Author Archives: R.J. Burt

Sit and Listen! Tina Hoggatt’s Gift to a Busy, Noisy World

Posted on by
1

The challenge of Tina Hoggatt’s enchanting installation is Sit and Listen

“We’re all so full of stories, everyone is,”  Tina Hoggatt ’78 asserts in an interview about her audio installations, Story Chairs. The inspiration sprang, Tina says,  from a childhood fantasy – being cradled in a nest, high up in a tree, simply listening.  Many years later,  installed at Seattle’s Jack Straw Productions, two whimsical chairs entice visitors to sit and listen as the chairs tell stories, one after the other.

The act of sitting triggers an audio unit that is programmed to play the recorded stories.
Learn more about the chairs, the stories and the writers.

“Story Chairs” at Jack Straw Production on Roosevelt Way in north Seattle”

A long time champion of art in public places, for the past seven years, Tina has worked for 4Culture, King County’s Cultural Arts and Heritage organization. Learn more about Tina.

Allecia Clemons ’02 Raising Voice and Money

Posted on by
Reply

Allecia Clemons ’02 launching new album with the help of Kickstarter crowd sourcing site

From classic, hard times ballads to culture targeted comedy, Allecia Clemons ’02 sings of modern life and shared experience.  Read more in the West Seattle Herald/White Center News.

Article except: Clemons, a youthful 43, and a graduate of West Seattle High School and Evergreen State College, now lives in Burien. She has begun a fundraising campaign on KICKSTARTER for the cost of producing her comedy CD. It’s title, “what’s for lunch”, is a whimsical song she sang about food items with residents at the now-closed Life Care Center of West Seattle where she was activities director in 2011 & ’12.

Any other alumni using crowd sourcing sites to fund projects? Share your dreams with the Greener community by posting comments in The Evergreen Mind.

Practice Your French With Stephanie Coontz: Lorsque les chiffres trompent…

Posted on by
Reply

Evergreen Faculty Member, historian, and author Stephanie Coontz – internationally respected expert on contemporary family issues

Par Stephanie Coontz

Il est toujours séduisant de savoir où l’on se situe par rapport à la moyenne. La première fois que j’ai reçu un résultat en dessous de la moyenne à un examen, alors que j’étais une étudiante de première année très sûre d’elle-même, fut un avertissement nécessaire. Je trouve actuellement encourageant d’apprendre que je fais de l’exercice plus que les autres femmes de mon âge.

Read on…

 

 

 

Alumni Day on Campus Postponed Until Fall 2013

Posted on by
Reply

 

The Evergreen State College has been planning a June 1 learning and celebration event for alumni and the community called Return to Evergreen.  The College announced today that the event has been postponed until fall 2013.

“Return to Evergreen gives alumni and other participants a chance to engage with each other, the College and current students, share their experiences, expertise and successes and enjoy a day on campus,” explained Evergreen spokesperson Todd Sprague.  “Unfortunately, representatives of the Student Support Services Exempt Staff bargaining unit, with whom the college is currently negotiating a first contract, and supporters of the Washington Federation of State Employees have communicated plans to engage in labor actions related to and/or during the planned event.

“It’s our sense that the uncertainties caused by these union communications and potential actions could pose challenges for both staffing and seminar participation that could negatively impact the event experience for participants.  Because the college does not want alumni or other guests to travel to campus with the intent of participating, only to have those plans obstructed by the union, the event is being postponed until fall 2013.

“While registrants will be contacted directly, some elements of the event were open to the general public and we want people to know that it has been postponed.”

Sprague noted that the college’s annual Science Carnival – showcasing the work of Evergreen science students and bringing youngsters and other visitors from around the region to share in science presentations and activities – will continue on May 31 and June 1 as scheduled.  For more information on the Science Carnival, visit www.evergreen.edu/sciencecarnival/.

