Film director Roderick Coover teamed up with ,��composer and UofL assistant professor of composition,��to create a surreal musical, virtual reality romp across time and space that’s been adapted to project onto the dome in the .

“The idea is the viewer is going to lose himself in the project,” Wołek said.

For the first time, the��Student Leadership Symposium, a program sponsored by the , will be on UofL’s campus. The annual event brings together 75 students from across ACC universities to work together for three days on local issues that advance students’ capacity for global leadership.��Student leaders learn through educational sessions, keynote addresses and immersive experiences.

Faculty, staff and students in identified the theme of “Reaching Social Change through Storytelling” for the symposium and developed programming to support it.

“Everyone has a story and it’s so important to listen to one another in order to better understand and even more important to give agency to others that might not have the opportunity or privilege to speak up for themselves,” said Kathy Meyer, assistant director, Student Leadership. ��

The event will kick off at the Muhammad Ali Center on Feb. 28 and will feature special guest Graham Shelby, storyteller and speech writer for Metro Mayor Greg Fischer. Additional speakers include Jessica Bellamy, founder of��a grassroots-led organization training community members in research and data storytelling; , local writer, activist and spoken word artist; and Darcy Thompson and Joe Manning of the .

Elayne Harrington, a UofL freshman from Independence, Kentucky, said the topic was a huge draw for her and one of the reasons she applied to participate in the symposium.

“Learning how to share stories is especially important in the world right now, as that is a way for people to understand everyone’s different backgrounds, cultures and perspectives in a way that brings people together,” she said.

A highlight of the program will be a special storytelling event on Saturday evening, where 10 students will be chosen to share their personal narratives in front of their peers.

They’ll also do a service project for CASA, court-appointed advocates for abused or neglected children. The students will stuff toy mascots from each ACC university, writing a note with each one that says it was made especially by a student who cares.

“Hopefully it will inspire them to know they have special support from students all over the country,” said Harrington, who is currently interning at CASA.

Harrington, who is a psychology and communications major, said that being involved in things like the symposium is exactly what she hoped for in a college experience.

“I always wanted to go to school in a city that has a warm feeling and values diversity,” she said. “UofL allows you to be whoever you are. You don’t have to change. UofL will accept you. I’ve really gotten involved in a lot and met a lot of passionate individuals.”

Their collective purpose is singular: raise as much money as possible to fight pediatric cancer and blood disorders. They’re hopeful to beat $682,483, the record-breaking amount collected last year. ����

While their passion is palpable, it all means even more to UofL sophomore Tessa Nielsen. This December, Nielsen celebrated 15 years of being cancer free.

When she was three, she was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma��(RMS), a rare cancer that forms in soft tissue. She underwent several surgeries and 46 weeks of chemotherapy. She remembers fragments of it, especially the more traumatic moments. And, she recalls going to theme parks in Orlando, Florida, through the Make-A-Wish program.

Now, as a cancer-free college student, she wants to give back so that no children have to undergo a similar experience.��

“I feel like I’m more motivated because I know exactly what the kids are going through and I wouldn’t want anyone to have to go through that if we could prevent it,” she said.

Nielsen still does yearly check-ups at UofL’s clinic where they monitor her health. She knows first-hand the compassionate care patients receive there.

Nielsen transferred to UofL this fall, after attending another state school last year and deciding that being back in Louisville, where she’s from, was a better fit.

“It was absolutely the right decision. I love it here,” she said.

When she transferred, she immediately became excited at the prospect of being involved with raiseRED. She signed up as a dancer and plans to speak at the event. She had spoken at the marathon before when she was a student at Assumption High School and knew how fun and full of energy it is.

“I think it is absolutely fantastic all these students can raise this much money,” she said. “And not all of them even have a personal reason to do it. It’s always so much money, it blows my mind.”

She encouraged everyone to get involved and to join the Community Celebration, Saturday, 10:15 a.m. to noon, which culminates in the grand reveal of the total number of dollars raised.

