|
 On
Commencement Weekend, the chapel was filled with proud families, faculty,
staff, and fellow students. The conductor of the Concert Band, a striking
figure in black and white formal, stepped onto the podium and raised
a baton to begin the next piece.
It wasn't the College's
band director, however—it was graduating senior Brendan Anderson,
directing the premiere of I Believe, a composition for band and
choir that he wrote and that he calls the culmination of his four years
of composition study at Augsburg College.
Just before that,
graduating music therapy major and trombonist Sara Seekins took the
podium to conduct the band in Carnival in Venice.
Students at Augsburg
are challenged, stretched in their creativity, and encouraged to express
themselves in ways that perhaps even they didn't expect. Seekins speaks
of her experience, "Augsburg gave me the chance to grow in an area
where I never before would have had the chance to achieve. The experience
made me feel competent and prepared to try other challenges in the future."
Classrooms
in the city
Much of this exploration
is done outside the classroom. With world-class art museums, theaters,
choirs, and symphonies of the Twin Cities available nearly a short trip
from campus, Augsburg extends its classrooms beyond its campus to allow
students to learn by seeing, by doing, and by working with professionals.
"We can train
past the traditional music education and performance. We can show people
really what it takes to make it in the real world—it's not out
of books, it's out of experience," says Robert Stacke ’71,
chair of Augsburg's music department.
Augsburg music students
have found numerous ways to get tastes of real-world music. Students
have played at Camp Snoopy in the Mall of America, sung with the Minnesota
Opera, played in rock bands at local restaurants, entertained at professional
sports games, performed on campus for small events and gallery openings,
and collaborated with videographers to provide music scores.
 This
experience, says Stacke, "teaches them, for instance, how to communicate
as a director what they want before they are thrust into a situation
where's it's swim or sink." These students then become role models
for other students, he says.
Perhaps the most
engaging of Augsburg's student performing groups is Gospel Praise, who
deliver a powerful blend of gospel and jazz vocals supported by a jazz
big band sound. Stacke founded the group in 1991; several Augsburg alumni
mentored 18 student instrumentalists, while Anthony Brewer and the Brewer
Family Choir coached a half dozen student vocalists. Since then, Gospel
Praise has brought crowds to their feet at three national Lutheran Youth
 Gatherings
and performed across the country, occasionally including Brewer as guest
artist.
For theatre students,
being in the heart of the West Bank theatre district and within walking
distance of the new Guthrie Theater site gives them access to performances,
internships, and connections with theatre professionals. Several of
the area's small theaters have become home to theatre graduates seeking
stage experience.
The proximity and
connections also bring arts professionals to campus—for workshops
with students, performances, exhibitions, and teaching. During this
academic year, for example, the theatre department's Artist Series will
host a series of sessions with technical directors, actors, educators,
filmmakers, dramaturgs, and voice-over artists from professional theaters
and agencies in the Twin Cities to explain and illustrate their crafts
to students.
 Also
near campus are the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Walker Art
Center, as well as the lively gallery districts in downtown and northeast
Minneapolis, and architectural gems studied in art history classes.
Students visit these places and others, like the Como Conservatory,
for viewing and making art. Artists from the community speak with classes
about their work while their shows are in the Gage Family Art Gallery.
Since opening in
1997, the Gage Gallery has participated in major citywide exhibitions
in both national and international contexts, that have included other
area college galleries, the University of Minnesota, Minnesota Crafts
Council, American-Swedish Institute, and commercial city galleries.
Championing individuality Augsburg's small size allows faculty to mentor
their students throughout their studies, encouraging them in whatever
directions their talents and interests take them.
"I think
we really champion individuality here," notes Stacke. "We
want to develop people's potential to the fullest. If it's individualistic,
that's better, because it brings creativity to us. It can be diverse
talents—opera, classical piano, jazz drumming, trumpet playing.
They are all given an opportunity to grow here."
Martha Johnson,
chair of the speech, communications, and theatre arts department, agrees.
"We watch our students and we mentor them all the way through,"
she says. "They get a holistic view of theatre. Our goals are that
they are not just actors, but they have to know how to do basic design;
they have to know how to work backstage and they have to be in a crew."
With the theatre
department's strong commitment to produce the highest quality theatre
productions possible, theatre students get valuable experience in the
three main stage productions each year, which are directed by theatre
faculty. Thirty to 40 students have  roles
in each production—acting on stage, serving as assistant directors
or designers, and working in set design, lighting, costuming, and front
house tasks. In addition, four or five studio productions each year
involve 10 to 20 students who prepare and present scenes from classes
or individual theatre projects.
Professors as
artists
The strength of
Augsburg's connections in the community is largely due to the involvement
of faculty in their own professional fields.
"We all take
pride in the fact that we're not just here at the College, but we're
all involved in community—we're playing in Broadway shows, we're
playing in the Minnesota Opera, at the Basilica, in pick-up orchestras,
and recording sessions," says Stacke.
 It's
not unusual for students to perform alongside their professors. Stacke
tells that harpist Emily Gerard ’03 was chosen as harpist at the
Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis, giving her the chance to play alongside
Stacke, a percussionist there.
Last summer, Johnson
and Darcey Engen ’88, also a theatre faculty member, co-wrote and
performed a play, Floating Mothers, at the Playwrights' Center.
They were delighted, and felt quite honored, when a number of their
students came for the premiere and could share first-performance jitters
with their professors.
Johnson sums up
her department's philosophy: "We're proactive in keeping ourselves
involved in the community, in getting our students out in the community,
and in getting the community  onto
our campus."
Also central to
the fine arts mission is outreach to high schools. On Drama Day, the
theatre department hosts 100 high school students and their teachers,
some of whom are Augsburg alumni, for a day on campus. Students attend
workshops offered by Augsburg faculty, theatre students, and visiting
area theatre professionals; and they attend a theatre performance on
campus.
