Arts News

CAH Alumnus Justin Bursch to hold Production Workshop for Film Students at CWU

Wed, 02 Feb 2022 16:14:40

Justin Bursch

Producer & Senior VP of Production for Film at Entertainment One

2001 CWU Alumnus

Justin Bursch is a film producer and current Senior Vice President of Production for Film at Entertainment One (eOne), a Hasbro company. He has produced or been the studio executive on more than 40 Hollywood movies and television series in his career. From the creative process through delivery, he helps navigate the balance between creative and budgets, cashflow schedules, production timelines, schedules, production plans, tax credit analysis and financial structures. Bursch oversees all physical production elements for eOne which also include all the Hasbro IP.

Bursch also handles all union collective bargaining agreements and term agreements, state and local government liaisons, talent representatives as well as talent relationships on-the-ground, while at the same time handling all the hiring, production logistics, delivery requirements to the worldwide territories, and overseeing all financial spending. Bursch has produced movies with both amazing filmmakers such as Antoine Fuqua, Alex Aja, Ted Melfi and stars known around the world such as Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Amy Schumer, Michelle Williams, Willem DaFoe, Melissa McCarthy, Kevin Kline, Jason Sudiekis, Mark Wahlberg, Chris Pine, Hugh Grant, Regé-Jean Page, Michelle Rodriguez, Cuba Gooding Jr., Ashley Judd, Matt Dillon, Samuel L. Jackson, Luke Wilson and a handful of other great talent.

With his extensive production experience as well as being a bondable producer with Film Finance Inc., as well as producing movies for top studios, production companies, sales companies, distributors and other producers like; Paramount Pictures, Voltage Pictures, Wonderland Sound & Vision, FilmNation, Universal, Sony, Fox Home Entertainment and others he has established himself as a go-to sou-to-nuts producer and executive. He is also a member of the Directors Guild of America (DGA).

Before Hollywood, Bursch grew up in Spokane, WA and was a full-scholarship award recipient in both football and basketball. He holds a B.S. in Business Administration with a specialization in Marketing from Central Washington University where he was also a 4-year letterman on the men’s basketball team and played in the NCAA Division 2 National Basketball Tournament all four years while being the team’s captain his junior and senior year and graduating in 2001. Upon graduation he packed his car with all his belongings and moved to Hollywood to chase the dream of making movies.

Justin Bursch's IMDB Page

Innovation in Leadership: Dean Hernandez Highlights Four New Programs

Tue, 20 Apr 2021 13:44:00

Courage can be contagious, and the faculty and staff in the College of Arts & Humanities courageously meet the diverse needs of students. A component of our College of Arts & Humanities mission is to help cultivate ethical leadership. There are at least two components of that mission: modeling ethical leadership for our students, and honing that model amidst our faculty and staff. This year, we’ve endeavored to directly, positively impact leadership development within our College faculty, staff, and student through four new programs:

- The CAH Student Ambassador Program. As the only College at CWU with a Student Ambassador program, CAH has been keen to revamp the program to meet the evolving needs of students. This year, we’ve done just this, and focused on engagement. The changes—that happened along with a pandemic—include virtual dialogues with future Wildcats and student Ambassadors, preparing student Ambassadors for reach out in our new Living Learning Community, and interacting directly with our alumni relations coordinator on projects that bridge the gap between our alumni and current CWU students. Our Ambassadors reflect a diversity of background experiences, future trajectories, and passions, and we’re excited to continue to develop future ethical leaders through the program.

- Intellectual Leadership. New faculty at CWU are already faced with developing new coursework, building out a research program, and developing service activities. Finding a network of people who understand their new roles and who can help walk beside them during their transition can be difficult. The new Intellectual Leadership program brings new faculty in the College into dialogue with each other, and then pairs them with a senior mentor outside of their discipline. The cohort tackles issues ranging from the theoretical (i.e., how to communicate through difference) to the concrete (i.e., what to do in Ellensburg on the weekends), and the mentorship program ensures that new faculty do not have to seek out their own support network to thrive at Central.

- Education Administration (EdAd). The EdAd program is a first-of-its-kind series of workshops designed specifically to address the needs and experiences of department chairs in the College. Our chairs range from newly-minted Associate Professors, to faculty who have been at the university for a quarter of century, yet they share challenges as leaders in the university. The EdAd program takes up concrete issues that chairs deal with, and brings in homegrown experts on how to tackle those issues efficiently and energetically.