“Think about all the kids who have to go through chemo or have blood disorders and give to a classmate or a friend,” she said.

Xavier Harris, a third-year MFA student in Theatre Arts, won runner up with his partner Lamar Hardy.��

“This is the festival in the U.S. for college theater,” said Theatre Arts professor Ariadne Calvano. “This just��shows the quality coming out of this department. The hard work, dedication and talent of our students is getting the validation it deserves.”��

Kala Ross, a third-year graduate student, was Tate’s partner. She won the regional award last year and in Washington, DC.

“To get it two years in a row is just huge,” Calvano said.��

Numerous other students, faculty and staff were at the festival as well to stage Theatre Arts’ production of “,” by Anna Deavere Smith.��

The show was one of only three invited to perform this year out of more than 50 that submitted applications.��

“There was a lot of student leadership in this production, a tribute to the training they are getting,” Calvano said. “Several representatives from the Kennedy Center commented on the level they are at.”

“Fires in the Mirror” received the Golden Hardhat award for the most organized and safe load in and load out for a production under the direction of��Charles Nasby, Theatre Arts’ technical production manager, and his son Lionel Nasby, who is a senior undergrad in the department.��

Several faculty were awarded accommodations�� for the show as well, including Calvano for stage direction, Janna��Segal for dramaturgy and Zhanna Goldentul for costume design.

Tate and Ross will go on to compete��this spring for the distinguished����at the��in Washington, DC.

Those who’d like to see Tate perform next on a UofL stage won’t have to wait long. Tate is starring in Theatre Arts’ production of��John Guare’s “Six Degrees of Separation.” Directed by Geoffrey Nelson, the play examines the premise that everyone is connected by a chain of six acquaintances. It runs Feb. 20-March 1 in The Playhouse. for more information and to buy tickets.

This year marks the 25^th anniversary of its with concerts, lectures, workshops and clinics Feb. 13-17.

The theme is “Third Stream:��The Fusion of Jazz and Classical Music,” and the featured artist��is Emmy Award-winning trumpeter, composer and educator,��, who is also founder and musical director of the ��He’ll be joined by members of the philharmonic, which bills itself as “America’s definitive third stream orchestra, where jazz and classical meet in harmony.”��

Davis will play with the UofL Symphony Orchestra and UofL Jazz Studies students in a concert at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 16 in Comstock Concert Hall. Tickets are $10 general admission, $5 for students and free for UofL students with ID at the door.��

Jerry Tolson, jazz professor, started the African American Heritage Institute a quarter century ago and has since programmed it to explore African American influence in a variety of genres such as gospel, jazz, classical and others.

“I’ve been doing it ever since to help expose our students to more diversity in music,” Tolson said.

In addition to UofL students, there will be about 300 local grade school students in attendance, learning the fine art of jazz. ����

The School of Music is also hosting its annual Feb. 21 and 22, which brings jazz music’s most celebrated names to Louisville for concerts, workshops, master classes and camaraderie for players and the public alike.

Acclaimed Jazz Trombonist and pianist�� will headline the School of Music’s 28th��annual festival.

Garling has been in high demand for 30 years as a performer, composer, arranger, recording artist, producer, teacher, director and clinician. He’ll play with UofL’s Jazz Ensemble I at 8 p.m. Feb. 21 in Comstock Concert Hall.

Goldberg was described by����as a “post-bop pianist of exemplary taste and range” and has released five albums as a solo artist. He’ll perform with UofL’s jazz faculty at 8 p.m. Feb. 22 in Comstock Concert Hall.

Tickets to Jazz Fest concerts are $15 for general admission and $5 for students with ID.��

Tickets may be reserved by calling (502) 852-6907 or they may be purchased at the door.

UofL’s Jazz Fest celebrates America’s indigenous music and is also part of the university’s observance of Black History Month.

Other honorees include Philanthropist Nana Lampton, Artist/Gallerist Billy Hertz and Muralist Liz Richter.

