Author Archives: Rosalynne Whitaker-Heck

John Killacky’s Embodied Voice: Video Narratives

A retrospective of John R. Killacky’s videos will be on view Jan. 19 through Feb. 16, 2018 at the Champlain College Art Gallery. Killacky, executive director of the Flynn Center, has made numerous films and videos in his hybrid career.

The opening reception with the artist will be Friday, Jan. 26 at 5 p.m. Included will be three AIDS-related works from the ‘90s, three disability-themed pieces from the 2000’s and two recent video collaborations with Vermont artists; Todd R. Lockwood and Art Bell.

The Champlain College Center for Publishing and the Champlain College Art Gallery collaborated to produce an Artist’s Catalog for this exhibit, and Professional Writing Student Lenny Farrell ’18 interviewed Killacky about the show.

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“Shadows and Vines” Photo Exhibit at Penny Cluse Cafe

Jordan Douglas is a noted Burlington, Vermont photographer who teaches black-and-white darkroom and digital photography as an adjunct professor in the Division of Communication and Creative Media at Champlain College. His current body of work is entitled, “Shadows and Vines,” a series of black and white images that were taken using a $25 plastic medium format […]

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The Power of Play: Spacebox part of Chicago Design Museum Exhibit

The Power of Play How did a cardboard box make its way into a museum? By playing with the ordinary until it became extraordinary. Champlain College’s Emergent Media Center Sandbox Team brought its project, SpaceBox, to the Chicago Design Museum’s Hey! Play! exhibit this fall, where it will stay until February 2018, running parallel to its showcasing in the Innovation Playground exhibit at ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain.

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CCM Announces Weathervane 4.0

Weathervane is the official digital magazine of the Division of Communication and Creative Media, fully produced by students and faculty under the direction of Kim MacQueen, Managing Editor of the Center For Publishing and CCM Dean Paula Willoquet-Maricondi. Weathervane features news stories and profiles showcasing CCM students, faculty, and alumni. It celebrates the talent and achievements of the CCM Division […]

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Film Professor TURNS Movie CRITIC

Professor of Filmmaking at Champlain College Julia Swift has been tapped to provide weekly movie reviews for the local news segment, At the Box Office. The segment airs on Fridays from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on myChamplainValley.com, which partners with Local 22 & Local 44 in covering news and entertainment for the Champlain Valley area. Swift will critique the latest movies, from family favorites such as Spider-man Homecoming to more serious movies like Dunkirk. Her reviews can be found on the myChamplainValley.com website.

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Filmmaking Major Wins Student New England Emmys

The Boston/New England division of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has announced that Shirley Reid, a senior Filmmaking major, has won two Student New England Emmys. Reid was the winner in the Animation/Graphics/Special Effects category as producer/director and designer, as well as the winner in the Audio/Sound category as sound designer.

Filmmaking Senior Shirley Reid wins two student Emmys

Reid pulls her inspiration for her work from a worldview philosophy. “There is a ballet of crisis and spectacle inherent in my world view. The struggle between beauty and war, generosity and greed, ecstasy and terror, narrowed into meaningful minutiae is what I strive to explore with video and digital media,” says Reid.

She also credits mentors Gordon Glover, Malcolm Francis, Eric Sample, Julia Swift, Kevin Murakami and Gary Scudder, who she says she owes “a renewed sense of awe in the splendor of people, even my fellow students, and the rest of earth’s wonders and agonies.” Reid was surprised that she has been honored this way, but despite taking the road less traveled by, she believes in her message: “Be vigilant and grateful. I look for the moment when my actors engage in themselves and the moment. As the Buddhist saying goes: you cannot invite wind, but you must leave the window open.”

Champlain College Student Showcase Premieres on Vermont PBS

Promo Video

The Division of Communication and Creative Media at Champlain College and Vermont PBS have partnered to present a one-hour broadcast premiere of Champlain College Student Showcase to air on Vermont PBS at 8 p.m. on Thursday, March 2. The program, which is a collection of 12 student-produced works by 17 Broadcast Media Production and Filmmaking majors, will be part of Vermont PBS’ Made Here segment which “defines a broad range of content from local filmmakers, allowing Vermont PBS to share a wider range of local stories as seen through many different eyes.” Coordinators of the Champlain College Student Showcase are Senior Manager of Local Content- Vermont PBS Eric Ford and Professor Van Dora Williams, program director of Broadcast Media Production, Filmmaking and Sonic Arts at Champlain College. http://current.org/2016/12/with-made-here-initiative-vermont-pbs-homes-in-on-locally-sourced-programming/

The Champlain College Student Showcase line-up:

Student Producers	Project Titles
Kaylee Mumford, Veronica Minor, Caroline Noll	Vermont Symphony Orchestra Green Room
Caleb Cioffi and Spencer Pearson	Burlington Records
Olivia Lyons	Mural Project
Olivia Lyons	12 Hour Comics Day
Alex Sabatell	Rising Stars in Burlington Music
Kamerin Stroud	Serenity
Tyler Killer	Circles
Sean Goodwin	Rule 3
Dillan Hodak	Celluloid Stories
Christa Bennett	STEM
Katherine Lawrence, John Amigo, Scott Nickerson, Kirsten Potts	Old Spokes Home
Ryland Chin	Pine Island Community Farm

Additional Champlain College Student Showcase Airings:

Thursday, March 2, 8 p.m. on Vermont PBS
Friday, March 3, 2 a.m. on Vermont PBS
Wednesday, March 8, 8 p.m. on Vermont PBS Plus
Wednesday, March 8, 8 p.m. on Vermont PBS Plus
Saturday, March 18, 2:30 p.m. on Vermont PBS Plus
Saturday, March 18, 2:30 p.m. on Vermont PBS Plus
Thursday, March 30, 9 p.m. on Vermont PBS Plus
Thursday, March 30, 9 p.m. on Vermont PBS Plus

