Community College of Rhode Island

Benefit recital: Baritone Corey Mulvey, of North Kingstown, has been selected as 1 of only 25 singers from across the country to participate in the “Generation X” program at the Vocal and Operatic Intensive Creative Experience, also known as V.O.I.C.Experience, an opera training program held each summer at the Coronado Springs Resort at Walt Disney World, in Orlando, Fla.

Mulvey, 22, will study voice and opera with stars of the Metropolitan Opera, such as soprano Maria Spacagna, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Larmore and legendary baritone Sherill Milnes. He also will perform in concerts at The American Adventure Rotunda at Epcot Center.

The “Generation X” program is a special training ground where vocal coaches and master teachers from the operatic world offer professional guidance to young singers. This program allows students to train with some of the most knowledgeable performers in the opera world through master classes, private coaching, presentations, one-on-one consultations, lectures and public performances.

Mulvey will present a public benefit recital at 3 p.m. next Sunday at CCRI to help finance the expenses he will incur to attend this prominent opera training. Soprano Jessica Schloesser will join him and Susan K. Carroll will accompany them on piano as they perform selections by Bach, Handel, Mozart, Copland and Vaughn Williams. The concert will be held in room 0540 in the round building on the Knight Campus, 400 East Ave., Warwick. Donations, which are tax-deductible when made to V.O.I.C.Experience for a specific singer, will be accepted at the door.

Preschool to open: Imagine Preschool, operated by Kristen Greene and Simmy Carter and affiliated with The Providence Center, will open at the college’s Knight Campus in Warwick on Sept. 2. The preschool will accept up to 40 children ages 3 to 5. Greene, the preschool’s director, and Carter, its nurse, will lead a team of three teachers and a group of teaching assistants to launch the program.

While students and faculty will be given enrollment priority, the preschool will be open to the public for full-day services from 7:30 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. Monday through Friday. The preschool may increase the flexibility of hours and scheduling at a later date.

Families are invited to meet the teachers, tour the facility, located in Room 1154 on the first floor, visit the playground, take part in activities that will be part of the curriculum and enjoy refreshments at several upcoming open houses: from 4 to 7 p.m. this Thursday; from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, July 19; from 4 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 7; and from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Aug. 16.

Greene, who has worked in the field for 20 years, has a doctorate in early childhood, families and literary studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Carter, who has worked with children and families for 30 years, received a master’s degree in social work from Boston University and has a bachelor’s degree in nursing from URI. The two hope to create an environment where children become lifelong learners.

Greene and Carter are working with faculty to give CCRI students studying early childhood education classroom teaching experience. They are also welcoming faculty and staff to volunteer their time with the preschool students. For more information, visit www.imagineri.org.

Johnson & Wales University

Skills USA Medal Winner: A Johnson & Wales student recently competed at the Skills USA Conference. Winner of a gold medal at the R.I. State SkillsUSA Conference, Michael Paris won a bronze in culinary arts at the national competition recently held in Kansas City, Mo. Six other Johnson & Wales students also previously won gold medals at the state level, and competed in Kansas City.

New England Institute of Technology

Training Complete: Fifteen individuals have completed a customized training program taught by Victor Medeiros, a faculty member in the Marine Technology program at the college. The program, offered through the college’s Center for Technology and Industry, was held for three months at Goetz Custom Boats in Bristol and was entitled “Composite Repair and Boat Construction.”

Providence College

Honored: Judith K. Jamieson, a special lecturer in the School of Continuing Education (SCE) and a former associate dean of the school, was recently presented the “Never Again Award” by the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island.

Jamieson received the award during Yom HaShoah, the interfaith Holocaust Remembrance Day at Temple Emanu-El in Providence. The “Never Again Award” is awarded annually to recognize individuals who seek to influence the reduction of anti-Semitism, racism, and prejudiced attitudes toward others.

Jamieson, who has taught and served as an administrator at PC since 1975, was recognized for a wide range of efforts in the community. She has served as an executive board member for Rhode Island Community and Justice (RICJ), a nonprofit whose mission is to fight bias, prejudice, and racism by building understanding and mutual respect among all races, cultures and creeds. The RICJ’s most visible effort in the community is the Wall of Hope at Waterplace Park in Providence.

Since 1985, she has dedicated much of her time to working with the Southeast Asian community. She was the founder of the first adult college scholarship fund for Southeast Asians in Rhode Island, and she co-founded the Southeast Asian Summer School for Providence middle-school students.

In addition, she has served as a facilitator and adviser for the college’s program that allows a number of students from the New England Rabbinical College to come to PC for their science and business courses.

Roger Williams University

Moss Sculpture: A large fuzzy gumball? A green planetary orb? A spherical alien pod? While it may look like it belongs in a science fiction movie, it’s actually the “Moss Sphere,” a new sculpture on the university’s waterfront.

Standing at 10 feet in diameter, the Moss Sphere was created and constructed by 28 university students under the leadership of Janet Pihlblad, an RWU visiting artist and associate professor.

The sculpture, which was finished in last month, is situated on the grass near the university’s waterfront seashell path, just north of the Learning Platform. Minimal in design, the Moss Sphere is completely covered with a layer of bright green moss and features one simple window frame cut out of the sphere’s side facing Mount Hope Bay. Designed as a temporary installment, the Moss Sphere will remain on display through the summer.

Beginning last October, the 28 students enrolled in Pihlblad’s visual arts classes collaborated to create the concept and to construct the structure. The design of the sphere involved constructing a wood skeletal structure, stretching canvas, painting and applying moss. Pihlblad says the artwork is designed to express wonderment and “an inside-out feeling about the intimacy of home and seemingly faraway places.” For more information about the sculpture, contact University Communications at (401) 254-3805.

mjones@projo.com