8 Monday, March 23, 1998
Akbar, Dumaresq to
appear at Penn State
by Lauren Capitani
Penn State Harrisburg will have the honor
of hearing two distinguished speakers in up
coming weeks. Dr. Na'im Akbar will speak
in the Capital Union Building on March 19
at 7:OOPM and Dr. Carolyn Dumaresq will
speak in the Black Cultural Arts Center on
April 22 at noon.
Akbar, one of the world's preeminent Af
rican-American psychologists, has helped to
develop an African-centered approach to
modern psychology. Presently, he is teach
ing in the Department of Psychology at
Florida State University in Tallahassee.
Akbar also serves on the editorial board of
the Journal Of Black Studies. He has made
several appearances on television, namely,
"Tony Brown's Journal", the "Phil Donahue
Show", the "Geraldo Rivera Show" and the
"Oprah Winfrey Show". Akbar has also been
featured in Essence magazine and the Wash
ington Post, as well as many other newspa
pers nationally and internationally.
Akbar has written four books, authored
more than twenty scholarly papers and spo
ken at over three hundred universities, con
ferences and community settings not only in
the United States, but all over the world. He
has been recognized as a Distinguished Black
Gallery Review:
by Dani Church
The first thing noticeable about Linda
Rugel's exhibit are the vibrant colors that
assail the eyes. Then one begins to notice
textures. Continuing to scan her works, the
true talent of her artisanship blooms before
your eyes.
Rugel works with fabrics, laces, and beads,
and combines them in a way that suggests
inspiration. Her creativity is supreme as she
performs a balancing act to bring all of the
elements into harmony.
Choose any one particular work that is on
display in the "Faces, Phases, Form" series
that Rugel now has on display in the Gallery
Lounge through April 3. Stand back and let
the entire work address you. Then move in
slowly, picking up on details of antique fab
rics and handmade laces. Notice the nuances
of color that are so carefully dyed into the
textiles. Examine the carefully inscribed
words of spirituality that frame and some
times form the backdrop of the works. Then,
once you have a full appreciation of the de
tails, slowly step back and let a new appre
ciation of the work give you a completely
different perspective. Continue looking at
the piece. You will see interplay and harmo
nies that you didn't originally see. Rugel has
achieved her goal—to create masterpieces of
contemplation.
Rugel explains in her Artist's Comments,
"The works are intended to be meditation
devices, objects of contemplation that play
with notions of time to help the viewer tran-
ENTERTAINMENT
Psychologist by the
National Association
of Black Psycholo
gists for outstanding
scholarship and re-
search in African
Psychology.
Dumaresq, the
Executive Director
for the Pennsylvania
State Education As-
sociation, is currently an Associate Profes
sor at Temple University. She formerly
served as the Superintendent of Central Dau
phin School District and Steelton-Highspire
School District. Dumaresq has received sev
eral honors for addressing educational and
school violence issues. Two such honors
were the 1997 Community Women of the
Year award given by the American Associa
tion of University Women, and the 1995 Key
note Speaker for the National Jewish
Women's League.
Dumaresq has served as the 1994-95
President for the Pennsylvania Association
of School Administrators, been a past Presi
dent for the Pennsylvania Women's Caucus
and served on the Pennsylvania Board of
Governors.
batik artist Linda Rugel
scend it." The viewer is indeed enveloped
and carried away with the all-elusive notion
of time as he or she becomes caught up in
the complexity of one of Rugel's pieces.
One work in particular caught this viewer's
eye. Entitled "Expectations," the work con
sists of faces peering out from squares of in
terwoven antique linen. The cloth is dyed
subtle hues of reds, golds and browns, giv
ing a warm, soothing feel, and yet, thought
provoking. Some of the faces look sad; some
look pensive, while others appear to be wor
ried. The faces are other worldly, much like
the simplistic art of the Middle Ages, with
large expressive eyes and austere noses and
mouths. They all look like they are all ex
pecting something to happen. And they con
tinue to wait for something to happen, caught
in their own timeless expressions, forever cast
into the cloth by a timeless dying process of
ancient lands.
