Kaitlyn Aki Holloway, Untitled Detail

Sweet Briar College will host an opening reception for its 2013 senior art majors’ thesis show at 5 p.m. Friday, April 19, in Pannell Gallery. “The Art of Uncertainty” highlights culminating work by Vianey Chavez, Virginia Graves, Danielle Hall, Madeline Hodges, Kaitlyn Holloway, Sally Toms and Jennifer Will.

The largest senior art exhibition in years, it boasts a wide array of themes and media, from explorations of culture to celebrations of nature, from oil paintings to traditional mixed media to digital work.

“The show’s title is meant to reflect the different ways in which the artists attempt to grapple with the unpredictability and indefiniteness of life, either by embracing uncertainty through their media or by attempting to wrench thematic clarity from its grip,” said Holloway, whose artwork includes prints, as well as dolls made of kiln-fired and polymer clay. She uses natural homemade dyes created from local materials, such as walnuts found behind Sweet Briar House, for the dolls’ hair.

“My work explores femininity and various ideas that have been associated with femininity through the ages and in various cultures,” she said. “I am interested in exploring and elevating art forms that have been strongly associated with women and also considered frivolous.”

But there are many other themes that inspire Holloway’s art.

“Through my prints and dolls, I like to explore historical fashion, Christian iconography, the coming together of my Japanese and American heritages, folklores, feminine strength and death.”

“The Art of Uncertainty” runs until May 18. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday. Special gallery hours are available by appointment. The show is supported in part by a fund established by Carl and Barbara Calandra, parents of Amy Calandra Davis ’90.

Artist information:

Vianey Chavez is a studio art major with a business minor from Menlo Park, Calif. Her work, which varies in medium from printmaking to digital collage, is a celebration and exploration of her experience as a Mexican-American. Her artwork often features the motif of a decorative skull typical of Day of the Dead celebrations, an image that represents a new start.

Virginia Graves is a studio art major and art history minor from Appomattox. Her work and medium vary widely, though paint appears in almost all of her pieces. She is interested in how the media she uses inspire the outcome of her pieces. She has recently begun to experiment with sculpture.

Danielle Hall is a studio art major from Altavista. She is interested in the way light, water and color interact and explores this interaction in both paintings and photography. The serendipitous movement of paint on canvas inspires most of her paintings, while her photographs are informed by her work with lighting in the theater.

Madeline Hodges is a studio art and art history double-major with an Arts Management Certificate from Fort Belvoir. Her work mainly consists of three-dimensional pieces, including ceramics and sculpture, with themes reflecting her interest in impossible situations and the power and pervasiveness of the natural world.

Kaitlyn Aki Holloway is a studio art major with a minor concentration in creative writing in the B.F.A. program from Oceanside, Calif. She creates prints and dolls that explore themes of feminine strength paired with Christian iconography, historical fashion and a touch of the absurd.

Sally Anne Toms is a B.F.A. major in studio art with a concentration in creative writing and another major in business. She uses linoleum cuts, wood engravings and paper-cutting to explore her dual British and American nationality, her childhood ex-patriotism, and investigations into the way the natural world manifests itself in her childhood memories of England.

Jennifer Will is a philosophy and studio art double-major from Columbia, Md. Her oil paintings are inspired by ideas and concepts she finds through reading classics and philosophy and unusual juxtapositions of natural objects and human figures. Thematically, she is interested in exploring the different ways in which we encounter the unknown.

Molly Harper during her “Diversity Monologues” performance last fall.

Sweet Briar College senior Molly Harper literally stumbled into acting in high school. After failing to make the volleyball team, the Maryland native spotted a theater flyer on her way out of the gym.

“I went home and told my mother that I was going to audition,” she says. “Once I got into that show, I never left the theater.”

This month, Harper will present her final directing project, “Lies,” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 19, and Saturday, April 20, in Babcock Studio Theatre at Sweet Briar College.

Written and directed by Harper, who also composed all of the music, the play is a collection of monologues documenting lies by various characters and the reasoning behind them.

“As the audience watches the pieces move together, the … entanglement of lies develops into other issues of self-consciousness, self-perception, doubt, loneliness, depression and a strive to work for something honest and hopeful,” Harper says. “I hope that this play shows the universality of human emotions and how everyone feels the same way at one point or another.”

Molly Harper in a promotional photo for “Lies.” Photo by Margret Wood ’13.

The characters’ struggle and fragmented self-image are also reflected in the set, which Harper designed.

“Set design is one of my favorite hobbies, and it just so happens that our set is based on broken mirrors,” she says. “[It’s] a physical manifestation of the misinterpreted image … these characters have developed about themselves and the lies they have told over time.”

Harper, who will graduate in May with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theater and music and an Arts Management Certificate, started developing the play when she wrote her first monologue for the College’s “Diversity Monologues.” That text later became part of “Lies.”

