This week I had no school except for Tuesday when I met my Web class but only had about 6 students make it in. So the university gave it up for the weather, closing and canceling classes every other day. It's been very cold, snowy and challenging.
Keith and I met with Emily Wiethorn and John David Richardson yesterday for lunch to catch up on their quest for graduate school decisions. I am so proud of them and how well they have done with their applications. Emily and John got accepted at Nebraska, Texas Womens, UConn and are going to have their final decision by Monday. My guess is Nebraska is going to win. Emily also got accepted at Kansas State; and John also got in to Georgia, was interviewed by Florida State and has an on campus interview scheduled for Nortre Dame. I think they impressed the committees at the grad programs with their photo work, their maturity and their work ethic. I look forward to seeing how they proceed and what will unfold for them as they move through graduate school. Any choice they make for where to go will be a good one. Each program offers such great faculty, strong student work, and opportunities for travel.
Our or Keith's progress on the building in Maysville is moving forward, even if slowly due to the cold, the weather and the complications of renovation. Next week he will get a dumptster so he will be able to get rid of a ton of debris from walls taken down and things removed. That will free up space to begin to reframe the rental space. We had a great bid on track lighting and the solution to the choice for LED lighting for the gallery from Danny Sidebottom at A&S Electric in Erlanger. Danny is Sara's brother. Sara is a very dear friend and the university attorney. I did not realize that her brother worked at A&S. Michael Keating got me to go over there with him to look at the lighting because he was so impressed with what they had in their showroom. I got a bid from someone else there before I began talking to Danny who convinced me that there was a better solution than the very pricey wall washer LED lights which cost about $500 per light head. He came up with $24 heads and LED balanced bulbs that would do the same based on the distance from the lit wall. We decided on the color of the light and the order will go in on Thursday.
John David has been helping us with the peeling paint on the tin ceiling over the gallery and studio space and once that is complete, it will be painted a beautiful deep charcoal grey with a matte surface. Then we can have the lights installed, paint the rest of the walls and add the trim. Keith wants to work on the floor, but I think we can put that off for a while due to all the other jobs that are much more pressing. He is going to rip out the unneeded walls in his work space on 1 and then he can deal with getting the bathroom there back in working shape. He's going to have a nice sized work space for his power tools and sculpture.
Diane Kruer had her opening of a 25 year retrospective of her work at NKU, but the gallery has been closed due to the weather. That is really a shame for her since the work is remarkable. I want her to come talk to the advanced students about her approach to her work especially on the photographs.
So, my last semester teaching has been good so far. My classes are fun, the students are working quite hard to reach their goals, and my sense of humor has re-emerged. Next month, I go to the SPE meeting in New Orleans and will get to see Melanie Spencer Warner from our class of 2000 or there about and lots of my photo friends, especially Kenda.
The university has formed a new School of the Arts with Ken Jones as the new director. They were a bit premature since there were no plans for how it would operate and the folks are scrambling now to figure this out. I think the School is a good idea, but a College would have been better. I believe that will come in time like it did for Education. I just am happy that I will be retired and will not have to live through the growing pains this will cause. I am extremely disappointed that the university in its shortsightedness did not do a search for my position this year to add continuity to the program. I have hopes that they will regain the position for photo and do a search next year. Matt certainly will need the help because it's a lot to do for him and with Chris as an instructor, he should not have to carry more than a teaching load. My retiring is freeing up a big pile of money for them.
I received Emeritus Status from the Board of Regents for my years of service. I am grateful for that.
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