CAPE GIRARDEAU - “Looking Ahead: Portraits from the Mott-Warsh Collection” will be displayed beginning Aug. 28 in the Rosemary Berkel and Harry L. Crisp II Museum at Southeast Missouri State University’s River Campus.

The exhibit will remain on display through Oct. 21.

The works, which feature the black face, are featured in representational and conceptual portraiture. Artists showcased in this exhibition directly and indirectly examine the social, political and cultural nuances of the black face and head in fine art and popular visual culture.

The theme of black portraiture has been primarily explored in photography and literature yet rarely in fine art museum exhibitions. Several of the works are self-portraits, and a few are portraits of artists who are represented in the Mott-Warsh Collection.

In general, art museums seldom present portrait exhibitions. This exhibition was organized as an attempt to fill that void and unite a group of artists, who rarely, if at all, are shown together in the same venue.

Works by the following artists are featured in the exhibition: Charles Alston, Robert Arneson, Romare Bearden, John Biggers, Mary Borgman, Elizabeth Catlett, Chuck Close, Diane Edison, Chester Higgins Jr., Whitfield Lovell, Robert Mapplethorpe, Allie McGhee, Hank Willis Thomas, Mildred Thompson, Alphonse van Woerkom, Charles White, Peter Williams, John Wilson, Richard Wyatt Jr. and Richard Yarde.

This exhibition features artwork in a variety of media, including drawing, painting, printmaking, photography and sculpture. Several of the works are small, intimate pieces, and other works are large in scale and domineering in their presence.

Based in Flint, Mich., The Mott-Warsh Collection was initiated by Maryanne Mott and her husband, the late Herman Warsh, in 2001. With a focus on artworks created by artists of the African Diaspora, the Mott-Warsh Collection includes artworks produced in the 20th and 21st centuries by more than 150 artists, covering a range of media from drawing to painting, prints to photography and mixed media to sculpture.

The Crisp Museum is located in the Cultural Arts Center at Southeast Missouri State University’s River Campus, located at 518 S. Fountain St. in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 1-4 p.m. on weekends.

For more information, call (573) 651- 2260 or email the museum's staff.

CAPE GIRARDEAU - Sara Edgerton and Paul Thompson, faculty members at Southeast Missouri State University, will present a recital of music for cello and piano entitled “Song Without Words,” Aug. 26 at Southeast’s River Campus.

The concert will include diverse selections for cello and piano, with a special focus on lyrical, song-like melodies for the two instruments. The concert will be presented as part of the Faculty Recital Series and will take place at 3 p.m. in the Robert F. and Gertrude L. Shuck Music Recital Hall.

The concert will open with three movements from J. S. Bach’s dance-inspired “Suite No. 2” for solo cello, composed in the early 18th century. Next on the program will be a set of three beautiful, melodious works for cello and piano: Felix Mendelssohn’s charming “Song Without Words,” Op. 109; the soulful “Ave Maria” by Bach-Gounod; and the lilting “Valse Sentimentale” by the great Romantic composer P. Tchaikovsky.

Edgerton and Thompson will also perform a substantial work by the contemporary British composer, Gavin Bryars: his “South Down for Cello and Piano.” Written in 1996, this work is dedicated by Bryars to “the cellists in my life.” The music unfolds at a leisurely pace, with rippling arpeggios for the cello and piano, interspersed with sections of great lyricism and soaring melodies. Edgerton will then return to the stage to present the first movement of the massive work for solo cello by the Hungarian composer, Zoltan Kodaly: his “Sonata for Solo Cello in B Minor.” Full of modal harmonies, special effects and resonant chords, this work calls to mind the Hungarian countryside that provided such an inspiration for Kodaly’s music.

Edgerton and Thompson will conclude the program with two brief tunes they have arranged for cello and piano: “Someone to Watch Over Me” and “Days of Wine and Roses.”

“The overall theme of this concert is to highlight the melodic, cantabile qualities of the cello,” Edgerton said. “Paul and I wanted to find music where the cello could really ‘sing’. In addition, we wanted to have a lot of variety in the program, and I think the audience will enjoy hearing the cello on its own and in accompaniment with the piano, in many contrasting moods and time periods. We’re looking forward to performing this music, and hope the public will enjoy hearing ‘Song Without Words.’ It should be a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon in late August.”

Tickets are on sale now.

Tickets may be purchased by contacting the River Campus Box Office, located in the Cultural Arts Center, 518 S. Fountain St., weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., or by calling (573) 651-2265, or online at RiverCampusEvents.com.

CAPE GIRARDEAU – Auditions for Southeast Missouri State University’s Department of Theatre and Dance fall productions will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 21, in the Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall at Southeast’s River Campus.

Those who wish to audition for all three productions – “Grease,” “The Crucible” and “On the Verge” – must prepare 32-bars (50s, ballad or up-tempo Broadway musical) and a 60-second dramatic monologue. Those who wish to audition for “The Crucible” and “On the Verge” only must prepare one 60-second monologue in the fashion of either script.

