Photo hy Courtney Gaillard
Paul Tazewell sits in front of one of his original designs from "Thf Canterbury Tales."
School of the Arts alumnus
returns to city to share expertise
BY COURTNEY GAILLARD
THE CHRONICLE
N.C. School of the Arts
alumnus Paul Tazewell returned
to his alma mater last weekend
to share with students about his
17-year costume design career.
Tazewell conducted a daylong
costume design project with stu
dents in the School of Design &
Production at NCSA, where he
hoped to teach them to "theatri
calize" a written piece through
clothing.
Originally from Akron.
Ohio. Tazewell's family - who
has lived in this area for some
time - brought the NCSA to his
attention while he was a student
at a performing arts high school
in his hometown. Tazewell says
he intended to become a theater
performer before studying cos
tume design.
"I think that I've actually
(accomplished) almost every
thing that 1 envisioned that I
would be doing....Right out of
graduate school I was fortunate
enough to start to design on my
own, and I did most of my assis
tant work while I was still in
graduate school." said Tazewell,
who, after receiving his bache
lor of arts degree in costume
design in 1986, went on to earn
a master's degree from New
York University.
Tazewell's costume designs
have been seen in Broadway
productions like "On the Town."
"One Flea Spare." "Henry V,"
"Venus" and "Blade to the Heat"
as well as in numerous off
Broadway productions like
"Fame and "Dinah Was." His
work has garnered him several
awards, including the Princess
Grace Foundation Fellowship,
the Michael Merritt Award for
Excellence in Design and Col-v
laboration. and the Irene Sharuff
Young Master Award, to name a
few.
Most recently a guest artist
w ith the Boston Ballet. Tazewell
has worked with world
renowned set designer Ming
Cho Lee on the Shakespeare
epic drama "Peer Gynt,"
Tazewell's work has even
earned him a Tony nomination
for his costume design on
"Bring in Da Noise. Bring in Da
Funk." a goal he says he set for
himself wtrrle studying at
NCSA.
"(The Tony nomination) was
pretty thrilling....The question is
now what do I do with my life
and what are my expectations
for this career? So I've been
exploring that andhrying to fig
ure out what I wantyp do next."
Tazewell said.
Fashion design is not the
main component of costume
design. Tazewell says. More
important, it is about images and
their relationships to characters
in a story.
"Costume design is such a
perfect place for me, just
because of all of the things that
go into the doing of it. It's
anthropological, it's psychologi
cal and emotional (along with)
the amount of research that you
put into it, and then putting it
down into paper, so that it goes
into a shop and then becomes a
two-dimensional thing. All of
those elements together are
everything that I'm about and
how I exist. So it's a perfect way
of expressing my creativity and
my art," Tazewell said.
Mark Pirolo, interim dean of
the NCSA School of Design &
Production, was equally thrilled
to have Tazewell back on cam
pus Tazewell is proof, in Piro
lo's opinion, that the NCSA is
preparing great artists to make
tremendous contributions to the
arts.
"We're beginning to have
significant (alumni) who can
come back (to NCSA), which,
of course: we're proud and
we're elated, like parents, and at
the same time it's really wonder
ful for our students. It validates
their experience in terms of
w hat we do here." Pirolo said.
Despite a lot of architectural
changes in the campus scenery
since he was a student many
years ago, Tazewell says that his
trip back to NCSA was "great."
He credits the school - some
where he will always call
"home" - for giving him the
foundation to become a success
ful theater costume designer. In
Tazewell's eyes, the NCSA will
always be "a charmed place."
"(As a student at NCSA)
there was this really great ener
gy. and there was something
about this school that created
this haven of artistic energy ...I
feel that (NCSA) set up a very
strong confidence in being able
to go out and produce, not only
technically, but also a basis for
designing as well." Tazewell
said.
Currently Tazewell is doing
some regional work in New Jer
sey, where he lives. His next
design project is the ballet
"Swan Lake" for the Pacific
Northwest Ballet.
Pholo by .Courtney (iuillurd
Author David
Haynes holds a
collection of his
books.
Haynes>
from page AI
the African-American Read-In. a
national reading event that high
lights African-American authors.
"1 taught middle school sixth
grade for many years, and I loved
.it. It was a really important part of
-mv-fife. and so I've also wanted 8-
way of keeping my hand in with
younger students and getting to
them in terms of literacy, particu
larly with reading and writing."
Haynes said.
Haynes' stories are inspired
by his experiences with middle
schoolers and he knows all too
well just how rambunctious
youngsters can be.
"I got ideas from my students,
from my sixth-graders. A lot of
the things that happen in the
books happened when I was
teaching sixth grade." said
Haynes. who taught middle
school for 15 years.
The challenge in writing for
children, says Haynes. is learning
how to engage the younger read
ers and writing sequels based on
his characters. <
Mary Pat Reese's sixth-grade
class spent an hour asking Haynes
some questions about his book
series, his inspiration and the writ
ing profession. The students paid
homage to Haynes' stories by per
forming skits and songs based on
his writings.
Haynes told the students:
"That really is a terrific thing to
see how you have appreciated my
.imagination, and J really appreci -
ate what you all have done. This is
really exciting. I'm having the
bestl time today."
