Alumna Jessi Baumgartner, a design communications graduate of 2018 and Leu Scholarship recipient, recently received full funding for a residency program with Main Street Arts in Clifton Springs, New York, beginning in June. Main Street Arts is a nonprofit arts organization and art gallery specializing in showcasing contemporary art and fine craft from emerging and established Upstate New York artists.
Baumgartner said she is captivated by the contrast between modern urban chaos and small-town kitsch. “Imagine a rural one-road town: decrepit gas stations hugged by sprawling cracked sidewalks, isolated figures drudging around convenience stores,” she proposed. “Such lonesome scenes have been my painting subject since 2017.”
Baumgartner observed that Nashville, in the height of its adolescence, has been a prime location to study this. “That being said, its idiosyncrasies are unique to its region. In the past I have only explored the small town/large town disparity as it manifests in the South; while in Clifton Springs, itself a small town, I will examine this same relationship but with northern U.S. nuance,” she said.
“Millies Painting” by Jessi Baumgartner
“With upstate New York as my muse, I intend to create ten new paintings continuing my thesis.”
When Belmont made the decision to move the rest of the Spring 2020 semester online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Belmont Learning Centers quickly moved their services online to assist with students’ needs during the transition. The Belmont Learning Centers offer free tutoring in math, physics, biology, chemistry, programming, writing and languages to all Belmont students.
The one-on-one tutoring approach is ideal for connecting
each student with his or her personal learning goals and techniques, and the
diversity of the tutoring staff allows for students to find a delivery method
that suits their speed and readiness. Tutors are peer students, graduate students
and several adjunct faculty.
Learning Centers Coordinator Michael Hudson said during this
remarkably confusing and frustrating time, it was crucial to have as many
stable touch points as possible. “The Learning Centers are always here for
support, and it seemed that that consistency was more important than ever. We
are peer voices and connections to academic content, and that should remain as
constant as possible,” she explained.
Hudson worked with Belmont’s instructional technology team to
train each tutor and set up the online collaborate rooms. Tutors created and
curated content and reworked their schedules based on their new time zones at
home.
Students who would like to access their services should visit the Learning Centers website, choose the appropriate center and select the tutor’s name during their shift to enter their collaborate room. Math and science sessions are one hour, writing sessions are 45 minutes and LLC sessions are one hour. Tutors pitch in on a first come first served basis. Students should be prepared with photos of textbook problems, papers, assignments, etc to share with their tutors.
Hudson said this transition also allows for the student tutors
not to lose income during the upheaval. She said, “One of the issues that
doesn’t get much coverage is how the loss of on campus jobs really affects
students who depend on that work. They do an amazing job every day for their
fellow Belmont students, and I wanted to do my best to create as much stability
for them as possible.”
As part of Belmont University’s ongoing work for veterans to be prepared in job readiness, the Jack C. Massey College of Business is working with Operation Stand Down Tennessee on their Veteran Fellowship Program (VFP), an innovative career pathway program combining a business education module through Belmont and experiential employment internships through Middle Tennessee employers.
Designed as a collaborative education and employment
program, fellows will pair hands-on professional experience with a business
acumen certificate program. Veterans and veteran spouses who complete the five-month
program will experience transformational success as they enter or re-enter the
civilian workforce. VFP will assist the veteran or veteran spouse with career
discernment, business fluency, professional development and an understanding of
the civilian workspace.
“Veterans are often underemployed when they join or re-join the workforce because they have difficulty translating their military experience into civilian business terms. The combination of hands-on experience and a business acumen certificate from Belmont University will help connect this country’s greatest workforce to a role at a level befitting their skillset,” said OSDTN CEO John Krenson.
Each week, Belmont University’s Jack C. Massey College of
Business will provide three-hour introductory business courses to the fellows, as
well as a variety of seminars, panels, learning labs and events. The course of
study will include topics critical to today’s workforce such as accounting,
branding and marketing, among others. The program is a practical way for fellows
to broaden their business skills and expand their knowledge in functional
business areas.
