The leader in off-campus partnerships at BYU, the Laycock Center for Creative Collaboration has recently united with the Utah Highway Safety (UHS) office and Megaplex Theatres to inform the public of the dangers of drunk driving.

Taking the world by storm, the Ballroom Dance Company, Young Ambassadors and BYU Singers kicked off their respective tours this week. Read on for updates on their progress:

The Department of Dance lost a beloved member of their faculty on Monday, April 28, 2014.

Being one of the largest colleges on campus, the College of Fine Arts and Communications hosted three separate convocation exercises on Friday, April 25, 2014.

Enthusiastic patron response cited by BYU Museum of Art staff as main motivator In the wake of overwhelming patron response to Sacred Gifts: The Religious Art of Carl Bloch, Heinrich Hofmann, and Frans Schwartz, Brigham Young University Museum of Art officials and art lenders from Europe and New York negotiated an exhibition extension through May 26, two weeks later than the original May 10 closing. Along with the extension, the Museum announced an expansion of operating hours (10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday starting May 1) to accommodate more attendees during the exhibition’s busiest times. After Sacred Gifts closes, the visitation times will return to normal Museum hours. “We tend to see a significant attendance increase in the evenings and during the final weeks of an exhibition,” said Hilarie Ashton, Marketing & Public Relations Director at the Museum. “By flexing with this trend, we hope to accommodate the many patrons still wishing to see Sacred Gifts.” Free tickets for the first week of the extension (May 12-17) will become available May 4, and tickets for the second week of the extension (May 19-24, 26) will become available May 11. Tickets are required for admittance to Sacred Gifts, and can be reserved in advance online at sacredgifts.byu.edu/. Standby tickets are also available as supply and space permit and are distributed to patrons on-site for same-day redemption at designated times. More than 190,000 individuals have visited the exhibition as of mid-April, and tens of thousands of additional tickets have already been distributed to patrons who plan to attend. Ashton and other Museum staff feel that even more compelling than the high ticket counts is the enthusiasm with which patrons have responded to the Sacred Giftsinvitation to share the exhibition and their own gifts with others. Thousands of Museum visitors have already participated in a crowd-funding campaign for the conservation of the paintings as a gift to the exhibition’s nine art lending institutions. Nearly $60,000 has been raised for the effort to-date. The lenders have also graciously been inundated with more than 11,000 heartfelt, digital and physical thank you messages from patrons. Notes continue to roll in each day. “I don't have words to describe my gratitude. All superlatives fall short,” wrote visiting patron Val Nielsen. “I know this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me and was well worth the 800 miles traveled to get myself here to see it.” Heather Hyte of New York called the exhibition “absolutely breathtaking” and fellow Museum visitor Allen Ostergar of California dubbed the artwork “the most moving paintings of the Savior that ever seen.” With more than 1,500 shares and tweets featuring Sacred Gifts images directly from the museum’s Facebook page, enthusiastic patrons have also encouraged the online community to both virtually and physically attend the exhibition. Returning patron Rod Olsen (@bhrod) tweeted, “Breathtaking, still. If you haven’t made a trip to this show, DO IT NOW! My 2nd time!!” Tweeted fellow patron Emmeline Watts (@sweetmline), “Amazing Art by 3 amazing artists at the #BYU museum of art. It’s a must see!” Facebook posts by Richard Young, Charlene Mackay Crozier and Kim Riding Maxwell are more examples of many online patrons lauding the exhibition as “once-in-a-lifetime,” and “must-see.” Much of this sharing was made available via the Sacred Gifts iPad app, an educational, interactive resource developed specifically for the exhibition. About 50,000 individuals have already experienced the app either in the Museum or off-site. In December, the app was made available as a free download in the iTunes store and has since been downloaded in more than 24 different countries. Daily sales in the Museum’s gift shop during Sacred Gifts have been up 500% on average, record highs for the organization. The nearly 15,000 prints, calendars and other items related to the exhibition that have sold since the November 2013 opening are leaving a lasting impression in the homes and lives of patrons long after their visit. ABOUT THE MUSEUM One of the largest and best-attended art Museums in the Mountain West, the BYU Museum of Art offers a dynamic exhibition schedule that includes displays of its permanent collection, world-class traveling shows and thought-provoking exhibitions organized by Museum curators. One of the Museum’s most important roles is its contribution to the academic mission of Brigham Young University. From the research and study of the artworks in the permanent collection, to the teaching and learning that occurs in classrooms and galleries, the Museum plays an important role in the academic pursuits of many students at BYU. Concurrently, the Museum seeks to connect to broad community audiences through its exhibitions and educational programming. Source: BYU News

For more than a decade now, you could say that the BYU Center for Animation has “owned” the animation category at the College Television Awards, commonly called the “student Emmys.”

padding: 0.8em 2.3em;

Jerry L. Jaccard, associate professor of Music Education in the BYU School of Music, is determined to tell the story of one of music education’s most influential women.

