- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

��Vlog��ý Little Rock game designers start Kickstarter campaign to manufacture new space-western game

Ajani Oyindamola — Thu, 28 Jun 2018 20:37:18 +0000

A group of University of Arkansas at Little Rock employees, students, and alumni have joined forces to create a game to bring out the space scoundrels in all of us.

The space-western storytelling card game – dubbed Galactic Scoundrels – is inspired by beloved fictional scoundrels like Han Solo from “Star Wars” and Malcolm Reynolds from “Firefly.” The game is designed for 3-5 players to play for 90-120 minutes.

“It started out with an idea of telling space scoundrel stories. When I was a kid, I wanted to be Han Solo,” said Joe Williams, associate professor in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing and lead designer of Galactic Scoundrels.

Williams started designing the game with Tanner Marshall and Olivia Dunlap, graduate students in the Department of Computer Science; Brad Sims, instructional designer and media specialist for the College of Education and Health Professions; and Robbie Hunt, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock alumnus. Kevin Cates, associate professor of graphic design, joined the team and created all of the art for the game.

“I’m older now, but my friends and I still want to tell great stories when we get together for game night, but we don’t have time to generate those stories over weeks, or months, or years. Usually, all we have is an hour or two. It lets us tell the crazy, quirky, sideways tales we love.”

Players gamble and bluff each other to win a job and then tell the shared story of that job by playing cards. Each job is a mini-adventure lasting 15-20 minutes with spaceships, crew, cargo, strange and wonderful characters, and exciting twists.

The game has simple rules, which can be learned in about 10 minutes. This allows players to emphasize storytelling, negotiation, and social interaction. A full game lasts 90 minutes or so, but players often just play as many stories as they feel inspired to tell.

Galactic Scoundrels

Williams and crew, who co-founded the Little Rock Game Designers group in 2014 and last year formed a company called Little Rock Games, have started a to raise money to have the game manufactured. They have already raised nearly $11,500 from 271 backers by June 28, so odds seem favorable that they will reach their $17,000 goal by July 25.

Backers can pledge $5 to get a print and play PDF version of the game, $25 for one copy of Galactic Scoundrels, and $40 for the game plus an expanded universe card pack. Those who pledge $75 or more get the extra honor of designing a card for the expanded universe card pack.

If the Kickstarter campaign is successful, Little Rock Games plans to produce an initial launch of 500 games that they will sell to online and brick and mortar retailers. Williams said two local game stores have already ordered advance copies of the game.

Williams will be interviewed on the radio show “,” which broadcasts on 101.1 FM at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 30. The show will be, and listeners can call in during the show at 501-823-0965 or tweet @ShanePlays.

“I think we are just really excited,” Williams said. “None of this would have been possible without us connecting at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. We love that the university provides a creative place to generate ideas like this and let them grow.”

In the upper right photo, the creators of Galactic Scoundrels (L to R) include Brad Sims, Robbie Hunt, Joe Williams, Tanner Marshall, and Olivia Dunlap.

��Vlog��ýLR artists featured in Delta Exhibition

Ajani Oyindamola — Fri, 24 Jun 2016 19:25:15 +0000

Eight artists with ties to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Department of Art represent more than a quarter of the 30 artists selected for one of the region’s most prestigious art exhibitions. The 58th Annual Delta Exhibition at the Arkansas Arts Center includes 52 artistic works selected by the show’s juror, Liz Garvey, co-founder and owner of Garvey-Simon Art Access, Inc. Nearly 460 artists applied, and more than 1,000 entries were submitted. The is on display at the Jeannette Edris Rockefeller and Townsend Wolfe Galleries until Aug. 28. The center is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. The exhibition began in 1958 to feature contemporary artists from Arkansas and bordering states. It has grown to encompass works in all media, showcasing the dynamic vision and traditions of artists of the Mississippi Delta region. David Bailin, a former adjunct professor of drawing and painting in the ��Vlog��ýLR art department was the winner of the Delta Award and a $750 prize for his charcoal, pastel, and coffee piece, “Lamp.”

