ESU Backup Insider

Joni Oye-Benintende, associate professor and chair of art at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania, presented her works in clay at the AFA Art Gallery in Scranton, Pa. The show opened on August 1 during downtown Scranton’s First Friday event and runs until August 30.

The work, primarily in the low temperature methods of raku and sawdust firing, reflect the artist’s ongoing interest in structures, windows and objects for contemplation. A reception for the artist was held on August 1.

Shannon Frystak, Ph.D., ESU associate professor of history, recently won the Anne Firor Scott Fellowship, which will support the completion of her book, The Women of Cross Keys Plantation. The $2,000 award is given biannually by the Southern Association for Women Historians to a historian who is working on a second book on Southern women.

Margaret Barksdale, an ESU graduate student from Bushkill, Pa., seeking a master’s in political science, is nearing the end of an eventful, two-month internship with Middle Smithfield Township (MST). She has worked directly for MST Supervisors Annette Atkinson, Mitchell Marcus and Mike Dwyer. During her internship, she has experienced the inner workings of government at the local level, facilitated the first art exhibit of MST, had the opportunity to meet and greet local residents of MST, contributed to a new community map, a first since 2006, provided input into the new look of the township’s newsletter and helped work on the township’s business directory.