There is snow on the ground today. It snowed a little bit this weekend and last night half a foot of snow dumped itself into Batavia. Are we really in April? Wasn’t I happily skipping through sunshine-filled fields with just a tee shirt on last week? What happened?

Well according to weather.com, we are experiencing Winter Storm Ursula. Basically, snow and powerful winds are passing over us. Tomorrow should be very chilly and windy as well, so please bundle up G.C.C. The good news is its a quick passing storm, so hopefully we can frolic through the grass again next week.

 

 

Just in case you missed it, or if you want to relive a few moments of it, here are some highlights of the Scholar’s Symposium.

The art gallery was filled with beautiful pieces from students. There were paintings, sculptures, and other artistic displays. People mused and circled around the gallery this afternoon, admiring the aesthetically pleasing  results of hard work.

In the theater, Pulitzer Prize winning author Eric Foner (the writer of our HIS 203 and 204 textbooks) gave an informative speech about newly discovered information on the Underground Railroad movement. While sitting there listening, I learned that slaves did not only travel on foot to the free north, but they paid captions to allow them on board their ships and sail them up. Foner spoke about African American radical figures such as Louis Napoleon, who helped a group of 7 slaves become free legally, and of course Harriet Tubman, a successful run away slave who went back into the south many times to help others take their freedom. It was a joy to listen to and I look forward to learning more about the movement as I read his new book, Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad.

After Foner spoke, Sonny Mayo, a speech class professor here at GCC, got on the stage and played some music from his guitar. He is a talented musician and I found his songs to be very relaxing and easy on the ears. He played the type of music you couldn’t help but tap your foot or swing your head to.

I enjoyed the Scholar’s Symposium, and I am grateful to GCC and my peers for putting such a wonderful display of talent, intelligence, endurance, and creativity together. TTYL!

Hey guys! Tomorrow is the 2016 Scholar’s Symposium. G.C.C. students have been given the opportunity to present their most prized piece or pieces of collegiate work. They may present school work varying from academic papers to theatrical performances.

The Symposium will begin at 8:15 am and it last until 4:o0 pm. A copy of the event’s schedule can be found here. I’m looking forward to seeing the poster presentations in the Forum at 11, and I’m curious to see Professor Frank Mayo, who teaches Public Speaking, rock out in the theater at 2:30.

Another cool event I’m really looking forward to is listening to the keynote address. If you’ve ever taken HIST 203 OR 204, then the name Eric Foner should sound familiar to you. He wrote your textbook

I’ve taken HIS 203 and enjoyed learning about our country’s history a lot. I think it’s an important topic to study as an adult. We’re the generation that leads today and tomorrow. Studying our nations history of victories, failures and mistakes will help us make better choices as citizens. I enjoyed the way Eric Foner wrote about American history. In my opinion, the textbook was objective, but careful to portray parts of american history such as slavery, racial segregation, the treatment of Native Americans, and the political dominance of big business prior to T.R. Roosevelt as negatives that our country overcame. In history class I learned that all writers, historians included, have personal perspectives that influence their writing and I appreciated Foner’s. He will be giving the keynote address and discussing his new book, Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad tomorrow in the theater at 1:00 pm. Rumor has it that the librarians have temporarily removed all of his books from their shelves so that they can ask him to autograph them tomorrow. I will do the same with my textbook 🙂

If you have the time tomorrow, stop by an event and support one of your classmates, students, or faculty members. You just may learn something new. Until next time!

 

My name is Hanna Tischer, I am from Brazil, and my major is Fashion Business: Merchandising. I was an exchange student in NYC in 2014, I studied English and Fashion at the same time, and after that, I knew that working with fashion is what I want to do for the rest of my life! I plan on transferring to LIM College after graduating from GCC and get my bachelor’s degree in Visual Merchandising with a minor in Styling. Hopefully after graduating from LIM I’ll find a job in the US at a store where I can work with visual merchandising and grow in my career becoming the visual merchandising department manager, and also be able to be a fashion stylist.

In this year’s Fashion Show “Fashion is…” I am the Scene Coordinator for the scene Masquerade. My inspiration came from the musical “The Phantom of the Opera”. Last year, the fashion students from GCC went to NYC for some fashion related visits; since we were there, my friends and I decided to watch a Broadway musical and we opted for the Phantom of the Opera. In this musical there is a scene called Masquerade where they have a ball with people dressed in costumes and masks. My idea was evolved from that, because I have a passion for evening gowns I decided to mix both features: Evening gowns and Masks! I have been working with Charles Men’s Shop in Batavia and Katherine Patricia in Rochester to provide the tuxedos and dresses for my scene. I am beyond excited for it, specially after I choose the dresses which are different from the ordinary and bring a pinch of couture to the scene. I haven’t heard about a scene like that from any of the past Fashion Shows at GCC, so I am bringing a new idea and uniqueness to the stage with a classic and mysterious touch!

See how Art influences the fashion world and be amazed by the styles presented in this year’s Fashion Show “Fashion is…”. And to wrap up this article I just want to give you a quote and make you reflect and be ready for the GCC Fashion Show:

 

‘Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.’