David Bailin

Other art department faculty members in the show include Mia Hall, an associate professor of furniture design, Win Bruhl, a professor emeritus of drawing and printmaking, Heidi Hogden, a visiting professor of painting, and Joli Livaudais, an assistant professor of photography. Livaudais, who has two pieces in the exhibition, said it was an honor for her work to be displayed in the prestigious show. “The series of work that these two pieces come from is inspired by cycles and patterns in nature, and my personal meditations on science, spirituality, and human limitations,” Livaudais said. “I enjoy the Delta Exhibition because it’s a wonderful opportunity to see the strong artwork being made by the artists in our region, and it’s great to have my pieces seen in such a beautiful venue.” In addition to ��Vlog��ýLR professors, Anne Greenwood, a ��Vlog��ýLR art student from Hot Springs, Arkansas, also has two pieces in the show. Two alumni – Laura Raborn, a 2014 graduate with a master’s degree in art, and Nathaniel Roe, a 2015 graduate with a master’s degree in art — also are featured. “I was thrilled to have so many of our faculty and students chosen to participate in the exhibition,” said Tom Clifton, chair of the art department. “Considering the standing of the Delta Exhibition and its reach, it’s an honor to be so well represented. I believe it speaks to the quality of education available to our students and the positive impact that our presence has on the region.” These talented ��Vlog��ýLR faculty members and students are looking forward to teaching and learning in the new visual arts building, which is scheduled to open in early 2018. The state-of-the-art building will be funded by a $20.3 million grant, the second largest gift in ��Vlog��ýLR’s history, from the Trustees of the Windgate Charitable Foundation. The new facility, located at 28th Street and East Campus Drive, will integrate ��Vlog��ýLR’s Applied Design, Art History, Art Education, and Studio Art classes into a facility that promotes collaboration and creativity between students, faculty, and guests under one roof. In order to attract and retain the region’s best and brightest art students, a scholarship campaign is underway to help art students who will benefit from learning and collaborating at the new visual arts building. “The new visual arts building will give our faculty, who have helped design it, the best possible spaces for instruction in all media,” said Joseph Lampo, director of development and external relations for the ��Vlog��ýLR College of Arts, Letters, and Sciences. “Our focus is the students who will be taught in these spaces by our award-winning faculty, and this scholarship campaign is critical to bringing the best art students here.” For more information on the exhibition, visit Delta Exhibition’s. In the upper right photo, ��Vlog��ýLR artist Mia Hall stands next to her artwork with her daughter, Fiona Clemmons.

Graduating ��Vlog��ýLR student honors father

Taylor Aldana — Fri, 20 May 2016 15:29:02 +0000

Shane Bowers made a promise to his ailing father that he would finish college. Displaced by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Bowers and his parents found their way to central Arkansas. With metastasized stage-four bone cancer, Bowers’ father needed to be near University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences facilities for treatment. Bowers and his mother took care of his father full time. Bowers was only 14 when his father passed. “Every single day when I felt those moments of quitting, he kept me going,” Bowers said. On May 14, Bowers walked across the stage in honor of his father. A nursing major at first, Bowers felt that being a full-time artist, while also involved in higher education, was important to him, so he changed his degree to a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Bowers said his dad always supported his art and everything he did. Bowers noted his dad knew he was transgender before anyone else, and his father served as a reminder to be true to himself. Because of this, Bowers uses his art as a way to educate and express his identity. “Art is a way that I am able to express my advocacy more than just a complete political way of black and white,” he said. “I’m able to reach a broader audience and talk about these issues that we have in our everyday media.” His thesis project deals with the gender binary, or the classification of sex and gender into two distinct and opposite forms of masculine and feminine. His art expands on having the viewer question what gender binary is and how viewers define gender for themselves as an identity and not a biological sex. Some pieces also deal with the realities of body modification with transgender people. “Entering college as a queer-identified person, having that adversity, even in the arts, was something to overcome and learn with faculty and learn with my colleagues,” he said. “Transgendered was something different, and people were not out at the time that I came out.” Bowers said he enjoyed his experience at ��Vlog��ýLR, especially within his discipline. “I’ve had faculty and mentors really support the fact that not only I identify this way, but they also support me as an individual and a person, that my identity doesn’t define who I am,” said Bowers. He noted that he was treated equally and respectfully, like another human and individual. Bowers is also a McNair scholar and won first place at the ��Vlog��ýLR McNair Research Symposium for arts and humanities for his research titled, “Deconstructing the Gender Binary in Contemporary Art.” He took this research to the and won third place in his division. The McNair Scholars Program works with undergraduate students who would like to gain experience conducting undergraduate research. At ��Vlog��ýLR, 25 scholars are supported each year. In their first year, scholars conduct an intensive summer research project with the help of a mentor. At the end, students complete a paper within their discipline. Bowers’ research was interdisciplinary, using art and philosophy. Students must apply and interview to be considered for the program. Bowers is thankful for his McNair mentor, Dr. Michael Norton, assistant professor of philosophy. “He was a really great influence and has supported me 100 percent through McNair and the reason why I am so successful with my research,” Bowers said. Another mentor who helped Bowers through college is Michael Warrick, professor of art. “He has really been a main supporter with all the struggles of not only being a young college student and a young art student, but also he’s been a great person in my life through my transition,” he said. Bowers starts the Master of Fine Arts program at Northern Illinois University in the fall. After completing this degree, he plans to pursue a doctorate in visual theory and will work toward re-writing new bachelor of fine arts curriculum, as well as mentoring students. Before he leaves for Illinois, Bowers will be visiting Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina from July 8-24. Bowers received a scholarship as a part-time assistant, and he will be studying under the artist Esther Shimazu. In the photo on the right, student Shane Bowers. Photo by Megan Douglas/��Vlog��ýLR Communications

- University News Archive - ����Vlog��ý Little Rock

����Vlog��ý Little Rock game designers start Kickstarter campaign to manufacture new space-western game

����Vlog��ýLR artists featured in Delta Exhibition

Graduating ����Vlog��ýLR student honors father

- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

��Vlog��ý Little Rock game designers start Kickstarter campaign to manufacture new space-western game

��Vlog��ýLR artists featured in Delta Exhibition

Graduating ��Vlog��ýLR student honors father