Chris Willis is a journalism student by day and a drummer for three different bands by night.
“It’s funny because I actually don’t find it too bad. I don’t know, I think it’s just one step at a time,” said Willis. “I like to have everything lined up, so I like to plan as much as I can.” He went on to explain a lot of people like to be spontaneous with their plans, but because he does so much, he often relies on a planner to keep organized.
Willis has been playing drums for 12 years. The skills he’s developed over the years have landed him spots in three different bands: Sulky, Daedalus and Minions.
Artists who would like to be a part of The Second Annual Juried Gig Poster Show at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery (RMG) must have their submissions in by March 8. Those chosen will be notified March 22.
“The posters must be advertising a live music event, either real or imagined,” RMG manager of Communications and Social Media, Jacquie Severs wrote on the event page. “Submissions will be judged by a jury of experienced art directors, designers, and/or musicians on quality, dynamism and effectiveness.” In a later interview she elaborated, “a dynamic design is effective because it is energetic, has vitality, and drives action.”
Story, photo and video by Chealse Howell
Photos in video courtesy of The Agency Group Ltd
Put on your cowboy hats ladies and gents because one of Canada’s country stars is coming to E.P Taylor’s.
Chad Brownlee (MDM Recordings Inc./ Universal Music Canada) has had a great few months in the country music world. He was nominated in 2012 for a Canadian Country Music Award in the Male Artist of the Year category and performed live on the nationally-broadcast awards show on the CBC last September.
Brownlee is currently touring through Canada and is making a stop in the Durham Region on March 13th. Tickets are now on sale at the Tuck Shop for $7.00 for students and $10.00 for guests. If any tickets are left over from the advance sale, they will be available at the door for students at $10.00 and $15.00 for guests. The event is all ages but get your tickets fast because there is limited space available and only one guest per student.
Kyle Sharp graduated from the Durham College Print and Broadcast Journalism program in June 2012, and he is now working in the TV industry at 11 Television Production Company.
“We don’t just do reality television, we specialize in it. We do a lot of hidden camera work, like we do scare tactics and we did the first season of Betty White’s Off Their Rockers and Howie Do it,” said Sharp. 11 Television also produces animated shows and TV scripts.
Hillary Di Menna watches Scare Tactics, one of the shows produced at Kyle Sharp’s work place.
Sharp is an assistant and his days are always different. One week he’s busy and the next it’s slow because his boss is out of town. Last week his job was to ship out equipment to Los Angeles.
“Right now we are shipping a bunch of equipment out to LA, so I had to spend a lot of days in our storage room going through 60 packages making sure all the serial numbers are there. But there isn’t really a typical day. It’s a lot of sitting around the phone and waiting for important email, and whatever they ask me to do, I do it,” said Sharp.
Students will be showing off their artistic prowess at the second annual SoMAD awards on Feb. 20.
The event was designed for students to display their artistic talent and receive feedback in a peer-to-peer based environment. While submissions are no longer being accepted, students will be able to view the vast array of works created by the students of the Media, Art and Design programs at the awards show.
Ranging from animated shorts, 3D modeling and broadcast journalism, the event is well varied and highly anticipated by the presenters.
The 10th Annual Clarington Winter WonderLearn festival will have more outdoor activities this year than ever before! Enjoy it this Family Day weekend!
Durham Region is bursting with free events for people to enjoy this weekend in celebration of Family Day, focusing on fun, family-oriented activities.
This year, the Clarington Public Library wants to combine fun with education at the 10th Annual Clarington Winter WonderLearn festival. This free event with such a wide variety of activities is a great option for Durham College students with young kids of their own.
Lisa Dyche, Marketing Librarian at the Clarington Public Library, said they try to have new activities every year for returning families. This year they have more outdoor activities planned, including horse-drawn wagon rides.
Story written by Robynne Henry, photo taken by Shelly Kowalski.
Keeping up with a busy schedule seems to be the norm for full time students, and for Shelly Kowalski, it’s all part of a normal day.
“I’m very busy juggling classes,” she said. “My responsibilities with the Society of Media, Art and Design, my own side photography business, work and shooting assignments.”
Kowalski is the President of the Society of Media, Art and Design, she was appointed to the role last year.
