Filmmaker David Lynch to teach on how to deal with stress
September 27, 2005, originally published in Temple News
by Olga Dvornikova
Celebrated film director David Lynch returns to Philadelphia to speak about “Consciousness, Creativity, and the Brain.”
This lecture is the first of many initiatives of his new foundation that helps students overcome stress though meditation. The free lecture will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. in the Harrison Auditorium at University of Pennsylvania.
Lynch will field questions about his upcoming film Inland Empire, due for a 2006 release. This year he plans to launch the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness Based Education and World Peace, a national non-profit organization aimed at bringing the benefits of stress-reducing meditation to students.
He started practicing transcendental meditation in 1973 while living in Los Angeles, Calif.
“I got the idea to start the foundation from my own benefits,” Lynch said. “My foundation raises money to any student who is interested in meditation. Our goal is to send a wave of peace across the world and United States and get the country out of negativity and suffering.”
Although Lynch is better known for his mysterious and haunting films Elephant Man, Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, Mulholland Drive and Lost Highway, he does not see a discrepancy between his films and his foundation.
“All ideas are coming from the same place,” he said. “The medium of ideas is a thrilling thing to me. Through meditation you learn to dive within and everything gets better as a result.”
Lynch said he has a deep respect for all artists and various kinds of media. He is a painter, sculptor, furniture designer, songwriter, author and producer. Lynch even began his creative journey at Philadelphia’s own Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where he first became interested in film. There he made four short films with grants from the American Film Institute.
Lynch said he respects the works of filmmakers Frederico Felini, Igmar Bergman and Alfred Hitchcock. Last year, the British newspaper the Guardian named Lynch the world’s best film director of the past 40 years.
His talk at Penn will also feature brain researcher Dr. Andrew Newberg, director of nuclear medicine at the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and quantum physicist, Jon Hagelin, who was recently featured in the documentary What the Beep Do We Know? and neuroscientist Fred Travis, director of Center for Brain, Consciousness and Cognition at Maharishi University of Management.
SPEC Film, SPEC Connaissance, Fox Leadership and Cinema Studies are sponsoring Lynch’s talk. For more information call (215) 898-6533 or visit www.davidlynchfoundation.org.
by Olga Dvornikova
Celebrated film director David Lynch returns to Philadelphia to speak about “Consciousness, Creativity, and the Brain.”
This lecture is the first of many initiatives of his new foundation that helps students overcome stress though meditation. The free lecture will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. in the Harrison Auditorium at University of Pennsylvania.
Lynch will field questions about his upcoming film Inland Empire, due for a 2006 release. This year he plans to launch the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness Based Education and World Peace, a national non-profit organization aimed at bringing the benefits of stress-reducing meditation to students.
He started practicing transcendental meditation in 1973 while living in Los Angeles, Calif.
“I got the idea to start the foundation from my own benefits,” Lynch said. “My foundation raises money to any student who is interested in meditation. Our goal is to send a wave of peace across the world and United States and get the country out of negativity and suffering.”
Although Lynch is better known for his mysterious and haunting films Elephant Man, Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, Mulholland Drive and Lost Highway, he does not see a discrepancy between his films and his foundation.
“All ideas are coming from the same place,” he said. “The medium of ideas is a thrilling thing to me. Through meditation you learn to dive within and everything gets better as a result.”
Lynch said he has a deep respect for all artists and various kinds of media. He is a painter, sculptor, furniture designer, songwriter, author and producer. Lynch even began his creative journey at Philadelphia’s own Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where he first became interested in film. There he made four short films with grants from the American Film Institute.
Lynch said he respects the works of filmmakers Frederico Felini, Igmar Bergman and Alfred Hitchcock. Last year, the British newspaper the Guardian named Lynch the world’s best film director of the past 40 years.
His talk at Penn will also feature brain researcher Dr. Andrew Newberg, director of nuclear medicine at the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and quantum physicist, Jon Hagelin, who was recently featured in the documentary What the Beep Do We Know? and neuroscientist Fred Travis, director of Center for Brain, Consciousness and Cognition at Maharishi University of Management.
SPEC Film, SPEC Connaissance, Fox Leadership and Cinema Studies are sponsoring Lynch’s talk. For more information call (215) 898-6533 or visit www.davidlynchfoundation.org.
