ECU Notes: Block grant will help enhance communities

ECU News Service

Sunday, April 19, 2009

East Carolina University and the North Carolina Department of Commerce have collaborated on an innovative Community Development Block Grant program designed to strengthen less-prosperous communities in eastern North Carolina.

The “Talent Enhancement Demonstration Grants” program is designed to provide technical assistance and financial resources to increase competitiveness and build stronger, more vibrant and more capable communities.

The grants are available to units of local government in Gates, Northampton, Hertford, Perquimans, Pasquotank, Camden, Currituck, Chowan, Bertie, Edgecombe, Martin, Washington, Tyrrell, Dare, Wilson, Halifax, Pitt, Beaufort, Hyde, Wayne, Lenoir, Craven, Pamlico, Jones, Onslow, Carteret and Greene counties.

ECU’s Office of Engagement, Innovation and Economic Development (OEIED) and the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Office of Rural Development are managing the program.

Communities can receive assistance for the following activities: grant writing, grant administration training and technical support; feasibility study assistance and preparation; economic impact analyses; entrepreneurial and small business technical assistance; community survey research; and community design assistance.

For grant guidelines, contact Charlie Thompson at (919) 733-1334 or cthompson@nccommerce.com.

Students display art

Seven artists graduating from the Master of Fine Arts program in the School of Art and Design at ECU will display their work at the Wellington B. Gray Gallery on campus.

Joshua Parker Coombs received his BFA from Maryland Institute, College of Art in Baltimore, in General Sculptural Studies in 2002. While obtaining an MFA at ECU’s Sculpture Department, he has focused on mixed media sculpture using a variety of materials including steel, cement and fabric.

Daniel DiCaprio has shown his art in the United States, Korea, Italy and Spain. His innovative combinations of woodworking and metalsmithing have earned him representation through Charon Kransen Arts. His work can be seen most recently in the spring 2009 issue of Metalsmith magazine and at SOFA New York.

Emily Soldin Howard, a mixed-media fiber artist, lives in Raleigh with her husband and son. A graduate of Meredith College in 2001, Howard has exhibited her work in galleries regionally and nationally, most recently at Artspace in Raleigh.

Linsi McAfee graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 2006. Her art explores mixed media techniques influenced by photography, screen printing and textiles.

Kimberly Rumfelt, a Texas native, graduated from Texas Tech University in Lubbock in 2005. Her visual dialog is created through the use of multiple materials and concepts that discuss culture and domesticity.

Shand Stamper received her BFA from the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Miss. Her current metalwork explores the cyclical nature of time and human connection, through adornment.

Cherry Neu Stevens, a native of Nebraska, found inspiration growing up on a farm where working with your hands was a daily necessity. She graduated from the University of Nebraska in May 2006 with an emphasis in sculpture and a minor in painting, and studied sculpture at ECU.

The Wellington B. Gray Gallery is located off of 5th and Jarvis streets in the Jenkins Fine Arts Center. Hours are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., and Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Endoscopy center opens

A new medical practice site has opened offering more convenient access to certain types of medical procedures.

At the East Carolina Endoscopy Center, physicians will perform endoscopic procedures to diagnose and treat gastrointestinal conditions such as colon cancer. The center is on the third floor of Moye Medical Center at 521 Moye Blvd.

The center is a joint venture between East Carolina University’s medical practice, ECU Physicians and Pitt County Memorial Hospital. PCMH will provide staffing and management oversight, while ECU will provide doctors for the center.

Endoscopies are procedures that allow physicians to look inside the body using a tiny camera housed in a small flexible tube.