Month: October 2002

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Uncategorized

Building a bridge

While contemplating the formation of a new educational center that would foster spiritual well being, cultural understanding and religious teaching, Heena Reiter was reminded, she says, of a song by the 17th century teacher Reb Nachman of Bratslov. "All the world is a narrow bridge," goes the rough translation, "the most important thing is not to be afraid." With that inspiration was born Gesher, a self-described resource for the Jewish and wider community of Charlottesville. In Hebrew, "gesher" means bridge.

Now entering its third year, Gesher is home not only to Jewish meditation classes and daylong retreats aimed at spiritual renewal, it also hosts a monthly interfaith pray-for-peace gathering the first Thursday evening of every month at its University Circle digs. Deliberative and thoughtful, Reiter, who is a music teacher, former psychiatric nurse, Jewish lay leader, onetime Buddhist and mother of three, embodies the heart of Gesher. This semester, Gesher’s faculty numbers seven.

From Reb Nachman’s sage insight, Reiter says, she has learned that "although a bridge can mean connecting one’s life to one’s spirit or community or to people of different faiths, ‘bridge’ has a more fundamental meaning: Life is precarious and the most important thing is not to be afraid and to trust." Reiter calls trust-building a continuous process of "being awake to the present moment" and the divine within it.

Reiter’s holistic outlook spurred her participation beginning in 1999 in a "Compassionate Listening" program in Israel. Aimed at giving full attention to the experiences and feelings of both Jewish-Israelis and Palestinians as they live with unimaginable conflict, the listening tour had a huge impact on Reiter. "I saw with my own eyes and heard with my own ears the tremendous suffering people are feeling," she says. "It’s a human problem as well as a political problem."

After her experiences in Israel, Reiter realized that even in the United States, "we can help people in the Middle East even if we can’t affect politics." She recommends learning about peace-building organizations; becoming informed about the conflict from diverse and multiple sources; for Jews, learning about and healing what has been a historically distressed Jewish spirit; and learning about one’s own biases.

This last bit is the toughest, Reiter says. "Looking seriously at what we carry around is not for the faint of heart," she says.

Reiter knows this firsthand. Listening to Palestinians and Israelis, some of whom she found to be "frightening" in their views, was hard. "It really hurt to open my mind," she recalls.

Reiter is optimistic, however, about the positive results that can come from such arduous self-reflection. "The advantage is once you suffer through it, " she says, "there is an incredible compassion that flows through your self for others."

If all this emphasis on mindfulness and moment-to-moment honesty sounds New Age, it is. And it isn’t. Reiter points out that the concept of singular oneness is central to Judaism, the world’s oldest monotheistic faith. Ancient Jewish teachings address the oneness of God’s name and all creation, and more modern Jewish intellectuals returned to the discussion in the 19th century. In the 1960s, she says, the practice of incorporating meditation into Jewish ritual came into vogue. In the past decade, it’s been "taking off."

Gesher is one of four similar teaching centers across the country, further evidence of the developing trend.

The purpose, says Reiter, is "to bring the inner life into more direct contact with everyday life."

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Uncategorized

Pairing down PVCC

Straying from the usual despairing discussion of water, the subject of Wednesday’s October 2 meeting among the Board of County Supervisors brought to light an entirely different kind of drought–the State budget.

Piedmont Virginia Community College prides itself on making higher education accessible to everyone, but while its enrollment keeps rising (June 30 marked the highest in history–7,000), its funding keeps decreasing. And with the dark cloud of budgetary cuts forecasting a 7 percent, 11 percent or 15 percent decrease in spending for 2002-2004, PVCC finds little humor in the irony that, instead of adding new programs to feed new demand, it will be discussing instead what can and cannot be eliminated.

Anticipating that State boards will also announce another tuition increase, PVCC may find it hard to fulfill its promise of "higher education accessibility." "These budget cuts could be a serious blow," says Supervisor Dennis Rooker, "especially considering all that PVCC provides to area residents."