To completely appreciate Rugel's mastery
of her art, take a good look at "Is All Not
One." At first one sees a picture of a perfect
looking porcelain doll-type figure perched
upon sumptuous fabrics in front of an arched
window looking out onto a perfect sky. The
texture of the stone masonry framing the win
dow is exquisite. And the blue sky and soft
clouds visible through the window look al
most photographic; like something from a
wonderful dream.
But take a moment to realize that these de
tails have been created through a painstak
ing process of dying of fabric. Rugel has tran-
i
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# ... ,
: 3 ' 4
Gallery Lounge concert
was a musical delight
Simple Gifts show
simply fascinating
by Dani Church
It was a pleasant surprise to find a trio of
musicians as talented as Simple Gifts play
ing in the Gallery Lounge on Wed., Mar. 4
over the lunch hour.
Members Linda Littleton, Rachel Hall and
Karen Hirshon played to a full room of ap
preciative listeners as they wound their way
through classic Irish, English and American
folk tunes as well as Klezmer, Romanian and
Bulgarian pieces. They also demonstrated
their song writing talents by playing several
original tunes as well.
Each woman showed her versatility by
playing several instruments. Littleton, the
founder of the group, plays violin, recorder
and hammered dulcimer; Hall, who is also a
Penn State grad student in mathematics, plays
piano and English concertina; Hirshon plays
mandolin, banjolin, violin, guitar and
dumbek.
"What's a dumbek?" you may ask. (See
what you missed?) A dumbek is a type of
drum that is played with the hands, much like
scended the common practice of dying tex
tiles into an art form not often seen in our
hemisphere.
Take a moment to view Rugel's display.
Read her Artist's Comments. Drink in her
work. I predict that you will find them fasci
nating at the least. You will quite possibly
become enthralled.
Linda Rugel will be on hand at the Gallery
Lounge for an artist's presentation and recep
tion on Thurs., Mar. 26 from 6 - 8:30 p.m.
Something for everyone
"Pavlov's Clown"
A brief Central -Created & performed
by Rand Whipple
Pennsylvania
-Open Stage
entertainment guide -Harrisburg
-Mar. 26 - Apr. 11
-232-OPEN
The Jimmy Dorsey Brentano String
Orchestra Quartet
-Strand-Capitol Perform- -Rose Lehrman Arts
ing Arts Center Center
-York -Harrisburg
-Wed., Mar. 25, 2 p.m. -Wed., Apr. 1, 8 pm.
-846-1111 -697-6224
The Capital Times
a bongo drum. When you strike the center, it
resounds with a deep tone that sounds pho
netically like "dum." A tap along the edges
makes a sound similar to "bek."
Besides hearing great music, it was fasci
nating to learn about the different instru
ments. Each member of the band took the
time to introduce her more unusual instru
ments to the audience. Littleton employed
what looked like a miniature corner of a dul
cimer; a triangular-shaped stringed instru
ment that she played with a bow. It had a
beautiful, eerie ringing sound that felt un
worldly.
It was obvious that all three women loved
the music that they were playing. Their con
tagious enthusiasm infected the audience as
smiles spread and toes tapped. To describe
the music of Simple Gifts in the terms of cur
rent pop culture; remember the rowdy Irish
dance party below deck in the movie Titanic?
Well, just add a keg of beer to the traditional
tunes of Simple Gifts and you can duplicate
the scene. It really is fun music!
Simple Gifts currently has four albums out,
the most recent being Other Places, Other
Times (1996) which has a companion sheet
music book available as well.
Women's Interests &
Studies Program
Calendar of Events
Flora Singer
Belgian Holocaust survivor
Tues., Mar. 24, 6 p.m.
Gallery Lounge
Lisl Bogart
Czech survivor of Terezin
Tues., Mar. 31, 6 p.m.
Gallery Lounge