DePaulia (DePaul University, Chicago, IL), 2013-09-16, 1

              And the curtain rises New Theatre School building opens to rave reviews By HALEY BEMILLER Nation & World Editor DePaul's Theatre School is kicking off the school year in style with its brand new facility in Lincoln Park. The striking white building is located at the corner of Fullerton and Racine. According to Dean John Culbert, DePaul's theatre department discussed several locations before deciding on the current area in 2009. Culbert said the location allows theatre students and faculty to be part of an arts corridor along Fullerton Avenue. where DePaul's art department and art museum are also located. "It's sort of a gateway or cornerstone of the campus." Culbert added. Theatre students will have access to a variety of resources with their new facility. Culbert said it contains acting labs, studios for design tech students, a script library and more. The building also houses two brand new theatres, and Culbert believes this will supplement the hands-on learning that the department already encourages. "I like to say we're putting the theatre back in the theatre school," he said. "Having those theatres as part of our world are really going to change our opportunity for the student experience going through the school." During the design process, a wide variety of voices were heard from to ensure the facility's success. Faculty and staff met with architects, and everyone provided input on big decisions like theatre configuration. Culbert also said subgroups of faculty were assigned to look at specific aspects of the building. For example, the head of the sound design program oversaw the development of the sound design lab. "We would not have the building that we See THEATRE, page 3 Photography exhibit brings West Side to DPAM By COURTNEY JACQUIN Managing Editor The lifeless white walls were once again transformed in the DePaul Art Museum, this time filled with lives, sharing their stories. We Shall, the latest exhibition by photographer Paul D'Amato, opened Thursday evening at the DePaul Art Museum. The series is a collection of portraits and urban landscapes captured on the West Side of Chicago. "I was one of Paul's students at (Columbia [College Chicago] and I thought the work Paul does was perfect for us," said Gregory Harris, associate curator at I)PAM. "We've been going back and forth for the past two years, deciding what we wanted to say." After all of the collaboration between the artist and DPAM, We Shall tells the complex stories of individuals and communities on Chicago's West Side as well as the now-defunct Chicago housing project Cabrini-Green was born, covering the first floor of the space. "Paul's work is complex, it's about Chicago but it's also about the process of making a photograph," said Louise lincoln, I)PAM museum director. "Hie has a way of working that's collaborative rather than voyeuristic." At the exhibit's opening Thursday night, it was clear the relationship D'Amato formed with the subjects of this work. He gave all of his subjects VIP invites to the show as well as a copy of the book that accompanied the exhibit. As he mingled with friends and Columbia See DPAM, page 20 Ventra: anew way to pay, ride the CTA for students By MEGAN DEPPEN Staff Writer Each year, students anticipate receiving their U-Pass, the gateway to unlimited public transportation. But this fall, )DePaul students joined the millions of (Chicago residents adjusting to the new (C'hicago Transit Authority payment system, Ventra. "'I love it," sophomore Lindsey Pellegrini said. "It's quick. It beeps and you 21o. And you can keep it for a longer period of time." According to the CTA website. Chicago will be the first major U.S. city to use a system like Ventra. With the Ventra system,. boarding buses and trains will be easier and flaster. The CTA also plans to increase the number of locations available to purchase and refill value on the cards. shortening lines at vending machines. Shitao Liu. a first-year graduate student, said the tap system allows him to simply "put [his] wallet on the sensor." Others, however, have had difficulty scanning their cards through their wallets. Laura Puzelyte, a sophomore, said, "I tried using [the Ventra card] while it was in my wallet, but it wouldn't work, so I had to take it out for it to scan." Sophomore Aqil Hussain was frustrated with the scanner not reading his card. Through trial and error, he found a method that worked well with keeping his card in his wallet. "Ever since I've kept a thin laver of some sort of material between the card and the reader, it works perfectly," Hussain said. Sophomore Jack Kinsella liked the fast transaction of the Ventra cards, but as an out-ofstate student, he wishes the cards would work beyond the last day of finals, November 24th. "For people who travel away from Chicago for breaks, I don't want to have to pay to get to Union Station or O'Hare," Kinsella said. Other students tweeted about issues regarding their credit cards being charged by the Ventra scanner. Michelle Miller, who distributed the Ventra cards for ID Services, said it is a "myth that the credit card gets charged." See VENTRA, page 4 The exterior of the new Theatre School, located on the corner of Fullerton and Racine Avenues. Guests mingle at the opening of "We Shall" Thursday nigth at DPAM.