Kaleidoscope Festival: SRU Buys a $15,000 sculpture

Slippery Rock University announced at 2 p.m. on Apr. 29 in the James C. Myford Sculpture building that it bought a $15,000 sculpture.

It was the last day of the Kaleidoscope Festival, and Dr. Curry, acting president, spoke at the James C. Myford Sculpture Invitational.

“It is a great pleasure to be here,” Curry said.

The winner of the inaugural James C. Myford Sculpture Invitational was James Shipman. The piece was called,“Space, Time, Dream Hard.” It is a permanent collection.

“We appreciate to have this dynamic piece on campus,” Curry said.

James Myford, a sculpturist and former SRU professor, gave recognition to his family, friends and former students. His name is now assigned and plated onto the sculpture building.

James C. Myford Sculpture Invitational 2012

“I would like to thank the university and faculty to host the invitational,” Glen Brunken, a former SRU art professor said. “Hopefully, we can make this an annual event. The sculptures really add a sense of beauty to the campus.”

The exhibition idea came from former president Bob Smith two years ago. Smith asked Myford to start this project and Myford was willing to complete it.

“I spend months in Arizona working on my own projects," Myford said. "I told him that it was highly unlikely, but I’ll do it.”

Video: Myford's favorite project


Myford's vision was to become involved in art. His high school art teacher, Mr. Salisbury, took a sick day to take Myford to Edinburo University to meet the faculty. It was the only school that he applied to.

Video: Myford's future projects

Google Map: A walking tour of the sculptures on campus

View James C. Myford Sculpture Invitational 2012 in a larger map

"I probably not selling my work at the price they should be," Myford said. "Neville Chrome, 101, is quite a woman to help with this project. Everybody has to start somewhere."

Dr. Thomas Como, an art professor, met with the facility department and art students to put concrete in to hold up the sculptures.

“I thank Curry to keep this moving forward,” Como said.
At the presentation, Brunken gave a history lesson. He started teaching at SRU when Myford started. There was one problem. There was no sculpture studio. It started in the basement of Carruth Rizzo Hall. It started small. When more students were added, they needed more space. It started because someone took the inititiative to get it started. Almost 150 were in the major now.

“Every department experiences change,” Brunken said. “Jim’s hardwork comes a long way. I congratulate this building in his name.”

Josh Young, justice building and Board of Trustees declared the building's new name. After some more recognitions, people went outside to get catered food.

During the walking tour, Artist D.W. Martin explained how he made his new pieces of artwork. His artwork "Mega Hertz" was located near Maltby. He teaches sculpture and 3D design at Edinboro University.

Myford grew up in Trentum near a prosperous town with the steel mills and the glass company. Most towns were near the river. In the second and third grade, his teachers would ask him to help put bulletin boards up. He got a job helping stores by drawing the theme of the month on their store window. In junior high school, he worked with plaster and clay material.

“I didn’t use these materials in elementary school,” Myford said. “I like using the materials to make three dimensional things.”

In high school, he would make wood carvings by using gouges and a mallet. He took painting, sculpture, and ceramics. Photo wasn’t art at the time. He had a field trip to the Carnegie Museum. It was the first time he went in a museum and a gallery.

“I remember saying to myself when I went into the galler that I like this kind of thing,” Myford said. “The gallery was roomy, clean and organized.

His high school teacher, Mr. Salisbury, got Myford a job at super market. He would paint the week’s special. It would be a 4 feet by 6 feet sign outside of the store. He was making $10 dollars a week. He graduated in Trentum High School in 1958. He played football. He was the linebacker.

At his senior year in high school, his professor asked him what he wanted to do. He was a sign painter outside of Pittsburgh. He asked him to work form in him. In the summer in Pennsylvania and Florida in the winter. He was painting signs. At 18 years old, he didn’t want to go to Florida. One day, Salisbury took a sick day to take Myford to Edinborough to visit the campus. It was the only university that he applied to. He did one year of football in Edinboro. He wan’t serious about his work. He got a $500 dollar scholarship from the teacher association from Trentum high school. He studied art education. He worked 29 years at SRU and retired. He did shows in Chicago and Toronto. Currently, he works in Arizona.

“It was a pleasure to work at SRU," Myford said. "I really like teaching."

Check out a D.W. Martin video on: http://youtu.be/lwMtiPk15mo

Kaleidoscope Festival: Taiko Drummer Takumi Kato performs in Swope Music Hall

Taiko Drummer Takumi Kato performed at his largest venue in the United States for the Kaleidoscope Festival at 7:30 p.m. on Apr. 28 in the Swope Music Hall.

Soon Kato will be playing Taiko drums by the request of Japanese Emperor Akihito.

“I’m very honored and nervous to perform for him,” Kato said.

Kato was nervous throughout his performance, but the crowd cheered him on throughout the evening. In the first performance Kato wore a tropical-themed robe to honor those who lost their lives from Japan’s tropical storm and earthquake last year.

The theme of the first song was about different relationships, different tongues from the family and outside of them through which people are connected.

Performances recap:

“I’m still nervous,” Kato said after his performance. “It reminded me of great love back home. This song reflects that.”

Kato’s family was always supportive of his career. His family helped put together his outfit. His grandma made the armbands—except for the shoes, he joked.

The next song he connected the theme to his family and community. It reflected social networking. It invoked a noisy household, and his mom had an American bold personality.

After his performance, he asked the audience if it was okay to drink water. He’s played the drums for 10 years. He used to do 1,000 push-ups a day to build the muscles to perform. He was the youngest of three children. He admits he is still childish.

Ikuko Kurasawa, an instructor in Japanese at Penn. State University Greater Allegheny, performed with Kato for the first time that night. Kurasawa met Kato through mutual friends and was asked to perform for him. They performed a song about friendship.

Pictures of the Taiko Drum event:

In the fourth performance, Kato played someone’s original song using a traditional Japanese bamboo flute. In the fifth performance, Kato used all three drums. One of the audience members asked him to take off his shirt. He placed his robe on the floor and took a picture of the audience on his phone. His drums were 50 years old. Each of the sticks that he uses is different. The heavy ones create a deep tone. The drum skins last 10 years and are very thick.This night was Kato’s fourth performance at SRU.

Kato's Final Performance


Kato had CDs and T-shirts to raise money the earthquake and tsunami after the show. He also has his own charity studio called "Nukumori no Mori" to raise money for people and the enviroment through traditional music and Taiko peformance.

Steve Strain, a biology professor, has been going to the Taiko Drum performances for four of the five years they performed at SRU.

“I can’t even tell you why I like it,” Strain said. “It’s just neat.”

In high school, he used to play the trombone. His older son, 16, wants a career in music and is planning to study music in college.

Colleen Reilly, the director of Kaleidoscope Festival for two years, leads arts administrations academics curriculum in theater. Being the director is part of the contract.

“I’m thrilled to be opening the community to the art culture,” Reilly said. “I appreciate the picnic in the quad donated by AVI Foodsytems. Overall, the departments are shown.”

Kato’s violin teacher recommended him to play the drums.Most of the audience stayed to take pictures with Kato. There was a five-dollar suggested donation and the entire event lasted for 40 minutes.

“I have enjoyed seeing brothers sitting together,” Kato said. “In Japan, you don’t see families sitting together.”

Interview with Takumi Kato:

Check for arts at SRU in the upcoming article about the Sculptural Invitational on Friday, May 11.

You may view more Takumi Kato's performances on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/user/ericakurvach/feed