Seven Faculty and Staff Members from the College of Fine Arts and Communications Have Retired This Past Year
Faculty and staff add incredible value to students’ education in the College of Fine Arts and Communications. We want to thank this year’s retirees for their contributions to BYU throughout their time here.
“I am grateful for our college’s retiring faculty and staff,” said Dean Ed Adams. “These individuals have demonstrated remarkable dedication and hard work throughout their time at BYU. They will leave a lasting legacy and remain an inspiration in the College of Fine Arts and Communications.”
Learn more about the retirees below.
Joe Ostraff | Department of Art
Joe Ostraff joined as full-time faculty of the Department of Art in 1993. As department chair, Ostraff focused on collaboration both in his own practice and in teaching. He created experiential learning opportunities with his students and colleagues to learn from people all over the world. He directed/co-directed multiple collaborative projects between BYU and programs in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Ireland resulting in over 30 exhibitions.
At BYU, Ostraff learned quickly that a department must act as a team and that each member brings something important. “Nobody is the full package,” he said. “And when you finally figure out that it’s everyone as a team that makes that full package, you can say to yourself, ‘Well what am I? What can I be, what are my strengths?’”
Throughout his career at BYU, Ostraff continued to make art and gained national and international recognition. He plans to continue creating art in retirement and collaborating with his wife, Melinda. Together they investigate plants and their effect on humans. Ostraff said he has learned that humility and self reflection is how real growth comes about. “Being at BYU, teaching and being with students has accelerated my growth more than I could have expected,” he said.
Bryon Draper | Department of Art
Bryon Draper has retired after working as a full-time faculty member of the Department of Art since 1999. Reflecting on his time at BYU, Draper appreciates the relationships he has built with his students. “I’m sure that I have been impacted in ways that I haven’t even realized from students. You learn something from everybody if you’re around them long enough. There’s a lot of love and respect for the students here,” Draper said. “I think I’m going to miss being with the students the most; getting to know them, joking around, that kind of thing. I like to talk to them, know what they’re about, what’s going on in their life. That helps a lot, too, when they come to me asking for help with their artwork. I can give better advice when I know what’s happening. That’s part of the reason I do it, but I also just love these people.”
Draper looks forward to some well-earned leisure time to spend in the outdoors with his wife, as well as continuing to make art. “I’ve thought about setting up a small foundry and keep sculpting. I probably won’t produce as much as I do here, but it would be good to have it so I can work during winter, and then play during spring, summer and fall.”
Paul Skaggs | Department of Design
Paul Skaggs worked for 22 years in the product design and development industry before teaching at BYU in both the College of Engineering and Department of Design. He spent 14 years operating his own full-service product development consulting firm with clients such as Kodak, Fisher-Price, Federal Express, Motorola, AT&T, Xerox and Hewlett-Packard. Skaggs' research in the area of Design Thinking includes creative, visual and adaptive thinking. He was one of the heads of the Innovation Boot Camp in the College of Engineering (formerly the School of Technology). Skaggs will be retiring at the end of August.
Russell Richins | School of Music
Russell Richins helmed the professional-caliber Arts Production department within the College of Fine Arts and Communications that helped make high quality performance events a reality. His primary responsibility was overseeing the different production managers for Dance, Theatre and Music, as well as the operational heads that run hair and makeup, lighting, audio, costumes and everything in between.
Richins worked at BYU for 23 years, two of which were within the School of Music. “Although I have received some awards over the years, what I will treasure most, for years and years to come, are the personal notes written to me by student employees and others expressing kindness and gratitude,” Richins said. “I am a big believer in the power of these two traits and though I have a long way to go myself, this will be the award I most appreciate.”
Richins has also been involved in leading multiple professional film projects, bringing along students, alumni and faculty to participate in those experiences.
When asked about his favorite part of working at BYU, he said, “working with trustworthy colleagues, but most especially, all of the student employees. So many of them were very grateful for their working experience with us, putting into working practice the various concepts and skills they were developing in their disciplines.”
Marilyn Parks | School of Music
Marilyn Parks began her administrative career at BYU in 1979, becoming the academic administrative assistant in the School of Music in 2005. She has made important changes to processes such as distributing experiential learning funds which has benefited both faculty and students.
“My own testimony has increased as I have seen how God watches over the School of Music, sending us students who need to be here and faculty who are meant to be here,” Parks said.
Tim Threlfall | Department of Theatre and Media Arts
Tim Threlfall has retired after working for BYU for 28 years in the Department of Theatre and Media Arts. In 2002, he began the annual New York Showcase, a program that takes graduating seniors in the Music Dance Theatre (MDT) and Acting BFA programs to New York each year to present a showcase of their talent for industry professionals. The goal of the program is to help students who are moving to NYC after graduation secure an agent.
As the former head of the MDT program, Threlfall taught numerous BYU students who have since made a name for themselves on Broadway or otherwise. “My final report as head of MDT included 23 MDT/BFA Acting alumni in the cast of ‘current’ (as of March 2023) Broadway and Broadway National/International touring companies,” said Threlfall.
At the beginning of July, Threlfall had finished filming a Christmas movie where he starred alongside MDT alum Kersee Whitney (’24) and acting alum Gabe Spencer (’17) who played his daughter and nephew in the film. “It was great to work professionally with my former students,” said Threlfall. “For me, working professionally with former students is the greatest compliment or reward an educator can receive.”
Before his retirement, Threlfall hosted a recital for students, faculty, friends and family to enjoy in honor of his time here at BYU. In retirement, Threlfall will be finishing a book with a working title “Don’t Let Your Face Do Your Gut’s Work: And Other Pithy Sayings from a Life in Actor Training.” The book will feature brief sayings and slogans that Threlfall used in class for years to help students make quick and simple adjustments to enhance their performance.
Mark Magleby | BYU Museum of Art
Mark Magleby, emeritus director of the BYU Museum of Art (MOA), is retiring after 26 years of service with BYU. He directed the museum from 2012 to 2021. Magleby studied as an undergraduate at BYU and then received an MA an PhD from Ohio State University. He returned as a professor of art history in 1997 and was then named the third MOA director.
Looking back over his career as director, Magley said, "It has been really exciting to see exhibitions with greater representation of people of color and of women artists. That's something I tried to prioritize, and I think that those exhibitions have been very popular."
He remarked that the comradery he has felt at BYU and in the MOA will be what he misses the most.