Tyler brings art to Main campus
October 8, 2004, originally published in Temple News
by Olga Dvornikova
About 10 students at the Tyler School of Art have been offered a new showcase for their work: an art exhibit at the Tuttleman Counseling Center (TCC) on Main campus.
The artists’ group Tyler Christian Fellowship created the exhibit, appropriately titled Welcome Tyler to Main I, to decorate the otherwise ordinary walls of TCC in the lower level of Sullivan Hall.
Jeremy Frank, a staff psychologist at TCC, originally proposed the idea for the exhibit. Traveling from Tyler to Main Campuses to treat different students, Frank had the idea to splash some life into the otherwise clinical space of the counseling office.
The idea was sent to Tyler’s Student Life Office where Deb Martin spoke with Dionn Williams, an outreach coordinator for Tyler Christian Fellowship (TCF) and painting major, about the idea for an exhibit possibility.
Williams quickly brought the TFC students together and coordinated the exhibit with Frank. The TFC students curated the exhibit this time around, but in the later exhibits there is a possibility that art history majors would collaborate to create the exhibit with art majors at Tyler, Frank explained.
“Having art on the counseling center walls sends a powerful message to students seeking professional help and shows that there are people who care for students who are struggling with problems,” said Frank. “Many students have come before you and the work celebrates the space and therefore the process through which students seek help.”
One student, who preferred to remain anonymous, said that therapy at the center feels more positive because of the beauty that the exhibit brought to the space.
The exhibit had an official opening on October 1st and will run through the end of the semester. Next semester a new group of artists such as the Tyler Student Government or the Intellectual Heritage club will showcase their work at the center.
“We wanted to make a positive atmosphere for the center because students already bring their own problems when they go to the center,” said Williams. “We made sure to that the art we hung up wasn’t too controversial, too violent, too sexual, or too religious.”
Williams created one particular work featured in the exhibit, “Infanzia,” when she studied abroad in Rome, Italy under Stanley Whitney.
“My art work reflects many styles because I get bored quickly with my own work, said Williams. “As a result I teach myself new techniques and new ways of expressing myself. My emotions play a big role in my work - I pour my emotions like anger or love onto the canvas. It’s like taking a picture of something invisible and then I don’t have to talk about them.”
The feedback that the art students have been receiving has been completely positive. Williams already sold two of her painting even prior to the exhibit. Over 25 works - among them photographs and paintings - remain to be sold.
The exhibit also addresses the long awaited move of Tyler’s Elkins Park Campus to Main Campus. “Hopefully, this exhibit will be a domino effect, where other art students will follow in our footsteps and Temple will be a unified college. When we go to the same school as students on Broad Street, we won’t be afraid to move to Main campus,” Williams explained.
“Also this opportunity taught us that Main campus students are nice and we are on the same team.”
Tyler’s complete move to main campus has been awaited since 1999, according to Tyler graduate Baylor. “The move to Main Campus is still very vague and nobody has any solid information on the exact date,” said Baylor. “Tyler students are not worried about the move because they have so much work to do. It’s the least of their worries.”
Prospective buyers can inquire about artwork prices at the front desk or directly e-mail the artists, whose e-mail addresses are directly available through the Cherry and White Pages. For more information on Tyler Christian Fellowship e-mail tylerfellowship@hotmail.com.
© Olga Dvornikova
by Olga Dvornikova
About 10 students at the Tyler School of Art have been offered a new showcase for their work: an art exhibit at the Tuttleman Counseling Center (TCC) on Main campus.
The artists’ group Tyler Christian Fellowship created the exhibit, appropriately titled Welcome Tyler to Main I, to decorate the otherwise ordinary walls of TCC in the lower level of Sullivan Hall.
Jeremy Frank, a staff psychologist at TCC, originally proposed the idea for the exhibit. Traveling from Tyler to Main Campuses to treat different students, Frank had the idea to splash some life into the otherwise clinical space of the counseling office.
The idea was sent to Tyler’s Student Life Office where Deb Martin spoke with Dionn Williams, an outreach coordinator for Tyler Christian Fellowship (TCF) and painting major, about the idea for an exhibit possibility.
Williams quickly brought the TFC students together and coordinated the exhibit with Frank. The TFC students curated the exhibit this time around, but in the later exhibits there is a possibility that art history majors would collaborate to create the exhibit with art majors at Tyler, Frank explained.