As a child. Haynes says he
enjoyed reading the Henry Hug
gins books series. He cites Laura
Ingalls Wilder and Beverly-Geary
as two of his favorite authors -
Sixth-grader Leon Porter read
Haynes' "The Gumma Wars."
Porter says that Haynes' books are
"funny." and he appreciates that
the stories are about "kids his
age."
"When I see these kids here
interpreting my work and imagin
ing it in their own way. that's pret
ty powerful. It's pretty humbling
in a lot of ways - humbling in the
sense that it makes you under
stand the importance of being
responsible to your readers
because they really do take it seri
ous and it is meaningful to them."
Haynes said.
Haynes has also written adult
fiction: "Somebody Else's
Mama." "Right By My Side,"
"Heathens" and "Live at Five."
Several members of the Mineral
Springs faculty formed a book
club around Haynes' adult books.
Later that afternoon, they gath
ered at the home of eightji-grade
coiuHiUBjeatiiBst stojty Ssybar
Joan Celestino to talkwith
Haynes at Jength about his adult
stories.
"(Haynes) just loves being
with kids to he able to get some
body that the kids can matcji up
with. So offen we get people com
ing (to the school) who don't look
like our (student) population. He
has taught in schools like this and
he can recognize that our climate
is really excellent and that we're
really doing something great with
the kids." Celestino said.
Celestino and Haynes are old
colleagues from the National
Board for Professional Teaching
Standards, an independent, non
profit. nonpartisan organization
governed hy a board of classroom
teachers.
Haynes is finishing up another
adult hook to be published some
time next year. His last adult book
was published in 1998.
There she is
* Photo by Felecia McMillan
Miss Carver Yellow Jacket 2003 (center) Diedre' fender stands among her court and
sponsors: Sponsor Jamie Lomax, Ashley Payne, Joy Carson, Quaniekia Shavers,
Tiffany Murray, Miss Yellow jacket 2002, Erica AicCrae, Tavyn Richardson, Lanika
Horn and sponsor Paula Boozer
A&T
from pone A1
They allow ihe program spe
cialist within the school sys
tem to be creative to develop
curriculum and materials for
students' success. That's what
I really like about working for
our school system." Harper
said.
The city/county school
system does not offer career
technology courses in summer
school. Students needing a
final technology credit would
need to attend the following
semester to meet graduation
requirements. This new dis
tance-learning program will
allow technology students to
finish their required course
work on time.
"This is the first time that
(the city/county school sys
tem) has worked out a four
year agreement in career tech
nical education, and that's
why it's historical. It will be
the first (program of this kind)
in the state." Harper said.
N.C. A&T was chosen
because it offers courses in
technology comparable to
Winston-Salem/Forsyth
Counly Schools. Harper said.
"Everybody at (N.C.) A&T
was definitely for (the pro
gram); they approved it and
it's in the works." Harper said.
Dr. Nancy Glenz, chairper
son of the graphic communi
cation systems and technolog
ical studies department in the
School of Technology at N.C.
A&T. has worked with Harper
to formulate a union between
the two schools.
"We're just so delighted
that we can make this (pro
gram) come to pass because
we think it's going to be excit
ing for the students, and we're
looking forward to delivering
and meeting with the stu
dents," Glenz said.
High school students will
be studying how various
aspects of technology - from
biotechnology, transportation,
medicine and computers -
have evolved over time, and
where technology is headed in
the future. Glenz said. The
goal is to hiake the students
"more technologically liter
ate" and teach them to realize
how technology has assisted
mankind over time.
Glenz said N.C. A&T sees
this as an opportunity to edu
cate students as^well as recruit
students to the university.
"We hope to encourage
youngsters then to come on to
college. So we're kind of see
ing it as a recruiting tool as
well as providing them with
the education that they need to
finish up their high school
diploma. It's really a win-win
(situation) for everybody,"
Glenz said.
.Harper said officials are
preparing for at least 10 stu
dents to sign up for the dis
tance-learning course.
The city/county school
system is holding talks to cre
ate another dual-enrollment
course program with Winston
Salem State University's busi
ness department.
I The
Chronicle
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'
Who WinstoifSalem
Department ofTransportation
What US*52 Land Use and
TransportationStudy
When Thursoay, March 20,2003
Presentation at Transportation
Advisory Committee (TAC) Meeting 4:15
'*? i"?^jpENHtHjSE6:00PM-8:00PM . ' ''if
Where Winston-Salem City Hall South
100 East First Street
Fifth Floqr Council Chamber
1
The Winston-Salem Department of Transportation
(WS DOT) has contracted with the consulting firm of
RS&H to prepare the US 52 Land Use and
Transportation Plan for the US 52 Corridor between
Interstate 40 and Rural Hall. A presentation will be
made during the TAC meeting, which begins at 4:15
pm followed by an Open House between 6:00 pm and
8:00 pm i
Visit the US 52 WEBSITE at \
i
Persons with disabilities requiring special
accommodations should call (336) 727
2707at least 48 hours prior to the meeting
to make arrangements.
For morp Information qonfqt: J
Greg Errett Janice K. Anderson, PE
Project Manager Project Manager
Winston-Salem DOT RS&H !
(336)727-2707 (704)752-0610
arcgciu citvofws.oru lan.andcrson.d rsandh.com ?
?
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