A YouTube series created by a BYU Theatre and Media Arts professor and alumnus is receiving recognition in festivals in Utah and throughout the country. “Pretty Darn Funny,” created by Jeff Parkin and Jared Cardon, is a web series sponsored by Deseret Book. The comedy has led the charge as the first Church-sponsored entry into scripted entertainment that has since yielded shows like “Studio C” and “Granite Flats.” It recently was nominated for 10 awards at the 3rd Annual Filmed in Utah Awards, where it won three: Best YouTube Channel, Best Ensemble Cast and Best Director. Parkin, the series’ director, said that he and many other colleagues wanted to create a show that anyone could watch and enjoy. “We hear from a lot of people that they watch it as a family, which is something that makes us really happy–families watching entertainment together,” Parkin said. The show recently finished its second season. The first season centers on Gracie Moore, played by Lisa Clark, a mother who forms a comedy troupe with local women to provide a clean venue for families to be entertained. The second season focuses more on Moore’s relationship with her family–ups and downs, and typical confrontations as well as successes. “I think we and Deseret Book are interested in telling stories about normal people and the fact that we makes mistakes–that it’s normal and it can be funny–instead of getting caught up in perfectionism,” Cardon said. “Laughing at your mistakes is good, and it’s healthy,” Parkin added. For the first season, BYU offered students an opportunity to work the series in exchange for university credit, and around 75 TMA students participated. For season two, about 95 percent of the current cast and crew are either BYU alumni or BYU students. The series has also produced three parody music videos. “Downton Abbey Rap,” “The Hunger Games: Moms vs. Kids!” and “Mom Footloose” have over 341,000 YouTube views combined. Though the series is targeted at an audience of LDS moms, the series gets exceptional engagement with nearly 700,000 views on its channel. Parkin and Cardon both agree that comedy can be family friendly and still be hilarious. “Even though the show is made in Utah and is sponsored by an LDS company, we continue to get lots of positive feedback from fans of divers backgrounds and faiths,” Cardon said. “It’s a great representation of who we are at BYU and as members of the Church.” Watch Pretty Darn Funny for free at www.youtube.com/user/prettydrnfunny Awards & Nominations (Wins are in Bold) Filmed in Utah Awards: 10 Nominations, 3 Wins

After a successful show and master class fall 2013, Frank Wildhorn has chosen BYU to be the venue for the upcoming 'Count of Monte Cristo' musical, for the first time on American soil. The show will be performed by BYU students in January 2015. Read complete article in the Deseret News.

Two School of Music faculty members and one graduate recently had articles published in the March edition of Music Educators Journal (MEJ), a national publication by the National Association for Music Education.

