Author: Brynn Boyer

UMW Professor Steve Watkins’ first book for young readers, Down Sand Mountain, is now available in paperback at the University owned and operated UMW Bookstore.

“It’s the fall of 1966, and twelve-year-old Dewey Turner is determined to start the school year right.  No more being the butt of every joke.  He’ll be cool–a Lone Wolf like his older brother, Wayne.  But an accident with shoe polish dashes these hopes–and earns Dewey his worst nickname yet.  He finds an unlikely friend in Darla Turkel, the only person at Sand Mountain High who is more of an outcast than he is.  Through their friendship, Dewey comes to learn a whole lot about his small town, and about the world outside it, too:  things about racism and segregation, secrets, and standing up for what’s right.”

More than 50 University of Mary Washington students are participating in Two Dollar Challenge Week, living on $2 a day in makeshift shelters on Ball Circle through Friday, April 8 to raise awareness of global poverty and microfinance.

Kyle McCartt met a bashful porcupine fish over spring break.
The University of Mary Washington senior biology major encountered the fish in a cave during a snorkeling expedition in the U.S. Virgin Islands with biology professor Steve Fuller’s tropical ecology class. The porcupine fish measured what looked like three feet by two feet.

Gari Melchers Home and Studio at Belmont will host a Spring Open House on Sunday, April 10, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event is free and open to the public who will have the opportunity to experience the formal gardens exploding with color as well as the verdant woodland paths and trails. Both the house museum and studio will open for tours throughout the day.Artists are encouraged to paint on the grounds in the plein-aire style Gari Melchers embraced.

The University of Mary Washington Department of Art and Art History announced its student awards at the opening of the Annual Student Art Exhibition, which will run through Sunday, April 17 at the duPont Gallery.