Tag: Adriana Avila

Carousel spun out of control

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By Adriana Avila, Senior Reporter | Photo provided By Max Woltman

5.1

Like sardines, Carousel is an acquired taste and I have been left tasteless from this play.

The play Carousel written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, playing at the Rodey Theatre located at Popejoy Hall on UNM campus opened on Saturday July13 at 7:30 p.m. had high and low points to this rendition of a classic play directed by Laurie Finnegan and sponsored by Landmark Musicals.

Although the basics were good, this play mixed too many ingredients into their clambake and it gave me a stomach ache. There were few pieces of the play that were not underdone or over seasoned but was not enough to keep me entertained through­out the performance.

The performers and crew members were probably too nervous to function properly or they just needed more time to rehearse, so the crew seemed as they absolutely needed more time to rehearse to make sure the robotics of the dances were oiled and all of the bugs were taken care of before opening night.

The pieces of the play that were crucial to its survival were its fantastic singing and the on cue 23 piece orchestra. It would be better to just get the soundtrack because the great singing and the awesome orches­tra were just about the only things that kept the play on a high note.

The dancers could not dance; their move­ments were mechani­cal and it seemed they were programmed to hop to one spot where the invisible tape marker was every single time. Also, I felt like I watched the actors after they picked up acting tips from ‘70s movies. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were known to write melodramatic plays but this one took the double-layer cake.

During the per­formance stage hands and actors could not keep a handle on the props. In scene three, a fisherman dropped his bucket of clams when he was trying to hand it over to another crew mate. The spot­light operator could not get a grip, and the spotlight kept slip­ping off the actors, that seemed like they were having trouble with how big the spot­light should have been. Throughout the per­formance there was numerous times that the spotlight’s area was changed and it did not look good at all. By the end of it my head was spinning, and I felt like I was a cat chas­ing a flashlight. And where was the light going, exactly where it should not have been.

During the open­ing scene there was a particular juggler who could not juggle. At any circus if the jug­gler could not get a hold of the balls he or she would be replaced with a second acrobat.

Carousel takes place in a small New England town in the 1880s during the summer. A no-good carousel barker named Billy Bigelow and an innocent young girl named Julie Jordan get married with little motivation, while getting to know each other during a 15 minute scene. Sounds reasonable enough after Bigelow, played by Michael M. Finnegan, threatens to beat up Jordan, played by Alexandra Martinez.

Julie cannot leave her good for nothing abusing husband, and he keeps abusing her, which is apparently fine for him to do so. Where are the morals and life lessons there? I do not understand fully why I sat through the entire perfor­mance other than for the music and singing.

In New England it may be okay to put on a performance of Carousel because of its setting and numer­ous shout-outs to the regional culture, but out here in Albuquerque, there is no real connec­tion to this play. There are no good morals or lessons to be learned from this play and the cultural references are lost among Burqueños so I’m completely unsure why Landmark Musicals chose to stage this play here in Albuquerque.

I must compliment the set design as it was fantastic. Dahl Delu, has designed sets, light­ing, costumes and scen­ery for numerous presti­gious theaters including Broadway, and this is his first time working with Landmark. His wonderfully painted Maine coastline sets are beyond the ability of the actors. Delu’s beau­tiful stage design sur­passes this production.

Carousel is the epitome of a wonder­ful exterior but an unsatisfying center.

One of the most confusing parts about the play was the cos­tumes. But the time frame became clear to me during the last scene at gradu­ation, where the banner read class of 1898. The play is sup­posed to be from1883 through 1898, not 1873 through 1888. The printing company for the plays handouts, Starline Printing, got a crucial difference of time wrong and con­fused a few members of the audience. The timeline did not make sense at all and my attention was drawn more to the choice of clothing rather than the plot, which was still not very good.

The design crew got the timeline cor­rect, but Starline Printing had several printing errors.

Although the play itself was unappealing and a few actors here and there were off point in their performances, a few stood out of the remains.

