Missouri Southern State University - Crossroads Yearbook (Joplin, MO)

Page 30 text:

WHAT IS ART? Art is an integral part of our lives. We create it, we destroy it. We do a lot with art, from the stamp on a letter, to this book. Artists help us see, adapt, and use ideas. Art is different for each person. For the senior art students art is their life. No longer are they considered senior art students, but are students of the arts, creators and explorers. They express our feelings and needs through their media. Our dreams become visible through artists’ work, be it a comic strip, an invitation to graduation ceremony or a commer¬ cial advertisement. It takes much self-discipline and hard work to create a piece of art. Art students spend perhaps three times more hours on their classes than the credit hours indicate. Rethrowing ceramic pottery, doing many different studies of a single portrait, or spending a week to a month of research and development of a pain¬ ting is time consuming work that the artists might do before presenting the completed piece for a grade. by Terry Menard, Artist After three and a half years of specialized courses in the different areas of art, plus all the general education requirements for gradua¬ tion, the art students must take Senior Studio. In this course the students are required to do a survey paper, exhibit works of the previous two years and present an oral disser¬ tation for the art faculty. The senior art shows are held in the Spiva Art Center gallery and are open to the public for viewing and the sale of selected works. 26

Page 32 text:

LIONS HAVE WINGS In 1972 an editorial board con¬ sisting of English instructors Henry Harder, Joseph Lambert, Henry Morgan, Journalism instructor Eugene Murray, Art instructor Nathaniel Cole, and an editorial staff consisting of Steve Poore, Doyle Hall, and Gwen Garnett got together and formulated plans which led to the development of a creative arts magazine called THE WINGED LION. Joseph Lambert and Nathaniel Cole eventually became the magazine’s long term advisors. Nathaniel Cole is still the current art advisor and was responsible for the creation of THE WINGED LION logo appearing in many of the issues. Rosemary Curb assumed the literary advisorship in the Fall 1978 semester after Joseph Lambert’s resignation the previous semester. In the seven years the magazine has been in existence, it has gone through numerous literary and art editors, assistants, and readers. Likewise, it has consumed the poems, short stories, photographs, and art compositions of more than three hundred students. Moreover, THE WINGED LION welcomes contributions from any Missouri Southern State College student. Any genre of poetry, short story, essay, drama, novel, music, photography, or art will be accepted. Readers and assistants are also selected to aid in the judging of manuscripts and for practical ex¬ perience in layout and production procedures. After the WINGED LION receives the literary submissions, they are assigned a number. Then all pertinent information (author’s name, class level, and major) are recorded for future reference in the event they are selected for publica¬ tion. The editor, along with several readers, read and critically examine the manuscript four or five times, sometimes even more. The manuscript is graded on a scale from zero to five (zero being the lowest and five the highest). After this is done, they are then grouped according to grade (all the fives together, all the fours together, etc.). Then the editor makes the final selections. Usually the ones with the highest grades are accepted first. But not always. Depending on the number of submissions, a balance between the threes, fours, and fives is normally sought. Sometimes even a story or poem with a score of one or two is accepted first. All types and styles of poetry and short stories are accepted. Also, any length is accepted. The artwork is judged on composition, contrast between light and dark, media, and quality of production. Since 1972, The Winged Lion has sought to present the best efforts of the students in literature, art, layout, and design. In the years ahead, the magazine will continue to serve as an outlet for student creativity. —Charles Ross West 28