Kevin Keck Visit to Chester College Changed to Feb. 22-26

Due to the snowstorm in the Mid-Atlantic states, Kevin Keck’s visit to Chester College of New England has been changed to Feb. 22-26 with the public reading at 6 p.m., Feb. 23.

Pictures for the New Millennium

Chester College professor Darrell Matsumoto opens a new show at Wadleigh Library this February. Titled “Pictures for the New Millennium”, the show will remain in the gallery until March 10th, with the opening reception on Wednesday, February 10th at 5 PM. Matsumoto explains Pictures for the New Millennium:

“The selected images from the two series represent some of my observations and thoughts regarding the new millennium. In New Fiction (1999 – 2000), color photographs, I combine text with iconic objects or images as the foil for folly. In integrating self generated and found text with images and objects, the resulting combinations can reveal new fiction(s). The series White (2007 – 2009), are silver gelatin prints. The white photographs are intended to be containers for thought. The images are neutral referents inviting the viewer to participate; they are insistent.”

Call For Cover Art for Volume X

Compass Rose is looking for cover art for Volume X, due in May 2010. Please send files less than 100 KB to compass.rose@chestercollege.edu. If your file size is larger than 100 KB, please use a service such as SendSpace or YouSendIt and have the link sent to compass.rose@chestercollege.edu.

The deadline is February 8, so don’t wait!

Kevin Keck Returns to Chester College

Kevin Keck

In less than two weeks, (February 8-12) author Kevin Keck will return to Chester College of New England. As a guest on campus, he will attend numerous creative writing classes throughout the week. At 6 p.m. Tuesday, February 9, he will give a free public reading in Powers 29. Chester College creative writing major Chelsea Paige will open.

A resident of North Carolina, Keck has published two books, Oedipus Wrecked and Are You There God? It’s Me. Kevin. Both are non-fiction and chronicle his humorous, often unfortunate encounters with everything from illegal drugs to masturbation and Christian summer camps. Known for his candid, self-deprecating style, Keck has been compared to such writers as David Sedaris and Margaret Cho, and tends to appeal to readers who wish to explore the most intimate details of a stranger’s life.

Keck’s visit is part of the Department of Writing and Literature’s Visiting Writers Series, made possible by an endowment from Elizabeth Yates McGreal.

Anna Scotti Wins Parnell Poety Contest

Anna Scotti’s poem “Egg” has been selected as the winner of the 2009-2010 Patricia Parnell Poetry Prize by judge James Shea. Scotti is a writer and teacher living in California.  Her poetry has recently appeared in Chautauqua, Adirondack Review, and Chickasaw Plum.  She earned an MFA at Antioch University in 2007, and is at work on a novel and on a collection of poems.

Compass Rose also would like to congratulate the contest finalists:

• Nan Becker, Newton, NJ, “Redemption”
• Maureen Ann Connolly, Cumberland Foreside, ME, “The Infusion Room”
• Rebecca J. Foust, Ross, CA, “Moon on Snow,” “Origin,” and “Gray”
• Helga Kidder, Chattanooga, TN, “Mars meets Venus”
• Ellaraine Lockie, Sunnyvale, CA, “Encounters with Crows”
• Marian Kaplun Shapiro, Lexington, MA, “Corollary: Because I love you there is more love in the world.”
• Dianalee Velie, Newbury, NH, “Domestication”
• Jeanne Wagner, Kensington, CA, “The French Bed”
• Karl Williams, Tunkhannock, PA, “I understand nothing…”

Christina Pitsch to be Artist-in-Residence

Chester College of New England Professor of fine arts Christina Pitsch will be spending 5 weeks during winter break as an artist-in-residence at the Guanlan Original Printmaking Base in Guanlan, China. She will be working on a new series of large scale prints.

Primary Studios Gallery Show

Between December 3, 2009 and December 15, 2009 Chester College of New England’s Primary Studios Students will be showing their work in the Wadleigh Library Gallery. The gallery will be free and open to the public.

Making Things Happen: An Interview with Lana Z. Caplan

Lana Z. Caplan, a Boston-based film/videomaker, photographer and installation artist, visited Chester College of New England this week as part of the Visiting Artist’s Symposium Lecture Series. Caplan works with super8, found footage, video, interactive projections, and alterative processes photography in her pieces, which explore relationships, mortality and social issues.

Caplan grew up in a world of photography. When given her first Polaroid at the age of four, it was just a natural progression for a family that took regular snapshots. Although she never considered a career in art growing up, she attended numerous workshops and camps. It wasn’t until her undergraduate work in art history that she learned anyone can be an artist, if you work hard and make art.

When preparing for a new piece, Caplan said she starts with a concept and focuses on finding what the best ways to communicate that, be it through sketches or details within the environment or what works best with the site. Through her heavy use of Polaroids she can see what’s happening, and make decisions as she goes. Armed with research, her camera, and a willingness to experiment, she starts with an idea and keeps kicking it around until figuring out how to approach it.

Caplan’s varied portfolio includes pieces that are experienced, not just viewed. From her videos Love in the Afternoon, and The Waltz to her series on Sites of Public Execution, Caplan’s pieces cover a wide range of compositional interest. “I hope that my audience will give [the work] the time to try to understand, and to see the multiple layers and pieces that make it, as well as the collective meaning of the pieces put in the installation,” she said.