All current prospective Bachelor of Fine Arts performance majors and all freshmen and transfer student prospective Bachelor of Fine Arts majors are required to audition for mainstage productions. All performance-based Bachelor of Arts majors are highly encouraged to audition. Everyone auditioning should dress appropriately and bring a resume, headshot and music (if singing).

Callbacks are scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 22, as follows:

• “Grease” from 6-10 p.m. with dance call from 5-6 p.m. in the Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall 
• “The Crucible” from 6-10 p.m. in the Wendy Kurka Rust Flexible Theatre at Southeast’s River Campus 
• “On the Verge” from 6-10 p.m. in the River Campus Seminary Building Room 403 

Those receiving callbacks are not required to have anything prepared. They should dress for movement and dance, and be very familiar with scripts for cold readings.

For more information, visit SEMO.edu/TheatreandDance.

CAPE GIRARDEAU - The Southeast Missouri State University Board of Regents today approved a plan to build out a mezzanine in the dome of Academic Hall as part of major restoration of the building currently under way.

Tim Rowbottom, principal with the Lawrence Group, an architectural firm contracted for the project, laid out a plan for a 1,950-square-foot mezzanine to be built seven feet above the building’s attic, placing it between the building’s third floor and the dome. The mezzanine would include a special event meeting place as well as a restroom and small kitchenette. The plan calls for the mezzanine’s ceiling to be glass, with a skylight offering a complete view of the dome’s interior and the historic chalked signatures added to the dome’s wooden structure over the University’s history.

Restricted access to the mezzanine would be via stairs and an elevator from the third floor. A spiral staircase would be built upward from the mezzanine to a ringed walkway encircling the perimeter of the dome and offering views through the dome’s porthole-type windows, Rowbottom said.

Total cost of the project is estimated at $1,051,000, with $645,000 going toward basic structure and build-out work and $406,000 toward lighting, fixtures and finishes. Estimated completion of the dome is scheduled for July 31, 2013, extending the length of the building’s restoration by one month. Kathy Mangels, vice president for finance and administration, said plans call for the Department of Communication Studies to be relocated from the Grauel Building to offices and classrooms in Academic Hall in time for the start of the fall 2013 semester. A grand re-opening of Academic Hall is planned during the University’s Homecoming celebration in October 2013, according to Kenneth W. Dobbins, president of Southeast Missouri State University.

In December 2010, the University issued $58.2 million in bond proceeds for major capital improvements on campus with $22.8 million dedicated to renovation of Academic Hall. The Regents today agreed to use remaining bond proceeds from this allocation to fund the dome mezzanine build-out.

In related business, the Regents discussed a space utilization study on campus and Regent Jim Limbaugh asked that it include a review of facilities at Houck Stadium needing updating, including the press box. Dobbins said the study should explore three possible locations for relocating these areas: the south side of the stadium, the east endzone and the north side of the stadium. Mangels said the surface of the Houck track also is being discussed as is a video recording structure to replace a lift currently being used to videotape Houck game footage.

In other action, Rowbottom updated the board on the Lawrence Group’s preliminary planning for a River Campus residence hall and academic spaces. One option being considered is a building on the campus to create a quadrangle on the northeast corner of the property near the old Mississippi River Bridge approach and the historic handball court. Rowbottom said the project could include both a 150-bed residential unit and academic space. He said the academic space would accommodate some of the fine arts areas that remain on the main campus and additional academic space needed due to significant increases in fine art majors.

Rowbottom said the Lawrence Group will bring their recommendations to the Board of Regents for consideration in October.

Jonesboro, AR - Construction of an extension to University Loop on the west side of the Arkansas State University campus is now underway, announced Dr. Len Frey, vice chancellor for Finance and Administration.

The extension, from University Loop to Aggie Road, should significantly improve access to campus parking and make traffic flow on that side of campus much more convenient, Frey added.

The temporary road is expected to be completed by the middle of August in time for the beginning of the fall semester.  The first day of classes will be Monday, Aug. 20.

“We are going forward with construction of a temporary road extension to provide more convenient access for students, faculty, staff and the public,” Dr. Frey explained.  “Parking lots and campus buildings in the southwest portion of the campus will be much more accessible until the permanent road extension can be completed.”

Construction of the temporary extension includes building a section of roadway from University Loop, south of the Health, Physical Education and Sports Sciences Building, to Faculty Circle, which intersects with Aggie Road, west of the Armory.

After the Marion Berry Parkway opened late last year, the university followed through on agreements with the railroads to close Caraway Road between University Loop and Matthews Ave.  That portion of Caraway Road included two railway crossings.

A permanent road extension between University Loop and Aggie Road has been designed and is currently being reviewed by the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department and the Federal Highway Administration.  The review, site preparation and subsequent construction is expected to take at least two years, so the extension will provide a beneficial alternative in the meantime.