Embodying a rich tradition of Kentucky glass artistry and teaching, Rhodes holds a BA in Art from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where he studied with famed glass maker Stephen Powell. After earning an MFA from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, Rhodes headed the Glass Department at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, from 1999–2004.

In 2005, he founded the glass program at UofL, where he is associate professor and head of Studio Glass. The program’s glass studio anchors Hite’s Cressman Center for Visual Art at 100 E. Main St.

A former Glass Art Society Board member and Penland School of Crafts Trustee, Rhodes has taught at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina; the Studio of the Corning Museum of Glass in New York; UrbanGlass in Brooklyn, New York; and the Scuola del Vetro: Abate Zanetti in Venice, Italy.

In January Rhodes was featured on��‘s show “Kentucky Life,” where he described his artistic inspirations and teaching philosophies. View the full episode here.

Last month, Rhodes also created the the blown glass award Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer presented to civil rights activist Mattie Jones during the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Keepers of the Dream celebration at the Kentucky Center for Arts.

��for LVA’s Friday Luncheon. Sales to the event support��

In ’ new production, “Detroit ’67,” by Dominique Morisseau, main characters Chelle and her brother, Lank, are running an unlicensed after-hours juke joint out of their basement. It’s a risky business, especially during a brutal police crackdown that sets off riots throughout the city. When Lank offers refuge to a mysterious stranger, he and Chelle clash. Pent-up emotions erupt, and they navigate the chaos both outside and within.

“Detroit ’67” is directed by Johnny Jones and runs Thursday, Jan. 26 through Sunday, Feb. 2 in Thrust Theatre, with a community night on Thursday, Jan. 30, which features a talk back and all tickets are discounted to $10. for specific dates and times.

The play is a part of Morisseau’s “Detroit Project,” which explores the complicated yet hopeful history of her hometown. While her other plays, “Pipeline” and “Skeleton Crews,” have been staged in Louisville, “Detroit ‘67” has not. This is its Louisville debut. ��

Jones, who also directs UofL’s , said the play touches on universal themes of family, love and survival. Detroit, the quintessential American city, falls apart, but the people there live on.

“Detroit is never the same after the riot, that neighborhood is never the same, but you still have the people survive it. What we all want to believe is that we can all overcome situations and challenges,” he said. ��

, a graduate Theatre Arts student, is playing Chelle for her thesis role. She recently corresponded with UofL News about her experience.

UofL News: What made you choose UofL’s Theatre Arts program?

Tia Ade-Salu: I was extremely attracted to the Graduate and its inclusion of African theatrical practices. Based on my past experience as an actor, I knew that it was important for me to receive advanced training that included techniques and theories related to my cultural heritage.

UofL News: What do you like about the role you’re playing? What attracts you to it?

Tia Ade-Salu: One thing I love is that Chelle and I have so many similarities. We’re both the eldest siblings in our families, stern, sentimental, afraid to let go of people and objects that are familiar to us, and careful planners. Another thing I love is that the playwright (whose also a fellow Michigan alumna) made sure the character had complexity. Even though Chelle is wise and able to judge people, she still has a few blind spots of her own.

UofL News: What do you think audiences will take from the show?

Tia Ade-Salu: There’s nothing wrong with dreamin’! I believe that’s the biggest message from the play. No matter how many deaths, disappointments, or destruction occur in one’s life, dreams are necessary for renewal and growth. Without them, there is no reason for living. For Chelle, in particular, the dream of undying love, is what will keep her going.

UofL News: What do you plan to do when you graduate?

Tia Ade-Salu:��I plan to continue exploring new theatrical works and film that illuminate my heritage. As a first-generation Yoruba-American I’ve had a long road towards discovering my true identity and how to use it in my artistry. With my own acting studio, The WAY,��I will help other actors specify their identities and use them to deepen their craft as well.

to purchase tickets to “Detroit ’67,” which runs Jan. 26-Feb. 2 in Thrust Theatre.����

to see pictures of the show.��

The Lonesome Pine Special concert series ran in 1984 through 2000 at the Bomhard Theater in the Kentucky Center for the Arts. With a mission to be a musical “all things considered” platform for rising stars, underappreciated veterans and unique voices, it attracted numerous national acts such as Lyle Lovett, k.d. lang and They Might Be Giants.

