Buena Vista University has added something new to its January Interim session, the three-week term during which students take study trips, work at internships or enroll in unique and enriching courses.

This year, jazz musician Kerry Strayer, poet Gillian Devereux and mixed-media artist Pam Dennis have been invited to reside on campus and offer their talents to BVU students.

These artists-in-residence will also present three special events that are open to the public, free of charge: a pottery slide show on Jan. 14, a poetry reading on Jan. 16 and a jazz concert on Jan. 23.

Strayer is active as a jazz saxophonist, arranger, bandleader and educator in the Kansas City area. He completed his master's degree in saxophone performance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City's Conservatory of Music and currently operates his own music-booking agency and teaches privately from his home.

Kansas City audiences know Strayer best as a baritone saxophonist and leader of The New Kansas City 7, with whom he released his first CD, Why Not Now?. Kerry's second CD, Jeru Blue: A Tribute to Gerry Mulligan, reached #5 on the jazz charts and received widespread critical acclaim. He has recently released his third CD, Speak Low, with trumpeter Rick Holland.

Strayer will work with BVU students on improvisation, nomenclature and jazz fundamentals during his course, "Jazz and Jammin' Kansas City Style." The class will take a short trip to Kansas City to sit in on live concert recording session at the Gem Theater featuring world-renowned recording artist Kevin Mahogany, tour the American Jazz Museum and attend a performance by the Kerry Strayer Quintet at the Blue Room jazz club.

On Thursday, Jan. 23, at 7 p.m. in Anderson Auditorium, the class participants will perform a concert demonstrating what they have learned. The public is invited to "Jazz and Jammin' from Kansas City, featuring BVU Student Jazz Combos & The Kerry Strayer Jazz Quartet" free of charge.

Hosting Strayer is Dr. David Klee, BVU's director of jazz studies and assistant professor of music, who says the artist-in-residence "is a world class musician whose forte is jazz. This is all he does for a living. It's like sitting down with Van Gogh if you want to learn art. That's what it comes down to. He's not big in stature, about 5'7" or 5'8", but my goodness, when he blows his horn, the world listens!"

Jamii Claiborne, instructor of mass communication at BVU, is equally enthusiastic about hosting pop-culture poet Gillian Devereux: "She's someone students will not only learn academic and literary things from, but I think she'll make it a good time. She connects with students really well."

Devereux will teach "101 Uses for Poetry: A Practical Workshop," which will explore the poetics of verse, prose, film, music, art, and television, as well as the ways these poetics influence cultural trends and thoughts. Students will spend a majority of their class time on their own creative work, but the course will also expose students to the work of other modern poets, writers and artists.

Devereux earned a master's degree in creative writing with a poetry emphasis from Old Dominion University. She has served as a composition instructor at Old Dominion, was editor of the Dominion Review and has published extensively in Port Folio Weekly, The Powhatan Review and The New Journal.

On Thursday, Jan. 16, at 7 p.m. in Room 1 of the Harold Walter Siebens Forum, Devereux will present a poetry reading from portions of her work. This event is open to the public, free of charge.

BVU's third artist-in-residence, Pam Dennis, will teach "Clay Forms, Down to Earth," guiding students in the exploration of Mexican, Mayan, and Dennis's own pottery methods as they create sculptural vessels and clay forms. Dennis will then introduce students to the two natural ways of firing their ceramic pieces: pit-firing and raku.

Mary Mello-Nee, assistant professor of art at BVU who is hosting Dennis, says the artist-in-residence is "so non-intimidating that it would be a great class for students who want to experiment with clay."

Dennis began her artistic career as a basket-maker when she moved to a small farm in the country full of many natural materials and eventually began working with clay forms, combining them with various natural materials to create vessels and sculptures. She has worked with and photographed potters in Central America and now incorporates techniques into her work inspired by Mexican artists. Through her use of common materials, Dennis strongly emphasizes the fragility of our environment, the importance of caring for the earth and an awareness of beauty hidden within everything.

On Tuesday, Jan. 14, at 6 p.m. in Room 1 of the Harold Walter Siebens Forum, Dennis will present "Clay, Willow and the Potters of Central America," an exploratory slide show featuring her work and travels in Nicaragua and Mexico. Audience members will discover the history, science, and work of clay and cultural lifestyles, then have a "hands on" opportunity to create clay beads that will be used in a small mixed-media sculpture by students enrolled in Dennis' course.

BVU's decision to invite artists-in-residence for the January Interim session is in keeping with its effort to offer distinctive educational experiences that align with the University's overarching academic goals.

"The three primary goals of the BVU academic program are to stimulate student interest in the love of learning, advance their professional skills and prepare them to be responsible citizens," says Dr. Jacquie Johnson, BVU's vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty. "We believe the January Interim, with its trips, internships, residencies and enrichment courses, is essential to the achievement of all three goals."

In addition to the three courses taught by BVU's artists-in-residence, students can choose from 38 other classes that fall in the areas of art, literature and creativity; culture and global awareness; current events; personal development and leadership; service and community; and sports and wellness. The courses are conducted for 150 minutes each weekday during the three-week interim session and generally carry elective credit toward graduation.

Students may also enroll in a travel course during the January Interim. This year, ten study-travel experiences are offered: cultural trips to several major European cities and to New York City, language trips to Spain and to Germany, a sports marketing trip to Arizona, business management trips to Florida and to New York City, a geology trip to Hawaii, and sightseeing trips to England and France and to Washington, D.C.

As yet other option for January Interim enrollment, students may arrange an internship experience. This year, students are gaining on-the-job training in the fields of accounting, communication and performance, criminal justice, economics, education, exercise science, finance and banking, management, management information systems, marketing, mass communications, political science, psychology, public administration, science, and social work.

For more information about the public events involving BVU's artists-in-residence, contact Carla Offenburger, BVU's academic ACES coordinator, at (712) 749-2138.