UO Athletes' Art Lifts UCC Victim's Spirit
11/06/15 | Acrobatics & Tumbling, O Heroes
by Greg Walker
GoDucks.com
Artwork by Taylor Richmond
The University of Oregon art students and their professor sit in the lobby of PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend. They are here because of what happened on one of the darkest days in the State of Oregon's history. A few stories above their heads, in a room on the sixth floor, lies a young woman shot five times. Her survival is nothing short of a miracle, in the aftermath of the carnage unleashed by an armed gunman at Umpqua Community College, on a day now frozen in time.
Julie Woodworth, just 19-years old, was shot along with 16 of her classmates and their professor as they attended class on October 1. Transported 73 miles from the small lumber town of Roseburg to the RiverBend hospital in Springfield, Julie would be one of the survivors ? one of the lucky ones, and one who saw more in a few brief moments than anyone should have to. Eight classmates and a professor lost their lives that day.
Waiting in the hospital lobby, the art students are told what to expect: Julie's head is shaved. She is connected to monitors and medical devices. She has experienced trauma in nearly every area of her body, including her head. She cannot speak, but she can hear and understand their words. And she feels emotion.
“The day we arrived at the hospital, many emotions and questions were running through my mind,” artist and golfer Megan Conder recalled later. “I was a very nervous person going up the elevator and walking into Julie's room to meet her.”
One of the other artists, Casey Benson, better known as a student-athlete and point guard on the men's basketball team, asks about Julie's condition and is intrigued that art could somehow be part of the recovery process for a brain injury. Or a tragedy.
It is not a place any of them expected to be on a sunny and warm fall afternoon. To understand why these young people are connected and how they came to intersect at this particular place, you have to go back. Not just to the beginning, but before the beginning.
Spring 2015 ? Class Schedules
The Art of the Athlete class, officially Arts and Administration 408, is a relatively new addition to the curriculum of the University of Oregon as it approaches its 150th anniversary. The summer term of 2015 would mark just the fourth edition of its offering.
Offensive lineman Tyrell Crosby saw works of art created by teammates Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, Pharaoh Brown and Jake Fisher, among others, and joined seven of his fellow football players in the class.
Conder, a promising young golfer who had just completed her sophomore season at Oregon, decided to stay in Eugene for the summer to try and heal a nagging foot injury (one that would unfortunately sideline her for the 2015-16 season). While searching for what classes to take in summer school, her academic adviser, knowing she had an interest in art, suggested the Art of the Athlete.
Basketball players Dwayne Benjamin and Benson also enrolled for the summer term at the behest of their academic adviser.
Jordyn Fox of the acrobatics and tumbling team is an art history major and had previously taken a writing class taught by the professor, so Art of the Athlete was a natural fit.
Summer 2015 ? Art of the Athlete
One of the most popular members of the UO faculty is Lisa Abia-Smith, director of education at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art and instructor of the Art of the Athlete class. The Art of the Athlete not only requires the study and creation of artworks, it also has students volunteering at the museum's art workshops for at-risk and underserved youth.
Among those who regularly volunteered were Benjamin, Benson, Fox, Crosby and Conder.
Ayele Forde, a former walk-on running back who earned a scholarship as a senior, liked the program so much that he volunteered to help after graduation, and currently works for the museum.
“I'm pretty sure we get much more out of that workshop than the kids do,” said Conder.
While the athletes' skills and confidence grew in their artistic abilities, they studied the works of New York-based contemporary portrait painter Kehinde Wiley and created their own version of a Wiley-inspired self-portrait. The artists were required to incorporate their sport into that self-portrait for their final project.
Simultaneously, with the popularity of the Art of the Athlete class on the rise, the JSMA and the UO Athletic Department decided to collaborate on an exhibition to display some of the artwork in the Moshofsky Center during the football game against Washington State on Oct. 10.
October 2 ? The Day After
Twenty-four hours after the tragedy in Roseburg, with hearts still stinging statewide, the UO campus mobilized to show support for Umpqua Community College. In the Athletic Department, a sticker with a black ribbon and the letters “UCC” was added to football helmets to be worn the next day at Colorado, and for the remainder of the season. The same logo was displayed and a moment of silence was held at Matthew Knight Arena, prior to that night's volleyball game against the Buffaloes.
At Pape' Field, facilities staff rushed to paint UCC's logo on the turf prior to soccer's kickoff versus Colorado. Oregon scored the game's only goal in the 74th minute for the win. In an otherwise unremarkable note in the box score, Ducks' coach Kat Mertz subbed in little-used forward Brooke Strawn in the 79th minute.
As she walked off the field, the senior paused in an extended reflection at the black and white UCC logo. Strawn, who has been part of the athletic department's missions to build sports facilities in impoverished countries overseas, is the only University of Oregon varsity athlete from city of Roseburg.
October 10 ? The Exhibition
Thanks in part to promotion on local radio stations, hundreds of curious Oregon fans stream through the Moshofsky Center to view artworks created by student-athletes. Several ? Benjamin, Benson, Conder, Fox? and Forde - are on hand to help fans of all ages create their own art featuring a Duck football helmet or basketball shoe.
