Photos depict art showcases. Photo of Cellist Dominique Alexander taken by McKenna Howenstine and edited by Victoria Haneline. Photos of Marlin Gems dance showcase and Iyonna Valentine’s Neil Britton Gallery display taken by Kami Whisenhunt.
McKenna Howenstine & Kami Whisenhunt|Marlin Chronicle
On May 1 and 2, students across campus showcased their performing and visual arts talents, displaying the creativity and hard work put into the semester. Events like the Orchestra Concert, Jazz Ensemble Concert, Marlin Gems Showcase and the Exhibition for Senior Art Majors took place.
The Neil Britton Gallery, located in the back of Hofheimer Library, held this year’s Exhibition for Senior Art Majors, featuring projects developed by students in Art 450 throughout the semester. Each student, free to choose their medium and art direction, filled the gallery with paintings, sculptures, digital, cardboard and AI art.
“Painting is really trusting the process because it doesn’t look like much in the beginning, but at the end it’s really beautiful,” Iyonna Valentine, senior Art major, said.
Valentine said this exhibition was the start of her art career. She has often shown one piece at a time in galleries, but for this, she had the freedom to showcase 13 paintings which all portray a fantasy world that escapes reality.
Freshman violinist Zack Chapman plays at the Virginia Wesleyan Orchestra Spring Concert.
McKenna Howenstine|Marlin Chronicle
Sophomore drummer Luke Arters plays at the Virginia Wesleyan Spring Jazz Concert.
McKenna Howenstine|Marlin Chronicle
Freshman Bailey Gray plays the saxophone alongside other jazz musicians.
McKenna Howenstine|Marlin Chronicle
“In the beginning, I was so focused on what is up to par with what art standards are, but then I was like, ‘I’m gonna take a step back and do my own thing,’” Valentine said.
Steering away from the hyper-realism drawings she started with, she got her inspiration from movies and songs instead. Valentine said she hopes to send the message to relax and not take life too seriously through her creations.
Looking to the performing arts, the Marlin Gems Dance Team began prepping for their spring showcase in November, spending time since August laying the groundwork of learning technique and team bonding.
“I definitely am excited to perform because we are really a family. When we’re at practice, we have fun and we laugh, and this is just like a big celebration for what’s been months of hard work,” senior Daryl Tucker, captain and founder of the Marlin Gems, said.
The showcase featured solos, duets and large group dances. They had a total of 11 dances, ranging in styles from contemporary to hip hop and jazz pieces. Tucker said this was their fourth annual showcase and her last. She said it feels different in many ways, some being that the group wasn’t as large as it has been in her time, and she handed off some choreographing duties to current dancers who are set to take over in the fall.
Junior Isabella Grosswiler and senior Kaza Dayton perform a duet at the Marlin Gems Spring Showcase.
Kami Whisenhunt|Marlin Chronicle
Members of the Marlin Gems Dance Team line up at their spring performance.
Kami Whisenhunt|Marlin Chronicle
“I have been with a lot of these girls since they were freshmen, so not only have some of them seen me develop, but I’ve also seen a lot of the girls develop, not only as dancers, but as people,” Tucker said.
Last spring’s dance performance was held virtually, so for many of the dancers, this marked their first time performing live on stage. The dancer’s input helps create the flow of each show. Solo dancers choose a genre, then select from options curated by the captain, tailored to their style and strengths. For group pieces, they decide on the team’s vibe, whether serious, flowy or themed around a specific era, and Tucker builds her choreography from those requests.
The orchestra is a group consisting of cellos, violas, violins and flutes. The spring program, following a circle of life theme, started with the cheerful “Morning Mood” moving into the sneaky “Hall of the Mountain King”, with other music pieces being “Palladio” and “Can-Can.”
“Performing gives performers, not just myself, a sense of recognition for their hard work, because usually what people see is everyone in their pit blacks just performing this beautiful piece, but what they don’t see is going into a practice room at seven and leaving at two in the morning. I often do that,” Zack Chapman, concertmaster of the orchestra, said.
Chapman helps the orchestra with sight reading, rhythmic patterns and counting of the music. He also judges the difficulty of pieces to ensure the group will succeed in learning them. Chapman said this semester, the orchestra focused on playing confidently together because of their small size.
The orchestra and jazz concerts happened in direct succession.
McKenna Howenstine|Marlin Chronicle
“I always try to say that music is like one of the heart strings. There’s music, there’s dance, there’s theater; and then there’s singing, and music can hit one of those strands. If the audience comes out of that concert hall and feels moved, then as the performer, you did your job,” Chapman said.
The Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Cory Franklin, had their spring concert including performances of Funk, Jazz and Latin music. The ensemble played the Funk song “Chameleon” and the Latin piece “Moving and Grooving.” Franklin said the music is chosen based on the comfort of the students and audience participation.
Junior Steven Medinets plays the vibraphone.
McKenna Howenstine|Marlin Chronicle
“This group jelled the first time we conducted and that’s what made this class fun. They genuinely like each other and take constructive criticism from each other,” Cory Franklin, director of the Jazz Ensemble said.
Franklin said throughout the semester the group has grown to conduct rehearsals on their own if need be, including how to set up the stage and equipment. The ensemble also often offers input and ideas during the class for the concert, some even being used in the spring showcase.
By Kami Whisenhunt
