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Seven outstanding students at the College of Central Florida have been named to the Florida College System 2023 All-Florida Academic Team and will be recognized at a team ceremony on March 31.

Ebony Baxter, Jessica Diers, Sydney Henninger, Mindy Jean-Gilles, Kaleb Leslie, Krishma Patel and Stephen Ward are members of the 91��Ƭ chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, the largest honor society in American higher education. They were selected based on academic performance, leadership and community service.

“These 91��Ƭ student leaders consistently excel,” said Dr. Allan Danuff, associate vice president of Arts and Sciences and Phi Theta Kappa advisor. “Not only do they maintain the highest academic performance, they also serve our community and contribute to 91��Ƭ’s supportive, high-quality learning environment.”

The College of Central Florida invites the community to a free presentation, “Winning the Mental Game: The Simple Solution to Overcoming Performance Anxiety,” on Wednesday, March 8, 12:30-1:30 p.m. in the Webber Center on the Ocala Campus, 3001 S.W. College Road.

Nicholas Pallesen, mental performance specialist and Juilliard-trained opera singer, will lead the virtual session. He specializes in helping performing artists succeed, both onstage and off, and regularly offers workshops relating to the psychology of performance. Not just for performances and auditions, Pallesen’s strategies can help all attendees with everyday communication.

This simulcast workshop is free and open to the public. Light refreshments and event giveaways will be provided. Participants also may choose to join the workshop from anywhere via Zoom. Please visit for registration and login details.

The lecture is funded by the Mr. and Mrs. Seymour B. Robinson Memorial Endowed Chair. Co-chairholders Dr. Sarah Satterfield and Associate Professor Lori Witkowich have used this chair to explore how music was used to reduce feelings of social isolation in the wake of COVID-19, and how music can be used to alleviate performance and test anxiety and improve reading comprehension.

In January, the Appleton Museum of Art, College of Central Florida, refreshed 4,000 square feet of its European art galleries, located on the second floor. With major recent acquisitions and a comprehensive permanent-collection reinstallation plan underway, visitors will enjoy a cross-section of the Appleton’s holdings and over 20% more works on display.

Visitors will find many works on view that have never been exhibited or have not been exhibited in quite some time. A recent world-class addition is “The Dance of Love” by Gustave Clarence Rodolphe Boulanger (1824-1888), a 19th-century French oil painting that complements academic figurative works by William Adolphe-Bouguereau and Elizabeth Jane Gardner. Boulanger’s large scale and exceptionally rare painting is the preparatory version that served as the model for a larger painting that still exists in the world-famous Paris Opera House in France.

For those familiar with the space, visitor-favorites remain on view, such as “The Young Shepherdess” and “The Knitter” by William Adolphe Bouguereau and “The Watering Trough” by John Sargent Noble.

In addition to two-dimensional works, visitors can enjoy a large selection of sculpture and decorative works that are rarely on display, including a 17th-century English embroidery panel, 18th-century French world maps and a marble portrait bust by the noted 19th-century French sculptor Jean Baptiste Carpeaux.

“This completes the first phase of a two-part refresh in the second-floor European galleries,” said Jason Steuber, Appleton Museum director. “We look forward to adding more works to the European galleries in the coming month.”

The Appleton Museum, Artspace and Store are open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday, noon-5 p.m. A campus of the College of Central Florida, the Appleton Museum of Art is located at 4333 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala, east of downtown on SR 40 (exit 352 east off I-75 or exit 268 west off I-95). Parking is free. For more information, call 352-291-4455 or visit AppletonMuseum.org.

The College of Central Florida’s innovative educational series, “Patriot Project: Bringing History to Life,” continues on Wednesday, March 1, with “History of the Colonial Period” from 12:30-1:30 p.m. at the 91��Ƭ Webber Center, 3001 S.W. College Road, Ocala. Jay Thompson, associate professor of political science, and Jennifer Ambrosia, social sciences faculty member, will present the joint lecture, delving into pivotal events in the founding of our nation.

The Patriot Project lectures are free and open to the public. Light refreshments and event giveaways will be provided.

