DENISE RINGLER:
Hello everyone, and welcome to the Turchin
Center!
I’m Denise, Director of Arts Engagement
and Cultural Resources.
In this video segment, we invite you to join
us for an informal, behind-the- scenes peek
at what it takes to assemble the center’s
dynamic programming mix.
During this time when our galleries have been
closed, our staff have been busier than ever.
While many of us have been working at home
for most of this time, our exhibitions team
has actually been here at the Turchin Center,
in the galleries preparing the new exhibitions
that were planned for this period.
They’ve been installing the work, filming
it, and posting it online for all to enjoy.
Our Arts Education team has been just as busy,
also converting arts education resources to
an online format so that we can continue to
promote learning through the arts during this
time.
Many Turchin Center exhibitions connect directly
to the classroom curriculum-- so when our
students return in the fall, they’ll be
able to benefit from all of these resources.
If this were a typical day here at the Turchin
Center, we would be seeing students and visitors
coming in through our front door into our
entrance area and being greeted by our visitors
service staff.
They’d be provided with information about
the exhibitions that have just opened, as
well as the artists who've created those exhibitions.
They will also be provided with a map to help
guide their tour through our galleries.
And if the weather’s nice, they would be
encouraged to take advantage of the phenomenal
array of contemporary sculpture that’s installed
across campus, as part of the Rosen Outdoor
Sculpture Competition.
Also on a typical day, university classes
would be seen touring our galleries with their
professors or our arts education team, and
K-12 classrooms from across our region might
also be enjoying a visit to the Turchin Center
as part of their field trip experiences to
our campus.
Workshops might be taking place next door
in our Education Wing, and it’s very likely
that Department of Art classrooms would be
taking place either in our Lecture Hall or
one of our classrooms.
Our outreach team might be loading our mobile
outreach van with art supplies and heading
out to areas of the county that are traditionally
underserved by arts programming.
Many of these activities revolve around hands-on
arts activities in partnership with organizations
such as Watauga Opportunities, Western Youth
Network or Hospitality House.
Also on a typical day, our staff might be
preparing for an evening art talk with a visiting
artist or for one of the First Friday events
that happens monthly here in Boone.
On these evenings, our entire community comes
together to celebrate the arts.
Downtown businesses open their doors to the
public and Turchin Center exhibitions are
often coincided to open on the same evenings
as the First Friday events.
These fun and festive events feature live
music, refreshment and an opportunity to enjoy
fellowship with fellow arts patrons.
In the video to follow-- you’ll have a chance
to hear from each of our exhibitions, outreach
and education teams.
Their work is foundational to everything we
do here at the Turchin Center.
But you’ll also hear from some of the staff
who work behind the scenes in roles such as
marketing and communications, visitor services,
budgeting administration, and fundraising
and development.
We can fulfill the Turchin Center mission
only because of the collective efforts of
this phenomenal team as well as our amazing
Advisory Board and of course the donors who’s
commitment and generosity sustains our work.
All of these groups believe in the value of
the arts to bring us together, shape our view
of the world, explore new ideas, and celebrate
the human spirit.
Thank you so much for joining us.
We look forward to opening our doors again
as soon as possible and to seeing you soon.
MARY ANNE REDDING :
I’m Mary Anne Redding and I’m the Curator
and Creative Director.
I’ve been here at the Turchin Center for
the Visual Arts for the last six years.
I facilitate the exhibitions at the Turchin
Center working closely with the installation
team and the collections manager, who has
the responsibility for the Turchin Center’s
permanent collection of nearly two thousand
items, which you see all around you in the
background here.
Much of the two-dimensional artwork from the
permanent collection is on loan across campus
through the campus public art program.
The Turchin Center recently upgraded to a
brand new database for the collection and
we’re in the process of photographing every
single item that is in the permanent collection.
Next spring, hopefully, fingers crossed, when
the Turchin Center hires a new collection
manager, the campus art program will start
up again, fingers crossed.
The Turchin Center has six changing exhibition
galleries.
We host twelve to fifteen shows a year.
This is our Community Gallery, and I wanted
to show you what the galleries look like without
anything on the walls, next we’ll see an
installation.
Our mission at the Turchin Center is to showcase
artwork from location, regional, national
and international artists.
The work that is in this gallery is usually
our local artists.
We also work with the university’s Office
of International Development and other departments
across campus.
Every two years the center hosts an international
exhibition.
In 2022, fingers crossed again, we will host
artists from Chile in the Main Gallery.