Courtney Giannini, Louise daughter of Billy and Julie, had a great performance. Her dancing was elegant and poise. The play should have ended after the death of Billy Bigelow but I am glad it did not because I would not have had the opportu­nity to enjoy Giannini’s wonderful performance.

All of the per­formers, who had the chance to sing, really sang wonderfully, and the actors’ ability to sing kept the play afloat along with the other recognized factors.

Carousel was suc­cessful with a great set design, wonder­ful singing and great music, but that is barely enough to keep the acting and dancing from a flop. For more informa­tion on this play run­ning until Sunday July 28, on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and on Sundays at 2:00 p.m., go to abqtheatre.org/index. php/per forma nces/ carousel/

Get summer thrills strolling through Nob Hill

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By Adriana Avila, Senior Reporter | Graphics provided By cabq.gov

4.1
Gather family and friends and enjoy the dog days of summer at the twelfth annual Summerfest event in Nob Hill on Central Avenue from July 19 to 21.
Tierna Unruh-Enos, marketing manager for the city’s cultural services department, said there are four Summerfest events around Albuquerque. Each of the events is free and has concerts as well as family activities. This year’s theme for the events is ‘taking it to the streets.’
“This year our theme for the Summerfest is street parties, so that’s what we’ll be doing with all of them, except for the one that’s on Civic Plaza. We shut down streets and then we set up a street party essentially,” Unruh-Enos said.
Summerfest was created to entertain the community and give people something to look forward to during the summer, Unruh-Enos said.
“We have food trucks and different things for kids’ activities and stuff. But it’s really to get more people to stay in Albuquerque and have something for people to do.
“It is a free service that this department provides to give back to the community and the department works really hard, especially in the summertime to provide all of the events. There are definitely things to do here in Albuquerque,” Unruh-Enos said.
This year’s first Summerfest kicked off in the heights on June 15, which was the first time it was held in the heights, with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy as the headliner. The Route 66 event, on Central Avenue, takes place July 19 through July 21, and is the biggest of the four Summerfest events, Unruh-Enos said.
“The one in Nob Hill is the Route 66 Summerfest which is the biggest Summerfest and it’s been going on for quite a while. We block off a mile of Nob Hill and we usually get about 35,000 people there so it’s pretty big. It’s probably the same size as Albuquerque’s Twinkle Light Parade, between 30,000 to 35,000 people,” Unruh-Enos said.
The main attractions at the nob hill event will take place on Saturday July 20. The July 19 Friday event is a concert and VIP Reception featuring the Yellowjackets at the Highland Theater at 8 p.m. Nob Hill Jazz Brunches begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday July 21 at several restaurants that include Zinc Wine Bar & Bistro, Zacatecas Tacos & Tequila, O’Neil’s Irish Pub and Scalo Northern Italian Grill, according to the Summerfest event program.
Headlining the Route 66 event in Nob Hill Saturday July 20 is Red Baraat, a Bhangra Funk Dohl ‘n’ Brass band from New York City.
One of the biggest attractions of the Route 66 Summerfest in Nob Hill is the Old Route 66 Car show, which will be from 1 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., and will feature over 100 custom and classic cars.
Immediately following the car show, the Twelfth Annual Neon Cruise will parade down Central Avenue, according to the Summerfest event program.
The Route 66 Summerfest will have three stages; the main stage will be located on Girard Boulevard and Central Avenue, and east stage will be at Washington Street and Central Avenue. The Cork and Tap stage will be located in between Montclaire Drive and Sierra Drive, and will be home of the Food Truck Rumble, where Albuquerque’s best street food vendors compete for the overall winner. Local beer, wine and spirits will also be available.
The Kid Zone will have a rock wall, face painting and inflatable fun jumpers from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Wellesley Drive and Tulane Drive, and there will also be an artisans market on Saturday as well from Bryn Mawr Drive to Dartmouth Drive.
Before splitting off into different events, Summerfest used to be held Downtown at the Civic Plaza but about two years ago the city decided to spread the events throughout Albuquerque to serve different parts of the community, Unruh-Enos said.
Summerfest has two other events planned this year; one at the Civic Plaza Downtown on August 3 that will be headlined by Ozomatli, a Latin hip-hop and rock group from Los Angeles, and the Westside event, located behind the Cottonwood Mall, is on August 24 and will have Better than Ezra, an alternative rock band from New Orleans, as the headliner, she said.
“We take them to different parts of the city because they help spur economic development,so we’re serving everyone in the city, not just having them in one place,” Unruh-Enos said.
For more information about the Summerfest events go to rt66central.com/rt66summerfest.html.4.2

