My thesis explores the process involved in adapting Sheri Reynolds' novel, Bitterroot Landing, into a stage play. During the adaptation process I faced numerous challenges, including structural issues, expanding or changing dialogue, omitting or melding scenes and characters, and dealing with the serious themes of incest and sexual abuse. This thesis describes these challenges and the steps I took to overcome them.

This thesis focuses on the evolution of my work created during my two years of study at Virginia Commonwealth University. Although I touch upon my influences what I am writing is a reflection after the fact that does not necessarily encompass my original intent or inspirations for these works. I find my inspiration from personal discoveries within my daily life. Light flickering through the rails of a fence as I walk by makes me more aware of my body's movement in space. Watching the steady condensation of water droplets forming on a fountain creates a moment of pause within the world. Through these discoveries preconceptions about the world are forgotten and instead I focus on my experience. The potential for translating these moments into installations for an audience fuels my work. Though everyone experiences the world differently the pursuit of a common ground creates situations for further discoveries. The process of writing this paper has helped me to find a common thread within my work. Thinking back through the experiential discoveries of each piece has furthered my understanding, just as it originally propelled my artistic productio

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) has in its collection eleven ancient West Mexican ceramic sculptures. Given that the VMFA's West Mexican Ceramic figure collection has not been included in any extensive study, this thesis serves to provide a critical analysis of these figures through a formal and stylistic approach. These analyses are preceded by a brief history of the West Mexican cultures and highlight the artistic similarities and differences between each region. The primary regions under discussion are Colima, Nayarit, and Jalisco which correspond to modern geopolitical boundaries. Primary sources for these discussions are the figures themselves, while various published catalogues serve as comparative sources. Where applicable, iconographical theories are introduced and discussed in conjunction with the formal and stylistic analysis.

This thesis reviews the background, influences, and evolution of the body of work entitled Folia, which forms the basis for the candidate's thesis exhibition. It traces the development of the candidate's artistic inclinations from drawing to photography. Directorial and Pictorialist photography are discussed as forebears in the Influences chapter. Evolution of the Body of Work details how the current work grew from both the candidate's background and influences. A Brief Anthology of Quotations references Susan Sontag's influential work, On Photography, with quotations that have either influenced the candidate's work or reflect his perceptions of art and life. The balance of the thesis describes the candidate's working process in creating the work, and the installation at VCU's Anderson Gallery.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the members of the woman’s suffrage movement in the United States and Britain looked to soften their hard masculine image given to them by the press and to increase participation in the cause. They found that by including theatrical performances and benefits at meetings, and hosting tea socials afterwards, they could motivate many women to join without alienating or threatening men. This study looks at how tea socials and theatrical performances were used subversively to recruit new members, to debate ideas, and to disseminate information about the cause. Playwrights wrote plays that examined the questions and issues surrounding this movement, and upstart, female-operated theatre groups and social clubs presented these plays to the public, allowing the debate to reach a wider audience. Actresses themselves joined clubs to increase their presence in society, to help out other actresses, and to find political agency.

A Mediated Intimacy; Art, Technology and Exchange in the Digital Age examines the role of intimacy in the technologically extended work of art. The text posits that there are three strategies that the technologically extended work of art uses to create mediated intimacy. These strategies are technological completion, where the viewer/participant completes the work; technological exchange, where the viewer/participant enters into an exchange with the work; and technological displacement, where the viewer is displaced from their time and place and occupies a new co-constructed space. The strategies are analyzed through the theories of subjectivities of the self, and Foucault’s approach to inter-subjective exchanges is employed to understand how they function. The strategies are further demonstrated through analysis of works by Gary Hill, Janet Cardiff and Martine Neddam. A concrete example of the three strategies is presented in an original mobile media based project, Cite, Site, Sight: Richmond.

This thesis is an exciting and enthralling story about the history of the world as seen through the eyes of Claire Watkins. The story takes place in the dusty corners of her art studio in the old confederate capital, Richmond, Virginia. Ms. Watkins leads her audience through such unsuspecting places as her brain, the life of an African Dung Beetle, the center of an atom and the dark reaches of outer space. The story is inspirational and thought provoking. It will force you to see the world as an interconnected web that weaves your life together with the cosmos. A must read for the summer!"Truly exceptional…a wonderful Thesis…highly recommended!" - Ruby Westcoat"I never thought of the world quite like that…now I see everything in a new and electrifying way." - Timothy Devoe"Once again she proves to be my favorite contemporary artist and author" - Virgil Hale Rhames

This thesis examines how images of the Swedish singer Jenny Lind worked to distance her from the typical nineteenth-century view. Because of their position within the public sphere, female performers were thought to be sexually available and often had the reputation of prostitute. Lind achieved a level of success that made her one of the most famous women of the mid-nineteenth-century. She was known not only for her talent as a performer but also for her morality and piety. Examining the Lind images in the context of nineteenth-century social codes and feminist theatre history, it becomes evident that Lind was a different type of female performer. This thesis will also discuss how photographic portraits of Lind adhered to codes for proper bourgeois portraits of women in the nineteenth century, thus distancing her from the stigma that was attached to stage performers.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine rural African-American vernacular Baptist churches built in the years following the Civil War. The case study is centered in Hanover County, Virginia, because of the county's strategic location inrelation to the capital of the Confederacy in Richmond. Due to the overwhelming number of slaves, Anglo-Americans attempted to suppress African identity by forcing slaves to attend Anglo-American churches. A number of African-American congregations were secretly organized during the time of slavery. Until the fall of Richmond in spring 1865, African-Americans were not allowed to assemble publicly without Anglo-American supervision. In the years following Emancipation, African-Americans began separating from the Anglo-American congregations to formindependent churches. Upon separation, worship services were held in brush arbors and/or old shanties and were occasionally held in Anglo-American churches. Eventually, African-American church members acquired land to erect churches of their own. Using Chestnut Grove Baptist Church (circa 1870), Shiloh Baptist Church(circa 1877), Union Baptist Church (circa 1885) and Second Union Baptist Church (circa 1885) in Hanover County as a case study, this thesis asks precisely who built these churches, how they were constructed and why they were built the way theywere built.

Buildings from the nineteenth century are rich with history and tradition in their materials,design and construction. Over the past few years in Richmond, many of the formerly vacant buildings have been converted into residential “lofts”. These spaces have the potential to teach and serve us in a way we could never duplicate today. The space we live in has the power to determine how well we function. I believe this is one of the keys to happiness. I like to think of these buildings holistically in terms of past, present, and future . I will supplement the space with partitions to optimize its functionality today while respecting its history and not hindering its future. The use and placement of the partitions resulted in a functionally defined yet open space.