Boudman presents “An Uncanny Resemblance”

    PRESQUE ISLE — The Reed Art Gallery celebrates its first art installation of the season with “An Uncanny Resemblance” by Clifton Boudman, a long-time professor of fine arts at the University of Maine at Presque Isle.     Boudman’s work, meant to question embodiment and representation, will be celebrated during a reception on Sunday, September 23, at 4 p.m. in the university’s Campus Center. Boudman will be present to answer questions and discuss his works, which will be on display in the Reed Art Gallery from Aug. 20 to Sept. 30.
    Boudman said this installation features elements of austere early Greek artifacts, suggestions consumed by sensuality, horrors of the camps, time past, film aesthetics and early Carte de viste photography. The installation, composed of two- and three-dimensional works, melds post-modern fragmentation with historic reference, motif and emotional aesthetic functionality.
    Boudman said the show includes some pieces that pertain to today’s morality and some that try to preserve the moral values of the past, which creates a sort of crisis in the installation. The hope is that the works spur discussion.
    “It’s a dialogue of art that’s the important thing,” Boudman said. “I present the illusion; it’s the audience’s job to create the reality.”
    Sandra Huck, director of the Reed Art Gallery, said those who take in the show or attend the reception will see something new from the artist in the way his flatworks interact with his three dimensional pieces.
    “Boudman is a surrealist, but that’s not quite accurate. He’s a modernist, but that’s not quite accurate, either. He is an imagist. He is a melding together of what people may consider different disciplines in fine arts. He works two dimensionally, three dimensionally, but you really can’t classify him,” Huck said. “People who attend will get a deeper understanding of the artist and the art work.”
    Boudman earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Richmond Professional Institute and his Master of Fine Arts degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Rinehart School of Sculpture.
    The public is invited to view Boudman’s show and attend his reception. Light refreshments will be served. Gallery hours are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The gallery is closed Sundays and university holidays.
    UMPI  management courses         PRESQUE ISLE—The University of Maine at Presque Isle will be offering two courses this fall starting on Sept. 24 as part of its American Management Association’s certificate programs. The deadline for registration is Wednesday, Sept. 19.
    These fall courses, part of a multi-course curriculum leading to Certificates in Management and Human Resources Management, are specifically created to meet the unique needs of working professionals who want to be more effective in their current positions and better prepared for future advancement, according to Keith Madore, campus AMA coordinator.
    By meeting in a classroom setting with other managers from many different organizations, students are able to see how other companies handle problems similar to their own. Instructors with extensive business experience and excellent teaching skills facilitate the courses.
    The new and improved course Taking Control With Time Management is scheduled for Mondays from Sept. 24 through Oct. 29, from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Campus Center, Room 118. Nancy Chandler, education coordinator for Maine Public Service Company, will lead the course.
    Leadership Skills For Managers is scheduled for Tuesdays from Sept. 25 through Oct. 30 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. in the Campus Center, Room 118. The instructor is Dr. Kenneth Petress, Professor Emeritus of Communication at the University.
    Along with these two courses in the fall, Madore said that three more AMA classes will be offered next spring. To earn a certificate, each student is required to complete six courses for Management or five for Human Resources Management. Courses may be taken in any order and there is no time limit for completion of the program. Courses also can be offered on-site, Madore said.
    Each course meets once a week for six weeks and one or more courses may be taken per term. The cost is $200 per course and includes instruction, text and materials. Continuing Education Units are available for an additional charge. For more information or to register, contact Keith Madore in Conferences and Special Programs at 768-9501 or madorek@umpi.maine.edu.
The ‘Fishbowl’ gets a makeover
    PRESQUE ISLE — The University of Maine at Presque Isle classroom fondly known as the ‘Fishbowl’ has a new look thanks to a professor with a dream and a student with a paintbrush.
    The western wall of Folsom 105 is now covered by a 23-foot-wide mural of the Earth. The global map of the world has been a dream of Dr. Kevin McCartney’s for more than 10 years.
    When McCartney mentioned the idea to his physical geology class, which was held in the Fishbowl last fall, student Jennifer Prokey – a 27-year-old environmental studies major from Limington – volunteered to do the work. With a little help from nationally known cartographer Peter H. Dana, McCartney and Prokey were able to use a Robinson map projection, which is designed so that equal areas on a flat map contain equal areas of the earth’s spherical surface.
    Creating a scale-version of the globe also was made easier because of the square cinderblock walls in Folsom 105. At eight inches per side, the blocks easily translate into a convenient scale. Each square block on the wall shows one million square kilometers of the globe.
    McCartney and Prokey decided on a view of the Earth that focused on physical features rather than political boundaries. The mural incorporates several features, such as elevation, vegetation, volcanoes, major lakes and streams, as well as sea-floor spreading boundaries in the oceans. It even has a large whale spouting water in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
    “This mural is a wonderful reminder that we live in an international community,” President Don Zillman said. “And that affects what our students study and the jobs they take. Our congratulations to Jennifer Prokey for an accurate and fun representation of our globe, and to Kevin McCartney for getting the whole thing launched.”
    For Prokey, the project was a valuable learning experience that she hopes will continue for semesters to come.
    “Working on this mural provided me with a sense of school pride, excitement and natural curiosity for the natural and geological aspects of the world map,” Prokey said. “I also feel that a visual aid such as this one will prove to be a beneficial tool for learning in future classes.”
    McCartney agreed, “This is another project off my list. It was a piece of empty wall on this campus that is now being utilized educationally.”
    With the success of this mural project, McCartney and Prokey already have another one in the works: They’re planning to begin work this Columbus holiday on a 12-foot-wide mural for the Fishbowl’s eastern wall that will show the periodic table of the elements, including each element’s atomic symbol, number and mass.