Rhea Hayes Selected as Al Roker Entertainment Intern

Broadcast Media Production Senior selected as intern for Al Roker Entertainment

You may be familiar with the name Al Roker, the Emmy-winning host and weatherman of NBC’s Today Show. He also is the CEO of Al Roker Entertainment, Inc. (ARE) http://www.alroker.com/ and Rhea Hayes, a Broadcast Media Production rising senior will be an intern with the multimedia company in the Fall. Rhea, who will live in New York City for the internship, will be researching new ideas/concepts and following trends online, pitching ideas, and assisting producers. Rhea credits her Broadcast instructor, Keith Oppenheim, for her training on the school’s Tricaster live streaming system that she says gave her a competitive edge since ARE also uses a Tricaster for its productions.

David Rocchio, Founder of Stowe Story Labs presents fellowship awards to filmmaking majors with Dean Willoquet-Maricondi.

Champlain College celebrated the success of its stellar students in the Division of Communication and Creative Media (CCM) by awarding $1,000 CCM Dean’s Scholarships for eligible returning undergraduate students and 10 CCM Excel Awards for graduating seniors.

The recognitions took place during the Honors Night ceremony on Thursday, April 13 at Champlain College. The event featured a Star Art reception where the honorees and their guests mingled with student artists who painted watercolor works of celestial-themed art on site.

In addition, winners of the annual Vermont Association of Broadcasters Scholarship were announced, as well as recipients of the Stowe Story Lab Fellowships for aspiring filmmakers presented by Founder David Rocchio, and the CCM Dean’s Choice Award for the college’s second annual 2017 Juried Student Exhibition.

“We are tremendously proud of our CCM students’ accomplishments. Honors Night is an opportunity to publicly recognize and celebrate their talent and hard work, and their dedication to serving Champlain’s mission of being ‘the finest small, globally and professional focused college in the United States,” says Paula Willoquet-Maricondi, Dean of CCM.

See the photos from the event HERE

CCM Dean’s Scholarship winners: Broadcast Media Production Major – Kirsten Potts, Sophomore; Communication Major – Jessica Shultz, Sophomore; Creative Media Major – Jeremy Partyka, Junior; Filmmaking Major – Simeon Pol, Junior; Game Art & Animation Major – Colton Orr, Junior; Game Design Major – Amanda Gates, Sophomore; Graphic Design & Digital Media Major – Rachel Farrell, Sophomore; Professional Writing Major – Jordan Upshaw, Sophomore; and Public Relations Major – Jadelynn Ye, Junior.

CCM Senior Excel Award winners: Dillon Delogue, Broadcast Media Production Major; Sarah Steward, Communication Major; Ricky Rizzo, Creative Media Major; Gillian Racine, Filmmaking Major; Emma Campbell, Game Art & Animation Major; Levi Rohr, Game Design Major; Zachary Denis, Graphic Design & Digital Media Major; Sarah Wilkinson, Professional Writing Major; Margaret Kuchinski, Public Relations Major; and Laura Fillbach, MFA in Emergent Media Major.

Dean’s CCM Choice Award – Juried Student Art Exhibition winner: McKenzie Brandon, Sophomore – Creative Media Major

Stowe Story Labs Fellowship winners: Cassandra Crowley, Senior – Filmmaking Major and
Brian Holder, Junior – Filmmaking Major

Vermont Association of Broadcasters Scholarship winners: McKenzie Cordell, Junior – Broadcast Media Production Major; Noah Kidney, Junior – Broadcast Media Production Major; Kaylee Mumford, Junior – Broadcast Media Production Major; John (Spencer) Pearson, Junior – Broadcast Media Production Major

ChampTalk Presents “Free Speech in the Classroom”

The second live event in the groundbreaking “ChampTalk” series will tackle a hot-button issue both on the Champlain campus and nationwide: free speech in the classroom.

The event, which is free, will take place in Champlain College’s Alumni Auditorium on Thursday, April 6 at 8:30 p.m. and will feature two speakers: CCM Assistant Dean Dr. Eric Ronis, and Special Assistant to the Provost, Diversity and Inclusion in Academics, and Jade Ye, a junior public relations major and Lead Student Ambassador. Ye will be speaking on “Freedom of Communication and the Responsibility of Listening” and Ronis will be speaking on “Redeeming The Unreasonable: Free and Familial Discourse in the College Classroom.”

Ronis has been researching the state of inclusion in Champlain classrooms for a year now. His speech draws on this as well as his lifetime of experiences as a performance artist, gay rights advocate, and academic. Ye’s speech compares how public relations professionals are taught to skillfully communicate with what she has observed in her classrooms at Champlain. Both talks aim to enlighten the audience on how to strengthen the climate of freedom of speech on campus specifically through the art of listening.

In the fall of 2016, President of the College Donald Laackman released his personal statement on his views on the topic in which he said, “A college or university must be a place where members of the community explore ideas without inhibition and pursue knowledge without hesitation,” but that “threats, harassment or disruptions of fundamental functions undercut the respect we should afford each other and cannot be permitted.” The talk’s goal is to further open these discussions, and Ronis and Ye will be giving both the faculty and student perspectives on this complex topic.

About ChampTalk

The event was created by a group of students in Champlain’s Publishing in the 21st Century class who were inspired by the flood of discussions regarding free speech on college campuses. The “ChampTalk” is directly inspired by the infamous “TedTalk,” and operates in the same format. The talks are about 15 minutes each, will each give a personal perspective on the topic, and are delivered in a narrative style that engages the audience. For more information, contact Maggie Bean at maggie.bean@mymail.champlain.edu.