A total of 135 spectacular shots were submitted for the 10th annual Lake Erie Photo Contest.

Winners in three categories were announced recently during a ceremony at the Lake Erie Center.

The contest’s theme, “The Nature of Our Region: From Oak Openings to Maumee Bay,” invited photography enthusiasts to submit up to three shots featuring nature scenes throughout northwest Ohio.

First-place winners received a $25 prize, and the best of show honoree took home $100. Entries are on display in the lobby of the Lake Erie Center.

Listed by category, the winners are:

• Best of Show — Eric Crowther;

• Adult — Phil Cogar;

• Teen (13 to 18 years old) — Eric Crowther; and

• Youth (7 to 12 years old) — Jessica Watts.

“We look forward to seeing the amazing submissions for this contest every year,” said Rachel Lohner, education program manager for the Lake Erie Center. “Local photographers explore our wonderful region and capture cool aspects of nature to share.”

The 15th annual Health Science Campus Artist Showcase will take place from Monday, Feb. 17, through Wednesday, April 8, on the fourth floor of Mulford Library.

This year’s exhibit features work from more than 30 artists who are students, faculty and staff in the health sciences from Health Science and Main campuses, as well as The University of Toledo Medical Center.

On display will be a variety of 2-D and 3-D artwork, including paintings, drawings, photography, sculpture and mixed media.

An artist reception will be held Friday, Feb. 21, from 4 to 6 p.m. on the fourth floor of Mulford Library. Dr. Donna Woodson, professor emerita of medicine, will give a talk, “Art is Good for Your Health,” at 4:30 p.m.

Woodson teaches the elective course Art and Medicine: Using Visual Literacy to Improve Diagnostic Skills in the College of Medicine and Life Sciences. She is a longstanding participant in the Health Science Campus Artist Showcase; three of her pieces will be featured in this year’s exhibit.

Light refreshments will be served at the reception, where attendees will have the chance to win books on art and medicine.

Visitors can view the artwork during regular library hours: Monday through Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to midnight; Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Sunday from 9 a.m. to midnight.

For more information on the free, public exhibit and reception, visit the University Libraries’ website or contact Jodi Jameson, assistant professor and nursing librarian at Mulford Library, and member of the artist showcase committee, at 419.383.5152 or jodi.jameson@utoledo.edu.

The University of Toledo Department of Music will welcome jazz pianist Ellen Rowe as the guest artist for the 2020 Art Tatum Memorial Jazz Scholarship Concert Wednesday, Feb. 19.

She will take the stage at 7 p.m. in the Center for Performing Arts Recital Hall.

Her program will feature selections by Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin, Irene Himmelhoch, Bronislaw Kaper and Ned Washington, and Nacio Herb Brown and Gus Kahn, as well as three original compositions.

Rowe is the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation at the University of Michigan. She is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Rayburn Wright and Bill Dobbins. Prior to her appointment at Michigan, Rowe served as director of jazz studies at the University of Connecticut.

She has performed at jazz clubs and on concert series throughout the United States and has toured in Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Ireland, Poland, South Africa and Australia. Also active as a clinician, Rowe has given workshops and master classes at the Melbourne Conservatory in Australia; Hochshule fur Musik in Cologne, Germany; Grieg Academy in Bergen, Norway; and the Royal Academy of Music in London. In addition, she has appeared as a guest artist at festivals and Universities around the country.

CDs out under her name include “Sylvan Way,” “Wishing Well,” “Denali Pass” and “Courage Music.” Her 2019 project, “Momentum — Portraits of Women in Motion,” features Ingrid Jensen, Tia Fuller, Marion Hayden and Allison Miller.

Rowe’s compositions and arrangements have been performed and recorded by jazz ensembles and orchestras around the world; these include the Village Vanguard Orchestra, BBC Jazz Orchestra, U.S. Navy Commodores, Berlin and NDR Radio Jazz Orchestras, London Symphony, DIVA and the Perth Jazz Orchestra. Many of these works can be heard on recordings, including “Leave It to DIVA,” “The Perth Jazz Orchestra,” “Bingo” by The Bird of Paradise Orchestra, and “I Believe In You” by DIVA. She recently was a composer-in-residence at the Eastman School of Music and the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

When not leading her own trio, quartet or quintet, Rowe is in demand as a sideman, having performed with a wide variety of jazz artists, including Kenny Wheeler, Tim Ries, Tom Harrell, John Clayton and Steve Turre. She also was a guest on two installments of Marian McPartland’s “Piano Jazz” on National Public Radio.

Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the UToledo Art Tatum Memorial Scholarship program.

Tickets — $15 for general admission, and $5 for students, children and seniors — will be available at the door, but purchasing them in advance is recommended. Go to the School of Visual and Performing Arts’ website or call the Center for Performing Arts Box Office at 419.530.ARTS (2787).

In collaboration with Lamar Outdoor Advertising, University of Toledo Department of art students are displaying their work on digital billboards in the area through the end of February.

Barry Whittaker, associate professor of graphic and interactive design, who coordinated the project, said this is the sixth year UToledo art students have been invited to have their work displayed.

The digital billboard locations are at the Anthony Wayne Trail at City Park, Alexis Road at Lewis Avenue, Monroe Street at Laskey Road, Byrne Road at Airport Highway, Monroe Street at Douglas Road, Erie Street at Monroe Street, Erie Street at the Anthony Wayne Trail, I-75 at Monroe Street, I-75 at I-280, and Reynolds Road at Glendale Avenue.

Works on billboards were created by Austin Baker, Donna Beauregard, Tenayah Bowmer, Jason Chappuies, Alaina Coote, Justin Fisher, Lindsay Haynes, Emilie Mitchell, Jazele Rabbani, Jane Sullivan, Lydia Yant and Tara Yarzand.

To see the images in this year’s exhibition, visit the online photos on the Art Department’s Facebook page.

The Bezonian Trio will perform for the 2019-20 University Dorothy MacKenzie Price Piano Series Sunday, Feb. 16, at 3 p.m. in the Center for Performing Arts Recital Hall.

Bezonian is Latin for “scoundrel.” The trio of “scoundrels” — Merwin Siu, violinist with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra; Dr. Michael Boyd, UToledo professor of piano; and Damon Coleman, cellist with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra — are longtime musical friends.

They will present a free, public concert featuring works by Kodaly, Ravel and Bright Sheng.

For more information, contact Boyd at michael.boyd@utoledo.edu or 419.530.2183.

“Remembering Uncle Philip 2,” from the series “Elusive Memory” by Deborah Orloff, will be on display in the Royal Photographic Society’s 162nd International Photography Exhibition.

The UToledo professor of art’s image was selected from nearly 1,400 entries from 62 countries for the exhibition, which will open Saturday, Feb. 15, in Bristol, England.

Orloff is one of 43 photographers to have work included in the world’s longest running juried photography exhibition, which over the next year will travel to a number of United Kingdom venues, including the Royal Albert Hall in London.

“I’m truly honored to have my new work chosen for this exhibition,” she said. “Competing with that many people from all over the world and then presenting with such talented colleagues is really humbling.”

The honor means even more to the artist because it features a photo from her family archive.

“Although the title ‘Remembering Uncle Philip 2’ suggests nostalgia for a lost relative, I don’t actually recognize the man in the photo; the title is ironic and speaks to the fallibility of memory.”

She began reflecting on the photographic past following the death of her father in 2007.

“Several years ago, I inherited thousands of neglected prints and slides that had been in my father’s basement, where they were damaged by flooding. I started photographing them in the studio, not knowing what I would do with the images, but hoping to salvage some of the family pictures for posterity,” Orloff said. “It wasn’t until I saw them enlarged on a computer screen that I recognized their poignancy and greater relevance: I saw metaphors for loss and the fragmentary, ephemeral nature of memory.”

“Elusive Memory” focuses on those severely damaged photos.

“Family photographs provide glimpses of the past and elicit memories, shaping narratives of personal history and identity,” Orloff said. “Pictures reinforce recollections, but do we really remember our past, or have we simply absorbed personal photographs into fabricated memories and shaped our perspective accordingly?

“The connection between photography and memory is enigmatic, and ‘Elusive Memory’ is a meditation on this dubious relationship.”

In 2019, Orloff received an Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council for “Elusive Memory.”

To see more of Orloff’s work, visit her website at deborahorloff.com.

For more information on the exhibition, go to the Royal Photographic Society’s website.

The University of Toledo Department of Theatre and Film will present Annie Baker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, “The Flick.” It will be directed by theatre student Justin Petty, a senior who will graduate in May.

