A bit of latex, fake blood and clever costuming is all it takes for these students to create any number of characters and even give birth to the undead.
Faces: A Costuming/Makeup Society held their first meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 5 to discuss plans for the fall semester. Due to a severe thunder storm that hit Martin right before the meeting started, it was decided to postpone all decisions concerning the fall agenda until the next meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 12 at 6 p.m. in Gooch Hall, room 216.
Faces is one of the latest student organizations to hit the UTM scene and is open to all full-time UTM students in good standing. Faces focuses on the application of both traditional and theatrical makeup and costume design. Students from all skill levels and majors are welcome to join. Faces offers practical hands on instruction to help students, both experienced and inexperienced, gain confidence while developing and fine tuning their skills.
UTM faculty adviser for the group, Melanie Hollis, teaches THEA 330, Costuming and Stage Makeup, currently only offered every other spring with a 16-student maximum capacity. Senior Broadcasting major and Theatre minor John Nicholson is president; Senior Theatre major Colen Hunt is vice president and Senior Broadcasting major and Theatre minor Kayla Ballard is secretary/treasurer. These three organized Faces to fill the void. The idea of Faces was sparked by the students’ strong interest in the subject matter, limited space and the infrequency of class availability.
“Even though this is going to be so much fun, we will be looking at makeup application as a serious art form,” Hunt said.
According to Faces’ constitution, “The purpose of the Student Organization is to further the knowledge and talents of students in their costuming and stage makeup skills; to promote creativity, confidence, and growth in skills of the group’s members; to provide assistance to the school and community in regards to makeup, special effects and costuming, while providing hands on practice for members of the group; and to provide charity to the school and community when opportunity arises.”
All members of Faces are required to purchase a stage makeup kit for their personal use, which costs $50.
Students participating in Faces meetings and events will earn theater points towards Alpha Psi Omega, Theatre’s Greek sorority/fraternity, membership. Anyone interested in detailed information concerning the exact number of points required and the rules that pertain to obtaining them should contact Colen Hunt.
Information concerning Faces is currently not available on the Student Organization website. Any questions concerning Faces should be emailed to John Nicholson at robjnich@ut.utm.edu. Faces can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/groups/UTMFACES/.
