In mid-July, Waterfield went to Shreveport because a family friend told him about the opportunity to be in a film. His head shot, taken by his wife, professional photographer Denise Waterfield, happened to be a winner with the casting agents and Waterfield was offered the opportunity to play Richard Armitage, who served as the deputy secretary of state during George W. Bush’s first term.

When asked if he thought he bore any resemblance to the actual Armitage, Waterfield’s response was quick.

“No, he outweighed me by a couple hundred pounds, but that didn’t bother me. After all, I got to be in an Oliver Stone film!” Waterfield said.

Waterfield’s main scene is in the White House Situation room. While he is in the background in the scene, he is in the company of stars such as Richard Dreyfuss, Scott Glenn, Jeffrey Wright and Bruce McGill.

The actual filming days involving Waterfield were grueling in terms of hours. Most days ranged from 12 to 18 hours not counting the drive back to Magnolia. For that reason, Waterfield said he would have to really think it through before agreeing to be in another movie.

“There is a lot of sitting down and waiting,” Waterfield said. “It would really depend on the movie. It’s kind of more fun to look back on the experience than it was actually doing it.”

But Waterfield didn’t leave the set empty handed. He sweet talked one of the crew members out of a memento, a White House coffee cup. Even though the cup is really just Styrofoam, Waterfield said he treasures the souvenir.

Another way the experience helped Waterfield is by giving him some first-hand experience to relay to students in his film appreciation class that he is teaching this fall. Since Magnolia is about an hour and a half from Shreveport, some of Waterfield’s students have gotten to experience having bit roles in a movie too.

Waterfield has been a faculty member of SAU’s Department of Art and Design since 2000. He became department chair in 2004. Apart from painting, he has also enjoyed some success as a documentary film maker. He has a bachelor’s in fine arts degree in graphic design from Louisiana Tech University, a master of arts in art history from Louisiana State University and a master of fine arts degree from Louisiana Tech University in studio art. He lives in Magnolia with his wife, Denise, and their two children.

“A Journey Home” by Marci Wilson

The Brinson Fine Arts Gallery is pleased to present “A Journey Home,” by Marci Wilson, a senior fine art major at Southern Arkansas University. Through the use of photography Marci takes the viewer down a journey that exists along HWY 82.

The photographic documentation has been a semester long process of capturing the weekend road trips that Marci travels. They are 16×20 digital photographs displayed in chronological order.

Marci uses the effects of light to show changes of the mood in nature. Most of the compositions show a fading of light or sunset. This represents not only the end of another day but also a chance at a new start. The composition of each photograph also stands as symbol of life. “No matter the direction of my destination the road never gets old. There are places along the road that have caught my attention and in an odd way parallel with life.” The subject matter are landmarks that sit along HWY 82. However, the landmarks have become symbols of time, human emotion, and a beauty that changes with the seasons. In efforts to bring to life the everyday objects that often go un-noticed, Marci also brings these pieces together to tell an intimate personal story.

“Senior Exhibition” by Maryam Ahsan Baig

The Brinson Fine Arts Gallery is pleased to present “ Senior Exhibition,” a show of recent work by Maryam Ahsan Baig. The basic structural unit behind her work is the use of color, line work, and organic forms. Printing intaglio on fabric and adding acrylic glazes/ watercolor to each piece created these mixed media pieces.

This compilation of work consists of prints with various compositions, each with their own unique image -yet resemble another in the style and execution. One of the most appealing aspects of these works to Baig was the fact that with one intaglio plate, she can create a different piece with every print. Depth was added to these works by adding light glazes washes of acrylic and watercolors. As it is evident in these pieces, Baig’s work is largely figurative. The basic drive behind these works is the beauty and the organic shape the curves of a female figures embody, can be tied to other forms in nature. The images remain rather abstract that result in an organic image of a landscape. The series is more about the technique and the various compositions.