“Having art on the counseling center walls sends a powerful message to students seeking professional help and shows that there are people who care for students who are struggling with problems,” said Frank. “Many students have come before you and the work celebrates the space and therefore the process through which students seek help.”
One student, who preferred to remain anonymous, said that therapy at the center feels more positive because of the beauty that the exhibit brought to the space.
The exhibit had an official opening on October 1st and will run through the end of the semester. Next semester a new group of artists such as the Tyler Student Government or the Intellectual Heritage club will showcase their work at the center.
“We wanted to make a positive atmosphere for the center because students already bring their own problems when they go to the center,” said Williams. “We made sure to that the art we hung up wasn’t too controversial, too violent, too sexual, or too religious.”
Williams created one particular work featured in the exhibit, “Infanzia,” when she studied abroad in Rome, Italy under Stanley Whitney.
“My art work reflects many styles because I get bored quickly with my own work, said Williams. “As a result I teach myself new techniques and new ways of expressing myself. My emotions play a big role in my work - I pour my emotions like anger or love onto the canvas. It’s like taking a picture of something invisible and then I don’t have to talk about them.”
The feedback that the art students have been receiving has been completely positive. Williams already sold two of her painting even prior to the exhibit. Over 25 works - among them photographs and paintings - remain to be sold.
The exhibit also addresses the long awaited move of Tyler’s Elkins Park Campus to Main Campus. “Hopefully, this exhibit will be a domino effect, where other art students will follow in our footsteps and Temple will be a unified college. When we go to the same school as students on Broad Street, we won’t be afraid to move to Main campus,” Williams explained.
“Also this opportunity taught us that Main campus students are nice and we are on the same team.”
Tyler’s complete move to main campus has been awaited since 1999, according to Tyler graduate Baylor. “The move to Main Campus is still very vague and nobody has any solid information on the exact date,” said Baylor. “Tyler students are not worried about the move because they have so much work to do. It’s the least of their worries.”
Prospective buyers can inquire about artwork prices at the front desk or directly e-mail the artists, whose e-mail addresses are directly available through the Cherry and White Pages. For more information on Tyler Christian Fellowship e-mail tylerfellowship@hotmail.com.
© Olga Dvornikova
Alumni donations increase
October 1, 2004, originally published in Temple News
by Olga Dvornikova
Walking around Temple on a regular day any student can notice the construction around the Student Center or at 1800 Liacouras Walk. Most of the renovations are afforded by alumni funding which has shown a steady rise in recent years.
“In the year that included Sept. 11, [2001] and after, we raised $37.77 million, which was an increase from previous years,” Caulfield said.
Fundraising rose to $44.41 million in fiscal year 2002 and $50.30 million in fiscal year 2003. The steady rise of Temple fundraising and donations can be attributed to Stuart Sullivan, said Mark Eyerly, Temple’s chief communications officer.
Sullivan took the office of vice-president in 2001 and has renewed emphasis on alumni development. He also reorganized and reenergized a better relationship with the alumni which in turn generated more donations. An example of his reorganization is the development of alumni staff in all schools and colleges.
New plans are underway for the next several years involving a total of $400 million in reconstruction and renovation.
The first part of the plan is to move the Tyler School of Art to the main campus.
“The new $75 million project will bring Tyler’s 120 faculty and nearly 800 students to a new 255,000-square-foot building on the university’s Main campus,” Eyerly said. He added that $58 million came from funding from the state and the remainder came from university fundraising.
The Fox School of Business and Management will also undergo expansion in the next several years. The $78 million project will include approximately 190,000 square feet of new construction. Tentative plans include expanding the school into the location where Curtis Hall presently stands. The Curtis Hall facilities will then move to 1800 Liacouras Walk once they are renovated.
The recently completed Entertainment and Community Education Center (ECEC) cost $16.3 million to build. ECEC is a 61,000-square-foot structure providing street-level retail. On the second-floor it houses broadcast facilities for WRTI, Temple’s public radio station. The station has a performance studio for live broadcasts.
“The studio can be leased by cultural organizations for making commercial-quality recordings,” Eyerly said. “The new facility will leverage the power of broadcasting to the benefit of Philadelphia’s cultural community.
The facility also houses Temple’s Partnership Schools program, a collaborative effort linking the University, the School District of Philadelphia, and six public schools in the surrounding neighborhoods. It serves as a major resource for community residents, providing access to job listings, computers, and educational and meeting space.