Performances will take place Friday through Sunday, Feb. 7-9 and 14-16, in the Center for Performing Arts Center Theatre. Curtain time is 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday; Sunday shows are at 2 p.m.

“The Flick” follows three underpaid employees in a run-down movie theater who attend to one of the last 35mm film projections in the state — a hilarious and heart-rending cry for authenticity in a fast-changing world.

“We’re committed to our students having the experiences that prepare them for entering the professional community once they graduate. We try to bring student designers, technicians and performers to positions of leadership and responsibility inside our departmental season pretty quick during their time here at the University,” said Dr. Matt Foss, UToledo assistant professor of theatre and an advisor on the project. “The opportunity for Justin to be an artist leader on this collaboration was one we were excited to make happen for him and the team involved on the project.”

“The University has helped me foster a new outlook on theatre-making. It has helped me become more precise and helped me understand how to make and find stories that not only represent but highlight the struggles of being a minority,” Petty said.

When choosing “The Flick,” Petty said, “I’m glad I came about this play when I did. It really speaks truthfully on being a youth in our society today, while also highlighting the microaggressions that happen on a scale that everyone can relate to.”

He added he is glad that UToledo allowed him to take a risk with the play and really trust and challenge him with this production.

Petty has directed a number of smaller shows, but this is his first time leading a project of this scale. He served as the assistant director on “Proof” at The University of Toledo and as the assistant director of “Northern Aggression” for Tipping Point Theatre, a professional company in Northville, Mich.

He has several UToledo theatre credits, including “The Pillowman,” “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Arcadia,” “The Internationalist” and “The King and the Clown.”

Petty also has studied abroad at the Moscow Art Theatre in Russia with The University of Toledo and Wayne State University.

“The Flick” is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French Inc., a Concord Theatricals Company.

The cast features Gillian Martin, senior majoring in media communication with a theatre minor; Jackson Howard, anthropology major with a minor in theatre; Carlos Washington Jr., junior majoring in theatre; and Seth Mansu, sophomore majoring in media communication with a theatre minor.

Members of the design team are Dr. Edmund Lingan, professor and chair of the Department of Theatre and Film, producer; Frankie Teuber, adjunct professor of theatre and 2011 UToledo alumna, scenic designer/props master; Faith Pegus, junior majoring in visual arts, assistant scenic designer; Kelly McBane, lecturer in theatre, costume designer and costume shop manager; Stephen Sakowski, assistant professor of theatre, lighting designer and sound designer; Morgan Cunningham, sophomore majoring in theatre, assistant lighting designer; Mekayla Shellenbarger, senior majoring in music and communication, assistant sound designer; Nathaniel White, assistant lecturer in theatre, technical director and scene shop manager; Grace Mulinix, freshman majoring in theatre, wardrobe head; Natalie Rice, sophomore majoring in media communication and theatre, stage manager; Jacob Prokup, freshman majoring in theatre, assistant stage manager; and Christopher M. Montpetit, lecturer in theatre, theatre/production manager.

Tickets are $10 for students; $12 for UToledo faculty, staff and alumni, and military members and seniors; and $18 for the general public. Call 419.530.ARTS (2787) or go to the School of Visual and Performing Arts’ website. Tickets also will be available at the door.

Sheree Hovsepian will return to her alma mater to discuss her mixed-media artwork Wednesday, Feb. 5, at 10 a.m. in the Center for the Visual Arts Haigh Auditorium on the University’s Toledo Museum of Art Campus.

Born in Iran and raised in Toledo, Hovsepian is a visual artist who works with photography, collage, sculpture and drawing in her studio in New York City.

“I have this idea of repurposing and taking from what’s around me,” Hovsepian said in an interview with Vice. “I think it’s this very feminine sort of thing. It also helps me make decisions. It’s like, OK, I’ve got to make something. Everything I need is in my studio. Now, go.”

And go she does. Hovsepian’s one-of-a-kind pieces are exhibited internationally and are in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Guggenheim Museum and the Studio Museum in Harlem. She also was featured in the exhibition and book, “Photography is Magic,” which was published by Aperture and chronicles experimental approaches to photographic art.

