Loyola Visual and Performing Arts
Spring 2023 Newsletter
2023 Annual Student Exhibition
This year's student exhibition featured impressive student art from Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 photography and studio arts courses. Awards were presented to three photography and three studio arts students for particularly outstanding work. The awards were juried by the 2022-2023 Julio Fine Arts Gallery Artist-in-Residence, Beth Yashnyk.
Photography Award Winners
1st Prize -- Izzy Guerrero, ’24
2nd Prize -- CJ Sommers, ’24
3rd Prize -- Crystal Rivera, ’23
Studio Arts Award Winners
1st Prize -- Warren Megger, ’24
2nd Prize -- Evan Casas, ’23
3rd Prize -- Anna Landi, ’24
Poster design by Allie House, ’25
Theatre Program 2022-2023 Productions
The Thanksgiving Play
Photo by Louis Umerlik
Everybody
Photo by Braedan Kopp, ’24
Smokefall
Photo by Eciaus Booth, ’23
One-Act Festival
directed by Directing II (DR 356) students, presented by the Evergreen Players.
Bill A
- Speed Date by Janet Allard
- 4 A.M. by Jonathan Dorf
- Jimmy the Antichrist by Keith J. Powell
Bill B
- 13 Ways to Screw Up Your College Interview by Ian McWethy
- Antigone Now by Melissa Cooper
- The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon by Don Zolidis
Poster design by Sam Gonzalez, ’25
The Tempest
Photo by Katie Gallone, ’26
"Sentient River" by Professor Billy Friebele
"Sentient River" considered the role that technologies play in extending the human sensorium beyond its limits into the complex web of flora and fauna that coexist in rivers. Professor Friebele created an installation of digital, sculptural, and time-based artworks that reflect the rhythms and creatures living in the Anacostia River.
"This Harmless but Horrible Sensation" by Beth Yashnyk
Beth Yashnyk, the Julio Gallery 2022-2023 Artist-in-Residence, explored the relationship between gender, technology, and identity. She manipulated her physical form in ways that were unnatural and unnerving. These anatomical extensions acted autonomously, engaging viewers to reevaluate their relationship with the body.
"PRISMS" by Loyola Visual Arts Seniors
Born from the Fall 2022 Professional Practices course, "PRISMS" featured pieces by Loyola Visual Arts seniors, including Sadie Applegate, Evan Casas, Madelyn Chelak, Randi Little, Siobhan McGeever, Lia O’Riordan, Greyson Pearce, Brooke Scotti, and Laura Yacoubi.
Image design by Allie House, ’25
"Apparitions & Manifestations" by Professor Dan Schlapbach
"The Unknown Citizen" public art installation by Kei Ito
"Heartlines" by Akea Brionne, Phylicia Ghee, & Savannah Wood
Each year the Julio Gallery presents an exhibition that corresponds to the common text read by Loyola’s first year students. This year’s common text, "The Vanishing Half" by Brit Bennett, provided a rich text with many pathways for thinking about race, gender, identity, colorism, and homeland. In "Heartlines", the artists also trace their family’s histories, grapple with cultural legacy, memory, and racial and generational trauma through their artwork.
Music Program Announcements
Fall 2023 Ensembles & Private Lessons
Concert Choir
Cantorei
Jazz Ensemble
Jazz Combo
Chamber Ensemble
Steel Pan Ensemble
Private Lessons
Lessons are offered for voice, piano, brass, woodwinds, strings, guitar, percussion, and more!
Ensembles and lessons are open to all Loyola students. Some ensembles require an audition. Lessons are free for music majors and minors, first year students, and first-semester sophomores. All ensembles and lessons can be taken for academic credit. Contact Dr. Price (cprice1@loyola.edu) for more information.
Photo by Louis Umerlik
Concert Choir Spring 2023 Concert
Loyola Notre Dame Library Exhibits
"Plays Through Playbill"
"Plays Through Playbill: Snapshots of Broadway Theatre History, 1947-2011" was a curated exhibit of theatrical playbills, created by the students of Dr. Bianchini's Fall 2022 Introduction to Theatre History (DR 250) course.
"Decay of the Aura"
Created by Professor Friebele’s Fall 2022 Contemporary Digital Art (SA/CM 364) students, the exhibit was displayed in the Innovation Station at the Loyola Notre Dame Library. The emergence of makerspaces has led to what some are calling a new industrial revolution, one in which the tools of production are placed in the hands of the masses. The Innovation Station at LNDL is one such makerspace. Students first experimented with different makerspace technologies and then created a project that developed their concepts further. These technologies included embroidery, Arduino microcontrollers, interactive software, a Cricut vinyl cutter, 3D printers, and a laser cutter. "Decay of the Aura" featured art by Sadie Applegate, ’23, Evan Casas, ’23, Maddie Chelak, ’23, Jo D’Alonzo, ’24, Stephanie Fernandez, ’24, Anna Landi, ’24, Greyson Pearce, ’23, and Mary Velazquez, ’23.
