September 19, 2011

Beautiful beginnings

This sunrise photo was taken September 16 by Benjamin Botte from the Columbus State Bookstore looking over the Center for Technology and Learning (TL).

Bedritis receives certification as meeting planner

Rita Bedritis

Rita Bedritis, Director of the Columbus State Conference Center, recently received the Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) designation issued by the Convention Industry Council. The CMP program was established to recognize individuals who have achieved the meeting planning industry’s highest standard of professionalism. The requirements for certification are based on professional experience and a rigorous examination and it distinguishes its designee as a career professional who has demonstrated the highest level of experience, skill, and knowledge.

Bedritis has had a diverse background within the event and meeting planning industry. As a meeting planner, she has specialized in the development, management and coordination of conferences, meetings and conventions for corporations, associations, as well as a scientific organization nationwide. Her experience ranges from being the senior catering manager of the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill and senior convention services manager at Hyatt Regency Columbus, to managing special events as the director of a museum in Washington, D.C., to serving as an off-premise caterer in Columbus, to working with faculty, staff, and the community to host meetings and events in our Conference Center.

Artist competes for Library renovation project
Olga Ziemska to be on campus September 28

The artist, a 2000 CCAD graduate.

Ohio law requires that one percent of any allocation for a construction project funded by the State of Ohio must be used for public art. Two examples of the Percent for Art program at Columbus State are the 5-piece Vault installation that includes pieces on two sides of Cleveland Avenue, and Light Sails, the glass and steel sculpture in the courtyard of the Columbus campus.

The renovation of the Columbus Hall Library will include a piece of public art by a local artist that the Columbus State Percent for Arts Committee and the Ohio Arts Council have selected. The Committee is considering a work proposed by Olga Ziemska, a CCAD graduate who took classes at Columbus State while earning her degree at CCAD. Ziemska is currently working on the final design of the proposed piece to be presented to the committee in October.

Olga Ziemska at work on a large outdoor sculpture.

Ziemska will be on the downtown campus on Welcome Back day, Wednesday, September 28. She invites students and employees to stop by her table to offer feedback on aspects of her proposed design.

 Olga Ziemska is a sculptor and public artist who lives and works in Cleveland. She is a recipient of many prestigious grants and awards including a Fulbright Fellowship in 2002 and a Creative Workforce Fellowship in 2009. In 2007, Ziemska was selected as a Wendy L. Moore Emerging Artist by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Cleveland. She has participated in several residencies nationally and abroad, including Centre of Polish Sculpture in Poland. Her work is exhibited both nationally and internationally, with work reviewed in Sculpture magazine. For more information about her work please visit www.olgaziemska.com.

Weight Watchers at Work begins Sept. 26

The next session of Weight Watchers will start Tuesday, September 26 at noon in the DX Conference Room on the third floor. Weight Watchers at Work costs $120 for new participants and $110 for returning participants, and the charge can be payroll deducted. There will be an informational meeting Tuesday, September 20, at 12 p.m. in the DX conference room. If you are interested in joining this program, please contact Nichole Bowman-Glover at ext. 3989 or email nbowmang@cscc.edu.