The University of Oregon and its counterpart in Corvallis, Oregon State University, offer free admission to that afternoon's football games to all UCC students and staff. Among the UCC students in attendance in Eugene is Chris Mintz, both a victim and a hero of the UCC shooting. Moving toward the gunfire and shouting out warnings to his fellow students, the 30 year-old Army veteran was shot five times, undoubtedly saving lives with his unselfish action.
October 14 ? A Request From a Survivor
Nearly a fortnight has passed since the shootings at the UCC campus. Julie Woodworth, the most critical of the survivors, remains in guarded care at RiverBend. She is slowly beginning to respond to her surroundings; an encouraging sign. Her doctors tell the family that her recovery may be helped by the introduction of certain visual stimuli ? colors, pictures, paintings and the like. Her family ? having heard about the Art of the Athlete program during the WSU game and in local media ? reaches out to the professor, Abia-Smith. “Could we possibly have some of the students' artwork for Julie's room?”
The response from Abia-Smith's artists is overwhelming.
Crosby, the hulking lineman who protected Marcus Mariota during his monumental Heisman season a year ago, makes a painting using the colors blue and yellow after researching and discovering that the blue spectrum stimulates the mind and yellow elicits emotional responses.
Fox, from the national championship acrobatics and tumbling team, and golfer Conder both create images of a cat featuring the color purple ? Julie's favorite color and animal.
After learning that Julie is of Korean decent, Forde, the former running back, makes a canvas out of gold leaf with a cat at the center featuring the Korean words for “get well and recover.”
October 16 ? A Fallen Teammate
One of the lesser-known details about the UCC shooting is the fact the Rivercats' men's basketball squad lost a teammate that day. Treven Anspach, 20, from Sutherlin, saved the life of another shooting victim as he was dying by shielding her from the shooter. UO assistant coach Mike Menennga and UCC head coach Daniel Leeworthy had become friends through the coaching profession, and Menennga and the Ducks invited the UCC team to come practice at Matthew Knight Arena.
“You guys are going through something really, really tough,” said UO head coach Dana Altman as the two squads met at midcourt. “You lost a teammate. If it were one of our guys, well I can't even imagine.” Almost cracking, Altman's voice trailed off with the reality of the situation hanging heavy in the air.
“I want you to know that we are honored to have you here and we support you,” Altman continued, regaining his resolve. “You make us all proud.” The teams shook hands and embraced, then circled each other to form a collective huddle before ending the meeting with the traditional, “One, two, three, TEAM!”
October 18 ? RiverBend
Crosby has a debilitating headache and is exhausted after a late-night game in Seattle. He played a key role on the offensive line during the previous evening's victory at Washington, and paid the price by suffering a concussion. Despite that, he is here in the hospital outside Julie's room alongside Benjamin, Benson, Conder, Forde and their professor.
“As bad as I felt, I couldn't miss that,” Crosby later said. “That was nothing compared to what she's been through.”
Crosby, Conder and Forde visit first. Julie Woodworth's mother, Sun, is moved to tears by Forde's picture and his tribute to her Korean heritage.
“After going into her room and showing her the piece of art I made for her, there were no words to explain how I felt in that moment,” Conder recalled. “When we left the room, the first thing that came out was a tear.
“Seeing this girl in this bed was one of the hardest things I've ever experienced. She is a 19-year old girl who had so much taken from her from just going to school one day. I am 19 too and the thought crossed my mind, ?that easily could have been me.' This girl did not deserve to have to go through such terrible things.”
Benjamin, Benson and the professor enter the room next.
Woodworth's shaven head reveals obvious wounds on her skull from the bullets and the surgeries. Alert, her strong brown eyes dart back and forth as each of the students shows her their paintings. Her eyes trace the lines as the artists talk about their work, and she squeezes her mother's hand as the artists speak.
Julie Woodworth is a fighter; she is a survivor.
“It was obviously moving for her and we could see she was hearing everything we said,” said Abia-Smith. “It was an incredible experience and one that our students will carry with them for years to come.”
Later, her parents tell the group that Woodworth herself is an artist.
“It is difficult to even fathom an event like that, and to see the resiliency of Julie and her family is admirable,” said Benson. “It was an honor to be able to visit.”
The Future
There are plans to move Julie to the Sacred Heart Downtown Eugene facility for ongoing care where she will be closer to the UO campus. Benjamin and Conder, who have been particularly moved by the events of the last two weeks, pledge to continue to visit Julie along with all of the other student-athlete artists.
“As nervous as I was, I knew being there and supporting her any way possible was worth any nervousness I had,” said Conder. “I was so glad I was able to support her any way possible and I look forward to visiting her again throughout her recovery process.”
The sentiment has left their professor deeply moved.
“This is going to be a friendship and partnership that will continue with Julie,” Abia-Smith said. “Dwayne and Megan had such an emotional time, but afterwards they kept thanking me for letting them be there.
“They want to do more for Julie in the future. These students are selfless and so giving, and I am so happy that they see how art is a means that can create giving and meaning outside of themselves.”
For the time being, as she recognizes a shape, or a color or an image, Julie Woodworth's brain will fight to do everything it can to repair and rebuild itself.
As will UCC. As will Roseburg, and this state. As will we all.