“Senior Exhibition” by Charlene Kirkpatrick

The Brinson Fine Art Gallery at Southern Arkansas University is pleased to present the “Senior Exhibition,” a show of recent work by four separate artists including Charlene Kirkpatrick. The basic structural unit of Charlene Kirkpatrick’s work is focused on the effects of smoking among the human anatomy. Created by gluing, drawing, and painting smoking ads and pictures onto canvas, it exists as the common foundation for a perfect composition depicting how smoking affects the human body.

The painted-drawn pieces that are the basis of these structures are depicting human figures being comforted but yet pulled down by something unrecognizable. The natural elements that are in cigarettes such as: sugar, chocolate, and honey are some of the elements that are applied to each piece. Charlene Kirkpatrick’s motivation comes from the topic of cancer and has been narrowed down due to smoking being one of the number one causes of cancer today. Like others, she holds a personal interest to the subject. Her grandfather died when she was nine from cancer due to smoking. This has led her to the subject of layers among people and nature. She believes a person’s layers are divided by their social standing and their well-being. She believes strongly in speaking her mind as a woman and as a person who also suffers from a health issue.

Charlene Kirkpatrick’s work is increasingly present at Southern Arkansas University. Her work can be seen around Brinson Fine Art Department and at a few businesses in Magnolia Arkansas. Charlene has been selected the past three years to serve as president of Pivot Point; Southern Arkansas University’s art and design organization. Charlene was also selected this year as a recipient of a full performance scholarship at Southern Arkansas University.

For more information, contact Scotland Stout at (870) 235-4241.

The Student Video Festival was created when Professor Daehwan Cho wanted to give SAU’s new digital media production program more recognition. The festival will showcase videos from high school and college students, and viewing will be open to the public. A variety of student-created videos ranging from documentaries, original commercials and short feature films to animation and music videos will be shown.

For more information, contact Daewahn Cho at dcho@saumag.edu or 870-235-4206.

Ulrich, a wildlife photographer from West Glacier, Mont., will present “Living Wild with Tom Ulrich.” This program will highlight his world travels in 2007 including Costa Rica, all of North America and Hawaii.

Freelancing since 1975, Tom Ulrich has had many of his 600,000 plus transparencies published in many magazines and other publications such as “National Wildlife,” “Audubon,” “Outdoor Oklahoma,” “Sierra,” “American Hunter,” “Ranger Rick,” “Alaska,” “National Geographic,” “Montana Outdoors,” “Life” and many others. He has also published six nature books: “Mammals of the Canadian Rockies,” “Birds of the Canadian Rockies,” “Mammals of the Northern Rockies,” “Birds of the Northern Rockies,” “Once Upon a Frame” and “Photo Pantanal.” Ulrich has received many awards including the mammal behavior category international wildlife photographer of the year in 1987. He is also the winner of multiple national wildlife photo contests

The program is free and open to the public. For more information, call 870-235-5053 or visit www.tomulrichphotos.com/index.htm.

During the session, Stout will discuss the benefits and restrictions that words impose when used compositionally in art, as well as the reason(s) for their use in the first place. According to Stout, the history of the usage of words in art runs the gamut from Simone Martini’s “Annunciation,” to J. Kosuth’s “One and Three Chairs,” which plays with the conceptual nature of the word; to Barbara Kruger’s paintings of social commentary juxtaposing image and phrase; to the use of words outside of conventional syntactic sense as in Jenny Holzers’ running neons.

Other topics of discussion include the point at which the visual image becomes secondary and then superfluous to the words or text that the audience reads; whether words should play an active or passive role in artistic composition; when a word-laden piece of art leaves the realm of the visual arts and enters the domain of text; and how technology has affected the use or perception of words or language in art.

Stout will invite the participation of artists who use any form of text or wording in their art, art historians, and art critics for a discussion of the benefits and detriments of literally reading art.

Scotland Stout is an associate professor of art in the Department of Art and Design at SAU.

For more information, contact Scotland Stout at 870-235-4241.