"Welcome Matt" student movie

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“WelcomeMatt”

By Adriana Avila

Senior Reporter                                                                             

The heartache of romance and the pains of job hunting and interviews makes way for dark humor in a student film based on true events. Lane Luper, producer and cinematographer for “WelcomeMatt” and owner of the production company Signal One Three Media, said the short film looks at a whirlwind of dreadful and awkward situations.

“It’s a comedy about the similarities between looking for a job and going to job interviews and dating and how they can be one of the same. It follows a character as he loses his job and loses his girlfriend and he kind of goes into a little bit of a craziness where most of the dark comedy aspect goes from. It’s a really hilarious script and it’s got a casting crew the story is really great and really funny,” Luper said.

The unexpected project grew out of the conversations with the executive producer who wrote down some of his own unfortunate stories along with some he heard, he said.

“Our executive producer Tony Gene Colla came to us totally out of the blue with a script, we were talking about making films, I’m personally writing one right now for a feature, and he came to me with this short and I thought I it was absolutely hilarious. I kind of just told him I want to shoot this and make it into a short,” Luper said.

Jonathan Cottrell, former Liberal Arts major and one of the producers of “WelcomeMatt” and chief lighting designer and co-writer for the film, said the film is scheduled to begin shooting in the last two weeks of August and will continue into September.

It is expected to be finished around March 2014 and pre-production of the film has been underway and near its completed stage, he said.

“We have the story boarded, we’ve got locations locked down. For the production itself we’re ready to go all we need to do is buy insurance for the production and make sure we can pay our skilled actors, we’re ready to roll,” he said.

After much debate and time among the producers and the director, the title of the film was chosen to reflect the main character and the struggles of his daily life, he said.

“After a little while one of them said ‘Matt’ and I said, ‘We can go for Matt, it fits the character and doesn’t immediately evoke some kind of emotion that we don’t want to already,’[ and there’s a line in the film where the main character says that he wants to scrub this welcome sign off of his forehead and we were like ‘WelcomeMatt.’ ‘WelcomeMatt’ is not only a pun but also what we feel to be the strongest image in the film,” he said.

Once completed, Cottrell and company hope to submit ‘WelcomeMatt’ to either the Sundance or Cannes Film Festival and to run a film circuit throughout the film community, he said.

The film is mostly financed out-of-pocket and the producers have set up a Kickstarter account in hopes of raising enough money to move forward with production, Cottrell said.

“We have managed to put together a lot of the cast and crew and the equipment that we need for film so mostly the producers have shelled out money out of their own pockets to try to go ahead and get the film off the ground. Once we hit the wall of we really don’t have any more money that we can actually pour into ourselves so that’s when we went ahead and started a Kickstarter,” he said.

Kickstarter is an online funding avenue where individuals can fund creative projects using pledges from the users.

“We’re pushing about a thousand dollars. Our goal on Kickstarter was $3500. The primary thing was that we wanted to be conservative; we only wanted to ask for as much money that we actually needed because there are a lot of deals that we worked out with our crew and actors’ to pay to do this project, a really cool project. A lot of people are doing this just for the love of it and that’s why I’m doing it and anyone of us because we signed up for it,” he said.

The film’s Kickstarter account expires in about a month and the proceeds will pay for some of the major expenses like production insurance and actor and key crew pay, he said.

“We’re all having a really good time doing this thing. A lot of us are working really hard and taking on multiple roles. We’re really doing this out of love and that’s a big thing, we have a lot of support out there and everybody’s turning their heads to see how we’re going to go ahead and do this thing,” Cottrell said.

