Abstract Medicine

Art and medicine don’t usually coincide with one another, but Michael Lotfi loves both.

Lotfi has a love for art, but is following in his family’s footsteps and going into the medical field, and is a pre-med major at Vol State. “I plan on going to Vanderbilt for anesthesia. My mom works at Vanderbilt,” said Lotfi.

Lotfi said, “I’ve been doing art since I was thirteen or fourteen. I dwell mostly in abstract. I try my hand at realism, but it is always a realistic subject in an abstract environment.”

The reason Lotfi is pursuing a medical career versus a career in art is rather simple. “I love to do art, but I’m an extreme realist, and it is very hard to make a career out of without a strong footing. My family is all in the medical field. It is something I’ve always been surrounded in, and been interested in,” he said.

Lotfi, at twenty, seems to have a valid plan in place. “The plan is to be an anesthesiologist and use that money to supplement my career as an artist,” Lotfi said. He said he wants to make a lot of money doing something that interests him so that he can finance something he loves.

Volunteer State Community College

Chance to Film

YouTube makes it possible for pretty much anyone to be a film maker these days. Vol State student Chance Ragland is striving for more.

“I’m hoping to go into video production. I graduated high school in 2004, and I made the mistake of waiting far too long to start college,” Ragland said. “I’m hoping I can go to a four year university, or at least an art institute,” he said.

Ragland said, “I filmed a project with my friend, and he wrote the script. Before that I had a career development class. I moved here from Colorado when my dad had a job opportunity, so I moved here. Moving here was probably one of the smartest things I did. People here are a lot nicer.”

“I’m working on a project. It’s a short film and I’m casting right now. It is called, ‘Moosing for Money.’”

Ragland said he enjoys filming his friends and putting random stuff on YouTube. When he isn’t filming, Ragland said, “I like to hang out with friends from church.”

Ragland is taking a practicum class in the television studio at Vol State. You can find some of his films on YouTube.




Volunteer State Community College

Auditions for The Spitfire Grill

Are you ready to take to the stage and bring a character to life? Auditions are coming up soon for
The Spitfire Grill. The musical is a story of love, friendship, and forgiveness. The student production is happening next semester. Auditions will be Tuesday, December 1 from 3:00pm-6:00pm in the Music Room, Pickel 140. Come prepared to deliver a short monologue and a Broadway song. The rehearsals will be on MTR 3:00pm-6:00pm beginning Tuesday, January 19. The performances will be on February 26-27. For more information contact: Judi Truitt, ext. 3781 or James Story, ext. 3216.

HIV: Yes, It Still Exists

It seems that the hype about HIV and AIDS has died down quite a bit over the last few years.
Dwayne Jenkins is the HIV Education

Coordinator at Nashville Cares. He came to Vol State and gave a fun, yet informative presentation on HIV prevention.

Jenkins showed a variety of contraceptives that are available in the safe sex kits, and discussed the proper way to clean needles. “We know that bleach kills the virus. This doesn’t mean that it is a cure, but it is used to sterilize test tubes and needles,” said Jenkins.

“The difference between HIV and AIDS is a test. If a person is infected with HIV, and their T-Cells drop to a certain level, that person will have developed AIDS,” said Jenkins. He said that the drug cocktails that are available now help to get the T-Cells back to a certain level. He talked about the fluids that serve as a vehicle to transmit HIV. These are blood, breast milk, and sexual fluid.

Aside from the scientific explanations, Jenkins made the presentation enjoyable, and all types of questions were welcomed.

Student Lita Miller said of the presentation, “I think it is fantastic. It was very frank.” “You don’t hear about it nearly as much,” Miller said about HIV. Yvette Burns said, “Since they have all of these programs, they have stopped talking about it. I think there should be more talk about it so that people don’t forget.”

There has been progress made in the way of medication and tests that are more available, but there is still no cure for HIV and AIDS. The presentations that Nashville Cares offer remind us of that fact. The Belcourt Theatre will be having a multimedia journey through HIV and AIDS on December 1, 2009. You can reach Dwayne Jenkins via email at djenkins@nashvillecares.org.