Of the 7,000 students currently enrolled in courses for credit, one-quarter are Albemarle County residents, hence the discussion among County Supervisors. PVCC already struggles to fit its enrolled students into night course programs; 500 students now attend PVCC classes at Albemarle High School and 90 are driving themselves to Monticello High. The worry over night class enrollment isn’t the only thing causing President Frank Friedman to lose sleep; PVCC has more than 400 high school students earning college credit with PVCC’s dual enrollment program. It also boasts 600 students enrolled in classes provided over the Internet and 125 enrolled via video conferencing classes.

"We are using technology to make it happen," says Friedman, "giving students valuable information they might not get otherwise."

Two of PVCC’s major funding requests will support a new fire-suppression system in the 30-year-old main building and a new science and technology building, which will include science labs, more classrooms and new programs–especially in the growing healthcare arena. The college wants $5 million for that project. It also hopes to raise a scholarship fund and ramp up guidance services.

"We have far too many students just wandering through our program," says Friedman, "and we need some solid advisors to direct these students."

Even with the State budgetary shortfall clocking in at $2 billion, PVCC figures that if its neighbors at UVA can put $128 million into building a new basketball arena, certainly the community college could round up a measly $5 million.

Within the next 24 months, Friedman and his board will be gearing up to launch a massive fundraising campaign. Knowing PVCC doesn’t have nearly the alumni support and spirit UVA might, Friedman retains his positive outlook. "In the future, we would love to go as far as bringing the Monticello Visitors Center back into PVCC," he says.

But for now, Friedman’s primary goals focus on the future of his students, and his community.

"We cannot turn any of these students away," says Friedman, "be it night courses, dual enrollment, video conferencing classes. Our entire purpose is to bring people of all ages from all areas into higher education, not turn them away."

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News

Shades of PVCC

When he returned home to Charlottesville after earning a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design, Joshua Galloway wanted to keep up with his drawing, so he enrolled in an advanced drawing course in the evenings at Piedmont Virginia Community College for three years in a row. With the help of Elizabeth "Chica" Tenney, his drawing teacher and mentor at PVCC, Galloway went on to exhibit his work at places such as the McGuffey Art Center. Today he is pursuing a master’s degree in architecture at UVA. Galloway is not alone in utilizing the resources within PVCC’s art program as a stepping-stone for his career; his is but one example of how PVCC’s artsSure, PVCC is well regarded for its nursing program and as a stalwart source for workplace skills, but its standing as an arts source may not be as readily appreciated. That, however, has been changing, especially since the dedication of the V. Earl Dickinson Building in 1999–complete with music labs, composition studios, two galleries, five practice rooms, a ceramics studio equipped with three kilns, art studios, a black box, a 500-seat theater and a lakeside outdoor amphitheater. The structure has been nothing less than pivotal in allowing the arts to blossom at PVCC.

PVCC has gone "from nothing to a basket of riches," says S. Kathryn Bethea, a professor in theater and music. Indeed, promotional posters around town attest to the 2002/2003 bounty: artist workshops, master classes, faculty music recitals, ballet performances and children’s theater.

Carrington Ewell, the administrator for the PVCC Fine and Performing Arts Series, says the eclecticism is deliberate. "I try to find something for everyone," he says.

"PVCC is a crossroads in the community, one of the few places in the community where everyone comes together from six counties. There’s no one else in town doing music and dance and theater and films and visual arts and lectures and master classes. I consciously book and represent the widest possible mix of cultures," Ewell says, "the whole gamut of disciplines and artistic traditions." The combination of the Dickinson’s stellar facilities and Ewell’s programming has enabled PVCC to essentially quadruple performances, now up to nearly 150 per year.

As well as being a regional arts venue, the Dickinson building is a performing arts studio for a growing student body–more than 500 this year. Enrollment is up about 80 percent during the past five years. The college offers certificates in painting and drawing. The visual arts, theater, drama and music degrees are two-year programs for students planning to transfer to a university or seeking professional development in the arts. Those students who transfer do so most often to UVA, James Madison University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Maryland Institute College of Art or Mary Baldwin College.