Poster design by Stephanie Fernandez, ’24
Student & Alumni Achievements
- Stephanie Fernandez, ’24 (studio arts & biopsychology major) presented an art installation, "The Art of Standing Up", in Donnelly Science Center as a part of Celebration of Science Week.
- Olivia Buchwald, ’23 (studio arts minor) was accepted to her first-choice graduate art therapy program at George Washington University.
- Christina Guerra, ’23 (art history & Classics major) received a Fulbright scholarship to be an English Teaching Assistant in Laos.
- Jazzy Nkala, ’23 (studio arts minor) was accepted to her first-choice post-baccalaureate program at the Art Institute of Chicago.
- Lia O’Riordan, ’23 (studio arts minor) was accepted by both of her first-choice grad programs: University College Dublin and Trinity College Dublin.
- Mary Velazquez, ’23 (studio arts minor) received a Fulbright scholarship to earn a Master of Arts in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University in the UK. A collection of Mary's art was also featured outside of the Julio Fine Arts Gallery during spring 2023.
- Amy Swartz, ’18 (art history minor) began a new position as Museum Collections Manager at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. in January 2023. This followed on her work for Crozier Fine Arts reinstalling exhibitions at the National Air and Space Museum.
- Julia D’Agostino, ’17 (photography & journalism major) is in her 6th year in business as a freelance photographer doing lifestyle, interior design, and environmental photography throughout New England. Julia was recently featured on the cover of New England Home Magazine's annual issue of next CT.
- Ellie Shirocky, ’17 (music & English major) is now the Associate Editor for Music at W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
- Anna DeBlasio, ’15 (theatre & English major) was cast in Us/Them as Girl at Sisters Freehold Theatre Company in Baltimore.
- Nicole Meily, ’15 (art history & history major) has been appointed Director of Academic Administration and Finance in the Department of Philosophy at Columbia University.
- Tenley Pitonzo, ’13 (theatre major), an Actors' Equity Association stage manager, was the lead stage manager for Our Town at Baltimore Center Stage in fall 2022 and for Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner at Woolly Mammoth Theatre in Washington, D.C., in spring 2023.
- Dr. Nora Benedict, ’10 (art history minor) was awarded the Michael F. Adams Early Career Scholar Award for her work while an Assistant Professor of Spanish at the University of Georgia.
- Eileen Wold, ’00 (studio arts major) presented her work to Professor Akre’s Landscape (SA 315) classes this spring and discussed her research on climate change. In the past year, Ms. Wold has created outdoor temporary drawing installations at the Desert Dairy Residency outside of Joshua Tree and the Verdancy Residency in Oregon.
- Hilary Hachey, ’94 (studio arts major) participated in the American Craft Council’s juried American Craft Made Marketplace at the Baltimore Convention Center.
Faculty Achievements
- Dr. Natka Bianchini directed Us/Them by Carly Wijs for Sisters Freehold Theatre Company in September 2022, featuring Anna DeBlasio, ’15, and stage managed by Annie Malady, ’17. She also directed Hurricane Diane for Iron Crow Theatre in January/February 2023 with stage management by Julie Anderson, ’17, and scenic design by Rowan Suder, ’17.
- Dr. Kerry Boeye published an article with Dr. Mavis Biss, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Loyola, titled "Deep Interdisciplinarity: Team-Teaching and Critical Thinking about Art" in the Journal of Aesthetic Education. Additionally, Dr. Boeye gave two conference papers: "Radical Empathy and the Experience of Art History" at the 78th annual SECAC conference in October and "Confederate Chivalry: A Disputed Ideal in Newspapers of the Civil War and Reconstruction" at the 98th annual meeting of the Medieval Academy of America in February.
- Dr. Jim Bunzli received a grant from Loyola's Summer Research Grant Program to support the creation and performance of a new autobiographical solo work entitled “1973 Dodge Monaco Station Wagon”.
- Professor Billy Friebele received a grant from Loyola's Summer Research Grant Program to support his ongoing research of rivers using waterproof cameras. The funds will be used to assist in the design of a new floating camera system with improved capabilities.
- Dr. Barnaby Nygren published a book chapter titled "Singing Sibyls: Music, Inspiration, Labor, and Art on the Sistine Chapel Ceiling" in Music and Visual Culture in Renaissance Italy. Dr. Nygren also published an article titled "'They Had Fiery Eyes': Dogs, Fables, and History at La Casa del que Mató al Animal," in the journal Latin American and Latinx Visual Culture.
- Professor Daniel Pinha was selected to be part of the prestigious 2023 Latinx Theatre Commons Designer & Director Colaboratorio in Portland, Oregon, this summer. The event, hosted by the Latinx Theatre Commons, is a five-day series of learning opportunities designed to encourage authentic creative expressions and collaboration between Latinx designers and directors.
Visual & Performing Arts Off-Campus
Work-Study Opportunities
The Visual and Performing Arts Department has Federal Work-Study positions open in music, photography, and theatre! Interested students should submit their applications via Handshake at the beginning of the fall semester. Students who are eligible for Federal Work-Study for the 2023-2024 academic year are strongly encouraged to check their Loyola email account over the summer for important communications from the Office of Financial Aid.