- Leadership CAH (LCAH). Leadership CAH is an executive leadership development program, whose membership is via nomination-only. In its first year, more than thirty candidates from across the university were vetted and ten chosen for the program. All the candidates (staff and faculty) work with CAH as an essential part of their job duties, and exhibit leadership potential. The cohort focuses on theoretical and concrete leadership development tools, personal leadership growth, and learning about different VP areas of the university. The capstone experience is a quarter-long mentoring experience with a university vice president or dean.

The leadership teams we are building are one-of-a-kind, sustain relationships that will have a lasting positive impact on our team, and create new opportunities to meet the diverse needs of students. Regardless of our station within the College, we have a shared goal to model excellence in new ways for our students, and we’re so excited that we have been able to learn and grow together. As we look to create opportunities for our students to flourish, we courageously look at where we can improve, and how we model ethical leadership for our Central community.

Thanks! -Jill

Media Contact: Kindra Martin, College of Arts and Humanities administrative assistant

Published: 4/19/2021

The Art of Transformation: Philippe Hyojung Kim Impacts Community Change

Mon, 19 Apr 2021 16:12:22

Central Washington University Alumnus Philippe Hyojung Kim spent the last year working with the Washington State Arts Commission (ARTSWA) to curate a permanent installation at Simcoe Elementary in Wapato, Washington. “My main goal as a curator in this project was to directly reflect and represent this diverse, multicultural, multigenerational community by selecting artworks made by women artists, artists of color, immigrant artists, and queer artists from the region and beyond. To give you a little bit more background, Simcoe Elementary is a brand new K-3 elementary school that was built just about 2 years ago, and the students and their community that the school serves are very diverse with the majority of the student body representing Native, Hispanic/Latinx, and Filipino American communities in Wapato, WA. The city also has a very rich and dynamic cultural and historic landscape in that the ground it stands on is part of the larger Yakama Nation. With this in mind, I worked with 2 Native American artists from Washington, 2 Latinx artists, 1 Filipino artist, and 3 regional artists to bring together a collection of artworks that are worth $75K+, providing opportunities to these artists especially during the socioeconomic hardship we went through and are still facing due to the pandemic.”

In addition to Kim’s curatorial work, he is also a successful artist “I will be installing some of my new sculptural works at SeaTac international airport in their newly built international departure wing at the end of this month, titled (Un)Earthly Delights, a new body of work I started during Covid lockdown and continues to grow into a new chapter in my work. I also have a couple of solo shows in the schedule for later this year, again thankfully after all the postponements and rescheduling from last year's closure.”

You can visit Kim’s studio and learn a little more about his artistic influences at: https://vimeo.com/436534894

Kim often experiments with various materials and mediums, in response to his immediate surroundings to make objects and environments that exist in the space between painting and sculpture. His work often references queer identity, artificiality, and language. He has shown nationally at galleries, museums, and alternative art spaces in Denver, Dallas, Los Angeles, Nashville, New York, and Seattle. Kim is a current member of SOIL Artist-Run Gallery (@soilart) and a co-founder/curator of Specialist (@specialist_sea), an experimental art gallery in downtown Seattle. He teaches art and design courses at Seattle Central College and Cornish College of the Arts.

Philippe received his MFA in Painting from Central Washington University in 2016, When asked about his time on campus, he remembers Gregg Schlanger “I learned a lot from him, just by being around him, not just about art, but also about being a decent human being and being a good teacher.”

“I know I will continue to make art, teach art, and celebrate and showcase artists and their work through my gallery and curatorial practice. To fuel that energy, I want to travel, to visit friends and family, old and new, and to enjoy a nice glass of wine at the end of the day with a good company.”

Kim currently lives and works in Seattle with his husband, Drew, and their dog, Jack.

Media Contact: Kindra Martin, College of Arts and Humanities administrative assistant
Published: 4/19/2021

Women Spies in the Russian Secret Police: Brutality, Gender, and the Bolshevik Utopia

Mon, 19 Apr 2021 16:07:56

Jenny Findsen is a master’s student at Central Washington University. She is currently studying Late Imperial Russia/Soviet history and completing her thesis on women’s roles in Russian military and defense.

“Among the growing numbers of Chekists [secret police formed in 1917 under Vladimir Lenin] were women. They became officers and spies to help unearth any opposition to the Bolsheviks. The White Movement and foreign media often portrayed these women as vicious and bloodthirsty. Perhaps they were. Historian Barbara Clements put forth that it is more likely that ‘their reputations grew from a horrified reaction to women being implicated in the atrocious cruelty of civil war.’ Tatiana Varsher added, ‘The Bolsheviks went much further along the road to women’s equality: not only did they give women their “place in Parliament,” as well as some of the highest positions in the republic--they also gave them the job of executioner.’