For more information about the film visit the “WelcomeMatt” Kickstarter page, contact Cottrell at jon@signalonethreemedia.com and Luper at lane@signalonethreemedia.com, or visit the Signal One Three Media Facebook page.

Bridging borders: The Good Samaritan

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By Adriana Avila, Senior Reporter | Photo by: John Tyczkowski

Good SamaritanThe trails to the American Dream are hazardous, but one man is easing the journey for some immigrants.

Ted Martinez, CNM president from 1988 through 1995, said he travels to the Mexican border to offer help and supplies to undocu­mented immigrants for a few days each month.

Martinez is involved with the Tucson Samaritans and the Green Valley Samaritans who travel across the Arizona border near Nogales, Mexico, he said.

“What Samaritans are trying to do is locate places where we think migrants are coming through, leave water and food, because most of them don’t know how treacherous it is,” Martinez said.

The Samaritans give aid to the campesi­nos, average farm workers and other trav­eling migrants in dis­tress, he said.

“Most of them are simple campesinos. They come from Guatemala, El Salvador and southern Mexico and they have no idea what they’re get­ting into. I’ve met some who haven’t crossed yet, and I tell them, ‘It’s very, very dangerous, crossing. You’re risking your life.’ Of course, they’re will­ing to take the chance. That’s how desperate they are,” he said.

The Samaritans travel deep into the trails to drop off supplies for the undocumented immigrants faced with harsh travel conditions, he said.

“What the Samaritans do is that they send out teams every day, to certain parts of the border, pre-positioned locations, and then they go back and check, maybe every two weeks. We’ll leave maybe 15 bottles of water; those one-gallon water containers. The Samaritans take these plastic containers, like for pickles, and we put food, primarily things that won’t perish, and clothes items,” he said.

With the help of coyotes, paid border guides, migrants travel the trails but most do not make it to the finish, he said.

“A lot of people cross with coyotes, and there’s 10 to 12 people; if one gets injured they leave that person behind and often they’re not found and they die in the desert,” he said.

Unfortunately the Samaritans often do not find these migrants. This year around the Tucson area, almost 100 people have not been found and are presumed to have died, he said.

Martinez and the Samaritans search the desert to help struggling migrants find their way to safety, he said.

“The Samaritans go out in groups of four, made up of usually a medical person, at least one person that speaks Spanish and one person that drives the four-wheel-drive. We go out into the desert, and leave our vehicle, and we go to these locations where the migrants are known to be crossing over the trails,” he said.

If the migrants are in critical condition, Border Patrol is called to trans­port them to hospitals or to on-staff medical teams, he said.

Those who are look­ing for the way, but have been deported, go to El Comedor, which is run by the Kino Project to help migrants cope with deportation and offers shelter and a meal twice a day.

Martinez visits the camp once a month to talk with some migrants, most of whom still plan to cross to search for a better life, he said.

Wearing what they were when detained, the deportees Martinez has met usually arrive at the camp without shoe­laces, belts, or forms of identification or of communication.

The Kino Project is run by Jesuit priests and American volunteers, most of whom are stu­dents, he said.

Martinez was involved with the Peace Corps before becoming CNM presi­dent and has worked with the Salvadoran refugees in Belize for a literacy program when he retired in 1995.

“So now in my old age, I guess that’s why I’m trying to do something to help some people from dying. The coyotes take them halfway, demand more money. They have none, and then get abandoned. Often what they’ll do is, after the person has died, the coy­otes will call their family if they have some rela­tives in the states, and say, ‘You know, you’ve got to send us more money’ when as a matter of a fact the person is deceased. I’ve heard many stories from people who tell me these things, and it’s just heartbreaking what’s going on,” he said.

Bringing the canvas to the campus

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By: Adriana Avila Senior Reporter | Photo by: Rene Thompson

ArtTemporary art is coming to Main campus. Fine Arts instructor Danielle Miller said the Arts Practices I course is creating art that can be shared in unusual places around the community.

While the class does focus on traditional art, it also covers contemporary and specifically forms of temporary art, such as art installations and land proj­ects, which take art out of the classroom and into the community where it can be shared in an unex­pected way.

