UNCA Arts & Ideas News & Events

Jerry and Rebecca each teach two classes in the Arts and Ideas program and as with most of our adjunct faculty, they also work and teach within the community. "(They) both hold Master's degrees and have taught extensively at the University level. They have individually and collectively taught workshops and in-services from an hour to several months in length. They have worked with court-adjudicated youth, senior citizens, and non-English speakers. They have used theater to address specific community problems such as racism, sexual assault, and environmental issues. Jerry teaches workshops and classes in acting, technical theater, stage combat, mask and makeup, and media literacy. Rebecca teaches workshops and classes in acting, women's issues, and journaling."

With a passion and focus on theater, Jerry and Rebecca founded Serpent Child Ensemble in 1993. SCE "is a non-profit professional theater company dedicated to the collaborative creation of multi-disciplinary, world-cultural performances. The company’s mission is to: facilitate people to use the power of theater to tell their stories.
interpret plays and dramatize world myths, produce original performances based on personal and social themes, create community-based performances with “non- theater” population groups, teach acting, writing, and creative thinking skills, produce plays that explore social issues and contemporary mythology.

SCE has performed and conducted residencies at schools, theaters, libraries, community centers, and festivals across the US and Portugal. Jerry and Rebecca are the two anchor artists of the company, working in partnership with other professional artists, mentoring amateurs, or some combination thereof, depending on the project. The company usually joins with one or more Community Partners to create a project. The SCE board of Directors is made up of people from around the country who believe in and support the SCE mission." (all italicized text came from their website at www.serpentchild.org)

Ever wonder what your instructor does outside of class? Well, we have some pretty busy faculty in Arts and Ideas. Here is a list of just some of the things they work on in addition to grading your papers:

Lynne Caldwell has a show in the Highsmith Gallery (July 21-August 25) entitled, "Shibori: The Japanese Origins of Tye-Dye." Her new book, Shibori: A Beginner's Guide to Creating Color & Texture on Fabric has just been released. Congratulations, Lynne! To view her book and website, visit: www.lynnecaldwell.com.

Chris Daniels and his wife, Kristen have a thriving Asian paper and textiles import business called Kamibashi. "Our goal is to introduce you to the works of some very talented Asian artists that we stumbled upon while living in Japan and traveling around Asia." In addition to being the web genius and photographer for Kamibashi, Chris is also a writer, having published several short stories in online literary magazines. Read one of Chris' short stories published in the Plum Ruby Review.

Ann Dunn also teaches in the Humanities Program and runs the Asheville Ballet Guild and Ann Dunn and Dancers. In addition to her full course load, every year Ann choreographs and directs up to 4 full ballets!

In addition to being a Fiction writer, Bobbie Pell is also known as the Moonstone Minstrel - a role which allows her to travel and use her unique mixture of spoken word and music to tell stories. For background information on workshops and programs, visit Bobbie's website.

Jerry Pope teaches Intro. to Drawing, Intermediate Drawing and coordinates the Figure Drawing Studio at Black Mountain Center for the Arts. Along with his wife, Rebecca Williams (see below), he founded Serpent Child Ensemble, which "produces plays that explore social issues and contemporary mythology. SCE has performed and conducted residencies at schools, theaters, libraries, community centers, and festivals across the US and Portugal. Jerry and Rebecca are the two anchor artists of the company, working in partnership with other professional artists, mentoring amateurs, or some combination thereof, depending on the project. The company usually joins with one or more Community Partners to create a project." Check out their website here.

Dr. Simon Senzon and his wife, Susan own and operate Network Family Chiropractic in Asheville. When Simon isn't teaching one of his popular Integral Arts courses, he is "focused on healing of body, mind, heart, soul and spirit..." which is also the goal of his Integral Art course. If you want to learn more about Integral Arts, check out his course website.

Jen Swearington spent the summer as a professor in the Fibers department at the Savannah College of Art and Design teaching, Intro. to Fibers, Images on Fabric and Special Topic: Shibori. Her work can be found at her website: http://www.jennythreads.net/.

Rebecca Williams directed the Way Back When: Old Time Medicine Show this past spring - now an annual tradition. Based on interviews with local residents, Way Back When preserves the stories of the common people of the valley and honors this history. "We call it a folk history play because it’s not strictly history; it’s based on people’s recollections." Rebecca also co-founded Serpent Child Ensemble (read more about it above.)

Student News:

Further Research:

The following are links to websites for further research on Art related events around the area:

Asheville Area Arts Council Events

Asheville Downtown Gallery Association

Asheville Gallery Guide

Current Exhibitions in Asheville

Mountain XPress Arts & Entertainment

16 Patton - 16 Patton features original contemporary fine art by southeastern artists including paintings, sculpture, glass, ceramics and fine craft presented in an intimate classic gallery setting.

Bella Vista Art - They represent both emerging and mid-career artists, from many media, whose works challenge and interest art collectors now and for many years to come.

Black Mountain College Museum and Art Center - This free museum and art center is located at 52 N. Lexington Ave, downtown Asheville, and displays quarterly exhibits of art and sculpture in its collection.

Blue Spiral 1 - The biggest gallery in downtown (14,000 square feet) has 75+ artists on display on three levels, with 28 exhibitions annually.

Registration Information:

Getting into a full section of arts & ideas:

Only students graduating in December will be registered into a full section of Arts and Ideas. You will be asked to provide documentation of this from the Registrar. You will need to meet with the Program Director, Laura Facciponti. Her office is New Hall 113, her email is lfaccipo@unca.edu.

Students who are NOT graduating in December should go to the first meeting of the class. You will be admitted at the discretion of the instructor. There is no guarantee that you will be admitted.

Arts and Ideas Program

Arts and IdeasNews and Events

What's Happening in Arts & Ideas?

Faculty News:

Faculty Profile: Jerry Pope and Rebecca Williams