Started in 2011 to promote dialogue on campus, “Diversity Monologues” features performances by several Sweet Briar students who talk about their personal experiences to spark conversations about diversity and civility. Staged during first-year orientation, the monologues are among a number of commitments on Harper’s calendar. She’s also a member of Paint and Patches, Earphones, Taps and Toes, GLOW, Silhouettes, and served as InterClub Council president for the SGA board this year.

Inducted into Alpha Lambda Delta and Alpha Psi Omega, Harper has been a Dean’s List honor student since her first year at Sweet Briar and in 2012 made the Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities list. In addition, Harper, who is a Work Study assistant for the theater department and a theater tutor, received the theater department’s award for Excellence in Academics two years in a row.

“I love my department, because they’re always extremely helpful and willing to work with you on anything,” she says, remembering what it was like when Bill Kershner, director of the performing arts department, gave her a large role during her first year at Sweet Briar.

“I was so intimated,” she admits. “But as we worked together, he showed me what real acting was, and I knew that acting was what I was good at.”

Molly Harper in “The Beauty Queen of Leenane.”

This summer, Harper is taking her experience one step further. Along with other Sweet Briar theater students and faculty, she will travel to Scotland for the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival to perform in “Chops,” a play by Kirin McCrory.

“I play the lead, Marg, who has been accused of killing off all the men in town, but as most comedies go, nothing is as it seems. It’s quite a funny piece.”

Harper’s previous theater credits include “The Bacchae” (Second Messenger), “Under Milkwood” (Second Voice), “Dsvelada: Senior Show” (master carpenter), “The Secret Garden” (Mrs. Medlock), “Glass Menagerie” (master carpenter), “Crimes of the Heart” (stage manager), “Aladdin Jr.” (set designer/master carpenter), “As You Like It” (Touchstone), “The Beauty Queen of Leenane” (Mag), “Doubt” (Sister Aloysius), “The King and I” (master carpenter) and “Waiting for Godot” (Pozzo).

“Lies” stars fellow seniors Noelle Ames and Catherine Ramos, as well as Taneal Williams ’16, Patricia Morgan ’15 and Mariah Skalka ’14. Behind the stage, Harper is getting help from stage manager Madeline Skiba ’16, props master Julia Green ’13, master carpenter Sarah Capen ’15, sound designer Charlotte Hopkins ’15 and video projection operator Latoya Letmon ’14.

Tickets are free, but seating is limited. Email boxoffice@sbc.edu for ticket reservations starting Monday, April 15. For more information, contact Shelbie Filson at (434) 381-6228 or sfilson@sbc.edu.

— Janika Carey

Jessica Murphy (center, standing) surrounded by other Sweet Briar students. Photo by Andrew Wilds.

Two students from Virginia will share the spotlight during Sweet Briar College’s Senior Dance Concert, “Blurs,” at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 22, and Saturday, Feb. 23, in the Upper Dance Studio in Babcock Fine Arts Center.

In their culminating performances as dance majors, Lynchburg native Jessica Murphy and Sarah Fletcher, from Virginia Beach, will be joined by 14 other Sweet Briar students. Each senior has choreographed a solo, a small group piece and a large ensemble dance.

Murphy, who also majors in liberal studies, says all the choreographies were inspired by their own experiences. As indicated by the concert’s title, the pieces are an artistic interpretation of real life in which “the lines between reality and fantasy have been blurred,” she added.

“My solo is all about the next transition in my life from learning to doing,” Murphy said. Her small group piece, ‘Dark Whispers,’ deals with the destruction caused by rumors, which are represented by a scarlet-red scarf.

Jessica Murphy. Photo by Andrew Wilds.

Her large group piece unites all of the various threads from her life in a “dance autobiography” and includes the entire cast.

“[It] is all about my past, present, and future and how each of these … have made me who I am,” she explained.

Murphy will also show a video of a dance she performed during her sophomore year, in which she presented the theme of “relinquishing childhood” along with a young Lynchburg dancer whom she used to babysit.

Murphy herself has been dancing since she was 4 years old, starting out at Forest Dance Academy, where she took classes in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, modern, pointe, hip hop, musical theater and acrobatics.

“Growing up I had a lot of people tell me dance was not one of those realistic dreams to have, and so of course that made me want to pursue it even more to prove them wrong,” she said.

But along with it, she’s following another interest.

“I always knew I wanted to dance, but it was not until recently that I discovered my passion for teaching,” she said. “I see how much of an impact teachers can have on their students. Just having that one teacher tell a student her dreams are possible can make all the difference, so I decided I did not just need to pursue my own dreams but I needed to go back and help others to do the same.”