The arts faculty, which too has grown during the past several years, is a richly diverse and well-plugged-in group. Tenney, for instance, has worked with the arts at PVCC since 1976, and she identifies PVCC’s "main mission" as "community connection." Tenney herself was among the founders of McGuffey Art Center. She serves on the board of Second Street Gallery and is involved with Art Reach, a non-profit organization affiliated with FOCUS that targets children who could benefit from having more art in their lives.

Tenney is one of 22 on the arts faculty, a number that has literally tripled since1997.

At $339,000 annually, total arts education funding, including salaries, supplies and personnel costs, accounts for about 3 percent of PVCC’s $11 million budget. Yet, measured by intangibles such as community outreach, rising public profile and growing popularity of class offerings, the small investment yields a large return. Still, PVCC, like other state educational institutions, faces the threat of severe budget cuts. Dr. Frank Friedman, PVCC president,

cannot go into details about possible pending budget cuts except to say that the impact would be felt "across the board."

Evidence of Tenney’s goal to get her art students immediately "connected with the Charlottesville arts community" is everywhere. She’s trying to create partnership events with local arts institutions such as the UVA Art Museum and Fayerweather Gallery, as well as Dot-2-Dot, a new gallery on Water Street. In November, PVCC’s Art Gallery will have a joint exhibition with Les Yeux du Monde gallery, featuring the paintings of John Borden Evans. There is a lot of "cross pollinating," Tenney says. "Carrington and I are working hard on that."

PVCC’s past few seasons are testament to such work. New Lyric Theater, Live Arts and Shenandoah Shakespeare have brought their productions to the Dickinson building. The arrangement worked out well for Live Arts when it brought its March production of The Wiz to PVCC, says Live Arts General Manager Ronda Hewitt. "We played to near capacity crowds the entire week," she says. "The facility was really state of the art." Indeed, PVCC has been a full-ranking member of what Tenney terms the "explosion of arts in Charlottesville" following the renovation of the Downtown Mall. Almost in concert, there were the births of the McGuffey Art Center, the PVCC art program, the UVA Art Museum, Second Street Gallery and Fayerweather Gallery, each supporting the other yet filling different niches within the community.

Over the past quarter-century, this network of arts institutions has only expanded. Downtown Charlottesville is seeing the opening of new galleries, such as Dot-2-Dot; Live Arts, Second Street Gallery and video documentary studio Light House are constructing a new building on Water Street; and the 1,000-seat Paramount Theater is in the midst of a City-supported restoration. It’s not just the love of the footlights or watercolors that’s driving this renaissance, either. As City Councilor Kevin Lynch notes, the local arts institutions are "economic engines," which help to support local restaurants and businesses and are integral to the livelihood of the community. Indeed, John Gibson, Live Arts Artistic Director, maintains, "Downtown Char-lottesville is becoming the arts destination for the region."

And while PVCC, located south of town on Route 20, is not exactly Downtown, "every theater is part of this network," Gibson says. "We have a common goal, which is bringing people together."

The community came together in turn to support PVCC when its art department (still the largest among its arts programs) was housed in the college’s main building, where inadequate space hindered its growth. Clifford Haury, the dean of humanities at the college, says that when the community saw PVCC’s need for a more functional space, given the quality of its teachers and the work being produced there, the response was simple: "How can we support you?"

The answer was the $7 million Dickinson building, which allowed Haury to instantly double course offerings. The demand was there; Haury discovered that, with a "loyal contingent of people," PVCC was able to quickly fill those courses.

Unlike Live Arts, which is entirely privately funded, or a venue like Starr Hill Music Hall, which runs off door receipts, PVCC is at the mercy of State funding. In fact, most of the money for the Dickinson building came from Richmond. These days, that relationship means potential trouble for the school–and its arts programming. Recently, Governor Warner required State-funded schools to submit proposals outlining 5 percent, 7 percent and 11 percent budget cuts. "We’re looking at having to live through severe cuts," says Robert Chapel, who chairs UVA’s drama department. "It will definitely affect our programs, especially during the academic year, and it will trickle down to affect production."

