Arts & Entertainment

LAFAYETTE, Ind. — K. Dees Coffee and Roasting Company is hosting its first Scrabble Tournament this Sunday, February 24. The coffee shop is located at 1016 Main Street in Downtown Lafayette, Indiana and the tournament is scheduled to begin at 12:00p (noon). Participation is free and open to the public. Anyone wishing to play must register by February 22, 2008.

Contestants will spell out victory or defeat in four 25-minute rounds of play, with prizes awarded along the way for each round won until the champion is crowned for the grand prize. Spectators are welcome to watch and cheer.

“Our first Battleship Tournament at K. Dees was a big hit and the success of it has generated a great deal of excitement for the Scrabble Tournament,” said Jerry Kalal, owner of K. Dees Coffee and Roasting Company.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Second City Touring Company will make a stop at Purdue University on March 1.

The comedy group will perform at 7:30 p.m. at Stewart Center’s Loeb Playhouse. The Purdue Student Union Board is sponsoring the performance, which is titled “One Nation Under Blog.”

The Second City’s performance will feature some of the best sketches, songs and improvisations from the group’s 45-plus year history.

“During the performance, the audience will not only have the chance to see comedy stars in the making, but they also will have the opportunity to see hilarious satire and cutting-edge improvisation,” said Heather Owen, Purdue Memorial Union director of programs and recreation. “No topic or subject matter is off limits for The Second City. If your parents asked you not to speak about it at the dinner table, chances are it will be made fun of in an evening with The Second City.”

Founded in Chicago in 1959, The Second City has become the training ground for a number of comedians, including John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Martin Short, Mike Myers, John Candy, Chris Farley, Tina Fey, Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert.

Tickets are $10 for students with a Purdue ID and $20 for the general public. For tickets, visit Loeb Box Office or call (765) 494-3933.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — An open mic night on Feb. 15 will give aspiring Purdue student musicians, poets and comedians a chance to show off their talents.

Shevy Smith, singer

The event, sponsored by the Purdue Student Union Board and Starbucks, will take place from 6-8 p.m. in the Purdue Memorial Union Commons on the ground floor near Starbucks.

The Starbucks Music Series will continue that weekend with an acoustic show from 4-5 p.m. Feb. 17 in the Union Commons. Both events are free and open to the public.

The Feb. 17 concert will feature Shevy Smith, a singer and songwriter from central Kansas who draws upon influences that include Tom Petty, Maria McKee and Emmylou Harris. She is on tour to promote her 2006 sophomore release, “September Songs.” Her first CD, “Blueprint,” was released in 2004.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Tickets are on sale for the Purdue Jazz Band’s eighth annual “Evening of Romance,” which will celebrate Valentine’s Day on Feb. 15 at University Plaza Hotel, 3001 Northwestern Ave., West Lafayette.

The cabaret-style event, which recreates the atmosphere of big band dance clubs of the 1940s - where couples came to enjoy music, dancing, food and each other’s company - will offer seating at candlelit tables surrounding the dance floor.

The Purdue Jazz Band will start playing at 8 p.m. in the hotel’s grand ballroom. The event will run to approximately 10:30 p.m. At intermission, a dessert buffet will be offered and a jazz combo will perform on the hotel mezzanine. Gourmet coffees and a cash bar also will be offered.

Directed by M.T. “Mo” Trout, the Purdue Jazz Band will set the mood for the evening by performing a selection of romantic jazz tunes for listening and dancing.

All seats are reserved. Tables accommodate either four or eight people. Couples and individuals wishing to sit together as a group need to make reservations at the same time. Guests can select their table location at the time of purchase. Tickets are $19.50 per person, which includes the dessert buffet. Tickets are on sale through the Purdue box office at (765) 494-4933 or (800) 914-SHOW.

A sell-out is anticipated so reservations should be made early, said Kathy Matter, Purdue Bands public relations director. If last-minute tickets become available, they will be sold at the door.

For information, call Matter at (765) 496-6785.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — For anyone who has ever wanted to build a guitar, Purdue University is offering a chance to learn the skills it takes from the pros.

The second Purdue Guitar Workshop will be held July 14-18. Music aficionados can learn from industry professionals how to craft, engineer and customize their own solid-body electric guitar. Two instructors from last year, Tim Shaw, principal engineer at Fender Guitars, and Kevin Beller, vice president of Seymour Duncan, will return for this year’s workshop.

The class will meet daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Knoy Hall of Technology, Room 106, and Michael Golden Labs, rooms 1208 and B217.

The $1,295 fee includes all materials and supplies. Purdue employees can receive a $150 discount. Workshop participants will learn the practical and technical aspects of making guitars. The class is not for credit, and no previous experience with guitar making is necessary.

“It’s really a guitar-maker’s fantasy camp, and this year’s workshop is going to be bigger and better,” said Mark French, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering Technology and workshop organizer. “Last year was a great success, but now we’ve had a chance to make some improvements that will make the workshop even more beneficial.”