The guest speaker will be Jerry Hilliard, a research associate with the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville Research Station of the Arkansas Archeological Survey. Hilliard has been an integral part of a group of archeologists who have worked to record rock art across the state for the last three years as part of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Rock art is one of the oldest material forms of human expression. It consists of images that are painted or carved onto natural rock surfaces, such as bluff faces, cave walls, and large boulders. Some images are naturalistic representations of people, plants, animals, and celestial objects. Others are abstract motifs that are more difficult to interpret, but are important for the clues they provide into ancient symbolism. These images occur singly and in groups or panels at sites located in a wide range of environments and geographical areas throughout the world.

Arkansas has a particularly rich assemblage of rock art at sites distributed throughout the central and northwestern parts of the state. The best place for the public to see Arkansas rock art is at Petit Jean State Park, where you can tour Rockhouse Cave. Characteristics of the Petit Jean painted style of rock art include the use of red pigments, line drawings made with finger-width strokes, solitary images, and geometric motifs.

For more information regarding the presentation, call Dr. Jamie Brandon at 870-235-4229.

The exhibition will feature “Clyde Downs: Landscapes 2003-2007.” Hours for the Brinson Arts Gallery are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

“The works in this exhibition reflect my interest in the natural world,” said Downs. “Most of the paintings in this exhibitions are landscapes which allow for experimentation color choices and emotional voicings.”

Downs has been an associate professor of painting and printmaking at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, La., since 1991. In addition, he also teaches courses in illustration and sequential art. He holds a B.A. in advertising design from Louisiana College and an M.F.A. from Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches, Texas.

He is a native of Louisiana and grew up in the Alexandria/Pineville area. He was influenced by the works of N.C. Wyeth, Howard Pyle, and Dr. Seuss that he encountered in the public library as a child. Later, the comics and work of Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and Dick Spring influenced him to study art in college. It was in college that the discovery of the work of Vincent Van Gogh led him to pursue a career in painting. Realizing that art could tell stories (comics and illustration) or that it could be visual poetry (Van Gogh), Downs chose the path of visual poetry.

Downs has exhibited both regionally and nationally, with works recently accepted in a National Landscape Competition in Bethesda, Md., and in the Alexandria Museum’s National Exhibition, the September Competition. Works have also been accepted in an International Landscape Competition held online by Upstream People Gallery.

Recent trips to the American southwest have inspired Downs to deal with landscapes dealing with not only with local landscapes, but also with the landscapes of west Texas and New Mexico. Going to New Mexico on a faculty enhancement grant, he produced a large body of work inspired by the landscapes he found there.

When not found teaching or painting, Downs can be found practicing acoustic guitar.

Wildlife photographer Tom Ulrich is returning to SAU to present highlights of his 2006 world travels to places such as Costa Rica, the Falkland Islands, and the Pantanal of Brazil.

Ulrich, a freelance photographer since 1975, is highly acclaimed around the world for his nature photography skills. Many of his more than 50,000 transparencies have been used by numerous magazines and other publications, including National Wildlife, Audubon, Outdoor Oklahoma, Sierra, American Hunter, Ranger Rick, Alaska, National Geographic, Montana Outdoors, Life, and many others. Tom is also responsible for publishing six nature books, “Mammals of the Canadian Rockies,” “Birds of the Canadian Rockies,” “Mammals of the Northern Rockies,” “Birds of the Northern Rockies,” “Once Upon a Frame,” and his 2002 release, “Photo Pantanal.”

Tom Ulrich has received many prestigious awards including the Mammal Behavior category in the 1987 International Wildlife Photographer of the Year, winner of the 1979 and 1981 National Wildlife Photo Contest (finalist in 1978 and 1980), Grand Prize Winner of the 1996 National Wildbird Photo Contest, and the 1987, 1988, 1991, and 1994 Outdoor Writers Scavenger Hunt Photo Contest.

Ulrich has been leading tours for many years to remote parts of the world, such as, Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, Galapagos Islands, Costa Rica, East Africa as well as the greatest aviary spectacle known to man—Pantanal, Brazil. Additionally, Ulrich is busy conducting three to five day photography seminars and workshops around the country. He also lectures at many universities around the United States.

The program is co-sponsored by “Our Wildlife Friends.” It is free and open to the public.

For more information call 870-235-5053.