Dean of the Jack C. Massey College of Business Dr. Sarah
Gardial said the school is proud to be involved with the Operation Stand Down
Fellows Program. “Through our partnership, these veterans gain educational
skills that apply immediately to their fellow internships,” she said. “We
believe this lockstep approach through internship and educational programming provides
a greater success as they transition to the workforce.”
Fellows will work 32 hours per week with a host employer to complement
their classroom education with workplace experiences. Fellows are expected to
meet the same high standards as regular employees, receive a meaningful
learning opportunity and add value to Nashville businesses. Host employers will
be in the greater Nashville area and include businesses from industries such as
entertainment, service, food and beverage and hospitality.
The fellowship begins in August 2020. Applications are open
now, and the deadline to apply is May 1. A selection panel comprised of Belmont
and OSDTN staff will review applications and narrow the field of candidates to
a pool of qualified potential fellows. In the application, candidates are asked
to rank their industry preference. Based on the rankings and the selection
panel review, employers will interview prospective fellows to rank their
preference for placements.
Eligible fellows are Post-9/11 Veterans or Post-9/11 veteran spouses who are on terminal leave or who have fully exited the military by the start of the Fall cohort on August 3. Strong applicants are individuals who demonstrate motivation to fully capitalize on both employment and educational aspects of the program. For those who advance to the next stage, interviews will be held in mid-May. All applicants will be notified of selection, wait-list or non-selection by June 1.
VFP would not be possible without the generous investment of
several donors, including The Nashville Predators, Smile Direct Club and The
Robinson Family Foundation. With the help of these partners, there are no
program costs for fellows. The $20,000 total investment per fellow is shared
equally between employers and OSDTN, which allows each fellow to participate in
the program and covers a monthly stipend, workplace wage and education costs.
About Operation Stand
Down Tennessee
With its roots in serving Nashville’s homeless Veterans, today Operation Stand Down Tennessee’s purpose is to help all Veterans in Middle Tennessee manage their personal, career, and financial needs while creating a life they find fulfilling. With offices in Nashville and Clarksville, we serve Veterans who may have significant needs like homelessness to those recently transitioning from military service who need career assistance or connection to a like-minded Veteran community. Every Veteran has a place here. www.osdtn.org
Country singer/songwriter Alexis Wilkins grew up with her eye on giving back. Now, with the world in the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic, she’s doing just that – encouraging music fans to remember what really matters with her debut single “Holdin’ On” and helping her friends at Musicians On Call in the process. Wilkins will donate all of her proceeds from “Holdin’ On” to Musicians On Call.
Available on all streaming services March 27, the sentimental track brings lyrical reminders of precious moments with family and friends. Get “Holdin’ On” HERE and watch the video HERE.
“‘Holdin’ On’ is a song about how,
in this crazy world, sometimes the best thing to hold on to is each other,”
Wilkins said. “My team and I had planned on releasing a full batch of songs
starting in April, but with everything going on in the world right now, I
thought that we could all just use a little something to bring us together.”
Wilkins, who co-wrote “Holdin’ On”
with hit songwriter and close friend Mitch Rossell, penned her first song as a
child. She was moved by news of coal fires in Pennsylvania and wrote a song to
raise money for victims.
“It taught me early on that I
could do something to take action, and that was a really important lesson for
me, to feel that I could contribute something meaningful to the world,” she
explained.
Wilkins
and Rossell wrote “Holdin’ On” last year, well before COVID-19 made headlines.
A call to action from Musicians On Call, to which she has been a dedicated
volunteer for since 2015, inspired the singer to share “Holdin’ On” now, rather
than wait until the originally planned release date.