“Part of what this type of art work tries to do is to put art out into the community in a way that people stumble across it instead of going into a gallery where you know you’re going to see a work of art,” Miller said.

Temporary art is meant to be somewhere for a moment and disap­pear right after. It gives a little bit of art, one piece at a time, to the community so people are surprised when the works are dis­covered, she said.

One of the class assignments was to create an urban canvas around the North building on Main campus by putting small colored pieces of paper around the exterior of the building with tape or icing so that they could easily be removed with no damage, she said.

“The assignment sheet said that it needed to be within walking distance of the classroom. It could’ve been off campus but it just had to be somewhere where we could walk to as a group so we could talk about and look at the art work that the stu­dents created. As long as it didn’t deface any property or block any movement for people,” she said.

Historically, tempo­rary art has been prac­ticed for some time and Miller’s class studies the various types of tempo­rary art in comparison to the more traditional types of art, such as paintings that are meant for gallery viewing, she said.

“It’s something that if you were going to install permanently anywhere as an artist you would want to make sure that you have all of the proper permissions in place. But these little temporary things that people could do are sort of meant to be ephemeral, to be there one minute and to go away the next,” she said.

The artwork that stu­dents in the class create are not in any way acts of graffiti or vandalism but projects focused on the idea of spreading art to those who may not have an opportunity to view art elsewhere, she said.

“At heart, these proj­ects are really meant to be not destructive. They weren’t destructive from the very source, they weren’t meant to be destructive, so if graf­fiti has that sensibility or association of being destructive then that’s not what these pieces are about, at all. I think the pieces were meant to be very playful and the students had an experi­ence of doing something unusual that was really interesting and a really different way to share their art work with the community,” she said.

A protocol for tem­porary art to be placed on campus is in the works, and Miller wel­comes the idea of sharing the art with students for longer than a couple of class meetings, she said.

“I think it would be great if we can make that happen because I think it does allow more people on campus to see the proj­ects and have that experi­ence; so if we can do that eventually, when a proto­col gets made for that, I think that would be great. Students put a lot of time and effort into these so it’s nice if they have the sense that people are able to see them and they don’t have to just put them up and then take them down

Film student on location

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By: Adriana Avila, Senior Reporter

Film student Rhiannon Keams said she will be work­ing on an upcoming feature film titled “Mortal.” This action thriller will show viewers a plague ridden society where vengeance plays key for the protagonist.

“‘Mortal’ is going to be a pretty huge movie from what I’m told. There are a couple big names that they’re look­ing to bring on the film so it can get more attention and everything, so it’s going to be a feature film,” she said.

Keams struck a deal with the film production company to allow another student from the film program to work as a paid employee, she said.

Keams said she was hired as a location scout for the film scheduled to begin shooting in early August.

A location scout travels to the proposed filming area to canvass and take photos for a film along with gathering detailed information about the space for the producers, she said.

Because of her experi­ence in the film “Enemy Way” and the television show “Longmire,” Keams said after scouting the location she will assume the role of location manager for the film.

“As location manager, I’m the person who’s in charge of making sure that I take care of the logistics of the film. We’re like the public relations department of film, since we’re dealing with the public and we don’t want to upset anybody, because you never know, we may want to go back to that same area and film again in the future. At the same time, we’re there to foster relationships with them to show that wherever we go, it’s just easier to go back if we have to,” she said.

Along with maintaining relationships in the commu­nity, a location manager takes the time and effort to strate­gize where the film should and should not be shot at, she said.

“We try to forecast the weather and find out what other events are going to happen around, we have to consider the sound. We want the clearest sound possible, the clearest dia­logue actually for sound record­ing. So we just have to consider all these different things when we choose a location,” she said.

The location manager oversees and directs where equipment is placed on a set, such as wardrobe and elec­trical equipment, but also is on the lookout if the location goes sour, she said.

“We have to figure out a second location, if say, some­thing goes wrong, a contract fell through, a permit failed, or out of the blue if some­thing happens. We try to stay ahead of the game,” she said.

