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Tusculum TechnologyCameras help studentsdiscover artistic ‘eye’Deborah Bryan, assistant professorof art, is using technology to helpher students develop their ownartistic eye.When Bryan came to TusculumCollege in 2007, she was struck byhow many students in her drawing,painting and printmaking classeshad difficulties in generating originalimagery to use as a basis for theirartwork.Students were going to websiteswith copyright-free imagery to findphotos to use. “I asked, ‘wouldyou want to use someone else’sphotography for instance, as thebasis of your work? Why notgenerate your own photographs andwork with those as references?’”Realizing it would not be enoughto restrict students from using theseimages, Bryan set upon a course ofaction that continues. She bringsin quality point and shoot digitalcameras and teaches her students howto take the shots they need and to usePhotoshop Elements and PhotoshopCS5 to develop the images into areference photo. This reference photois to then be used as a basis for adrawing, painting or print.Students are instructed by Bryanto not copy the image but use it asan inspiration. However, she doesencourage students, particularlythose in the upper level courses, todo further research on the Internetto fill in details not captured in their own photos.To the right above are some examples of some of thereference photos and works created by the students:from top down, a still life by Ashton Hardeman; anabstraction by JerWayne Gunn ’11, and an oil paintingby Cindy Barrett.by Eugenia Estes,associate director of college communications10New lighting and equipment increaseoptions for Theatre-at-TusculumTheatre-at-Tusculumproductions in recent yearshave brought Siam, theFrench countryside and Ozto life in vibrant colors andelaborate sets on the stage.The quality theatricalexperience Arts Outreachprovides in each of itsproductions has beenenriched in recent years bytechnical upgrades.For the past several years,These new LED stage lights Arts Outreach has beenin the Annie Hogan Byrd Fine updating and acquiringArts Building are more energy new equipment for both theefficient than older lights, stage in the auditorium ofusing three watts of energy the Annie Hogan Byrd Finecompared to 500+ watts. Arts Building and the DavidBehan Arena Theatre.While the changes may not be readily apparent toaudiences in either venue, the updates have meant a greaterflexibility in staging and lighting, said Frank Mengel, ArtsOutreach technical director.The new lighting allows for schemes to be programmedinto scenes and operated with the touch of just one buttonrather than several, Mengel said.Stage lights have been purchased in increments overthe past several years. Among the newest are stage lightsthat use LED bulbs. The dimmersof red, blue and green are builtinto the lights, he said, and canbe operated through the controlsfor the stage lights, making iteasier to create different colors. Toaccomplish the same effect withthe older lights would require threelights, three color gels and threedimmers operated separately.In the Behan Theatre, a newcontrol booth was constructed lastsummer and a new lighting controlsystem installed. Its control boardis now interchangeable with the onethat controls the auditorium’s stage,Mengel said, so they can be easilyinterchanged if a problem arises.The light switch/dimmer box in theBehan Theatre hasbeen upgraded. Thenew box is smallerthan the original one,but allows for theaddition of lights.by Eugenia Estes,associate director of college communications