The event is free and open to the public.

For more information call 482-5210.

The Dr. Tommy Comeaux Endowed Chair in Traditional Music is pleased to present its artists in residence for the Spring 2013 semester at UL Lafayette, the faculty and students of the University of Rennes 2 in Brittany, France. During their concert at Angelle Hall on Monday April 15, the visiting French group will perform music drawn directly from or inspired by Breton traditional music, including songs in the Breton language and also the Gallo dialect of French, “Celtic jazz,” and traditional dance music.

Université Rennes 2 music faculty members Yves Defrance, Loïc Gourvennec, and Didier Ropers will be joined by some sixteen graduate diploma students who are studying how to become teaching artists in elementary schools and other settings.

Three of these students will perform at Festival International de Louisiane, April 27-28 on the Scène des Enfants (Children’s Stage). The trio, named Tammat (a Breton expression meaning “good time”), consists of Amélie Dalibert (vocals), Tristan Le Breton (guitar), and Manu Maisonnier (accordion).

One of nine such training programs in France, the Rennes 2 program specializes in the use of Breton music and dance as well as traditional music from around the world. Each year, ethnomusicologist Yves Defrance, a scholar of Breton music, leads his second-year students on a field trip abroad to share their music and to absorb music of the host country. This year, the group has chosen south Louisiana as their field destination.

During their one-week stay on the university campus, the French students will visit university classes, attend Cajun jam sessions, receive special instruction by UL Lafayette faculty, and apply their training by visiting French immersion classrooms in the Lafayette Parish School System.

On the last night of their two-week field excursion, the Rennes group will take part in the opening event of La Semaine Française in Arnaudville, LA. The April 19 potluck and party will take place at Nunu’s Arts and Cultural Collective, 1510 Bayou Courtableau Highway, Arnaudville, 6:30-9pm, and will feature traditional Cajun and Breton music and dance. The event kicks off a conference on cultural economy and creative placemaking that will continue April 20-24 and feature several speakers from Brittany (Bretagne) and Acadiana. For more information about La Semaine Française, go to www.semaine-francaise-arnaudville.org.

The mission of the Dr. Tommy Comeaux Endowed Chair in Traditional Music at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette is to promote an appreciation for the foundations and diversity of traditional music worldwide and to advance the preservation, instruction, and performance of traditional music from all cultures and historical periods with special emphasis on the music indigenous to the Acadiana region. The program began in the Fall of 2010. It is now possible to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Music with a concentration in Traditional Music. New classes and programs continue to be developed with involvement from musicians in the community.

For more information about the concert, please call 337-482-6012.

Monday, April 15, 2013, 5:00 pm
Presented by Students and Faculty of Université Rennes 2
Brittany, France
Free admission
Doors open at 4:45 pm
Angelle Hall, Ducrest-Gilfry Auditorium

The “Big Bang” 2013 featuring the UL Lafayette Percussion Ensemble, Steel Drum Band, Afro-Caribbean Ensemble, and African Drum and Dance Ensemble. With special Guest Artists Mark Ford (Marimba virtuoso and Director of Percussion at the University of North Texas), Jeff Mills (Drum Set artist and instructor at the Univ. of Southern Miss.), and Ashleigh D’Aunoy (African dance specialist).  Friday, April 12, 7:30 PM, Angelle Hall, $5 at the door, Free with UL Student or Faculty ID.

UL-Lafayette Faculty members Michael Blaney (violin), William Plummer (harpsichord) and guest artists Molly Goforth (cello), Stephanie Pielok (violin) will present a Baroque Chamber Music Recital on Monday, April 8, at 7:30 p.m., in UL’s Angelle Hall Choral Room (room 153). The program will include: Leclair, Première Récréation De Musique; Corette, Sonatille IV; Purcell, Sonata IV; Mattheson, Sonata II and Corelli, Sonata Decima.  A wonderful opportunity to hear Baroque music treasures not often performed in Lafayette.  This recital is free and open to the public. For more information please call the UL School of Music at 482-6012.

The 2nd Annual Visual Arts Faculty Portfolio Raffle is now underway! Thirteen amazing works by thirteen amazing Visual Arts professors are on exhibit in the Dean’s Gallery, Fletcher 202. All the works are approximately 9 X 12 inches and comprise this year’s portfolio to raise funds in support of the College of the Arts’ programs and students.

Raffle tickets are $5 each and are available during business hours in the Dean’s Office (Fletcher 205). Tickets will also be on sale at ArTech Fusion 13 on March 8, 6:30pm, at the Acadiana Center for the Arts. The winning ticket will be drawn during the ArTech Fusion 13 program on March 8.