Attendees will receive a complete kit of materials, including a guitar body and neck with most of the machining already completed. Participants will then be able to tailor the final shape of the body and neck, as well as add other custom touches, such as paint.

“This year, Taylor Guitars will provide instruction on ultraviolet paint finishing for the guitars,” French said. “This technique allows the guitar to be painted, then exposed to a light box that dries the paint in about a minute as opposed to the 24 hours or more that traditional methods take.”

French said the new machines he acquired will expose the participants to the latest in advanced manufacturing equipment. In addition to improved lighting and new work benches, the laboratory now features a CNC laser cutter, a sander, a saw planer and an additional CNC router.

Taylor Guitars, Seymour Duncan, Fender, Stewart MacDonald, Cole Hardwood and Irwin Industrial Tools are sponsoring the workshop and supplying equipment. For an additional cost, Stewart MacDonald has agreed to provide guitar toolkits that participants can purchase at the end of the workshop.

Several Purdue faculty also will be on hand to share their expertise in advanced manufacturing, guitar making and musical acoustics. One is French, who has visited Taylor Guitars’ headquarters in El Cajon, Calif., doing structural dynamics testing on about 60 acoustic guitars as they came through Taylor’s factory. French also teaches a class during the academic year on instrument manufacturing and testing in which students build and test an acoustic guitar.

Brad Harriger, a professor of manufacturing engineering technology, will offer insights on advanced manufacturing processes. Richard Couch, director of engagement at Purdue’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing, will draw on his years of experience in large-scale manufacturing and also is a skilled guitarist, having played in bands for 30 years. Read the rest of this entry »

LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Art Museum of Greater Lafayette has reopened the Gannett Photography Center at the museum for use by the museum’s Photography Guild. The Photography Guild is open to new members; participants must be at least 18, have darkroom experience, and be a museum member.

The darkroom will be open on the first and third Wednesdays and second and fourth Thursdays of each month in the evening. Each daily session is $10, which includes some supplies. For more information about museum membership and joining the photography guild, call the museum at 742-1128 x102 or email info@glmart.org.

The museum is located at 102 South Tenth Street, Lafayette, Indiana. More information can be found at the museum’s website, www.artlafayette.org.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University’s Confucius Institute and the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures are celebrating the Chinese New Year on Feb. 7.

The celebration, which is free and open to the public, is 3-5 p.m. at Stanley Coulter Hall, Room 131. The day of the Chinese New Year is celebrated in January or February based on a lunar calendar, and the year also is marked by one of 12 animals. This year celebrates the rat.

“People born in the Year of Rat are smart and bright, sociable and family-minded,” says Wei Hong, an associate professor of Chinese and director of the institute. “In Chinese, the rat is respected and considered as a courageous and enterprising person.”

Refreshments, including traditional Chinese foods such as jiaozi (dumplings) and niangao (rice cake), will be served. Participants also can win prizes for quizzes on New Year rituals.

The Confucius Institute at Purdue is a collaboration among the colleges of Liberal Arts, Engineering and the Krannert School of Management, as well as Shanghai Jiaotong University in Shanghai, China. One-hundred forty Confucius institutes worldwide are sponsored by the Chinese Language Council International to develop relationships and understanding between countries.

The Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures is housed in the College of Liberal Arts.

LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Lafayette Symphony Orchestra will present “Tubby the Tuba and Friends” for the annual Lollipop Concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 10, in the Long Center for the Performing Arts.

LSO conductor Nicholas Palmer will lead the performance, which includes the “Cowboys Overture” by John Williams, “Music, Music Everywhere” by Lucas Richman, and “Tubby the Tuba and Friends” by George Kleinsinger. Tickets are $4 each and can be purchased in advance or at the door on the day of the performance.

Lafayette’s Erika Spykman is guest vocal soloist for this year’s Lollipop Concert, and Doug Pruim will narrate “Tubby the Tuba and Friends.”

“The Lafayette Symphony Orchestra has a special performance again this year for our Lollipop Concert that is designed for all families in our community,” Palmer said. “I know this version of ‘Tubby the Tuba and Friends’ will be a real treat for all and we also will provide interactive features during the concert that are sure to entertain both the children and their parents.”

For young and old lovers of music, the LSO also will host an Instrument Petting Zoo at 2 p.m., an hour before the concert, in the Virgil St. John Pavilion at the Long Center, 111 N. Sixth St. Read the rest of this entry »

Here is a list of events happening Feb. 1-3 at the West Lafayette campus.