Funding for “Mortal” is still in discussion and production will not take place for some time but Keams said she is excited for what could lay ahead.

“I’m not sure what’s going to happen, but what I’m learn­ing with film is, you can’t look too much into the future, you have to deal with today, so that’s what I’m doing, trying to stay positive,” she said.

Keams has a bachelor’s degree in Business from UNM and a Film Technician certifi­cation from CNM.

Keams plans on taking a script writing class to put her ideas on paper and con­tinue exploring the parts of film she does not have much experience in. But mostly she wants to venture further in the educational parts of it, she said.

“My dream is to get into NYU so I can earn my mas­ter’s in film and in busi­ness. I’d like to focus on the creative aspects, directing, more writing, acting kind of things, but also, business is another important part as well because it leads into pro­ducing. It’s one of the areas in film I have yet to touch and I really want to learn, I feel like it’s going to make me a more well-rounded and more marketable person to the industry,” she said.

There is much Keams said she needs to learn but has the connections that will allow her to continue what she has already begun.

“I’m glad about the experi­ence, and it’ll help get a foot­ing, it’s all about helping each other I think. That’s what I’ve realized in this industry. It’s not really what you know, though that is still important, but it’s about who you know and the relationships that you foster,” she said.

Student comedian: From the mic to the keyboard

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By: Adriana Avila, Senior Reporter

Ever heard the one about the web designing stand-up comedian? Curt Fletcher, Digital Media major, said he plans to blend his degree with comedy to bring character to the laughing craft.

Fletcher has been performing stand-up comedy for 10 years and said he plans to use what he has learned to help promote comedians through web design.

“Since there’s a lot of video editing involved and Photoshop and InDesign, I’m going to help comedians build websites for themselves to make a little bit of extra money while I’m traveling, because comedians don’t have websites promoting themselves,” he said.

Fletcher recently filmed a live performance at The Box Performance Space and plans to make and edit videos to accompany his jokes for his upcoming DVD, he said.

Once finished, Fletcher hopes to distribute the DVD performances at the Hastings stores in Albuquerque and sell them online, he said.

Fletcher said he attended CNM for a year, back when it was known as TVI, before deciding to pursue stand-up. He recently decided to return to earn his degrees.

“I moved back here a couple of years ago. I wanted to get to get an associate degree in Digital Media and go to UNM for journalism because comedy doesn’t pay that well sometimes,” he said.

Cracking jokes since 1984, Fletcher said he found his funny bone when he used to sneak out past his bedtime to watch late-night comedy on television.

“I would always see my mom watching stand-up comedy on TV and just watching her laugh, just watching one person stand there with a microphone making a bunch of people laugh was pretty cool,” he said.

As an adult, , Fletcher is now travels as a stand-up comedian and said he enjoys performing for younger crowds.

“I did a show for the Lobo football team a few years ago right before their ball game. That was pretty awesome. They were a really really good audience,” he said.

Fletcher also caters to the seasoned who have long since crippled their funny bones.

“The last time I performed was in Arizona in a casino for old people. It’s hard to make old people laugh. They always say that they had a good time but they never laugh. I don’t know if they’re afraid to laugh, like something might come out, I don’t know,” he said.

Fletcher got his start at Laffs Comedy Club, where he performed every week, eventually gaining enough momentum to take his show on the road, he said.

Fletcher said he is also co-writing a script for a movie that he and a friend are creating.

“It’s called ‘The Consequences of a Feeble Mind.’ It’s about these two idiots and we’re about half-way done with it now and hoping to start filming sometime in the fall,” he said.

For more information on what the funny guy is doing, visit his website at funnyfletcher.com or email him at curtfletchercomedy@yahoo.com.

TEDxABQ

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By Adrianna Avila, Managing Editor

Instructor searching for speakers for lecture event

To inspire innovation and the sharing of ideas, TEDxABQ, an offshoot of the well-known Tedtalks, is in search of speak­ers for this year’s event and the deadline is closing in, Bill Meador, part-time U.S. History instructor, said.

