In my second year of teaching at LSUS I had the chance to work on another fun project.  The project involved taking a large room and turning it into a dynamic lab that is better suited to student's learning and appeal to incoming students.   The project began in Bronson Hall's 111 room and is the room where a lot of the basic design courses are offered.  This room is large and had a wonderful chance to become a very engaging room.  When I first started at LSUS the room was dark, the organization could have been better, and the equipment was becoming a little haggard. The tables were a mix match of old brown wooden desks that had been passed on from one department to the other over the years. The computers had been running for many many years and were on their last life.  

One week a few weeks into the semester while I was teaching class in that room, three different computers went down.  One had completely killed its own hard-drive, while the others were having graphic card type issues and wouldn't update the adobe programs.

It was also the same day as the computers going down that I heard about a grant that was due at the end of the day by chance.  I sat down and promptly wrote a grant letter/application requesting $44,000 for new computers, internet drops, and magnetic white boards whiteboards.  The grant was with the Noel Foundation.  The Noel Foundation, Inc. supports the community by funding select projects that benefit the community, that provide opportunities for individuals, and that generate positive recognition for the Foundation. Priorities for civic projects include education, social services and community development.

A few weeks later Dr. Leitz who worked with the Noel Library came to my officeand said, "You got your money for your money."  I stood there for just a moment and took it in.  I couldn't believe it! My first response to him was "Can I give you a hug? You just made my semester."  He said later, if we need money for programs too to just let him know.  How cool was that?  I was beyond disbelief. Still at time can't believe it happened. 

The semester before the grant, I had an idea to try to make the room seem more appealing by having the walls carry some color.  It was then I put out a call to current and past students to submit ideas for a mural to cover three of the walls in this long dark room.  I wanted the space to be engaging.  When a room is painted black with no windows, it tends to feel very sobering.  Designer shouldn't have to work in sobering conditions.  Over the course of time the room began to perk up.  We found money for new tables and chairs and that is when the room began to transform.  Check out the pictures below to see the transition of the dark bat cave that just needed a little love and time. 

I am very proud of this room.  Proud of all the effort put into it, by the grants, the competitions for a mural, work by the students and in the well thought-out setup. I am proud to teach in this room I helped develop from a room with stains on the floor and cobwebs on the ceiling.  It is my hope that this room will run for many years and only continue to become more grand. 

When I started at LSUS I was shown around various rooms by Dr. Webster who is the chair of the program until December.  She showed me this wonderful room full of props from the theater department.  As I glanced in I saw a beautiful sink covered by supplies and these booths that looked much like they were prepared to hold enlargers.  I asked quickly and was surprised to hear that it used to be a room for developing film.  I mentioned that I worked as a Darkroom technician back during my first two degrees when I was double majoring.  On the spot, Dr. Webster said it was my task to get the darkroom set up and running.  I set to work right away asking for the props to be removed, and surveying the needs of them room as well.  Once everything was cleared away, I realized I had a real task on my hands, as the room was in disarray.  The walls had yellowed, there were stains that growing in places, and a floor that looked as if it hadn't seen a mop, or broom in years.  Below you can see the white of the new wall color and the original color not created by paint alone. (Ewww)

Once the room was painted white, I went to work on developing a mural for one side of the wall that would make the room seem more engaging for the youth of incoming students.  Also, while working on this redecorating assignment I went to work on writing a grant that would allow us to purchase the materials needed to run the room, enlargers, timers, lights, etc. 

I was so thrilled that within my first year, I had written a grant that was accepted to begin work on buying supplies for the dark room.  $600 was my first approved grant ever as an assistant professor. How exciting is that?  So while I waited on the money, I finished painting the room and the booths as you can see in the photos below. 

The room waited a long time in transition waiting on individuals to get things ordered, or for B&H to have what we needed.  About a year and a half later....last week, we finally got the final things we needed.  The chemicals.  This will be a great addition to the department.  I hope it runs for a long time. 

Laying in bed this morning and gearing up to go teach a continuing education class through LSUS.  The subject is photography, which you all know by now I love to teach.  I am excited to meet the 8 new students who have registered for the course and to get them more excited about taking pictures and give them the basic skills to take the images they want. Today is going to be an introduction day. Going to discuss the history of photography, because I believe it gives understanding of where we came from and why photography is the way it is today.  If someone has that knowledge I believe understanding the functions of the camera can become easier. Because heck....it is better than when Calotype was a thing. (Secretly, I want to try making a calotype)

This will be a fun exploration of teaching a different kind of student.  Teaching students in college is one of my greatest passions, but I believe teaching people who chose to take this class for enjoyment will be a new kind of adventure that I imagine will be quite wonderful. 

I am hoping the students will allow me to show some of their work here as the class progresses.  Till then, keep on trucking and looking for updates here often.  I am planning on updating this a lot more in the future. 

How many people can say during the worst week of their life that they decide to go do something that scares the snot out of them?  Well...I am sure quite a few. BUT! Now I can say, so did I.  I have been working on a project since moving here to Louisiana called "Louisiana Forgotten," and it focuses on capturing the forgotten and damaged buildings and areas in the south.  It isn't for the sake of showing Louisiana as this desolate place. It is to show the parts that get lost in modern creations. The parts of the south that built the cities to what they are today.  The book has been published on Amazon as kindle version and a paper back.  What is cool is I also wrote the poetry included in it! 

Check out the link here! The artist...aka me...wouldn't be hurt if you bought a copy either. hahaha