Student Partners with Symphony for Artistic Project

The San Bernardino Symphony has once again partnered with San Bernardino Valley College for a creative expression of art. But unlike last year’s project – a concert to celebrate the opening of their refurbished concert hall – this year’s effort will focus on the region’s youngest music lovers. Professor Judy Jorgenson Zak of the Architecture and Environmental Design Department explains. “One of my first semester architecture students, Jeremy Noble, asked for a special project and I suggested an educational coloring book. This project has become much more, though, both because of his interest in local historical architecture and my awareness of the Symphony’s efforts to provide music enrichment programs for local youth.” The activity book as it is now being called is based upon design abstractions of the Symphony’s principal performance venue, the historic California Theatre of the Performing Arts in downtown San Bernardino. The book will also include complete-able drawings of music instruments, members of the orchestra, and Symphony Maestro Frank Fetta, well known for his distinctive long white hair and eclectic style. “Maestro Fetta is a brand unto himself,” added Symphony Executive Director Dr. Anne Viricel. “Wherever and whenever we perform, people comment on his enthusiastic, interactive style that simply draws in an audience. Aside from the impeccable quality of the orchestra, his uncommon approachability keeps audiences coming back concert after concert.” Zak, who regularly encourages her students to attend Symphony events at the Theatre, is particularly excited about the project. “I knew Jeremy was special with his first project. I asked students to create a pneumonic design to help them remember each other’s names. They were to start with their name, develop that into a phrase, then developed that into a visual the size of a CD cover. Jeremy’s was ‘Jeremy Noble has a proposal…’ and showed a hand with a large engagement ring. Of course, now his proposal is to put together a book for student outreach and his original proposal will be memorialized on the back corner of the coloring book.” “I came to her with a request for more for my portfolio and she knew this would be a good exercise for me to put all that together,” said Noble, humbly discussing the origins of his first foray into commercial art. “I have done all the media for a wedding from invitations, wine labels, an edited video, etc., but this is the first time I will have done something to inspire youth. It’s a rather daunting project.” Noble’s goal is to attend Cal Poly San Luis Obispo School of Architecture and Design, then pursue architecture as a career, but he’s keeping his options open. “Architecture is a broad topic, but my ambition is to have a job that allows for a balance between creating a building and managing its quality.” He is also studying general education, and particularly enjoying his physics, calculus, and political science courses. He will completed his General Education requirements this Fall, then focus on classes beneficial to his career. “I like the opportunity to shape something with my hands. I like things people can hold and touch and see the craftsmanship associated with it,” said Noble, the first person in his immediate family to earn a four-year degree. His mother works for the Health Department at Loma Linda and is co-owner, with his father, of a tutoring business. “But I think they’d prefer if I went into construction management,” added Noble. Zak regards the project through the eyes of a proud professor: “This is something Jeremy will be able to develop as a part of his portfolio. He has a good clear strong direction of his educational and professional path.” Printing for the first 500 books has already been secured through Shawn Guyett at The Hanigan Company of Riverside, one of Zak’s past students from Norco Community College. Guyett will be dedicating all of the labor and technical skills necessary for set up and printing, and the Hanigan Company will be sponsoring all of the materials and the shop space to support the project. Still, more funding is needed to reach the partnership’s distribution goal of 5,000 books for students involved in the Symphony’s year-round music enrichment projects. The last page, it has been decided, will be reserved for autographs of the Symphony performers who students meet at the post-concert receptions. “I’d like to separate the different elements of the building into individual pages,” said Noble. “I want it to be an educational experience where the student is asked questions about what they are seeing and feeling from each picture. I also want to highlight the various architectural features such as a curl or flourish so the children can learn about the building as they color.” Zak has long been involved in local education, teaching at San Bernardino Valley College since just two days after her own graduation in 1977. She taught part time until seven years ago when she was brought on fulltime. She has also worked for several local cities and architecture firms, and has been an architectural consultant for new development. Noble’s ultimate hope: “I hope it will give kids a better understanding of the orchestra and the building. It’s hard for children to visualize the nuances of what they see. I want them to be able to get finer arts perspective on the world.”