Friday, Feb. 1

• Chili cook-off and bake sale. Benefit for Habitat for Humanity sponsored by ITaP. 11:30 a.m. -1:30 p.m. University Church, 320 North St. Minimum $5 donation for chili, crackers, drink. Bake sale items at $1 each.
• Swimming and diving (men and women) vs. Minnesota and Wisconsin. 6 p.m.
• Mock Indian wedding. Purdue Student Union Board. 7 p.m. South Ballrooom, PMU. Limited seating. 49-48976 or www.union.purdue.edu/psub.
• Swing Dance at Elliott. Lab and Concert Jazz Bands & American Musical Repertory Ensemble. 7:30 p.m. Elliott Hall of Music stage. 49-66785 or kcmatter@purdue.edu.

Saturday, Feb. 2

• Outreach event will showcase the benefits of working at Purdue and to provide information on applying for a position. The session will feature a brief overview of Purdue and the employment process.; current staff members’ experiences at the University; resume critiques; and mock interviews with Human Resource Services representatives. 9-11 a.m. Second Baptist Church, 2925 S. 18th St. Lafayette. For more information, visit the Diversity Task Force Web site at www.purdue.edu/treasurer/diversity/events.shtml or contact Human Resource Services at 496-1828.
• Ag Alumni Fish Fry. 11:30 a.m. luncheon. Speaker: Andrew Card, former White House chief of staff, on “Managing Amidst Crisis.” Toyota Blue Ribbon Pavilion, Indiana State Fairgrounds, Indianapolis. Advance tickets only: $20; 49-48593 or agalumni@purdue.edu. Also at 9:30 a.m.: Ag Forecast. Discussion of agriculture and agribusiness issues. Free. Old National Bank Grand Hall, Indiana State Fairgrounds.
• Swimming and diving (men and women) vs. Minnesota and Wisconsin. Noon. Also, women only vs. Illinois.
• College Bowl. Purdue Student Union Board. Noon-4 p.m. Stewart Center. Purdue competition to advance to regionals. 49-48976 or www.union.purdue.edu/psub.
• Margery Williams’ “The Velveteen Rabbit” by Enchantment Theatre Company. Convocations, Family Adventures. 3 p.m. Loeb. $14-$10.

All week

• Purdue University Galleries. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday, plus Thursday until 8 p.m.; 1-5 p.m. Sunday. 49-67899 or galleries@purdue.edu or www.purdue.edu/galleries. Two exhibitions through Feb. 17. “Insights into Suburbia.” Juried exhibition of 55 works in various media by 27 contemporary women artists. National Association of Women Artists and the Opalka Gallery of the Sage Colleges, Albany/Troy, N.Y. Robert L. Ringel Gallery, PMU. “60 Square Inches: 16th Biennial North American Small Print Competition.” Purdue Galleries, competition host. Stewart Center Gallery.

Monday-Friday

• Rueff Galleries, Pao Hall. Patti and Rusty Rueff Department of Visual and Performing Arts; Purdue University Galleries. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 49-62958. Jan. 22-Feb. 1: “PLUSHED: art gone soft.” From artists working as part of a contemporary “do-it-yourself” craft revolution. Focusing on handmade toys. Jan. 22-Feb. 1: “Fashion Forward: Selections from the Purdue University Division of Theatre Special Collection of Historic Dress.” Developments of apparel technology and fashion design from the 1860s to the present.
• Libraries — Archives and Special Collections. “Snowflakes and Icicles: Winter Scenes of Campus.” Photographs. 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Room 279, STEW. Through Feb. 27. www.lib.purdue.edu/spcol/snowflakes/
• John Purdue Room Lunch Special. This week: Potage au Pistou & Pork Roulade with Bleu Cheese & Spinach. To access the menu: www.cfs.purdue.edu/htm/about/restaurants.shtml

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Applications are available for the Alpha Chi Omega chapter scholarship, which is awarded each year to a Purdue University student whose college career has been touched by the arts.

The annual scholarship, which was endowed in 2002, is presented to a student who has demonstrated excellence in visual or performing arts either through a major in arts or as a non-arts major who is eligible through participation in campus arts organizations. Applications must be submitted by 5 p.m. Feb. 18.

Freshmen, sophomores and juniors with a minimum grade point average of 3.0 and a previous semester index of 2.5 are eligible. The scholarship will be awarded for use in fall 2008.

Scholarship applications are available at Yue-Kong Pao Hall of Visual and Performing Arts, Purdue Musical Organizations, Purdue Bands, Office of the Dean of Students, Student Activities and Organizations, Black Cultural Center, and the Office of the Vice President for Student Services.

The scholarship will be awarded at the University Honors Convocation on April 13, and the winner will have his or her name added to an Alpha Chi Omega recognition plaque that is hung in Yue-Kong Pao Hall of Visual and Performing Arts.

Alpha Chi Omega was founded in 1885 at Depauw University in Greencastle, Ind., by seven women from the school of music. Today the women’s fraternity is on more than 132 campuses. Purdue’s chapter was chartered in 1918 and is the 25th oldest chapter in the nation.