To view the entire portfolio online, click HERE

“She sees patterns as cultural DNA,” said Renate Dohmen, an assistant professor of visual arts who invited Dohmen to UL Lafayette. “Her work is relevant to painters, 3-D graphic artists, photographers and others.” Dohmen teaches art history, including a course on Islamic art.

Bittar will give to two talks, which are open to students and the public.

On Wednesday, Feb. 20 at noon, she will present “Inside Arabic Calligraphy: from Alef to Zaha.” Alef refers to the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, Zaha to Zaha Hadid, an award-winning Iraqi-British architect who incorporates flowing lines — like those in Arabic calligraphy — in contemporary designs. Bittar will speak at Fletcher Hall, Room 134. She will discuss how a spatial “reading” of Arabic calligraphy has influenced artists and architects, including Hadid.

On Thursday, Feb. 21, from 2:00 p.m. until 3:15 p.m., she will talk about her own work in a presentation called “Doris Bittar: Core Patterns.” The presentation will be held in Griffin Hall, Room 147.

Bittar teaches at California State University, San Marcos. She holds a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from State University of New York at Purchase and a master’s degree in fine arts from the University of California, San Diego. Her work is represented by galleries in California, Switzerland and Jordan. She has participated in exhibitions in the Middle East, Europe and the United States.

ArTech Fusion 13
March 8, 6:30pm
Acadiana Center for the Arts

The ACA is partnering with UL Lafayette College of the Arts for this unforgettable evening of art infused with technology. ArTech Fusion 13 is the Opening Night for UL Lafayette’s annual Festival of the Arts. Join us for food and fun as faculty, students and community partners present one-of-a-kind performances the Lafayette way, featuring music, animation, poetry, traditional music, dance, film and more. Ray McIntyre, Jr., visual digital effects artist and supervisor of Pixel Magic (LITE Center, Lafayette) will receive the College of the Arts SPARK Lifetime Achievement Award. The winner of the 2nd Annual Department of Visual Arts Faculty Portfolio Raffle will be drawn during the program. Raffle tickets are $5 and will be on sale at the event.

Admission: Students $5, UL Faculty/Staff $10, General Public $20.

Purchase tickets online at: http://artechfusion13.eventbrite.com or call the College of the Arts (337.482.6224).

Ray McIntyre, Jr., digital visual effects artist and supervisor at Pixel Magic, will receive the 2013 SPARK Lifetime Achievement Award during Festival of the Arts this spring. Most of the digital work of Pixel Magic is now conducted at the LITE Center right here in Lafayette, and many graduates of the Department of Visual Arts have been employed by Pixel Magic upon graduation. McIntyre will be honored at this year’s Opening Night for Festival of the Arts. The event will be held March 8 at the Acadiana Center for the Arts, and is entitled, ArTech Fusion 13.

Ray McIntyre Jr. was born in Grimsby, Ontario, Canada and moved to Southern California with his parents at the age of 6.  After graduating from Chaminade High School, he attended California State University, Long Beach and graduated with a degree in Ocean Engineering.  Early jobs included working in film laboratories and learning the film business.

In 1985 Ray and a college classmate started a business and created computer controlled optical camera systems. This mechanized the optical camera and allowed it to be programmed to run automatically.  Among others, their business counted NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston as a customer.

After graduation, Ray worked as Chief Engineer of Baron Autoclave, where he created software for closed loop control of autoclaves.   These machines were necessary for curing composite carbon fiber and kevlar parts utilized in aeronautics.

In 1989, he joined Optical Cinema Service, his dad’s company, which was doing traditional non-computerized opticals.  With desktop computers and software becoming more available, Ray looked to the future, converted the facility to an all digital visual effects house, renamed the company Pixel Magic and stepped into the digital age.

Today, Ray is a partner in Pixel Magic and oversees all creative operations at their facilities in Hollywood, CA and Lafayette, LA. He is hired by movie studios as an on-set visual effects supervisor to design, shoot and complete the director’s vision.

In the short time since opening their office in the LITE Center in 2009, the office in Lafayette has become their primary facility for executing vfx work.  Pixel Magic Lafayette has worked on movies such as Secretariat, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Parts 1 & 2, Oscar nominated The Help, and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1.

Ray was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1996 for HBO’s acclaimed Tuskegee Airmen.  In  2004 he won the Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects for his work in Warner Brothers’ The Last Samurai.  He also won an International Monitor Award in 1998 for his work in Caspaer Meets Wendy.

Deborah Cornell is the Chair of Printmaking at Boston University’s College of Fine Arts. Her works in printmaking and multimedia installation are shown internationally, with recent solo shows in Buenos Aires, Venice, Iceland, and St. Petersburg Russia as well as in New York and Boston.

Students can attend her lecture in Fletcher Hall Room 301 at 10 am on Monday, February 4th.