Bre Pettis ’95 – Messing with the Shape of Things to Come

Posted on by
Reply

Bre Pettis ’95

A recent article in Papermag credits wild-idea guy Bre Pettis ’95 with expanding the notion of DIY into new realms.  Well sure, his “Makerbot” company – creating affordable 3-D printers – is a mind-blowing incursion into the manufacturing and retail world, creating a whole new niche: “personal manufacturing.”  But we think this Greener has done more than that.  We think he has potentially upended the way we think about, and put a value on, objects. Even shying away from the large, philosophical issues, this could become angst-producing. If you can 3-D print a pair of shoes the spittin’ image of Manolo’s, how do we think about the $735 price tag on these little beauties?

Shoppers beware, existential crisis ahead!

 

MiT Grad Ashley Emmett ’09 on Wheel of Fortune Tonight (May 30)!

Posted on by
4

Ashley Emmett MiT 2009 Preparing for Her Debut on Wheel of Fortune

Ashley’s blog post for May 29, 2013 is titled “Wheel of Fortune- The Craziest 1 Year and 36 Hours of My Life.”

Tune in tonight, May 30th at 7 pm to cheer her on.  For the fantastic tale of all that led up to this big night, read her blog post..

Any other alumni on the big or little screen in the coming year or recent past?  Let us hear from you.  The Evergreen Mind is always hungry for more stories.

 

 

Boulder Alumni Turn Out for a Traveling Seminar

Posted on by
Reply

Boulder History Museum was the venue for the May 23 Colorado Traveling Seminar

May 23, Twenty alumni and their guests packed the small meeting space at the Boulder History Museum for an Evergreen Traveling Seminar. The title was Curating the Human Story: The Power and Influence of Museums.

 

 

Faculty member Jean Mandeberg

Faculty member Jean Mandeberg and her former student Seth Frankel ’93 facilitated the discussion that swirled around questions such as: Do museums transform living, changing cultural objects into fixed, preserved, stale collections? What stories do museums tell? What stories do objects embody? And what stories do we, visitors, tell ourselves?

Adding to the richness of the conversation was the fact that the Boulder Museum’s current exhibit was one of Seth’s installations, a history of beer.  Needless to say, beer was part of the hospitality provided.

Seth Frankel ’93

Mandeberg had this to say about the event which was her first Traveling Seminar:

I had no idea that the seminar would attract such a diverse group of alumni  … . The comments I heard after the discussion were all extremely positive reports about how much people enjoyed themselves and appreciated the stimulating conversation.  That continued for me (and my husband Joel) when we had breakfast the next morning with Daniel Fonken (’95), one of the seminar participants who happened to be a former student of mine (1993-4, Sculpture in Time & Place).  Daniel told us how the event helped him understand the unique connection Evergreen alums have with each other, and he looks forward to continuing that spirit.

Hope to hear comments from other alumni who have attended Traveling Seminars over the years.  We are planning the line-up for next year right now.

 

Annual Roll Call of the Dead: Evergreen Does Not Forget

Posted on by
Reply

Memorial wall in the Library foyer

Every Memorial Day for the past several years, Evergreen has held a public reading of the names of service men and women lost in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. It is a painful thing, a good thing – and a very Evergreen way to ensure we don’t forget.

Nobody said being an informed citizen was a bowl of cherries.

Read the story in The Olympian.

Lee Lambert ’87 Takes Leadership Role at a College in Distress

Posted on by
Reply

Lee Lambert ’87,

Lee Lambert ’87 plans to hoist Pima Community College in Tucson, Arizona out of the deep hole it has, of late, fallen into.

Leaving his post as President of Shoreline Community College near Seattle, Lee heads south with high hopes, tough talk and a rock-solid commitment to public education. While acknowledging Pima’s several black eyes – allegations ranging from financial mismanagement to  sexual harassment – he cites the imperative for quality education that is accessible to all citizens in this high poverty region.

According to an article in the Tuscon Sentinel, Lee points to a “lack of accountability” as having caused the College’s woes, and quotes his message to faculty and staff: “You will be held accountable.”

Read the full account in the Tuscon Sentinel