The Patriot Project: Bringing History to Life is a year-long lecture series developed by Dr. Sarah Satterfield, 91��Ƭ senior professor of music and humanities, and funded by the 91��Ƭ Foundation’s Sharon and Jerome Glassman New Initiative Grant. Other lectures in this series have explored diverse topics including art, music, literature, theatre and science.

Series Schedule:

April 5, 2023 – “Religion in the Colonial Period” presented by Dr. Ron Cooper

For more details, visit .

The College of Central Florida invites the community to a ribbon cutting for the newly remodeled Allied Health Sciences building at the 91��Ƭ Ocala Campus, 3001 S.W. College Road. On Friday, March 3, at 10:30 a.m., the Ocala Metro Chamber & Economic Partnership will join college officials to cut the ribbon for Building 6, which has been transformed into a hub for Health Sciences programs.

Attendees will be invited to tour the classrooms and laboratories that currently house the college’s Surgical Services program and will be home to new programs in Cardiovascular Technology, Respiratory Care and Sonography, which are expected to serve 200 students each year.

“We are committed to serving the health care needs of the community as we provide opportunities for high-wage careers for our graduates,” said Dr. Jim Henningsen, 91��Ƭ president. “This project was made possible by the generous support of the Florida Legislature and the Marion County Hospital District.”

To learn more about 91��Ƭ, visit

The College of Central Florida’s Debra Vazquez Memorial Poetry Series presents poet Adrian Matejka on Wednesday, Feb. 22.

Matejka will read from his collection at 12:30 p.m. in Building 8, Room 110, and at 7 p.m. in the Dassance Fine Arts Center on the 91��Ƭ Ocala Campus, 3001 S.W. College Road. Both readings are free and open to the public.

Born in Germany to a military family, Matejka grew up in Indiana. The editor of Poetry magazine earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Southern Illinois University and served as Indiana’s poet laureate in 2018-2019.

Matejka’s most recent collection of poems, “Somebody Else Sold the World,” was a finalist for the 2022 Rilke Prize. His third collection of poems, “The Big Smoke,” was awarded the 2014 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award and was a finalist for the 2013 National Book Award, 2014 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award and 2014 Pulitzer Prize in poetry. He has collaborated on mixed media projects, and his first graphic novel, “Last on his Feet,” will be released this year.

The poet’s other honors include fellowships from the Academy of American Poets, the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Rockefeller Foundation.

The Debra Vazquez Memorial Poetry Series honors 91��Ƭ English and creative writing professor Debra Vazquez, who died as a result of domestic violence in 2004.

For more details, visit

College of Central Florida will showcase the talent of its Visual Arts and Digital Media students in “The 2023 91��Ƭ Student Art Exhibition” on view March 27-May 4. This annual tradition provides students with an opportunity to present their work in a professional environment.

The exhibition will be open to the public at the 91��Ƭ Webber Gallery located on the 91��Ƭ Ocala Campus, 3001 S.W. College Road.

Works will be judged by Nicholas Kalemba, a contemporary painter living and working in Orlando, where he graduated with a bachelor of fine arts degree in 2016 and a master of fine arts in 2019 from the University of Central Florida. Specializing in acrylic and oil painting on a large scale, he works as a muralist, studio painter and instructor of drawing, painting and sculpture at U91��Ƭ. Kalemba’s work has been exhibited in more than 25 group and juried exhibitions regionally and locally, where he has won multiple awards and recognitions, including a two-year residency at the Maitland Arts and History Center from 2019-2021.

An opening reception and awards ceremony will be held Wednesday, March 29, at 12:30 p.m. in the Webber Center next to the gallery. Best in Show, first through third place awards and honorable mentions will be presented. Works also will be selected for purchase awards, and one student artist’s work will become part of 91��Ƭ’s permanent art collection through the People’s Choice Purchase Award, which is voted on by the 91��Ƭ student body.

On Wednesday, April 12, Kalemba will give an artist talk about his art practice and the U91��Ƭ Visual Arts Program. The talk will take place in the gallery at 12:30 p.m.

The Webber Gallery is open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Thursday and admission is free. For more information, call 352-854-2322, ext. 1664.