Coco Chanel

JOIN OUR THINK TANK CREATIVES AS WE EXPLORE…

DESIGN THINKING

Wednesday, April 13, 2016 (8:15 am – 4 pm)

GENESEE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

BATAVIA CAMPUS / CONABLE TECHNOLOGY BUILDING

Keynote Speaker: Sandra Turner, CEO of Viggi Kids

To reach their potential, the 21st Century workforce needs the ability to think and solve problems creatively – to be innovative. The third annual Creativity Conference features hands-on workshops on how to apply design thinking and creative thinking strategies in the areas of Community, Business and Education (K-16). Seats limited! Register today!

Conference Schedule:

8:15 – 8:50 AM           Registration, Breakfast & Networking

8:50-9:00 AM            Welcome

9 – 9:50 AM                Sandra Turner, Keynote Address

10-10:50 AM              Workshops

11-11:50 AM               Workshops

12 – 1:20 PM              LUNCH

1:30 – 2:20 PM          Workshops

2:30 – 3:20 PM          Workshops

3:30 – 4:00 pm          Wrap Up

WORKSHOP OPTIONS – To Be Announced

Seats are limited! Ready to get creative? Register today!

Cost:

$99 per registrant
$25 per GCC Faculty, Staff, or Student registrant

Prices listed include breakfast, lunch, refreshments and conference materials.

 

 

This year the GCC fashion program is celebrating 35 years of amazing fashion shows! Every year the event showcases the spectacular work done by the students in the program, but not once in 35 years, has there ever been an all jewelry scene in the fashion show. This year however, that all changes!I have the exciting opportunity to be able to be the first individual to have an all jewelry scene.

During the process for coming up with possible scenes for the fashion show, Professor Dudkowski had suggested an accessories scene and I thought that would be fun to do since it had never been done before. As the first semester progressed I thought about doing an all jewelry scene. In high school, I had taken many jewelry classes and I graduated with the idea of going to school for jewelry design after attending GCC. I also realized I needed help to produce 12 show worthy pieces and I decided to collaborate with Kendra Bush, a junior at RIT in their jewelry program. Kendra and I also attended high school together.

 

Our inspiration for the show was a body piece that was worn for Rochester Fashion Week. We went off the idea of body pieces and then just went for some fun variations. The scene is comprised of sterling, fine, and nickel silver, brass, and pearls. As we started designing we noticed that there was this evolution that happened with our pieces and that is where the scene name Fashion is… Evolution came from. Fashion has continuously evolved and jewelry has as well.

 

I can’t wait to be able to share our vision with you!

-Julia Bailey

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing GCC Digital Art student Mathieu Crowley. He is the artist responsible for the dazzling flyers for this year’s fashion show!

Name: Mathieu J. Crowley

Born: November 27th, 1980 in Milwaukee Wisconsin

Currently resides in: Perry NY

Artistic Influences: Frank Frazetta, Luis Royo, Dorian Cleavenger, Brian Bollard

Hobbies: Drawing, Painting, Reading, Building Models, Collecting Swords

Favorite Books: Epic Fantasy and the works of H.P. Lovecraft

Favorite Movies: The Empire Strikes Back, James Bond, Batman (1989)

 

Mathieu majored in Digital Art because he believes that with the progression of technology, unless you are already established, you cannot make a living as a traditional artist. If given the choice he would prefer a pencil and a pad of paper over the click of a mouse, but the job market just isn’t there.

He hopes to become a graphic artist in advertising, and in fact was a former student of Fashion Business professor Rick Dudkowski. He took an advertising class with Professor Dudkowski, who raved about his abilities and marketing bravery. I asked Mathieu, if he could have his absolute “dream job”, what would it be? He replied that he would love to work for Marvel Comics, as it has been a formative influence, and he could pursue artistic projects he would be genuinely passionate about.

Doing work that he enjoys is crucial for him. He has the tendency to really work with his clients, communicating frequently, and desiring their input during the creative process. Mathieu finds it helpful to listen to music while he creates, as it really puts him in the proper mindset for a given project. The type of music varies with the subject matter of his art, for instance while designing our fashion show flyer he listened to smooth jazz.

Mathieu does take on commissions, but he stresses the need to know exactly what the client wants, so that he can then incorporate his own style. If you’re in need of a talented and dedicated artist, be it digital or traditional media, I can’t rec commend him enough.His passion and professionalism shine through in all that he does.Thank you again Mathieu for your tremendous work. The Fashion Business program is overjoyed to be represented by the beautiful artwork that you were kind enough to create for us.

Today was the Fine Art’s Festival at GCC. The Forum was filled with so many children, parents, students, and artist. There were many tables set up for participants to either express their creative side or allow one of the artist to “express” on them. While visiting the festival I made a Chia pet and got a pretty cool henna tattoo.

If you are a resident at college village, tonight is TACO TUESDAY, and you have the opportunity to enjoy a free Doritos Taco Bowl. We will start serving at 5 p.m. Don’t be late or the food may run out!

Tomorrow Night, also at College Village, there will be a DIVERSITY program starting at 7 p.m. The purpose of this program is to provide students with a space to talk about what makes them unique and it will also be a teaching/learning opportunity for students to appreciate the differences in our community.

There is always something interesting happening at our college, or at College Village. That’s one thing I really appreciate about our school. The Faculty and Staff at our school and College Village really care about the well being of us students. They put a lot of effort into providing us with fun and social activities. This is really an important element to have as a college student who often stresses about grades and money.  Thank you Genesee Community College and thank you College Village.

Until next time guys!