“I won the position last year during election period,” she said about being elected president. “No one else ran against me, so I automatically won the position.”
The Society of Media, Art and Design works to promote the arts at Durham College, and provide inspiration for students in the Media, Art and Design (MAD) programs.
“As a society, we seek to provide students with a positive community experience and an enriched cultural lifestyle,” Kowalski said about the council. “Which we achieve by throwing by holding community building events such as pub nights, movie nights and other such events.”
She went on to say that the council offers resources for MAD. students who wish to find work in their chosen fields after graduation, and by offering students places to showcase their creativity, and help them build valuable relationships with working professionals.
It was that thinking that helped Kowalski come up with the SoMAD awards, which will be having its second annual show in February.
The awards showcase the hard work done by students in the Media, Art and Design (MAD) programs at Durham College.
Kowalski decided to come to Durham College after attending classes at Ryerson, after she realized the program she took was not what she wanted to do.
“I completed two years at Ryerson University in the Radio and Television Arts program,” she said. She majored in Audio Production, and decided to take a completely different program instead of taking a year off.
“I had always had an interest in criminology,” Kowalski said. “So, I applied for the Police Foundations program at Durham College.”
After completing a year in that program, she noticed that Durham was going to be offering a Photography course.
“I had been doing Photography on the side as a hobby for about four years when I heard about the program being offered,” she said. “I decided to switch into that program and follow my love of photography.”
Kowalski will be graduating from the Digital Photography program in April of 2013.
Graphic design students shows rough sketches of the invitations.
Story, video and image by Britney Dunn.
The Durham College Graphic Design students are preparing to host their 12th Annual Graphic Design show at the Foundry-Creative Blueprint Gallery, located in Toronto, from April 18 to March 18.
“It’s a design show for the third years in Graphic Design and it’s basically just showcasing their portfolios for possible employers and design firms,” said Emily Culter, a second year student.
There is a course this semester dedicated to organizing this event. The second year students are in charge of picking a venue, sending out invitations, setting up food and creating a theme.
“It’s a week long. We set up refreshments, we mount all their pieces and art work along the gallery and people will come in and check it out.”
The theme has not yet been chosen. Right now the class have been split into groups of five and have to come up with ideas. At the end of the semester there will be a class vote and whose ever idea is most popular will have their theme and name promoted at the show.
If science and skepticism is your cup of tea, UOIT Science students Keegan Guidolin and Mackie Drew host Symposium on Monday mornings to start off your week with some science talk.
The show’s been on the campus radio station, The Riot, for a couple years now, but the guys never run out of interesting topics to discuss.
“We also run an associated club on campus called Skeptics Symposium and we talk a lot about how science can inform us about our world,” said Guidolin. “The show is a way for us to educate the general public on science.”
Many different topics are discussed on the show from chiropractics to creationism, but the guys favour the open ended discussions.
Tuesday February 5th, E.P Taylor’s will be full the crazy characters and dynamic drawings as the Anime club holds Anime Pub Night.
The night will be dedicated to all things Anime including drawings, costumes and designers. The event is all part of the Anime clubs ongoing promoting of this drawing style.
Anime is a traditionally out of Japan. The word Anime is short for animation and the term is used to describe any sort of animation. It has been popular in Japan for decades and has now moved it’s way into American culture and is rapidly gaining popularity. Examples can be seen in shows such as Avatar-The last Airbender and Fruits Baskets. It is more than just a design style it also is used as a way of storytelling, artwork and full of cultural nuances.
All through out the year the club hosts activities such as screenings of Japanese animations, pub nights, display-shows as well all trips to Pacific Mall and Chinatown.
As DC student such as Video Production student Dennis Umpleby, look forward to seeing if the Pub can fully capture the essence of Anime. “Normally at Anime shows you see a lot of costumes and props and people dressed up, I’ve never been to an Anime pub night so I wonder how they will go about it,” says Umpleby.
The event will be taking place in the E.P Taylor’s pub starting at 9 p.m Tuesday night. Tickets are three dollars in advance, which can be purchased through the Tuck shop or five dollars at the door.
If you are looking to change up your regular routine and find your inner nerd, this may be the event for you.
