Check out the September 2008 edition of the Creative Arts E-Lert, the official e-mail newsletter of the SF State College of Creative Arts. This issue highlights upcoming events including the Morrison Artists Series concert with Quartet New Generation, the Theatre Arts main-stage production of "Machinal" directed by alumnus Mark Jackson, and the annual Opera Gala. The issue also includes news on Design and Industry Professor Martin Linder's teaching award, eight new faculty members and an international competition for emerging professional string quartets.

Seven assistant professors joined the College of Creative Arts this fall, with wide-ranging expertise in painting, dance, gaming, screenwriting and graphic design.

Art Department

Karl Cohen, a lecturer in Cinema, was awarded the 30th Annual ASIFA Prize from the Association Internationale du Film d' Animation at the Ottawa 08 International Animation Festival held Sept. 17-21.

The late Art Professor John Gutmann founded the creative photography program at SF State as the first curriculum in the U.S. to teach photography as fine art, in 1946 — the same year Ansel Adams and Minor White established one of the nation's first fine art photography departments, at the San Francisco Art Institute.

September 22, 2008: For immediate release
Media contact: International Center for the Arts at (415) 817-4476 or ica@sfsu.edu

It was a true "Midsummer Night's Dream" in July for the five students from the Theatre Arts Department who took part in the British American Drama Academy.

Students Celine Massuger, Kenny Toll, Will Hand, Dara Yazdani and Deanna Weiss attended the program after auditioning for SF State faculty member Jo Tomalin, who teaches acting and is originally from England. Several SF State students attend each summer.

Filmmaker Elan Frank, an alumnus of the Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts Department

Alumna Annette Bening, a three-time Oscar nominee, is in the ensemble cast of "The Women," now playing in movie theatres nationwide.

Alum Paul Gemignani, winner of the 2001 Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the American Theater, will join College of Creative Arts Dean Kurt Daw for a fireside chat at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19.

This summer, SF State suffered the sudden and tragic loss of an undergraduate in the Design and Industry Department, Rosa Maria Larios Gomez. She passed away giving birth to her son, Phoenix Alexander Larios Gomez, in San Francisco, on Aug. 20 at age 30.

Enslavement of African Americans after the Civil War influences a contemporary dance and music performance developed by faculty member Cathleen McCarthy and student Allegra Mitchell.

The Alexander String Quartet, SF State's Quartet-in-Residence in the School of Music and Dance, has a busy schedule this year with more than 60 concerts on and off campus. Check out a few highlights.

Martin Linder, professor of Design and Industry, was honored with SF State's Sarlo Excellence in Teaching Award on Aug. 25.

Linder, who joined SF State in 2001, is active in community outreach. He is the founder and director of Industrial Design Outreach, a program that links SF State students and faculty involved in design education with public high school students, as well as the Furniture Institute of Technology and Sustainability.

Top sales executives from an Ohio insurance company are being rewarded with an all expenses paid vacation in Florence, Italy. Theatre Arts Professor William Peters is directing a special evening of entertainment for them at Teatro della Pergola, the oldest theatre in Florence.