The art department's
Tara Christopherson is a graphic designer as well as a teacher, and
brings her professional expertise, exhibit experience, and community
connections to the classroom.
Arts for a lifetime
Augsburg's broad
liberal arts curriculum is designed to help students learn about and
understand the world in all its complexity and diversity. Engagement
in the arts, through studies or participation, helps free students from
everyday, finite experience and encourages their creativity, awareness,
openness, and sensitivity.
Art department chair
Kristin Anderson describes the studio art major as an "open"
major, flexible enough to educate students for life, not just for a
specific career. The  art
department's foundation course teaches students the basic vocabulary
of design and form that serves them in careers, families, and home,
and helps them become visually literate. The arts teach students to
see, appreciate, and understand in new ways.
Beginning
this fall, all Augsburg students are required to spend one semester
in an "Augsburg Experience"—study abroad, internship,
research with faculty, or service-learning. While arts and literature
enable students to experience other worlds vicariously, a study tour
that explores the "sights and sounds of Europe" or an internship
at a casting agency allows students to step into that world for a short
time.
As throughout the
Augsburg curriculum, fine arts courses are designed to be interdisciplinary.
Johnson describes the theatre arts program as a place where the liberal
arts meet—where a play may involve looking at history, literature,
psychology, philosophy, religion, or music. "When we direct a play,
we oftentimes pull in people from those disciplines to help us understand
it," she says. "When we did Ibsen's A Doll's House,
[Professor of Norwegian] Frankie Shackelford helped explain the language
and culture to us."
Courses beyond
the usual
Characteristic to
Augsburg's fine arts curriculum are courses that combine solid classroom
learning with hands-on practice. A number of courses and collaborations
offer students unusual opportunities.
Established 25 years
ago, Augsburg's music therapy program remains the only one at a private
college in Minnesota. With expanding critical health care needs, especially
among older adults, Augsburg's program gives students the background
and training, including a six-month internship, to  become
active participants in emerging developments for the role of music therapy
in health care. Augsburg alumni are in the forefront in contributing
research and new practice to a field that is becoming an integral part
of mainstream health care.
An initiative that
promotes arts collaboration is a multimedia lab cluster for music, theatre,
and the visual arts—a lab equipped with the latest digital technology
to support exploration across disciplines. Already, graphics art courses
have attracted computer science majors, who can apply their sensibilities
and knowledge from computer courses to explore digital art and imaging
for new media.
Two new initiatives
in the music department respond to emerging workplace needs. A new minor
in music business, created in collaboration with the business administration
department, is aimed at music students who wish some knowledge of business
practices, as well as at majors in other areas who wish to pursue careers
in the music industry.
Further exploration
of cutting edge music technology can be pursued in collaboration with
Musictech College in St. Paul. Augsburg students can use their technology
and equipment for the recording and electronic music industry, while
Musictech students can transfer to Augsburg to complete a liberal arts
degree.
Increasing
the professional options for art students also influenced the creation
of an architecture minor in the art department. Students who have appreciation
and interest for design in the context of community can take advantage
of Augsburg's liberal arts focus and be in a strong position to apply
for a graduate-level professional degree in architecture.
Augsburg's theatre
department offers a number of courses that set it apart from other small
liberal arts colleges. A teaching partnership between music and theatre
faculty has built enthusiasm and interest in music-theatre. Students
can participate in a semester-long course and prepare scenes for performance
in the Studio Series.
Other seldom-offered
theatre courses found at Augsburg include playwrighting, Asian and Asian-American
theatre, and—especially appealing for adult weekend students—a
dance-theatre licensure program for teachers seeking state licensure
to teach in public schools.
A film minor, seldom
offered in small colleges, has been extremely popular since its inception
several years ago. Interdisciplinary in nature, it is grounded in theatre
and builds on the  synergy
and historical links between theatre and film. Students study acting,
directing, set design and lighting, as well as courses in 16mm film,
broadcast production, documentary video, and contemporary issues in
film.
Perhaps nowhere,
however, are the fine arts expressed as beautifully or extensively as
Augsburg's annual Advent Vespers program. Four services of majestic
music, worship, and liturgy held during the first week in December are
the College's holiday gift to the community and draw more than 10,000
people each year. Several choirs, a special orchestra, liturgical readers,
and a colorful processional designed by campus ministry students highlight
the event.
For the College,
it's a powerful showcase for ministry of music in mission to community.
For students, it's a great opportunity for leadership in planning a
huge event involving many sectors of the Augsburg community. And for
the alumni, donors, friends of the College, and the community, it's
a time to celebrate the season through the arts at Augsburg.
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We
invite you to click on the following links to explore Augsburg's fine
arts through the stories of its faculty, students, and alumni:
MAJOR
& MINOR AREAS OF STUDY
Art
department
Studio art major and minor*
Art history major and minor
Architecture minor
Certificate in art*
Certificate in art: graphic design*
Music
department
Music major (B.A.) major and minor
Music education (B.M.) major
Music performance (B.M.) major
Music therapy (B.S.) major
Music business minor
Theatre
arts department
Theatre arts major and minor
Dance and theatre (teacher licensure major) Theatre history and criticism
minor
Dramaturgy minor
Film minor
*Can
be completed through Weekend College—weekend students may choose
other majors in the day program, take as many courses as possible in
Weekend College, and finish the major as a day program student.
For
information about Augsburg College and its fine arts program, visit
www.augsburg.edu,
or call 612-330-1001 or 1-800-788-5678; or
e-mail admissions@augsburg.edu.
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Augsburg
Department of Fine Arts
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