Dr. Dan leads students to transform, inspire and create new artistic connections By Sarah Ostler Hill Printmaking, beads, sewing, film, book binding, painting, photography, bread – Dr. Daniel Barney doesn’t let his medium define him as an artist. He is an art omnivore, immersing himself in various media, processes and their cultural contexts as a way to discover how and what people learn through artmaking. Today, as a professor in BYU’s Department of Visual Arts, he serves as educator, researcher and artist. Barney has always been interested in finding answers, and perhaps that was one reason he was initially drawn to the sciences. He had taken some art classes, but it was only the encouragement from his future wife, Cassandra Christensen, that led him to apply for a scholarship in the arts. He was pleasantly surprised when he won that scholarship. The arts encouraged and expanded that initial interest in finding answers. At first, Barney didn’t considering pursuing a career as an educator, even though Christensen was working on her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting with licensure in K-12 Art Education. “Teachers don’t always get the respect they deserve,” he laughs. “Cassandra was working on her teacher certification, so I began to substitute teach for her. That’s when I began to rethink my reticence towards teaching.” Art as a Process Once Barney graduated, he didn’t have access to the printmaking equipment found at BYU, so he moved into more traditional materials like painting and drawing. Barney began teaching at Timpview High School in Provo and was asked to teach a crafts class. He laughs as he says “crafts” with a tone that implies he wasn’t about to teach kids how to make friendship bracelets or paper mache. It was his class to teach, so he began to explore beyond technique to the philosophies that deal with a process and then materiality. “I’m not intensely interested in making, but what can be learned through the making,” he explains. Barney says his students were attracted to making beads, so he took it a step farther to learn the art from a historical and cultural perspective. He talks about wood, bone and shell beads, Egyptian faience beads, and 2700-year-old Zhou Dynasty and Warring States period beads, and what they mean to different cultures and times. Barney’s extensive research on technique led to some extraordinary lampwork beadmaking. His work has been exhibited and sold throughout North America. “I did glasswork and jewelry making for 10 years just because I was teaching and interacting with high school students,” he says, as if anyone could gain national recognition after being asked to teach a beginning art class. When students expressed an interest in clothing, Barney threw himself into analyzing dress as an artistic process. Clothing intrigues him, he says, particularly how it relates to politics and ethics, such as power, modesty and oppression. Much of his early scholarly writing is focused on dress as an artistic, albeit problematic, concept. Barney’s most recent self-proclaimed obsession has been making bread. He says he makes four loaves a day using only wild yeast, flour, water and salt. Most people would say they bake bread, but Barney examines the entire process. “I have no idea how it will relate to my artistic practice just yet,” he muses. “But I’m seeing what happens when the conditions are set for great things to happen, but don’t force it. Most of the time, the resting is doing the work.” Barney’s many successes perhaps emerge from his drive to learn new things. After teaching high school for about nine years, Barney decided to get his master’s degree in art education at BYU. He continued to work at Timpview High School until he went to the University of British Columbia to get his doctorate in curriculum studies. As he was finishing his coursework, he saw a position at a highly selective New York art school was coming open. While he considered this the perfect fit for what he had been studying, he hadn’t yet finished his research so he knew it was a long shot. He was shocked when he was shortlisted. He was further stunned when he was shortlisted by another prestigious art school. Then, both schools made him offers. “That’s when I thought maybe I’d have a chance at BYU,” Barney says. He contacted BYU faculty members, a call for applications was opened, and BYU offered him a position as well. He had three very attractive offers, all when he was still just a PhD candidate, meaning his dissertation research was only in the initial phases. He had to write his dissertation while he was a full-time instructor at BYU. “Ultimately, BYU was the right fit for my family,” Barney says. “Everyone has been really supportive and thinks outside what I thought was BYU’s box. As a student, I had a different idea of what the faculty was thinking.” From Beadmaking to BYU As a professor at BYU, Barney has had some unique experiences in teaching and learning from students. Sometimes he presents project ideas, but then lets students apply their own voice. He doesn’t believe that learning is always best when everyone follows the same assignment. Teaching students to create their own assignments is a foundational art skill for which Barney strongly advocates. Barney recently instructed students they would be doing a project in canning. Conventional canning involves preserving things that are physically sustaining. This project would involve putting something spiritually or emotionally sustaining into a mason jar. Barney was moved by the work his students came back with. Some were incredibly personal, he says, relating to their own life experience or culture. “I cry all the time in my classes,” Barney admits, almost resignedly. “I get overwhelmed to be here and to have these conversations with the students.” While most of his students are LDS, they bring different life experiences from across the world. Their common faith lends to some redundancies not necessarily visible at other institutions. Barney highlights this because he believes his LDS perspective helps him make connections as an artist he wouldn’t otherwise make. “The concept that we need to be taught by the Spirit doesn’t really exist outside Mormonism,” he says, and then elaborates by talking about how humility plays a large role in learning more. “Before you can learn more, and become an expert, you have to humble yourself. It has helped me transform my practice from one who knows to one who knows provisionally, tentative to the contextual insights of the Spirit.” Absorbing and Sharing Influences One of the greatest influences on Barney’s artistic life has been his father-in-law, an artist in his own right. Though their approaches to art differ, he saw early on that being an artist is acceptable and legitimate. “He has shown me I can be a positive force for our community and abroad,” Barney says. “Knowing there’s a person in my life who is successful in his career, family and community has made a huge impact in my life.” On a grander scale, Barney is inspired by artists such as Alfredo Jaar, Eduardo Kac, Vic Muniz and Tom Friedman. He is intrigued by Andrea Zittel’s motto “liberation through limitation” and how this might play out in art educational settings. From these artists, and his research, Barney has developed his own motto: Curriculum is an improvisation within a scene of constraint. He points out the constraints that surround us on a daily basis: classrooms, institutions, workplaces and political entities. But with these limitations come a lot of agency and the ability to make choices. “What can we do within these boundaries, and when do we need to trespass those boundaries?” he asks. “We engage in the world artistically and wonder what we can learn from such engagement. Through our collective inquiry, we can be transformed and learn more than we would have independently.” Barney’s teaching style seems more collaborative than usually found in a classroom. Long ago he dismissed the notion that students passively learn from teachers. He views his role as both teacher and learner and believes students should come to class with the same mentality. “It’s not that one person is smarter and one is lacking,” he explains. “We just have a different set of experiences and together we’ll learn and teach. I want to be surprised. I want to learn when I teach. I want students to come in thinking it is as much their responsibility as mine to teach.” In 2012, Barney collaborated with a former high school student who was working on her master’s of fine arts degree in creative writing. Ashley Mae Hoiland was frustrated by the amount of negativity she saw on billboards during her commute. With Barney, they initiated the Billboard Poetry Project, funded by the Laycock Center for Creative Collaboration in the Arts. They presented poetic messages on several billboards, along with other artistic and pedagogical interventions, within the Wasatch Front to inspire community members to think and act differently. Barney doesn’t let his medium define him as an artist. His constant curiosity and desire to know more drive him in his discovery for why and how people create and what such creation incites. He looks forward to teaching and learning from students in the upcoming school year.