The success of the concert series led to broadcasts on National Public Radio and PBS, airing in over 180 markets and five countries.

The series was created and programmed by Van Kleeck, who then served as the programming director for the Kentucky Center. The exhibition will feature more than 70 images by Bram, mostly in black and white.

“Archives and Special Collections is honored to preserve the legacy of this significant cultural chapter of local history. Bram and Van Kleeck’s work is right at home in the Photographic Archives and we encourage everyone to view the rich tapestry of performers that made up the Lonesome Pine Special series,” said Elizabeth Reilly, Photographic Archives curator.

Van Kleek returned to Louisville in 2014 after 13 years as director of concerts at the Bienen School of Music and the Davee Distance Learning Initiative, Northwestern University.

“I discovered that there was still a lot of interest and fond memories related��to the Lonesome Pine Specials concert series. I knew Richard Bram had many wonderful photographs from the series��that had not��been shown. I also had many hours of video from the Lonsome Pine Specials PBS series. This seemed like a perfect match, to combine the Bram photos��and a new retrospective live action video I have editd into one exhibit that would celebrate an important part of Louisville’s rich cultural history circa 1984-2000,” he said.

There will be an 3-6 p.m. Jan. 26 in Ekstrom Library’s Chao Auditorium. Bram will speak, as well as Van Kleeck, who will also air the film he edited. Other speakers include Bob Hill, former columnist for The Courier-Journal; Leslie Stewart, former WFPL host; and John Timmons, WFPK host and founder of ear X-tacy Records. Composer and violinist Scott Moore will perform a new work inspired by the diversity of musical styles presented on the concert series.

“I am very pleased that the UofL Photo Archives and Special Collections will include this cultural story, these photographs and the video in their nationally celebrated collections. It is indeed an honor. In fact, this exhibit is a rounding of a circle. Each season, over sixteen years, the series featured a brilliant photo from the UofL Photo Archives,” Van Kleeck said. “I am especially��pleased that new generations will be introduced to this series, and also to many outstanding artists that they may not have known about before seeing this exhibit.”

The project also features artistic video as visual accompaniment, with a feature-length film set to be released next year.��

“The dream here is that, once we get this film finished, I can take it around to a lot of different places in Kentucky and the region and have screenings and conversations,” .

A few years ago, Grimes, who lives in Carrolton, Kentucky, helped her parents move into assisted living facilities. In doing so, she found a treasure-trove of family documents, photos and letters spanning several generations. In 2016, she began researching some of the more vexing questions that surfaced about people, places and events.��

“Every time you open up a tub of photographs, you take all these different journeys and detours … ‘Look how that person looks just like my baby cousin’… It’s just this crazy journey that you go on when looking at family things,” she told Kentucky Monthly.

She also wanted to look at the larger history of Kentucky, including voices that were deeply marginalized and poorly represented.

“I wanted to investigate some of the lore, some of the stories, the linear chronology of the settlement of Kentucky, but also the daily life in Kentucky … through the eyes and ears and feelings of women,” she told Kentucky Monthly.

On the album, stories emerge such as Dolly, a slave from Boonesborough’s settlement;��Patsy, a Winchester farmer and��Sara Katherine Simpson Jones��of Lincoln County, who was able to attend high school by taking work in town.

Taken together, the songs weave a tapestry of yearning, nostalgia, grief and intimacies of everyday life through rich orchestrations.��

Instrumentation includes piano, harp, strings, choir, lead vocals and narrators. Special guest collaborators are Stephen Webber, Timbre Cierpke, Joan Shelley and Nathan Salsburg. The experimental film was created in collaboration with Catharine Axley, a filmmaker in residence at the University of Kentucky.