As you can see, we have moved to the Main
Gallery.
And here we are showcasing the work of Hui
Chi Lee.
She is an artist that teaches in the Art Department,
she is from Taiwan and the installation that
you'll see here will be up through September.
We’re closed to the public now but we hope
to reopen in August when school reopens.
As the curator I’m engaged in original scholarship
and creative research.
My responsibilities include exhibition development,
exhibition research and planning, commissioning
artwork and site specific installations, like
the one you see here now in the Main Gallery.
I work with artists and other lenders, I write
the wall text along with the artists, I do
a lot of editing, I help to design graphics
and gallery materials, I collaborate with
the Education and Outreach programs.
And I work with the Director of Marketing
to promote everything that we do here at the
Turchin Center for the Visual Arts.
Thank you very much!
I hope you enjoy our galleries.
CRAIG DILLENBECK:
My name is Craig Dillenbeck and I’m the
Lead Preparator and Installation Manager at
the Turchin Center.
ERIN DURHAM:
And I’m Erin Durham and I’m the Exhibitions
Assistant here at the Turchin Center.
CRAIG DILLENBECK:
We work closely with our Curator, Mary Anne
Redding to facilitate and design and install
these exhibitions.
One of the most challenging and most exciting
parts of our jobs is that each installation
is so different and each artist is so different
so each installation brings a new personality,
a new character and a new set of installation
challenges.
Like for instance, this one we’re hangin
these beautiful silks from the ceiling from
fishing line and it has created this really
beautiful installation.
So once Mary Anne has established a relationship
with an artist and booked our schedule, we
then pick up a conversation to start talking
about layout of the show or even just logistics
of picking up artwork- that’s one fun part
of our job is getting to drive and take trips
and pick up artwork when we can't have it
shipped here.
And then once artwork arrives, Mary Anne will
then facilitate all of the layout of the show,
she spends a very meditative piece of time
in the gallery where she can assemble and
let the artwork kind of form itself with her
group of intuitions in the gallery space and
then that is when we kind of come in full
force and install the show and hang the show
and make whatever work work.
It’s a really exciting set of challenges.
In addition to the art installations here
at the Turchin Center, we also manage and
facilitate the Rosen Sculpture Competition
that happens on an annual basis.
We will be installing our 34th year of sculptures
this year, even amid these times.
ERIN DURHAM:
Installing the Rosen Sculpture Competition
every summer is something that we look forward
to every year.
It presents a whole different set of challenges,
as far as using cranes and installing with
big heavy machinery.
It’s always really fun and exciting to meet
the artists that come from so far, all over,
to present their work on ASU’s campus.
CRAIG DILLENBECK:
Erin and I also really enjoy being behind
the camera, so each installation that we install
at the Turchin Center we will document with
photographs.
And we also provide some video material that
we can promote online.
The video projects that we produce allow us
to spend a little more time with an artist
and gain a bit more insight about their methods,
their artwork, their materials, their process.
So we find that to be one of if not the most
exciting parts about our jobs because we get
to form a really special connection to the
artist and the artwork, so it brings us some
pride and some honor to be able to capture
that in video form and express that to everybody
and to be able to relay the artists thoughts
and ideas and inspiration to you all.
ERIN DURHAM:
And it makes the installation as a whole,
when it’s complete, that much more meaningful
to us.
GABRIELLE KNIGHT:
Hi everyone.
My name is Gabrielle Knight.
And I began my involvement at the Turchin
Center as a volunteer in our Curator, Mary
Anne Redding’s class.
And after I volunteered for a while, I was
hired on as an intern and then in a part time
student position, then right before I graduated
I was offered a full time job to stay on at
the Turchin Center.
So the primary responsibility of my job is
facilitating all exhibition relation graphic
design.
Meaning that I see vinyl and label production
all the way from an Illustrator file, through
print production and install vinyl and labels
in the galleries.
So I also assist our Curator Mary Anne in
creating archival notebooks, meaning that
I archive all forms, documents, and all exhibition
related contracts.
And I also help our exhibitions team in gallery
preparation and installing artwork in our
galleries.
Finally, I create educational notebooks.
Recently with coronavirus, this responsibility
has kind of changed and now our amazing education
team has been working really hard to transition
from creating hard copies of educational material,
to making this digitally accessible on our
Instagram, Facebook and website platforms.
So I just want to formally thank the wonderful
team at the Turchin Center for being so supportive,
all the way from student volunteer, to intern,
to part time student and finally a full time
employee at the Turchin Center.
