BY TENA L. COOK, CSC MARKETING COORDINATOR
CHADRON – Chadron State College’s Guitar Ensemble, led by Instructor Jeremy Quick, will perform two shows in the Veath Planetarium on Friday in synchronization with graphics designed by Art Professor Mary Donahue and three of her students enrolled in the Graphic Design Practicum (ART 422) course.
Students playing guitar will include Riley Snyder of Rushville, Neb., Cooper Reichman of Chappell, Neb., and Micah Schneider of Sidney, Neb. Quick will play bass and Bradd Collins of Chadron will be on the drums. The art students are Allison Acosta of Oro Valley, Ariz., Madison Kinney of Gering, Neb., and Hannah Wohl of Hay Springs, Neb.
The shows will start at 7 p.m. and at 7:40 p.m. on Friday. Seating in the 39-seat dome is on a first-come, first-served basis. In 2023, the ensemble performed with commercial videos in the planetarium.
Acosta and Kinney will each graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree with a Comprehensive Major in Art and Graphic Design Option. Wohl is pursuing the same degree. Donahue used video she took during the recent CSC Spring Daze roller skating event to create the visuals.
Donahue said the class experienced a pleasantly surprising moment of serendipity when she and her students could hear the Guitar Ensemble practicing songs for the show in the room above their classroom in Memorial Hall while her students were planning their graphics.
“The project started with Jeremy and I chatting in the hallway. He asked if my graphic design students might be interested in designing visuals for their planetarium concert and I thought it sounded like a great collaborative experiment. It was interesting that we all tried different approaches. One student used Photoshop, another used Photoshop and After Effects, and another tried ProCreate and iMovie. I tried shooting straight video and playing with Adobe Premiere. I am proud that Allison, Madison, and Hannah rose to the occasion,” Donahue said.
Quick said the guitar ensemble chose a set of five classic tunes from the 1970s within the funk and jazz genres as the theme.
“All the songs were arranged by members of the combo. The opportunity to collaborate with the graphic design students helped create a project that spans multiple disciplines and engages interaction across campus. The planetarium provides a unique atmosphere that presents a multi-sensory experience for the audience. The administration has encouraged and backed this collaboration, making the project possible and ensuring its success,” Quick said.
The songs in the show include Fame by David Bowie, Cissy Strut by The Meters, For the Love of Money by The O’Jays, Long Train Running by the Doobie Brothers, and Red Clay by Freddie Hubbard.
Kinsley Mason, Instructor in Physical Sciences said she is excited about the collaboration between art and science.
“The Guitar Ensemble concert last year was so well received. It was a lot of fun to see the musicians practice and watch their music and our videos on the dome come together for the final performance. Jeremy and Mary's recommendation of bringing in the art department to design and make the graphics was just a natural and a genius addition to what we did last year,” Mason said.