1981_12 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper December 1981

              Volume 4, No. 1 & 2
December 1981
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HYE SHARZHOOM
ARMENIAN ACTION
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The newspaper of the California State University, Fresno Armenian Students Organization and Armenian Studies Program
CSUF Celebrates Saroyan
A tradition began at California
State University, Fresno this fall. The
first annual William Saroyan Festival
honored the man who immortalized
Fresno and the San Joaquin Valley.
Saroyan the writer, the painter, the
dramatist, and the man, was reintroduced to the Fresno public at CSUF
during the month of November.
The activities of this unique festival
were coordinated by the Armenian
Studies Program with the cooperation
of the CSUF Departments of Art,
Theatre Arts, Journalism and
English.
Saroyan, the writer was the topic of
a symposium entitled "William
Saroyan And His Writings." Aram
Saroyan, the writer's son and a writer
himself, discussed his father's early
years up to the period when his
literary fame began. Prof. Gene
Bluestein of the CSUF English
Department discussed Saroyan's
importance to American literature.
The last decades of Saroyan's life as
they were lived in Paris were
examined    by    Aram     Kevorkian,
Saroyan's friend and lawyer for many
years. Mr. Kevorkian came to Fresno
from Paris to participate in the
symposium. Finally, Saroyan as an
Armenian writer was discussed by
Dickran Kouymjian, Professor of
Armenian Studies.
A special exhibit of Saroyan's
published works in many languages,
manuscripts and letters, was
organized by Special Collections
Librarian Ronald Mahoney at the
Henry Madden Library. Saroyan's
rare photographs taken by Fresno
photographer Paul Kalinian were also
displayed complimented by excerpts
from Saroyan' s works.
"Stories by Saroyan" was the subject of a presentation by the CSUF
Child Drama Center. The program
featured readings from William
Saroyan's works by CSUF professors
Arne Nixon, Charles Randall and
Dickran Kouymjian and graduate
student Pamela Shaw Huth. During
the program Saroyan's play "Hello
Out There," was performed directed
by Edward EmanuEL featuring Jackie
Archie Minassian, Dickran Kouymjian, Louise Dodgson Anderson, Gail
Sarkissian and Varaz Samuelian share remembrances of their close friend,
William Saroyan with a captive audience during the CSUF William Saroyan
Festival.
Antaramian and Darryl Simonian.
The CSUF Child Drama Center, under
the direction of Professor Jeanette
Bryon,     also     presented     William
Gorky Class Offered
A special course on the greatest Armenian painter of modern times and
one of the foremost American
painters of our century, Arshile Gorky
Adoian (1904-1948), will be offered
through the Extension Division of
CSU Fresno. The one credit course
will meet Friday February 5, 1982 and
make a one day trip the following day,
Saturday, February 6 to the Los
Angeles County Art Museum to have
a special tour of the Retrospective
exhibit of the paintings of Arshile
Gorky. The course will be taught by
Professor Dickran Kouymjian of the
Armenian Studies Program with
special guest lecturer Professor
Karlen Mouradian.
Arshile Gorky, born Vosdanik
Adoian in 1904 in the Van region of
Turkish-occupied Armenia, is one of
the greatest artists of the Twentieth
Century and among the founders of
Abstract Expressionism, the first
truly American art style. His untimely death cut short one of the most
intellectual artistic pursuits of our
time at a moment when Gorky had
found his own clear artistic expression
after a life time of advancing experimentation.
The focal point of this one credit
course will be the retrospective exhibit organized by the Guggenheim
Museum in New York last summer
and now at the L.A. County Museum.
On Friday February 5 there will be a
detailed analysis of the life and works
of Gorky tracing the story of this
Armenian survivor of the genocide
through the stages of his search for
aesthetic truth in the United States.
A special feature of the course will
be the lectures of Professor Karlen
Mouradian author of two books on
Gorky which have changed the artistic
world's perception of the Armenian
artist. Mouradian, himself an artist,
is Gorky's nephew and has unique
documentation on the painter.
Enrollment in the course is open to
everyone, but there is a strict limit of
seats on the chartered bus (45). The
price of registration is $65.00 for one
credit or $50.00 for non-credit
privileges. Both options include the
lectures on Friday, the roundtrip bus
fare, museum admission, and all
tuition fees. Places will be reserved
on a first come first served basis with
no exceptions. (A number of regular
students have already enrolled.) A
non-refundable $10.00 deposit is
necessary by January 15, 1982. For
registration contact the Division of
Extended Education, CSUF, Fresno,
CA 93740 or call (209) 294-2549. For
further information you may contact
the Armenian Studies Program at
(209) 294-2832.
Saroyan's first dramatic work, "My
Heart's In the Highlands." Prof.
Bryon's careful analysis of the play
resulted in the successful portrayal of
Saroyan's constant theme - that man
gains immortality through artistic
creation.
The first exhibition of Saroyan's
paintings and drawings, at the Phebe
Conley Art Gallery, revealed Saroyan
the painter. These paintings and
drawings, selected and mounted by
gallery Director Professor William
Minschew, date from the years 1963
in New York City and 1967 in Fresno.
In a illustrated lecture, Dr. Dickran
Kouymjian described Saroyan as a
"sophisticated primitive" whose
paintings reflect "both a light airy,
abstract style and a dense, heavy
feeling."
"Who Was This Man Saroyan" was
a time for anecdotes and special
rememberances as told by old friends
see Festival page 4
Inside
HYE SHARZHOOM
Editorial
page 2
An Exhibit
page 5
Saroyan Festival
page 7
Kalinian Photos
page 8