CHRISTY CHENAUSKY:
Hello from the Arts Education and Outreach
team.
Typically we run a variety of programs both
at the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts
and the Schaefer Center for the Performing
Arts.
Our program’s mission is to bring arts resources
at the university to our campus and our community
members.
We typically do this through tours tailored
to individual university classes (and other
groups) visiting the Turchin Center’s galleries.
We offer free workshops weekly for university
students and low cost weekly workshops for
community members in painting, tai chi, visual
journaling, open studio, alcohol inks and
a variety of other mediums.
We also offer an after school program taught
by Appalachian State University Art Education
majors.
When we were faced with the mandate to stay
home and stay safe, we wanted to continue
to serve our university students and our community
members in a similar fashion.
We quickly got to work on putting together
a “Little Free Art Pantry” and we filled
it with art packs that were comprised of the
materials that we had planned to use for our
most popular classes and workshops.
The pantry was a huge success; we gave away
over 100 art packs, in a short amount of time
to students and community members.
Our focus then shifted to providing practical
teaching experience for the art education
majors that serve as instructors for our Blazing
Easels afterschool program for community children
ages 7-12.
All three of our instructors were willing
to give online course preparation a try.
Their work was exceptional and meaningful
to their students.
We have been so inspired by their ability
to continue to connect to the current exhibitions
at the Turchin Center through broad art projects
that students could complete with their families
without purchasing new supplies.
SHAUNA CALDWELL:
Now that the semester is over, we are continuing
to create prompts for visual journaling.
We know so many people are using this form
of journaling to reflect and cope with new
realities of a changed society.
We are working closely with the exhibitions
team to learn more about the new exhibitions
and find creative ways to give patrons and
virtual visitors a way to connect with the
artwork that they may not be able to see in
person.
Links to the new exhibition helps, “TCVA
Connections,” are being developed and will
be available on our website and through our
social media outlets.
We will offer new ways to connect with classes
that would have toured the galleries by offering
virtual walkthroughs and Zoom class meetings.
Students may be able to tour our galleries
independently as the fall semester begins,
but we want to provide a way for everyone
to participate in a group conversation about
it, even if they choose not to be on campus
and in our galleries.
We are working to move our educator series
online and plan to send supplies and materials
to K-12 educators prior to each workshop free
of charge, thanks to the generous gift of
donors that want to see our local teachers
inspired by and teaching in and through the
arts.
At the point when we can safely resume our
work in community settings across our region,
we look forward to continuing our outreach
programs targeted to underserved communities,
in partnership with organizations such as
Watauga Opportunities, Hospitality House and
others.
These programs are central to the Turchin
Center’s mission of ensuring access to the
visual arts for all.
CHRISTY CHENAUSKY:
Our performing arts programs are undergoing
a transformation as well, and we are working
now to help bring the joy of live performances
to our APPlause!
K-12 Performing Arts Series audiences through
alternate means for the 2020-2021 school year.
We welcome you to engage with us and reach
out if there is any way we can help you experience
the arts at Appalachian in a way that is meaningful
to you.
SHAUNA CALDWELL:
While we find that we can’t do the things
we usually do in the same way that we usually
do them, we are sticking to our motto of “Enriching
lives, sparking imaginations and inspiring
a love of learning through the arts!”
We hope you will come on this journey finding
new ways to engage in the Arts at Appalachian.
LYNN REES-JONES:
Hello there, I’m Lynn Rees-Jones and I’m
the Director of Marketing and Public Relations.
My role on Team Turchin is that I inform and
inspire people about what is going on with
exhibitions and programming at the Turchin
Center.
We are part of Appalachian State University,
of course, and we are an incredible resource
for the students, the faculty and the staff
at the university.
We also play a role in providing access to
the arts to the community, not only for folks
that live here but also for people visiting
the High Country.
Since we are reaching out to a variety of
people, we have really taken a multi-pronged
approach in our marketing tasks and we deliver
our information through a lot of different
sources.
So we of course have our website, we do social
media, we do e-news to our patrons, we do
press releases, flyers, brochures, we advertise
on radio, digital billboards, bus boards,
magazines, newspapers, we do interviews with
folks and we also post our things on campus
and community calendars.
And then of course there’s good old fashioned
networking where we talk with folks about
what we’re doing.
So in the last couple of months, obviously
our format has changed and how we're doing
things but the core mission of the Turchin
Center has not.
So what we’re doing now with our exhibitions
is we are actually providing video tours of
our galleries so that people can really explore
the art and what is happening in those galleries
from the comfort of their own homes.