Between exhibiting, studio time, researching and more, Caplan still finds time to visit many colleges as a traveling artist/lecturer. She said her biggest piece of advice is to work hard. “Nothing comes easy, so keep working at it,” she said. “Take a good look at what came before you and the context of what you are doing, what you might be referencing and what others might be seeing when they view your work.”

Caplan encourages young artists to look for inspiration everywhere. She has found it in the work of Pipilotti Rist and Andy Warhols’ films. “We can all be inspired by something,” she said. “Look at other artists and see what works or what doesn’t work for you and what you can take away from it to incorporate into your own work.”

Even with inspiration, Caplan joked that a typical day in the studio consists of “cappuccino and email.” On a more serious note, she did have one suggestion to beat procrastination. “On those days you are not in the studio, keep a running list of the things to do next time in the studio and options for those times you just don’t feel like ‘it,’” she said.

When work is ready to be shown, Caplan suggested thinking broadly about exhibiting. “Create your own opportunities,” she said. “Collaborate with other types artists and make your own events. Hire bands, invite friends, create your own scenes, work out the kinks. Don’t rely on the existing infrastructure –be prepared to show the establishment. By bringing people together things happen.”

~Rhiannon Lombard

“The Berlin Dictionary” is now available

Can you press that, er um, piton? Let me get that mousse off of your sweater. If you know what the words piton and mousse mean and if you have no idea what the words piton and mousse mean, the Berlin Dictionary is for you.

The Berlin Dictionary edited and illustrated by Chester College of New England’s Photography and Media Arts instructor Rachelle Beaudoin is now available.

The Berlin Dictionary is a participatory dictionary written by over seventy contributors who submitted their favorite and most memorable “Berlin Words.” With definitions ranging from the Arena to the Yoko and everything in between, The Berlin Dictionary is a must-have for current and former Berlin residents. Featuring over thirty illustrations.

According to Beaudoin, “Considering the changes and challenges facing the city in recent years, the dictionary seemed like a fun way for citizens to take pride in or poke fun at aspects of the community while recognizing and enjoying its uniqueness.” The book is part historical document, part reference and part humor.

With contributions from:

Ken Adair, Justin Aube, Jerry and Jill Aube, Lucille Barr, Beatrice Beaudoin, Claude Beaudoin, Frank Bellefeuille, Dave Bergeron, Rene Bergeron, Rachel Berube, Dan and Darlene Blais, David Blais, Muriel Blais, Susan Boucher, Tim Brannen, Rita Breton, Dan Campagna, Cecile Chabot Wester, Janie Chartrand, Lousie Connelly, Roberta Conway, Eric Cote, Jesse Croteau and Keith Blanchette, Romeo Danais, Clark Danderson, Lisa Dodge, Sister Theresa Dube, Michael Dumont, Jim Duncan, Bill Dyer, Don Fournier, Dr. Barry Gendron, Jeanne Ivory, Shirley Jackson, Rebecca L’Heureux, Louise Lachance, Carla LaPierre, Lucille Lavoie, Tracy Lefebvre, Dan Mackin, Shawn Marquis, Chris Martel, Jasmine Montminy, Rachel Montminy, Theresa Morgan Perry, Roberta Morin Migetz, Lorraine Morin Pasciak, Benita Morin St. Pierre, Sister Cecile Morrisette, Jackie Nadeau, Rev. Gerald Oleson, Linda Paquet, Melanie Payeur, Dick Poulin, Linda Poulin, Dave Ramsey, Kris Richards, Jennie Roberge, Larry Roberge, Susan Roberge, Kelly Ross, Ben Roy, Darlene Roy, Guy Sanchargin, George Stanley, Celia Nicotra Sullivan, Jan Szumierz, Lisa Thompson, Angela Vaillancourt and Becky Roberge, Carolyn Vasquez, Claire Villeneuve Rennison and Amy Welch.

Rachelle Beaudoin is an interdisciplinary artist and professor of art at Chester College of New England and Saint Anselm College. She was born and raised in Berlin NH and is currently living in Peterborough NH. She is interested in video, performance and socially engaged art. This is her first book.

The Berlin Dictionary is available at the Wonderland Bookstore, 10 Exchange Street in Gorham NH, Savoir Flare at 52 Main Street in Berlin NH, at the Berlin Historical Society Moffet House, 119 High St, Berlin NH and online at Lulu.com. It will be available on Amazon.com in 6-8 weeks. The ISBN is 978-0-557-19739-2.

The book is available via the link:

http://www.lulu.com/content/7915941

A book signing will be held on December 19th from 11am-2pm at the Wonderland Bookstore, 10 Exchange Street, Gorham NH.

Eric Pinder Interviews and Book Signing

Chester College of New England’s instructor of writing and literature Eric Pinder will be interviewed on Book Swap Café, for Concord TV Channel 22, in a program to be recorded on December 15. He also will be interviewed live on the Arkansas-based internet radio program WeatherBrains on March 29 at 8:30 pm Central Daylight Time (9:30 Eastern).

Eric will discuss his children’s book Cat in the Clouds, his most recent book, Life at the Top, and his experiences working and living as a weather observer on top of Mount Washington. Book Swap Café, now in its fifth season, has been described as “Concord’s literary Siskel and Roeper.” An article about the program recently appeared in The Concord Insider.

On December 19, Eric will sign books at Fox Tale Books in Alton, New Hampshire, from 11-1 pm. That same afternoon at 4 pm, he will present a lecture about Mount Washington’s wild weather at the Conway Library.