“The Way Forth” is available, along with other work by Grimes, .����

Grimes creates music for chamber ensembles, orchestras, film and collaborative live performances. Her work has been performed by ensembles such as the Louisville Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, Knoxville Symphony, A Far Cry, Longleash and the Dublin Guitar Quartet.

Recent works include the soundtrack “The Doctor From India” (2018), “The Blue Hour” (2018), “Through the Sparkle” (2017), “The Clearing” (2015) and numerous albums with the ground-breaking indie chamber group, Rachel’s.��

She holds a bachelor of music from UofL’s school of music in music theory and composition.

They were taken in Hai Phong, Vietnam, by youth participating in a month-long photovoice project facilitated by UofL students and faculty. The youth, aged 12-19 years old, have all lost parents to an HIV epidemic in Hai Phong. The project used photography and different forms of storytelling to help them explore themes they identified in their lives.��

“What was interesting to me was that we covered so many heavy subjects, but what showed through was the youth’s ideas related to their bright futures, social change and pride in what they and their families have been through and what Hai Phong has been through,” said Lesley Harris, assistant professor at the Kent School of Social Work.

Harris worked with community organizations serving grandparents and youth affected by HIV in Hai Phong10 years ago through the nonprofits Save the Children and the HIV and Health Care Support Centre (HHCSC).

Hai Phong, a port city with a seafaring economy, is located in a high traffic area for opioids moving from Middle Eastern to Asian markets. The influx of drugs resulted in an HIV epidemic that has left a large generation of orphans.

Harris wanted to serve that population again, many of the children now grown into adolescents, using photovoice,��a participatory research methodology designed to empower small groups through photography and storytelling.

She teamed up with Marion Hambrick, associate professor in the College of ����ֱ�� and Human Development, and Kyoungmee “Kate” Byun, who was a professor of interior design at Hite Art Institute, but now teaches at Northern Arizona University.

The trio was awarded a grant from UofL’s Cooperative Consortium for Transdisciplinary Social Justice Research. ����

Last summer, they mounted a month-long camp for 25 kids in Hai Phong focusing on positive youth development. Four��graduate students assisted: Rebecka Bloomer, Sara Williams, Doroty Sato and Victory Osezua. The photovoice project was a large component of the camp.��

“It became a much larger project than we anticipated,” Harris said. “But it was very worthwhile. Beyond research and program development, it was bringing something to the community that was needed and appreciated and gave the kids a program to be a part of for the month of July,” Harris said.

In the mornings, the team led activities in team building, goal setting and creative expression, which were informed by the youth development work of Williams and Bloomer, social work doctoral students. As the day progressed, the group focused on photovoice.

“We started with an introduction: What is photovoice, how you take and edit photos. We addressed safety, physical and emotional safety. Participants need to ask themselves, are you ready to revisit this place, or this difficult subject matter within your life?” Harris said. ��

Pictures emerged from their everyday world, some of them gritty, real examples of the social ills their community and family faces, like bottles of booze in an alley or lines of powder on a mirror. Others are more introspective, like a girl’s down cast face and a picture of a toy.��

The group discussed the photos and journaled about them. Together, they decided they ultimately wanted to use them to create educational videos and campaigns for residents of their city.

“Classically photovoice projects engage political leaders and people of influence, but that’s not really possible in Vietnam,” Harris said, as the country is communist. “We had to allow them to lead with what they wanted, and what is possible and safe within their cultural context.”

Byun curated the photos and narratives for the exhibition on display at Hite through Feb. 6 called, “.”

Byun plans to mount the show again at the Asia Institute-Crane House in Old Louisville and at a gallery in South Korea, further exploring the design and presentation of the exhibition.

Chloe Scoggins and Laura Coleman, both seniors in interior design at UofL, are now working with Byun on a research paper born of the project: “Does the Physical Setting of an Exhibition Affect Audiences’ Understanding of Narratives?” The team has been invited to present that work at the Environmental Design Research Association conference this April in Tempe,��Arizona.

“” is free and open to the public 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday through Feb. 6 in Hite’s Schneider Hall galleries.