“When Pete Griffin at Musicians On Call reached out about their #MOCHeals playlist, my first thought was – how can I help? My project wasn’t set to come out until next month, but I decided that because the message of this song is something the world could use right now, let’s just go!” she said. “I hope this brings people’s attention to the little joys in life and the things that are truly important. Hold on to the good, hold on to your values, and most importantly, hold on to each other, even if we can’t physically hold on to each other right now!”
Musicians On Call brings live and recorded music to the
bedsides of patients in healthcare facilities across the country. In response
to the COVID-19 pandemic the organization released the #MOCHeals Playlist, a
compilation of music videos recorded by MOC volunteers for anyone in the
hospital or feeling lonely or isolated.
In addition to adding the song to the #MOCHeals playlist, she will also be participating in the MOC Virtual Bedside Performance Program beginning next week.
About Musicians On Call: Musicians On Call (MOC) is the nation’s leading provider of live music in hospitals. For more than 20 years, MOC has brought live and recorded music to the bedsides of patients in healthcare facilities ranging from children’s hospitals to adult facilities, VA hospitals and hospices. To date, its volunteers have played for more than 800,000 patients, families and caregivers across the country. Through live, in-room performances for patients who are undergoing treatment or unable to leave their beds, these volunteers add a dose of joy to life in a healthcare facility. MOC supporters over the years include Bruce Springsteen, Kelly Clarkson, Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Lady Antebellum, Justin Timberlake, Ed Sheeran, Reba McEntire, Gavin DeGraw, Darius Rucker, Pharrell, Amos Lee, Nick Jonas, Rachel Platten and many more. For more information, visit www.musiciansoncall.org.
Dr. Paulo Oliveira, assistant professor of guitar studies, is making the most of his time at home during the Coronavirus concerns. On Friday, March 20, he posted a video to his Facebook page and Youtube channel of himself playing guitar on a split screen along with a video of a young girl from Nanjing, China playing a song.
Oliveira captioned the video: “This morning I came a cross a video of a little girl playing a beautiful song on the guitar. I watched it four times in a row. Her purity and her freedom from society’s current fear and uncertainty hit me hard. This video just made me so happy. Her name is Miumiu, a six-year-old guitarist based in Nanjing, China. I obviously do not know her at all, but I feel like a got a new friend and someone to share the beautiful gift of music. Stay safe my friends, and enjoy my little duo with Miumiu.”
The next day, Oliveira shared to Facebook that Miumiu had seen his video and wrote him back. Her message read, “I can’t understand your performance because of my age and my level. But I can hear that your performance is great. It makes my songs sound more perfect. I think your attention will make me more motivated to study and play hard. I will become better just like you.”
By the next Monday, the duo posted their second video together.
“It has been heartbreaking to look at the news on TV and on social media. It is difficult to conceive the proportion of the planet’s current situation. As a way to stop thinking about all this I thought I should share with my friends something that will offer them a couple minutes of joy throughout their day. This is the second video I make with my newest friend Miumiu from China,” wrote Oliveira. “I promised her I was going to make a second video, and if you promise something like that to a six-year old, you better do it! It is simple, but making this just made me very happy. Enjoy!”
Both videos have garnered a lot of attention, likes, shares and comments on Facebook. Oliveira wrote, “Music will not cure the virus, but it is definitely one of the most powerful coping mechanisms we have available right now! Share the love, share music!”
When Belmont decided to move classes to an online only format due to the concerns of the Coronavirus, the WELL-Core team jumped in to create a plan for missed time on campus. The Wellness Experiences for Life-long Learning graduation requirement is now available online through Blackboard for the rest of the spring semester for all students to access as live events and self-paced learning classes are posted.
The purpose of WELL-Core is to nurture in each student the
capacity to live a life that is satisfying, with a sense of meaning and
purpose, encompassing all dimensions of human life. In order to graduate
students are required to earn a total of 60 WELL-Core credits (adjusted for
transfer students), 10 in each of the six wellness categories.
Many students are already engaged with the offerings. There
were more than 3,000 tests taken within the first couple of days of offerings
posted online.