We are also looking at delivering a lot of
our workshops online and right now we’re
really looking at reimaging how we can deliver
our events - things like our exhibition openings,
our art talks, tours of our facilities so
that people can have access to those in digital
format.
I think the App Summer Online Festival that
you’re participating in now is a great example
of how we are looking outside of the box to
make sure that you still have access to the
arts.
Because we are delivering so much content
digitally we really have picked up the pace
on our social media to let you know what’s
happening and we are also delivering our enews
much more frequently.
Another thing that we’re really excited
about is our website is in the process of
being designed and doing it at this time gives
us a great opportunity to really fold that
digital component into it so it will be really
user friendly for those that may not want
to come into the museum once we reopen but
can still experience the arts.
Another project that I’ve been involved
in is branding of the outside of the building.
We are in an excellent location on King Street
but also contiguous to the App State campus
and we wanted to make sure that the outside
of the building reflects the arts that are
housed inside.
So one of the things we’ve done is developed
large banners which are on the King Street
facade of the building and also above the
front door.
Those banners actually depict some of the
artwork that's inside of the galleries and
they change so that as the artwork in the
galleries changes, the banners on the outside
change as well.
We also are doing sandwich boards outside
which give a great peek into what’s going
on inside with different events and exhibitions
and so forth so people can kinda have a handle
on what’s happening inside before they come
in.
We also have done some sculpture around the
building and we now have a beautiful sculpture
garden courtyard on King Street which really
is a focal point of the Turchin Center but
also really a focal point into the gateway
into downtown Boone.
Speaking of sculpture, I do want to mention
my pet project, and that is Tetness the polar
bear.
Tetness is a sculpture done by James Futral
that was the winner in one of our past annual
Rosen Sculpture Competitions.
And when he came to campus, the students,
the staff, the visitors all fell in love with
him.
He’s just delightful.
So we actually purchased him and so he now
greets visitors at our entrance plaza right
outside our front door.
So, as any crazy marketing director would
do, I started dressing him up.
And I have to say he has quite the extensive
wardrobe now and we have a lot of fun with
him.
He for homecoming football weekend he was
all decked out in black and gold App State
gear, he was a climate change superhero for
Halloween last year which was a very fitting
costume for a polar bear, and he has also
recently worn a headdress that coordinated
with the exhibition in the Main Gallery.
Right now he’s helping keep Boone healthy
with his covid-19 mask.
It’s always such a treat to see people stop
by, take their picture, they leave with a
smile on their face when they come to interact
with Tetness.
So if you haven’t had a chance to see him
yet, I encourage you to stop by and check
him out.
I really do feel incredibly fortunate to be
part of the Turchin Center for the Visual
Arts and Appalachian State University and
I hope that my efforts in marketing and public
relations has piqued your interest to come
and see what we have to offer at the Turchin
Center.
DAWN BEHLING:
Hello!
I’m Dawn Behling, Director of Visitor Services
at the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts.
The Turchin Center staff is currently teleworking,
as you can see, from my remote “office."
We are looking forward to welcoming back our
visitors to the Turchin Center.
When we do, and you first walk through our
front entrance, you will be greeted by either
myself, or one of our amazing student employees.
We want to make sure you have a great visit,
so we take a minute to tell you about our
current exhibitions, and how to get around
our giant building!
The Turchin Center serves the Appalachian
State University campus, as well as the Boone
community and beyond.
On any given day, we’ll have visitors from
ASU as well as students and staff from regional
universities and community colleges.
Our exhibits are a great resource for students’
research and writing projects.
We also have lots of visitors who are visiting
Boone from various parts of North Carolina,
and from the rest of the country.
So, whether you are a first time visitor,
student, member of the community, art enthusiast,
or just wanting to explore something new,
we’ve got you covered!
Here at the Turchin Center, we have about
a dozen student employees that work as Gallery
Ambassadors.
These students have a special interest in
the arts and are a very important part of
the visitor experience.
The Gallery Ambassadors also play a very important
role during our special events.
Some of their responsibilities include setting
up for our First Friday receptions, visitor
engagement, and tending bar.
We definitely couldn’t do what we do without
them!
We are looking forward to reopening and making
our visitors feel safe and comfortable during
their visit!
We intend to facilitate this by requiring
face coverings, maintaining strict disinfecting
procedures, and adopting social distancing
policies designed to ensure our visitors’
safety and to enhance their experience with
us!