In the past four years, Murphy has had plenty of opportunity to try her hand at teaching. In addition to working as a Zumba instructor at the Jamerson YMCA in Lynchburg and at Sweet Briar, Murphy teaches children’s dance classes in the College’s after-school dance program and at Central Virginia Ballet, a studio owned by Sweet Briar ballet instructor Mari Mori. She also assists with the choreography for local talent show dances and school plays. Currently, Murphy is helping Amherst Middle School with the waltz scene in their production of “Cinderella.”

Sarah Fletcher. Photo by Andrew Wilds.

“All of these experiences have confirmed my love for teaching, and I cannot wait to settle down and pursue it,” she said.

But before she can ‘talk the talk,’ Murphy say’s she’ll have to ‘walk the walk.’

“I need to accomplish my dreams of dancing first so that I can prove to my students that it’s possible just like [Sweet Briar dance professors] Mark and Ella Magruder have shown me.”

After completing her M.A.T. at Sweet Briar in 2014, Murphy plans to pursue an M.F.A. in dance performance or choreography.

“My goal is to dance [and] choreograph professionally for a while and then teach dance at the college level,” she explained.

While at Sweet Briar, Murphy has caught several glimpses of what life as a professional dancer might be like. She choreographed and performed a solo piece at the Mid Atlantic Region’s American College Dance Festival when she was a sophomore and traveled with the Magruders to Taipei, Taiwan, for two weeks last summer to attend the 2012 Child international (daCi) Conference, where Murphy met dance educators and students from all over the world. Along with Fletcher, she also stayed in Italy for a month, where the two dance majors studied modern dance with members from Jose Limon’s company.

Fletcher, who is graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance and studio art, has experience in all forms of dance, as well, including ballet, modern, tap, jazz and lyrical. A cheerleader throughout high school, she has trained and performed with various companies, such as Wallace Dance Company and Denise Wall’s Dance Energy, since she was 3.

Unlike Murphy, Fletcher is keeping most of her dances a secret, but revealed that her large group piece would be a mixture of modern and ballet, with some dancers on pointe.

Its theme is “overcoming bullies,” she explained. Her smaller group piece will be a surprise. “But I can say that it will be a fun and upbeat dance to watch.”

While the concert is just weeks away, Murphy and Fletcher aren’t quite finished with all of the choreography yet.

“We are in the midst of preparing an opener and finale,” Murphy said. “We are thinking the opener will be very “Chorus Line”-inspired and the finale something more Broadway-esque.”

They will also perform a duet that was choreographed for them two years ago by Samantha Angus ’05, the first Sweet Briar dance major to graduate with a B.F.A.

Admission is free and seating is open. Shoes must be removed before entering the studio. For more information, contact Mark Magruder at (434) 381-6150 or mmagruder@sbc.edu.

— Janika Carey

Grace Young ’13 and other Sweet Briar dancers. Photo by Andrew Wilds.

There is rarely a dull moment in the choreographies of Sweet Briar professors Ella and Mark Magruder, and this year’s Fall Dance Concert is no exception. In groups or solo, dancers will explore nature, human emotions and scientific phenomena to the scores of a Taiwanese composer, as well as a live orchestra. Performances take place at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9 and Saturday, Nov. 10 in Murchison Lane Auditorium in Babcock Fine Arts Center at Sweet Briar College. They are free and open to the public.

In Mark Magruder’s nearly 28 years at Sweet Briar, it is only the second time that the Sweet Briar Orchestra has accompanied the dance department live on stage. Led by Sweet Briar’s newly appointed orchestra director, Jeff Jones, the 13-member ensemble will perform Terry Riley’s “In C” to a dance Magruder choreographed for 15 Sweet Briar students.

Including two scores in the program by Taiwanese composer Lu Yun, who will attend the concert, is another special treat. The Magruders befriended Yun, a Ph.D. candidate in composition at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, while in Taiwan this summer for the “Dance and the Child International” (daCi) conference. Both professors have choreographed a dance to Yun’s work.

Other highlights include a duet by senior dance majors Sarah Fletcher and Jessica Murphy, of Lynchburg, exploring time, space and energy; and a dance for five choreographed by Murphy, in which the dancers portray a spider and a moth.

“On the surface this work appears to be about a spider and a moth, but its deeper meanings on the metaphorical level are about the struggle between dreams and hopes, and fears and past regrets,” Magruder explained.

The concert will also feature sophomore dance major Sadé Fountain in a solo about the loss of a loved one and the appreciation of life, Magruder said. “The dance depicts one’s inner struggle, and how one’s strength allows them to rise above life’s many challenges.”

Fountain’s classmate and fellow dance major Tiffanie Brown stars in a solo to Samuel Barber’s music and is the choreographer of a quartet in which four personalities try to work out their differences.

For more information about the concert, please call (434) 381-6150 or email mmagruder@sbc.edu.

— Janika Carey