Tricia Wiles
Theater Performance
Since her academic courses are not having much impact on her overall workload, most of Tricia Wiles’ time is currently occupied by the Freshman Discovery Program, a mandatory, in-house theater production directed by graduate students that all freshmen must participate in before auditioning for any other shows. For her primary acting class, she is currently working on a piece inspired by an emotional time in her life. Miraculously, Tricia has managed to section off time for an extracurricular activity in the form of Chi Alpha, the on-campus Christian Ministry, which took a retreat trip to Willow Run this past weekend.
Rex Kennedy
Dance
Rex Kennedy is currently working on a choreographed piece entitle Hyph(y), inspired by the idea of merging urban culture with the improvisational Gaga technique, developed by Ohad Naharin. Kennedy intends to submit his piece to the student concert, taking place at the beginning of the spring semester, the adjudication for which takes place Nov. 8. The concert is entirely voluntary, so Kennedy works with his five dancers two to three times a week outside of class time and if he is selected, will be one of 12 works presented during the actual performances occurring Jan. 25 and 26. Outside of VCU, Kennedy has been working his way into Richmond’s fashion scene, recently participating in a photo/video shoot with local Richmond fashion group R.A.I.N.
Andrew Kearns
AFO | Graphic Design
While AFO student Andrew Kearns is acclimating to his new art school lifestyle, he still finds that both VCU and Richmond leave a lot to be desired. With three projects completed for his Space Research Studio, one of the four mandatory studio classes required of all AFO students, Kearns feels he’s already established appropriate time management skills, having avoided all-nighters so far this semester. Kearns also concedes that drawing, the most dreaded of his four studio courses, is getting easier the longer he works on the skill, offering special praise to his professor, Bob Foster. “He really helps us learn rather than just load us with assignments,” he said. Kearns finds the demands of his job equally as manageable, but anticipates a spike in activity around exams.
Kate Ranka
Voice
For voice major Kate Ranka, life right now currently revolves around, perhaps predictably, her voice. Ranka is preparing an aria by Rachmaninoff for a master class recital in which she will perform on Oct. 4. She’s also taken up the habit of checking out musical scores from the library and familiarizing herself with new composers, listening to recordings of their work as she reads along. Outside of class, Ranka is currently hard at work on her “Kate and Jessie Project,” the singing project she’s been working on with her friend. She also recently made a trip to D.C. for an Ed Sheeran concert.