Over at PVCC, the irony isn’t lost on anyone involved in the arts. Just when PVCC’s class offerings and arts programming is catching on in the region, outside forces may hinder their growth. "If we have to cut at the highest level," Ewell says, "the college will be dramatically changed. It’s pretty frightening and, right now, it’s the not knowing that’s scary."

Regarding potential cuts, Haury says, "If our money were restricted, we might have to cut the number of course offerings in order to keep the program up. We’d see what’s essential and what’s not.

"Much of our money is in personnel," he continues. "Ninety-five to 96 percent of our money is in people, not in things." This could jeopardize the arts programs, as the "name identification is phenomenal" and this reputation for quality instruction is a big part of what draws students and community members to PVCC. However, there is a bright side: Haury says, "The community college system has one advantage." Just adopt an "entrepreneurial perspective"–make sure that classes have a sufficient number of students to pay the instructor. Such an attitude "may be a cushion for us in a budget cut," he says.

Councilor Lynch views potential budget cuts through the prism of all that PVCC has offered to the community in the past, namely its "role as a grassroots economic development." In terms of community colleges, PVCC "is certainly one of the most aggressive in the area.

"When you look at their relationship as an educational institution with the City," Lynch says, "it has really been nothing but a positive relationship. If their past performance is any indication, they have a consistent track record of delivering goods."

In fact, Lynch is sharply critical of cuts in educational budgets. "To cut investment in the work force in order for a short-term balance sheet gain is incredibly short-sighted," he says, "and I have faith that our legislature will be able to see that. It will be difficult for a respectable legislature to justify cutting it. These are the future tax payers of the Commonwealth."

Live Arts’ Gibson comes to a related conclusion: If budget cuts were to hinder PVCC’s capacity to deliver quality arts programming to the public, he says, "the community will be poorer. Charlottesville is hungry for theater and welcomes it in every possible venue."

Meanwhile, back at the Dickinson building, there’s no hint of budget-cut anxiety as the new season gets underway. Students of all ages, economic backgrounds and experience levels settle into their classes and the show goes on.

"We are letting people know what art can do in your life," Tenney says. "It is a positive force, a hopeful activity. In difficult times, people need art more than ever. It is such a key factor in the quality of your life, in the quality of a civilization. It bring richness to your life."

Categories
Arts

Inner portrait of the artist

Ah, life in the fast lane. You’ve got two choices–push ahead or get the hell out of the way. Well-known photographer Barnaby Draper knows the fast lane better than most. And recently, he made his choice: He got the hell out of the way.

Between 1995 and 2000, Draper poured himself into his career as an assistant photographer in New York City, serving such clients as Tiffany’s, Martha Stewart Living, French and German Vogue, Elle and Victoria’s Secret. He was also the personal photographer for Dave Matthews and Sean “P. Diddy/ “Puffy”/”Puff Daddy” Combs. He witnessed modern photography masters at work while hob-knobbing with the biggest and the sparkliest. But there came a point, Draper says, when he no longer craved making the perfect picture of the perfect person.

“After a while in the world of the beautiful people, you want to take pictures of something more than a person who’s been through five hours of make-up,” he says.

Further, Draper wanted to work on the unique photographic ideas growing inside him. He wanted time to have a life again, too. And most of all, he wanted to go home.

Although he was raised in Charlottesville and has been back for a full year, Draper, who is 32, is still readjusting to the slower pace of life he used to know. Even so, he declares that breaking out of the Gotham photography scene has opened up a whole new world of creative experiments for him. His most recent exhibit at Higher Grounds, which was on display last month, was a perfect example.

Draper worked with a collection of Tintypes, a once popular photographic format that had laid dormant for more than 100 years. He resurrected the process of suspending silver bromide emulsions in gelatin and then coating cardboard, wood or tin with the solutions.

Turning negatives into positives (that’s “slides” in photog lingo), Draper then enlarges his chosen images and makes photography sculptures by driving screws through each edge. As if that process were not labor-intensive enough, Draper, who swears off digital technology as too clear and sterile, makes all his plates by hand. “When prints are made by hand,” he says, “they are more imperfect. That’s what people connect to.”