The Blackboard platform is something familiar to both faculty
and students, so it became the obvious choice for moving the WELL-Core learning
online. Students can earn credit by interacting with videos, documentaries or
other materials and completing a quiz on the subject matter.
There will also be live events through Blackboard
Collaborate, where the experience can be interactive with live streaming and chat
room capabilities. WELL-Core Opportunities for all six of the categories are
available, and the content is being chosen based on the need of the graduating
seniors, including relevant topics such as other epidemics in history.
Students with questions or concerns about these requirements can contact well-core@belmont.edu for more information and assistance.
Drs. Joel Overall and Jason Lovvorn, faculty members in Belmont’s English Department, participated in the Peck Research on Writing Symposium at Middle Tennessee State University on February 28.
The symposium featured Dr. Tarez Samra Graban, associate professor of English at Florida State University, who spoke about two current projects that engage feminist and archival scholarship. Her lecture, “Rhetoric, Feminism, and the Transnational Archive,” considered how feminist research agendas do or do not align in transnational archives. Drs. Overall and Lovvorn took part in a subsequent workshop, “New Pedagogues for the Institutional Archives,” that considered the value of conceptualizing data discovery tools for archival, rhetorical and historiographic work.
Physical Therapy Professor Dr. Mike Voight was recently an invited speaker at the American Physical Therapy Association’s annual Combined Sections Meeting. Held in Denver Colorado, this year’s meeting had more than 16,000 attendees.
As editor in chief of the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy, Dr. Voight presented on reviewing manuscripts using an organized systematic approach in the evaluation process. While specific to reviewing a manuscript, the presentation also provided key information for young clinicians on how to organize and write up their research in a manner that affords them success in the publication process.
Grant Gill Furniture was born from a passion uncovered and developed during Gill’s education journey. During his time at Belmont, Gill studied design communications and studio art with a sculpture emphasis. It was in these studies where he began learning the basics of the tools and techniques he uses now.
Following his 2016 graduation from Belmont with honors, he spent over a year abroad on a Fulbright teaching grant where he was able to live and study right outside of Vienna, considered to be one of the furniture capitals of the world. He spent time exploring the culture and visiting museums where he became fascinated with their traditional production of furniture. After his interest was piqued in furniture making, he went on to complete an MFA program at Florida State University studying sculptures again, but found himself making more furniture than intended sculptures. Shortly thereafter, he took an opportunity for an apprenticeship in furniture, solidifying his goal to pursue this passion.
“Sustainability. Function. Beauty,” said Gill. These are
the three pillars Gill describes in his mission in making furniture. His goal
is to make high-quality furniture, the kind that can be handed down through
generations as an heirloom. This leads to inherent sustainability, providing furniture
that will last for years to come rather than mass-produced pieces often of lower
quality that don’t last. Gill is also obsessed with the details, understanding how
the smallest change can greatly affect the function and usability of a piece. The
beauty and uniqueness of his furniture is translated through the combination of
traditional techniques of heirloom creation with modern, contemporary designs.
“I’m always looking back at traditional things, seeing
how they did things, and trying to figure out how I can modernize the techniques
that they were using,” Gill said. His extensive travel abroad and experience in
multiple facets of art have highly influenced his style. Influences of American
and Japanese woodworking are evident in his heirloom-quality designs.
Offering advice to Belmont students currently pursuing their passions in art Gill said, “Keep after it. Keep making things.” He explained how he kept creating, kept making different things, until eventually he made a piece of furniture. That first creation ignited his passion to follow this career path that has led him to enjoy a beautiful combination of making art that also has a place in the market for people to use and cherish.
While Gill has recently been pursuing his career in Birmingham, Alabama, he is planning to make the move back to Nashville and rejoin the growing city of art to be a part of the evolving creative opportunities. As his business continues to expand, Gill is looking forward to creating his own furniture line with customizable aspects for customers to make a part of their homes. View his designs at grantgillfurniture.com
When faced with the task of his Honors Program thesis assignment, senior Collin Felter decided to use the opportunity to further explore his passion of jazz music by releasing a debut album and writing an accompanying analysis book with the goal to make jazz less intimidating.