KAREN TREFZ:
Hello!
My name is Karen Trefz, and I am the Budget
Director for Arts Engagement, comprised of
the Turchin Center and Office of Arts and
Cultural Programs.
Though I like to crunch numbers, I also have
a strong appreciation for the arts and the
importance of the messages conveyed at the
Turchin Center.
I work closely with each team member to develop
and monitor our budgets to ensure that we
operate in the most cost-effective and efficient
way possible, utilizing our private donations
responsibly in order to stay true to our commitment
to financial accountability as we budget for
our future endeavors.
In order for our students and patrons to experience
everything the Turchin Center offers, we require
multiple types of funding.
Our State and student fee funds cover salaries,
operating expenses, and an array of other
costs related to our amazing exhibitions.
Our private support also contributes to our
exhibitions, specific needs for our permanent
collection, popular outreach programs, and
special projects to enhance the educational
and aesthetic purposes of the Turchin Center.
LINDSAY MILLER:
Hi, my name is Lindsay Miller, I’m the director
of donor and external relations at the Turchin
Center for the Visual Arts.
MELINDA FUDGE:
Hi, my name is Melinda Fudge and I serve as
the Director of Development for the Turchin
Center for the Visual Arts, Arts and Cultural
Programs, and the Hayes School of Music.
LINDSAY MILLER:
Does that include an Appalachian Summer Festival?
MELINDA FUDGE:
It does.
It’s completely online this year.
LINDSAY MILLER:
That arts are so important - now more than
ever.
They help us to not feel so alone, even when
we are in quarantine.
The arts bring us together to celebrate each
other, our culture, and the world around us.
MELINDA FUDGE:
I agree Lindsay, the world needs art now more
than ever, and we simply would not be able
to provide the resources to the community
without your support.
LINDSAY MILLER:
Our role in the arts employs a number of ways
in which you can get engaged with Appalachian
State University.
My role works with gifts of under $25,000.
Those gifts can be gifts of cash, endowment
gifts, gifts of security, gifts of personal
property - like art.
Our permanent collection houses more than
two thousand pieces of art.
With artists like Warhol, Motherwell - Melinda
we have the largest Bill Dunlap collection
in the world.
MELINDA FUDGE:
In the world?!!
LINDSAY MILLER:
Yes.
MELINDA FUDGE:
Do our students know about this?
LINDSAY MILLER:
They do.
MELINDA FUDGE:
How much does it cost for them to come and
see these exquisite pieces?
LINDSAY MILLER:
We’re free.
MELINDA FUDGE:
To everyone?
LINDSAY MILLER:
To everyone.
MELINDA FUDGE:
All the time?
LINDSAY MILLER:
We’re free because of generous support from
you - our community members, and we are so
thankful for that.
MELINDA FUDGE:
Your gift to the Turchin Center for the Visual
Arts helps us to champion artists, care for
the art in our permanent collection, and provide
resources for our staff so that we can continue
the mission here at the Turchin Center.
LINDSAY MILLER:
Another way that you can support the arts
is naming opportunities.
MELINDA FUDGE:
We have a number of naming opportunities available.
You could make a gift in honor or in memory
of a loved one and name a gallery, name a
wing, or a room.
LINDSAY MILLER:
Naming opportunities help to fund our endowment,
which endures a bright future for the arts
at Appalachian and the High Country.
MELINDA FUDGE:
Another way you can make a meaningful gift
to the arts at Appalachian is through a planned
gift.
Planned gifts include bequests, charitable
trusts, gifts of art as Lindsays mentioned
earlier.
We would welcome the opportunity to work with
you and your advisors to create a meaningful
gift for the arts at Appalachian.
LINDSAY MILLER:
Another way that you can get involved with
the arts is to join us at one of our three
exhibition openings a year.
This is such a fun way for everybody to get
together.
We have live music, we have food and beverages,
and a lot of the times, we’ll have students
from around campus in the arts come perform
for our community.
Theater and dance will oftentimes have interpretive
dancers, we have piano players from the Hayes
School of Music.
It’s really wonderful to integrate the visual
arts and performing arts as well.
Mostly we wanted to say thank you.
To you, our supporters, and our community
for letting us know during these crazy times
how important the arts are to you, helping
you cope with things changing from day to
day.
MELINDA FUDGE:
We cannot wait to welcome you back when we’re
physically able to reopen here at the Turchin
Center for the Visual Arts.
We are so grateful for your support and look
forward to seeing you
LINDSAY MILLER:
Stay safe out there.