“Being recognized by Aperture is quite an accomplishment,” Deborah Orloff, UToledo professor and associate chair of art, said. “It’s incredibly gratifying to see our students flourish, and I’m thrilled to see how successful Sheree has been. Ever since she was a student here, Sheree’s talent has been obvious. She’s always had a sophisticated sense of pulling together disparate media to create artwork that’s both beautiful and thought-provoking.”

Hovsepian received a bachelor of fine arts degree from UToledo in 1999 and continued her education at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she graduated with a master of fine arts degree in 2002.

She is represented by Higher Pictures in New York and Monique Meloche Gallery in Chicago.

For more information on the free, public visiting artist lecture, contact the UToledo Department of Art at 419.530.8300.

The faculty of the UToledo Department of Art are exhibiting their work through Friday, Feb. 21, in the Center for the Visual Arts Main Gallery on the University’s Toledo Museum of Art Campus.

There will be a free, public opening reception in the gallery Friday, Jan. 31, from 6 to 8 p.m. A guided conversation with faculty and their works of art will take place in at 6:30 p.m. This tour will be moderated by Dr. Thor Mednick, associate professor of art, who will facilitate questions to faculty about their work.

“We take this show as a gauntlet tossed, a time to model for our students, and for one another, what it is to be deeply engaged in the practice of researching and making,” said Barbara Miner, professor and chair of the Department of Art. “This show represents a challenge to push for the ‘next,’ the next piece that needs to be made after the grading and the syllabus reconfiguration, the budget alignment and the recruiting report. These are works produced by artist-scholars who live in our fields of study, who carve out precious time to keep our hands in the process.”

She added, “We offer our inner dialogues as part of this exhibition and invite our students and our audience to converse with us about our work.”

A total of 15 UToledo art faculty have work in the exhibition. The artwork ranges from 2D and 3D work to photography to digital/interactive and performance art.

Faculty artists in the show are:

• Brian Carpenter, assistant professor of art and gallery director;

• Dr. Jason Cox, assistant professor of art education and head of the Art Education Program;

• Deb A. Davis, professor of new media;

• Dan Hernandez, co-chair of the BFA Program and associate professor of art, interdisciplinary art and foundations;

• Julia LaBay Darrah, instructor and technical assistant;

• Yusuf Lateef, adjunct professor of art;

• Thomas Lingeman, professor of art, 3D studies and sculpture;

• Linda Meyer, art instructor;

• Barbara Miner professor and chair of art;

• Deborah Orloff, associate chair of the department, photography coordinator, and professor of art, new media studies and photography;

• Dr. Mysoon Rizk, head of art history and professor of art history, modern and contemporary art;

• Karen Roderick-Lingeman, senior lecturer of 2D studies and ceramics, and coordinator of the Ceramics Program;

• Arturo Rodriguez, associate professor of art, head of studio art and co-chair of the Bachelor of Fine Arts Program;

• Barry Whittaker, associate professor of art and new media design practices; and

• Eric Zeigler, assistant professor of art and head of the Art Print Center.

Artist profiles and statements are available online on the Department of Art gallery web page.

The free, public exhibit can be seen Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

For more information on the exhibition, contact Carpenter at brian.carpenter@utoledo.edu.

The University of Toledo Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of its director, Dr. Matthew Forte, assistant professor of music, will perform Gustav Holst’s celebratory celestial work, “The Planets,” Friday, Dec. 6, at 8 p.m. in the Toledo Museum of Art Peristyle.

The orchestra will be accompanied by the ethereal voices of the Rocket Choristers, under the direction of Dr. Brad Pierson, director of choral activities and assistant professor of music.

They will perform all seven movements — Mars, the Bringer of War; Venus, the Bringer of Peace; Mercury, the Winged Messenger; Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity; Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age; Uranus, the Magician; and Neptune, the Mystic.

Each movement of the work, written between 1914 and 1916, captures the unique essence and personality of each of the planets known to be in the solar system and visible from Earth in Holst’s time.

Tickets are $10 for general admission and $5 for seniors 60 and older, and any students or children.

Tickets are available in advance from the Center for Performing Arts Box Office at 419.530.ARTS (2787) or online on the School of Visual and Performing Arts’ website. Tickets also will be available at the door.

Parking is free to museum members; otherwise, parking is $8. UToledo employees and students with University parking privileges can park free in the lot by the Center for the Visual Arts; just show your UToledo ID.