The last two years of the honors program is focused on the thesis project. Felter released his project submission on February 29, a jazz album showcasing original compositions that blur the lines between instrumental jazz and pop (available on Spotify). The commercial trombone major focused on writing seven final songs that represent his artistic self.
“I was trying to take jazz harmony in mediums that are idiosyncratic to the jazz world and make them more approachable,” explained Felter. “I wrote it all in sheet music form and then wanted to write an analysis to help other musicians figure out how to get that sound.”
While fulfilling the requirements for his Honors project, the analysis paper also provides a unique outlet for people to understand jazz and to become better musicians. The transcription and analysis book is available on collinfelter.com.
“cf” is the name of album, representing Felter’s initials, while all of the songs are named after musical chords. His favorite track on the album is “ab,” which was picked up by a few jazz radio stations and “really validated his process.”
The album was recorded at Belmont-owned Ocean Way Studios, by far Felter’s “favorite place to record in Nashville,” with all current or former Belmont students producing and playing.
“The center glue of this project was the Belmont music scene,” explained Felter. “All other musicians on my album were friends that happened to be great musicians and excited to make some music.”
The album was recorded in September at Ocean Way, and the following months included mixing and mastering before it was released in February. Felter said his favorite part of the process was rehearsing with the musicians in the summer and hearing how they shaped his music in their own voices.
He said, “It could have been easy to just say I want this, but allowing the musicians to have their own space to create was important to me. In every song I arranged, I wrote specific parts for each instrument, but the musicians explored within the confines of my parts. Every musician got a solo and put their impression into the song to give it their own meaning. What came out are some solos that are really incredible.”
For his accompanying analysis book, each song is categorized into three types – writing process, music theory and solo analysis. Although, the greater challenge in the creation of his thesis, said Felter, was sticking to the same project for a year and a half.
“Critically listening to the same song over and over is tiring but taught me a lot about self-criticizing and using it as a tool to grow to make better art,” he explained. “Putting the album out on the business end was a great learning experience for me with copyright, royalties and getting it out on visual platforms and radio. I’ve never had to worry about that part as the sideman trombone player. I gained a ton of knowledge in the music producing world.”
Recording at Ocean Way
In high school, Felter was focused on STEM and considered studying physics, but during his junior year of high school, he switched to jazz trombone. “I felt like I got the intellectual stimulation from jazz, while I also got the creative aspects,” he said. With music and jazz, Felter found there was never a right or wrong answer. The realm of music was limitless. He shared, “Music opened up the door for many opportunities mentally. I’ve been doing this deep dive into jazz and fell in love with it. Now, I’m getting my master’s in it.”
Looking to the future, Felter would like to further his studio work, which is his favorite part of living in Nashville. “Playing around and recording on people’s albums and doing that ‘side man’ stuff is what I want,” shared Felter. “But I slowly want to dive into the clinician or education sides of things like coaching or judging competitions…giving feedback.” Ultimately, Felter wishes to pursue a doctorate and become a jazz professor.
The following musicians contributed to Felter’s album, “cf.”
Belmont Alumni: Joshua Blaylock (Keys/Organ), Cole Clarke (Electric Guitar), Adam McPhail (Electric Guitar/Honors Thesis Director), Chris Rymes (Trumpet), Max Dvorin (Alto Sax), Julia Meredith (Bari Sax), Chris Baldani (Head Engineer) and Tate Sablatura (Assistant Engineer).
Current Belmont students: Justin Berger-Davis (Bass), Natalie Merrill (Piano), Stephan Wieder (Electric Guitar), Andrew Bannan (Aux Percussion) and former student Ian Strobino (Drum Set).