Several women became notorious Chekists, well-known for their brutality throughout Russia. Nevertheless, these women were no more brutal than their male counterparts. Sometimes Chekist women tried to restrain dealing out terror and death, as was in the case of Elena Stasova. Hearing reports of many deaths and horrendous terror tactics used on civilians, Stasova asked to be assigned to the Petrograd Cheka to check the onslaught. Unfortunately, information on Chekist women is scarce and often unreliable.

Nevertheless, one cannot doubt these women were as devoted to the Bolshevik utopia as Lenin or Dzerzhinski. Perhaps their dream included gender equality. Just as female soldiers fought alongside men, eager to prove they were worthy of full citizenship, Chekists women strove for the same. Instead of fighting on the frontlines against outside forces, they worked as spies, agents, and leaders fighting against an internal threat.”

Jenny will defend her thesis in May. After graduation she plans to earn her Ph.D. in history with a specialization in Russian Chinese relations.

Media Contact: Kindra Martin, College of Arts and Humanities administrative assistant

Published: 4/19/2021

Social Reform Movements and Morality Practices: Christian Women's Impact on Benevolent Societies

Mon, 19 Apr 2021 16:04:54

Belle Williams, a senior majoring in Sociology and Religious Studies, is currently researching “the many ways Christianity has historically supported women’s participation in social reform movements such as Women’s Rights movements, the Abolitionist movement, and the Civil rights movements.” She is especially interested in “the disconnect seen between the participation of Catholic women in social reform, compared to that of Protestant women.” Williams is researching these topics for her senior thesis in religious studies. “It is clear that Protestant women engaged in more progressive social reform movements for their time whereas Catholic women either did not participate or participated in reform movements that were not progressive for their time,” remarked Williams.

“Starting in the 19th century with the Abolitionist movement and the umbrella of societal issues and movements encompassed under the term ‘women’s rights’ including suffrage, education, temperance, and working conditions, I am examining a list of Christian women leaders in social reform movements in the U.S. up to the 21st century. This list includes nine protestant women and two catholic women, in chronological order: Sarah Grimke, Angelina Grimke, Catharine Beecher, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Frances Willard, Belle Harris Bennett, Grace Hoadley Dodge, Dorothy Day, Virginia Durr, Diane Nash, and Phyllis Schlafly,” explains Williams “The limited involvement of Catholic women in social reform movements during this time may provide an explanation as to why there are only two Catholic women to be examined in this list. Christian women participants in social reform movements of this proposed time period were, substantially Protestant.” Williams explains.

“In many cases women’s civil rights participation stemmed from women’s morality practices of the 19th and 20th century… Following the lead of Protestant churches, Catholic women created benevolent societies dedicated to helping the poor and morally fallen. Early women reformers were rooted in Protestant culture.” An excerpt from the Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America vol. 1.

Williams will defend her thesis in May and looks forward to graduating at the end of Winter 2022.

Media Contact: Kindra Martin, College of Arts and Humanities administrative assistant

Published: 4/19/2021

The Music Network: Alumni Support Students with Excellence in Music Education Funding

Mon, 19 Apr 2021 15:59:20

Scott McKee, CEO of American Band College: “The American Band College has been fortunate enough to be able to support over 1,100 band directors, from across the nation and around the world, refine their craft and fully engage their students and communities. The network and connections we establish are deep and lifelong, and we are delighted to have joined forces with CWU’s outstanding faculty and staff in the Department of Music, College of Arts and Humanities, and School of Graduate Studies. We look forward to extending our partnership for many years to come and couldn’t be prouder to be Wildcats. We also are proud to be able to support music at CWU as a donor to the CWU Foundation’s Fund for Excellence in Music Education.”

“Because Central Washington University’s Department of Music is known throughout the Pacific Northwest as an award-winning department that values preparing future music educators, our partnership with the American Band College (ABC) was easy to establish” shared Todd Shiver, Chair. This partnership brings graduate music education students from all over the country to Washington to receive advanced training from the most notable performers, conductors, and teachers in the country. This partnership expanded our summer master of music education offerings from 36 students to over 200 students each summer. CWU Music’s graduate students represent 50% of all graduate students at Central. After three summers of intensive classes, these students go back to every corner of our country feeling better prepared to meet their music classroom's challenges, and they proudly display their Master's Degree from Central Washington University.