The three-question applica­tion for the Sept. 7 event, found at tedxabq.com, is due by April 30 so that speaker training can begin in May, he said.

Meador has been involved with TEDx for three years and this year he is trying expand information resources for the community, he said.

“The title of our organiza­tion is TEDxABQ but we’re trying to reach out into other parts of New Mexico and are really looking for speakers and people to attend from all over the state,” Meador said.

Continue reading “TEDxABQ” →

Play time

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By Adriana Avila, Managing Editor and Rene Thompson, Staff Reporter

How to buy and use the right toy

  Shopping for sex toys can be tough for those who do not know what to search for. With the vast variety of toys, the frustration of not knowing what to buy can be overwhelming. Research online and visits to local sex shops can prevent the annoying case of receiving the wrong size or material of a toy without realizing it.

 Size (and shape) matters:

There are various shapes when it comes to vibrators and dildos, and run a gamut from smaller, penile-shaped to dongs the size of a friendly dino­saur. Most sex shops carry a wide variety – from slender and short to long and wide, and are even available double or triple-ended. Research is rec­ommended to know what your body can handle.

Using a toy that is too big can cause micro-tearing, especially with anal play, so a good rule is to start small and work up to larger toys.

Continue reading “Play time” →

‘Leonardo Literary Magazine’ release party announced

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By: Adriana Avila, Managing Editor | Photo Illustration By: Jonathan Gamboa, Production Manager

Previous issues of the “Leonardo Literary Magazine.”
Previous issues of the “Leonardo Literary Magazine.”

The 2013 edition of “Leonardo Literary Magazine” is scheduled to be released next month, said “Leonardo” adviser and Full-time Creative Writing instructor Patrick Houlihan.

The release party for this year’s edition will be held at the Main campus Student Resource Center on April 5 where stu­dents will have the opportunity to share their works during the festivities, he said.

“It’s a celebration of what’s in it. Anyone who is published in it can stand up and read their stuff and pick up copies, share them with friends,” he said.

“Leonardo” is funded by through student activ­ity fees and prints only 250 copies of each edition, which are free, he said.

With the increase of student interest, “Leonardo” has grown from tabloid size to an actual magazine length, he said.

“It’s grown and sta­bilized over the years to where it’s now a 50 or 60 page magazine full color and student activities has been great at funding the increase costs. Paper and ink took a huge jump about five or seven years ago,” he said.

Being published is a big step for people and it helps a great deal to write it on resumes, he said.

“It’s a wonderful resume line to say ‘I’m a published author or artist selected,’” Houlihan said.

English major and “Leonardo” editor Shaya Rogers said it is a privilege to review student works because this year’s submis­sions were impressive.

“Giving students the opportunity to share their creative work is a positive aspect of the CNM community and I am so happy to support that,” Rogers said.

Rogers, who also works as the features reporter for the CNM Chronicle, has three nature photos and two poems featured in the magazine: one about her challenges with monog­amy and the other an ode to her sister who commit­ted suicide when she was a teenager, she said.

Business and Communications major and layout designer Jonathan Gamboa, who also works at the produc­tion manager for the CNM Chronicle, said he enjoys designing the magazine because it gives him the opportunity be creative.

“I think it’s fun. Since I am the only one designing, it allows me to have more freedom in producing the magazine,” Gamboa said.

This is Gamboa’s second design year and his role for “Leonardo” extends further profes­sionally from the mouse and screen, he said.

“I really did get pro­fessional experience doing it the first year because I was having to stay in touch with the printers and coordinat­ing the release party with the editors, along with setting my own deadlines to finish the magazine,” he said.

Houlihan said “Leonardo” used to be a semester project for the Business and Graphics department, but the magazine became the work of volunteer stu­dents after the pro­gram was cut a couple of years ago.

Submissions for “Leonardo” for 2014 are now being accepted and deadline for works will probably be in early January 2014, he said.

Houlihan hopes to continue the works of “Leonardo” because of the community’s great reviews and the benefits students receive when published, he said.

“It’s a nice repre­sentation of us to the community and I’d hate for it to disappear,” Houlihan said.