Still, Draper hasn’t completely given up on photographing sexy people in the limelight. He recently returned from Birmingham, Alabama, for instance, where he was shooting the new CD for rising pop superstar John Mayer.

Mostly, however, Draper’s current interests run to shooting timeless and lyrical images. And for once he has the time to do just that. “There are moments when I miss the intensity of New York,” he says, “but I wouldn’t ever trade it for the balance I have in my life now.”

Draper’s next stop is daguerreotype, a rather unusual print process for medium- and large-format cameras. He’s also busy preparing for his November show at Feast in the Main Street Market.

Although Draper’s creative life is much healthier now, his opinions of the world of fashion will always remain the same. “Being fabulous becomes the norm instead of being decent,” he says, “I would rather live the norm and go to the fight than vice versa.”

Categories
Living

Out of the broom closet, sort of

When the words Paganism and Wicca come up, lots of folks picture sacrificial chickens and chanting nymphs frolicking in a forest. And many also give the Devil his due. But Beelzebub was nowhere to be found on Saturday, September 23, at the fourth annual Pagan Pride Day Festival.

With nary a dead chicken nor frolicking nymph in sight, musical performances, knighting ceremonies and about 15 stands with jolly craftsmen peddling stained glass sculptures, candles, soaps, herbs, incense and medieval weaponry attracted more than 300 people from all over Virginia to this year’s event at Walnut Creek Park.

“The whole idea of Pagan Pride Day is to bring people from the outside in,” says Branwenn WhiteRaven, local coordinator for the festival, “so they can see what we are really all about.” WhiteRaven (whose real name is Paula) sits in a wheelchair as she explains her religion’s mission. Four women gather around her and with their hands begin to perform the healing art known as Reiki on her body. “I twisted my hip last week,” says WhiteRaven, “they are healing me.”

Neither stock characters from Harry Potter nor “Bewitched,” the Wicca devotees attending the festival have no interest in turning people into toads. “We’re not here to convert you,” says WhiteRaven, “we just want people to come and meet us so we can break out of old prejudices.”

Not that all the Pagans in attendance at this vernal equinox celebration seem so proud of their chosen path. A man reading Tarot cards for a small donation to the Jefferson Area Food Bank and the Charlottesville SPCA hides his head as a newspaper photographer approaches him. “I cannot have my name or picture in the paper,” he says. “My employers would never understand.”

Heather Wood, selling her fabric, wood and clay crafts from one of the dozen booths lining the County park bike paths, says her Southern Baptist husband couldn’t believe she was making the trip to Charlottesville from Northern Virginia to attend this “crazy Pagan festival.”

“It’s just human nature,” she says. “People fear what they don’t understand.”

Derived from earth-based spiritual practices, Paganism celebrates nature, the sacredness of all life and the duality of creation. Humanity isn’t the center of the universe in this crowd, but nature is. Lord Dragon of Ember (aka Tony), co-director of safety and security for the celebration, believes Paganism saved him more than once. He’s an ex-firefighter from the James City Fire Department. After walking out of burning buildings time and time again, Tony adopted his Wicca name because it signifies the strength of triumph or “the phoenix from the flames,” he says.

Tony was raised in what he calls a non-observant Baptist family. At an early age, he says, he found Baptism simply wasn’t for him. “I was constantly outside,” he says, “and nature was always more real to me than going to church when it was convenient.”

As a large horn blows, people begin following a pack of “knights” into the woods for a “Warrior’s Guild Demonstration and Knighting Ceremony.” Lisa Starnes, who is pursuing a religious studies degree from James Madison University, leads the ceremony. Other knights raise swords and shields upon her command. One day she hopes to teach a class on Paganism and Wicca traditions, but on this day, her job as a spiritual warrior is to challenge the newly knighted member to be the best he can possibly be.

“When I was knighted I literally felt this transformation come over me,” she says, “and I became the upright person through personal growth that I always wanted to be.”