Story by: Katharine Reed, Senior Director of Development

Published: 4/19/2021

Pursuing a Passion for Music- Singer-Songwriter-Student Creates First Album

Mon, 15 Feb 2021 19:41:52

A CWU student has chosen to break the mold for her Senior Project. Alison Banchero, a music and DHC student, put both Senior Project requirements together to embark on one super project this year; to write and record an album of original music. With the advisement of Dr. Mark Samples from the music department, Alison has been working since fall on the project, which will be completed by the middle of spring quarter. This gigantic project meets the interdisciplinary requirements of the DHC by including many different facets of the musical realm such as writing music and recording, as well as consulting with professionals to create an outside platform release plan. It also meets Music BA requirements by including elements of recorded work (specifically singing).

Alison, who was writing music before she got to Central, intends to include this project in her portfolio as her culminating piece of professional collegiate work and artistic expression. Her musical style blends jazz, funk, blues, and pop into a uniquely intimate sound. Songs vary in their musical style from funky tunes with a full rhythm section and horns, to solo piano and voice. One song on the album, titled Crossroads, is a musical collaboration with another student in the department, Michael Powers.

“This project is something I’ve wanted to do ever since I got here. As far as I know it’s never been done before at CWU, but this is what the Music BA should enable one to do!” Allison explained, “I hope other music students can see this and feel empowered to pursue creative projects because art is important, it’s what reminds us that we are human.”

Media Contact: Kindra Martin, College of Arts and Humanities administrative assistant

Published: 2/19/2021

Alumni Support Student Learning- CAH Alumni Day 2021

Mon, 15 Feb 2021 19:38:44

Alumni honorees returned to campus on February 18th via virtual platforms to participate in classroom workshops, career talks and the College of Arts and Humanities CAH Alumni Panel. These activities provided students with the opportunity to explore possible career specialties and speak with individuals working in their prospective fields.

College of Arts and Humanities faculty and staff celebrated twelve alumni for success in their career field. The 2021 honorees for CAH Alumni Day were Nina Caldwell, deputy prosecuting attorney for Pierce County (Africana and Black Studies Program Honoree), Jenny Walton, artist and educator (Art + Design Department Honoree), Austin Hennessey, customer technical manager-APAC at Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation (Asian Studies Program Honoree), Jonathan Glover, web content manager & social media manager at Spokane Falls Community College (Communication Department Honoree), Lucas Peters, writer & entrepreneur (English Department Honoree), Erika Ewing, creative executive at Lionsgate Motion Picture Group (Film Program Honoree), Nicole Mozingo, adjudications officer for the Department of Homeland Security HQ (History Department Honoree), Lara Gil, freelance translator at Lexible Language Services (Latino and Latin American Studies Program Honoree), Amanda Taylor, vocalist with Säje (Music Department Honoree), Casie Grevé, English language arts teacher at Coupeville Middle School (Philosophy & Religious Studies Department Honoree), Sarah Peterson, production manager at Jazz at Lincoln Center (Theatre Arts Department Honoree), and Steve Cook, assistant director for Study Abroad and Exchange Programs at Central Washington University (World Languages and Cultures Honoree).

“Central students can learn a great deal from the experiences and expertise of alumni,” said Jessika Roe, alumni relations coordinator for the College of Arts and Humanities. “The college has alumni living and working around the world. We are honored to have them back on campus.”

Media Contact: Kindra Martin, College of Arts and Humanities administrative assistant

