-professors-unexpected-trip-tonga

Study abroad programs aren't hard to come by at BYU, but some are found in the least likely places. Last summer, seven students from the College of Fine Arts and Communications studied in one of the most unusual places on earth: the Dharamshala province in northern India. India’s Dharamshala province is home to thousands of Tibetan refugees. Many Tibetans cross the Himalayas each year to escape mounting persecution by the Chinese government in their homeland of Tibet. The most famous refugee in Dharamshala is the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader for Tibetans around the world. While in Dharamshala, the students were invited to discuss art, religion and theology with Tibetan monks within the Dalai Llama temple at the Institute of Buddhist Dialects. By Carrie Duford: Continue reading at https://news.byu.edu/news/learning-dalai-lama-temple-byu-study-abroad

The BYU School of Music presents the Philharmonic Orchestra in concert in the de Jong Concert Hall of the Harris Fine Arts Center on Friday, Feb. 12, at 7:30 p.m. The performance will include “Songs of a Wayfarer” by Gustav Mahler, with baritone soloist, Darrell Babidge, and Symphony no. 4 'Romantic' by Anton Bruckner. Comprising 95 of the university’s finest musicians, the Philharmonic Orchestra performs regularly on campus and collaborates with BYU’s choral, opera and ballet programs. The Philharmonic is conducted by Kory Katseanes. Its repertoire focuses on the Romantic period but also includes 20th and 21st century music. This performance will be streamed live from the BYU School of Music’s website at liveconcerts.byu.edu. Performance Date: Friday, February 12 Time: 7:30 p.m. Location: de Jong Concert Hall, Harris Fine Arts Center, BYU Price: $10 (discounts for senior citizens, BYU students, groups and alumni) Tickets: Available in person at the BYU Ticket Office in the Harris Fine Arts Center or Marriott Center, by phone at 801-422-2981 or online at byuarts.com

Study abroad programs aren't hard to come by at BYU, but some are found in the least likely places.

The lens of a camera does an incredible job of capturing the most nuanced detail within the scope of its frame. However, even the most sophisticated lens has limitations when compared to the human eye. BYU Professor Paul Adams found the same is true when taking on a seemingly straight forward photography assignment: there is often more than what you had expected to see through the lens.