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Free Weekend at the Frist for Vol State Folks

It's Vol State Free Weekend at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville. Vol State students, faculty and staff can get in for free this weekend by showing their Vol State ID. The promotion runs from Thursday, November 19-Sunday, November 22 2009. Spouses, children etc can also get in for free with a special flyer that was sent out on e-mail. You can also pick them up in the Humanities Office in Ramer 101.

There's plenty on tap for the weekend, with some great exhibitions:

Georgia O’Keeffe and Her Times: American Modernisms from the Lane Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
This exhibition of forty-five paintings and eight photographs featuring masterpieces by Georgia O’Keeffe, Charles Sheeler, Arthur G. Dove, Stuart Davis, and Marsden Hartley, the Lane Collection traces the development and diversity of American Modernism through the eyes of a passionate collector. William H. Lane (1914–1995), owner of a small Massachusetts manufacturing plant, formed his pioneering collection in the early 1950s when these painters were little understood, though today they are considered to be the most important American artists of the early twentieth century.

Thomas Hart Benton in Story and Song
In conjunction with the Nashville Public Library’s call for a citywide celebration of beloved author Mark Twain, the Frist Center will present a selection of drawings and watercolors by another promoter of American narratives and everyday life, Thomas Hart Benton. A second section of the exhibition will focus on another source of inspiration for the artist—one particularly appropriate for Nashville—folk music and musicians. Benton’s lifelong admiration of Americana music is well known, yet works of this subject matter have not yet been assembled as an exhibition.

Oliver Herring: Common Threads
This exhibition includes four objects and a selection of short videos by New York–based artist Oliver Herring. Collaborating with friends and strangers in the creation of his sculptures, performances, and video art, Herring documents his growing interest in using art as a tool of social engagement.

Twilight Visions: Surrealism, Photography, and Paris

More than 100 photographs by such artists as Eugène Atget, Hans Bellmer, Ilse Bing, Brassaï, André Kertész, and Man Ray, Twilight Visions will celebrate Paris as the literal and metaphoric base of Surrealism.

Body Images

Uninhibited self expression is one of the prerequisite perks of being an artist. For Laura Young, this comes in the form of turning her body into a piece of art.


“The drawings started as a way to merge the camera with my self- image. I stare at myself in the mirror and start drawing. It is a process that evolves as I’m staring at myself,” said Young.


“I take about one hundred frames, and out of that one hundred frames I will get about five to fifteen pictures that I choose,” said Young. As far as her artistic practice Young said, “I’m taking self portrait photographs. I’m making my body my canvas.”


Young has cards with her image on them with the quote, “My body is the tangible container in which I carry my mutable identity. My skin is the container’s surface. It is the protective but vulnerable membrane. It is the boundary, an organ, and a pelt upon which I inscribe my longings.”


When asked if she has had people that have had problems with her nudity in the photographs she responded, “Yes. I have a tendency not to force it on people. I’ve had people reject my work because of it.”

“When I first started taking photographs I didn’t think I would show my body. It has changed me. I’m not as concerned with how I look. It has been a positive experience,” said Young.


Why the tribal markings? “I found the only thing I could do that wouldn’t look like something else were the dots and lines,” Young said. She said that the materials used are a Sharpie marker or artist’s ink.


Young’s work also has varied facial expressions. “I am experimenting with different things. When I try different things, sometimes I wonder if I will look like an animal or something,” she said.


Young said that there are limitations on what she does. “For me, limitations are that I don’t have a photographer’s studio. I have to do all of my work when the sunlight is shining,” she said.


Psychology major Natasha Marshall said, “I thought that it was interesting to find someone who was expressive of her body.” “I thought it was good because she could express her body,” said Latoya Sawyers.


Young’s work can be seen in the lobby of the Thigpen library. Her website is http://www.laurayoung.smugmug.com/.





Volunteer State Community College

Help the Help Center with Food Donations

The Vol State College Democrats are hosting a canned food drive for the Goodlettsville Help Center. You can drop off cans in the Wood Campus Center room 213 or the Humanities Division office in Ramer 101 through November 24 The goal is to help the Help Center feed some needy folks on Thanksgiving and for the rest of the holiday season. As you know, food banks are under great stress due to the tough economic times. Any help would be greatly appreciated. For more information or to arrange a pick-up of donations email Chance Eblen at eblen09@yahoo.com

-Len Assante