Published: 2/19/2021

Recognizing Reification

Mon, 15 Feb 2021 19:34:39

Central Washington University Theatre Arts graduate student Keenan Shionalyn will receive the 2021 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival award for Region 7 Graduate Paper. Keenan’s paper “Subversion and Reification of Mixed Race and Queer Tropes: The Triumphs and Downfalls of Lovecraft Country” was the Region 7 graduate paper winner for 2021.
“I am honored to receive the 2021 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region VII scholarly paper award in the Graduate Student category,” said Shionalyn. “As I accept this award, I owe thanks and gratitude to my faculty advisor Dr. Natashia Lindsey, who inspired this paper and strengthened my research with thoughtful feedback and encouragement. As we grapple and contend with historical mistakes, privilege, and a path forward, we must also address how the arts portray racial and gender identities. Through analysis of narratives and portrayals seen on stage and screen, I hope we can move towards creating art that educates and inspires a world that does not repeat the mistakes of the past and encourages audiences to grapple with their own placement within systems of oppression. I am honored that my work is receiving recognition. I hope it reminds of the importance of anti-racist work in all fields and encourages further research within performance and theatre.”
Shionalyn’s paper explores how the writers of the television series Lovecraft Country give form to the concepts of mixed race and queer tropes. “Lovecraft Country, a science fiction and horror series on HBO created by Misha Green and other prominent producers such as JJ Abrams and Jordan Peele, centers depiction of racial disparities while exploring Lovecraftian themes. Based on the novel by Matt Huff, this series attempts to reclaim horror and science fiction as genres not limited by race and remove white supremacist attitudes present in many founding works.
Ruby's placement as a hybrid continues," writes Shionalyn. "Where she painfully sheds [Hillary’s] white skin, revealing Ruby bloodied from the experience. Both William and Ruby process where she exclaims, 'When I was stumbling down the street, crazed and disheveled, they weren’t scared of me. They were scared for me. They all treated me like…' William interrupts with, 'a human being.' It is at this moment that the purpose of the interracial trope becomes clear. The writers here utilized the symbolism of William’s blood ingestion and Ruby passing to examine racial trope." Shionalyn continues "Within her white or passing body, she remained Ruby with all of her experience as a black individual, thereby representing mixed race experience not as trope or fear of mixing blood, but as a real lived experience within both worlds."
"Christina has been throughout the season a hybrid, not along racial lines, but gender. Even as William, she was both man and woman. This hybridity not only complicates the relationship with Ruby but also begs for a queer reading. Even as William, it was Christina who engaged intimately with Ruby or Hillary, only in the body of a man. Confirming her hybrid nature, Christina states to Ruby, 'I could be so much more . . . The words may have come out of William’s mouth, but they were mine.' This hybridity of bodies is not a negotiation but a blending," explaines Shionalyn. "Christina remains the only hybrid, having experienced male, female, white, and now black. She has gained from black people their knowledge and experience and now uses it for her gain. I cannot help but compare this to white academics such as Jessica Krug, gaining all the benefit of existing within the white world and inhabiting the black world at will.”
Shionalyn will accept his award from the Kennesy Center American College Festival on February 20th.

Media Contact: Kindra Martin, College of Arts and Humanities administrative assistant

Published: 2/19/2021

Supporting Students from College to Career

Mon, 15 Feb 2021 19:30:18

The iconic, inimitable Maya Angelou encouraged us, in her Rainbow in the Cloud, “Stand up straight, and realize who you are, that you tower above your circumstances”. Angelou’s comment is not just descriptive. It should prescribe for us how to respond to a world that gives us things we would not ordinarily choose.

Just on the horizon is our first anniversary in a pandemic, and that vista contains hope for a vaccination and an emerging return to being physically proximate to each other. We would not have chosen the pandemic. Yet, we are positioned to choose some of our responses to what is happening in the world—and, indeed, to tower above our circumstances.

In the College of Arts & Humanities at Central Washington University, we’re using our circumstances to engage with our students in new and better ways. I was excited to announce to you in the last newsletter that the College kicked off advancement efforts for our C2C (Classroom-to-Career) and EthicsLab initiatives. The next year will be fortuitous in guiding the expansion of both efforts.

The C2C initiative provides CAH students an opportunity to do something that is truly first of its kind at Central: externships. You are familiar with internships already. Externships are short (1-2 day) on-the-job shadowing experiences that offer students vocational clarity early in their time at Central. During the externship students get a preview of how their marketable skills are used on-the-job, and students evaluate their individual "fit" with a career, position, or organization. By sharing their expertise and professional journey with CWU students, externship hosts give students transformational career development. Hosts also build connections with the current College community that can also extend their employment pipeline and even, brand recognition.

The program is ready to launch, and in Spring 2021 we are sending our first students off to externships (virtually, and in distanced, COVID-safe environments)! C2C has already energized many, and I’m delighted to report that, through the generous support of CAH alumni, friends, and supporters, we are able to fully fund all externships, so that students can travel, professionally dress, and experientially learn at no cost to the student!

If you’re reading this, and are outside the university, please consider hosting one of our Wildcats for a day, whether on-site or remotely. If you’re reading this, and are at the university, please consider talking about externships with our students. And regardless of where you are, if you have any questions, please let me know.

This pandemic has stressed and stretched us. Yet, we are choosing to continue to create possibilities for our students to have flourishing futures—to prepare them to tower above their circumstances and learn to stand tall despite them. Thank you for all that you do on behalf of our students!

Story by:Dean Jill Hernandez, College of Arts and Humanities

Published: 2/19/2021