The exhibition will be housed now through Tuesday, Oct. 31, in the Rosemary Rhea Regional Arts in Education Center’s Gallery, located on the first floor of Magale Library. The exhibit is open to the public daily, 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Fridays, 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturdays, and 5 to 9:30 p.m. Sundays.

The Arkansas Arts Center has one of the finest collections of Will Barnet drawings that represents some seven decades of work by the artist. From the late 1920s to the present, Barnet has moved progressively from conventional figure drawing to structural abstraction. Barnet is drawn to subjects of everyday life – his family, friends, and home.

This exhibition is designed to be both aesthetically appealing and educationally challenging for visitors of all ages and interests.

All touring programs are supported, in part, by the Arkansas Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Season sponsors include the Wal-Mart Foundation, Bank of America, Stella Boyle Smith Trust, the Brown Foundation, Inc., the Phillip R. Jonsson Foundation, Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation, and the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas.

For more information call 870-235-5226.

Jessica Leigh Brown, a double major in criminal justice and political science from Prescott , was named the Outstanding Student for the entire College. She was also the Outstanding Student from the Department of History, Political Science, and Geography and the Department of Behavioral and Social Science.

While maintaining a 4.0 grade point average during her time at SAU, Brown has remained active in the Criminal Justice Club, Pre-Law Club, and Pi Gamma Mu, the international social sciences honor society. Off campus, she has served in a supervisor’s position at El Dorado High School, where she tutored students in history, Engish, business law, and ethics. She also trains new tutors.

During her summers, Brown has spent time with mission work. Her outreach carries on in the form of mission and foreign aid trips which she has taken with the Wyatt Baptist Church in El Dorado. These have led her to such places as Ghana, West Africa, and most recently to Nicaragua, Central America.
Brown is married to Logan, a student at SAU Tech and a former Operation Iraqi Freedom fighter. Logan received a Bronze Star for his actions while there.

The couple is looking forward to their future together as Jessica heads toward law school and more mission trips with their church.

The Department of Art and Design recognized Kassie Holloway as its Outstanding Student. Holloway is a graphic design major from Haynesville, La.

Holloway was the recipient of the Shirley Jeffcoat Combs Scholarship. During the spring semester, she worked as an intern at Southern Aluminum in Magnolia. After graduation, she will move to Shreveport, La., and look for work. She has also continued her work as a freelance designer while maintaining her duties as a student worker for the Department.

She has volunteered in campus and community projects and is a member of Pivot Point and the American Institution for Graphic Artist.

Sharee Robinson was named the Department of Music Outstanding Student. Robinson is a music major from Alma.

She served two years as the assistant music director for the First Presbyterian Church in Magnolia. She was also an assistant director of the Harvest Time Tabernacle Youth Choir in Fort Smith. Robinson plays the piano and bassoon. While attending college at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, Robinson taught lessons for the Kimmons Junior High Band.

Jennifer Walsh, a mass communication-print journalism major from Magnolia, was named the Department of Theatre and Mass Communication Outstanding Student.

While at SAU, Walsh served as editor of The Bray, the student newspaper. She is also a member of Alpha Chi, Sigma Beta Delta, and Beta Gamma Sigma.

She currently works as an accounts payable clerk at South Arkansas Youth Services, Inc., in Magnolia.

The Department of English and Foreign Languages named Elena Yakunina as its Outstanding Student. Yakunina is a double major in English and psychology.

Yakunina has been on the English language track since she was 16 years old. She had to choose her field before leaving for the University of Sofia in Bulgaria, where she spent three years before coming to SAU.

Not too long after she arrived at SAU, Yakunina decided to add psychology as a second major to her studies.

Yakunina has membership in the Southwestern Psychological Association, Psi Chi, Alpha Chi, and the National Academic Honor Societies. She is an active member of Sigma Tau Delta and the French Club. She has also served as a part-time volunteer at the Women’s Crisis Center in Camden.

After graduation, Yakunina will continue her education at the University of Akron in Ohio to pursue her Ph.D. in psychology in the field of counseling adults.