The other fundrasing money goes into the $20 million effort to upgrade and renovate laboratories and research facilities, along with the extensive recruitment of new faculty to tenured and tenure-track positions. The other plan is to have a second phase of renovations to the University’s Student Center, which will add 86,000 square feet to this hub of student activity at a cost of $30 million.
Further renovation is planned to occur on a string of historic townhouses along the 1800 block of Liacouras Walk. The renovation will maintain and restore the building’s historic facade while housing essential student services, including health care, advising and the Academic Resource Center.
Another plan is to design and construct for the Temple’s Health Sciences Center a new $150 million School of Medicine. Also, a new $18 million learning center is being designed for the Ambler campus. The center will provide smart classrooms, computer laboratories, a visual art studio, a distance learning facility, student lounges, an auditorium and other instructional areas for writing, math and science.
Finally, the university is in the midst of a $29 million restoration of the long-vacant and historically significant Baptist Temple, constructed in 1878 by the congregation of Temple’s founder, Dr. Russell Conwell.
© Olga Dvornikova
by Olga Dvornikova
Walking around Temple on a regular day any student can notice the construction around the Student Center or at 1800 Liacouras Walk. Most of the renovations are afforded by alumni funding which has shown a steady rise in recent years.
“In the year that included Sept. 11, [2001] and after, we raised $37.77 million, which was an increase from previous years,” Caulfield said.
Fundraising rose to $44.41 million in fiscal year 2002 and $50.30 million in fiscal year 2003. The steady rise of Temple fundraising and donations can be attributed to Stuart Sullivan, said Mark Eyerly, Temple’s chief communications officer.
Sullivan took the office of vice-president in 2001 and has renewed emphasis on alumni development. He also reorganized and reenergized a better relationship with the alumni which in turn generated more donations. An example of his reorganization is the development of alumni staff in all schools and colleges.
New plans are underway for the next several years involving a total of $400 million in reconstruction and renovation.
The first part of the plan is to move the Tyler School of Art to the main campus.
“The new $75 million project will bring Tyler’s 120 faculty and nearly 800 students to a new 255,000-square-foot building on the university’s Main campus,” Eyerly said. He added that $58 million came from funding from the state and the remainder came from university fundraising.
The Fox School of Business and Management will also undergo expansion in the next several years. The $78 million project will include approximately 190,000 square feet of new construction. Tentative plans include expanding the school into the location where Curtis Hall presently stands. The Curtis Hall facilities will then move to 1800 Liacouras Walk once they are renovated.
The recently completed Entertainment and Community Education Center (ECEC) cost $16.3 million to build. ECEC is a 61,000-square-foot structure providing street-level retail. On the second-floor it houses broadcast facilities for WRTI, Temple’s public radio station. The station has a performance studio for live broadcasts.
“The studio can be leased by cultural organizations for making commercial-quality recordings,” Eyerly said. “The new facility will leverage the power of broadcasting to the benefit of Philadelphia’s cultural community.
The facility also houses Temple’s Partnership Schools program, a collaborative effort linking the University, the School District of Philadelphia, and six public schools in the surrounding neighborhoods. It serves as a major resource for community residents, providing access to job listings, computers, and educational and meeting space.
The other fundrasing money goes into the $20 million effort to upgrade and renovate laboratories and research facilities, along with the extensive recruitment of new faculty to tenured and tenure-track positions. The other plan is to have a second phase of renovations to the University’s Student Center, which will add 86,000 square feet to this hub of student activity at a cost of $30 million.
Further renovation is planned to occur on a string of historic townhouses along the 1800 block of Liacouras Walk. The renovation will maintain and restore the building’s historic facade while housing essential student services, including health care, advising and the Academic Resource Center.
Another plan is to design and construct for the Temple’s Health Sciences Center a new $150 million School of Medicine. Also, a new $18 million learning center is being designed for the Ambler campus. The center will provide smart classrooms, computer laboratories, a visual art studio, a distance learning facility, student lounges, an auditorium and other instructional areas for writing, math and science.
Finally, the university is in the midst of a $29 million restoration of the long-vacant and historically significant Baptist Temple, constructed in 1878 by the congregation of Temple’s founder, Dr. Russell Conwell.
© Olga Dvornikova
