Daisy, a two-year-old Labradoodle, is the newest ‘staff’ member at the West Virginia University College of Creative Arts.

As the college’s therapy dog, Daisy will be responsible for easing stress and providing a daily dose of happiness to everyone she greets.

The West Virginia University College of Creative Arts has named 26 students as Canady Scholars. To be considered for the award, students must have a high grade-point average, faculty references and be fluent in two languages.

The Canady Scholarship is awarded thanks to the Valerie Canady Charitable Trust Foundation. The scholarships are named for Valerie Canady, a Morgantown native and WVU summa cum laude graduate, who was among the 270 people who died in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in Dec. 1988. Canady, who worked for H.J. Heinz Co. in their London office, was an accomplished linguist and artist in different media of expression, especially in piano.

The West Virginia University Marching Band this year celebrates 50 years of women in the band.

Jill Cochran is one of the twelve women who joined the marching band that first year after seeing an announcement in The Daily Athenaeum. A Morgantown native, Cochran’s whole family attended WVU. She performed in WVU’s homecoming parades with both her junior high and high school bands before attending WVU.

A 1959 graduate with a degree in saxophone performance, Morgantown native Jack Sharretts credits the educational foundation he received at West Virginia University for his successful career with the Department of Defense. He plans to give back to WVU with an estate gift to the School of Music.

Sharretts received a Board of Governors Scholarship to attend WVU and was the first student to graduate with a saxophone degree. Sharretts took more than 190 hours of course credits in a variety of subjects throughout the university before graduating. 

A new mural on Beechurst Avenue is now complete thanks to Art Education students in West Virginia University’s School of Art & Design.

The mural, located at 210 and 230 Beechurst Avenue, took five months to complete after 304 Properties Management first contacted Associate Professor of Art Education Terese Giobbia about bringing life to the blank wall in their parking lot. 

Pianist Thomas Pandolfi will visit the West Virginia University School of Music Nov. 4-5. His performance and masterclass will be open to the public. 

Pandolfi’s visit is part of the West Virginia Music Teachers Association Conference hosted this year by WVU. 

Since graduating in May, I had the amazing opportunity to spend the summer in Cortland, New York working as the audio engineer for Cortland Repertory Theatre. I mixed "Hair" and "Kiss Me, Kate" and sound designed "Over the River and Through the Woods." I installed the sound system from ground up, learned my way around the Behringer x32 console, and worked with some truly incredible creatives. Unfortunately, my summer got cut short by a month due to a COVID outbreak among the cast and production team, we were two performances into "Murder on the Orient Express," and rehearsals for "Mary Poppins" were just about to begin. With the fear of being stuck living in my grandparent's basement, I used this new opportunity to look for work. Although I wanted to explore the possibility of touring or free-lancing as a sound designer/audio engineer, I also applied to regional theaters all over the country. Over the course of two weeks and interviews and many emails, I was offered a few different positions and ultimately chose to move to Washington D.C. Currently, I am a sound and video technician for Arena Stage. I was the A2 for the Atlantic Festival and I got to mic and interact with some interesting and important people. I am also the audio engineer for "Sanctuary City" which is getting remounted here at Arena Stage. I'm working on a Yamaha M7CL and learning the intricacies of Dante. More exciting things are sure to come in the future, but already I have learned so much and I'm just getting started. Finally, I would like to say that without the support of professors and friends from WVU, I wouldn't be where I am today. For that, I will be forever thankful for my time at WVU and will forever be a proud Mountaineer!

I started my education at WVU in the Horticulture program. I had chosen WVU because they offered programs that spoke directly to my personal interests. However, I quickly realized that my love for plants didn't necessarily translate into a love of horticulture. I saw some amazing student work coming out of the College of Creative Arts and took a few classes on a whim. The faculty's passion and expertise were contagious so I changed majors to the BFA program and never looked back. 

The art program at WVU isn't just classes. It's visiting artist lectures, internships, live artist demos, one-on-one critiques with practicing artists, faculty and student exhibitions, and more. This robust program spoke directly to my artistic interests and provided me with a well-rounded art education from which to build my career.

Zora J. Murff will give a Visiting Artist Lecture in the West Virginia University School of Art & Design at 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29.

“Zora J Murff is a trailblazing photographer, whose photographic work confronts important social and cultural constructs relevant to our world today, including race and criminality,” said Michael Sherwin, associate professor of photography.