2024 College of Fine Arts Hall of Fame Recipients
The College of Fine Arts is set to host the Celebration of Excellence event on Friday, September 27, 2024, to honor these outstanding alumni, educators and friends of the Fine Arts.
Visit the event registration page to register for the Celebration of Excellence and Reception. For tickets to The Wolves by Sara DeLappe, please visit the Theatre's ticket webpage.
Learn more about the meaning behind the Hall of Fame and awards.
Debra Christofferson
Debra Christofferson '76 has had a prolific career in film, television, and theater. She began her career signing church solos at age four in Spearfish, South Dakota, and performing summers at the Black Hills Passion Play. After graduating from the University of South Dakota and spending a summer at the Black Hills Playhouse, she did theater for two years in Minneapolis before moving to Los Angeles. There, she worked extensively in comedy and drama across film, TV, stage, voiceover, radio, commercials, and video games.
Debra has appeared on stage in more than 30 productions, including "Taming of the Shrew," "Moon for the Misbegotten," "27 Wagons Full of Cotton," "Girl Crazy," "Grease," "Man of La Mancha," "Guys and Dolls," "Company," and "Fiddler on the Roof." Movie audiences recognize her from films such as "White Oleander,"Mousehunt," "Wild Wild West," "Changeling," "Under the Hula Moon," "The Godson," "Stealing Time," "My Favorite Martian," and as the star of "Seraglio," an Academy Award nominee for live-action short.
A character arc as crazed fan Holly Gerges on the Steven Bochco series "Murder One" led to numerous other television roles, most notably as rubber-clad receptionist Geri Turner on "NYPD Blue," a recurring role written specifically for her, prior to her provocative performance as Lila, the Bearded Lady of Brussels, on the HBO series "Carnivàle." Her select guest appearances include "Why Women Kill," "SEAL Team," "Outcast," "Longmire," "Rectify," "100 Things to Do Before High School," American Horror Story," "NCIS," "Grey's Anatomy," "CSI," "Dharma & Greg," "Diagnosis Murder," and "X-Files." She has also appeared in several television movies including, "Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise" with Tom Selleck and Viola Davis, "Hostage Hotel" with Burt Reynolds, "A Deadly Adoption" with Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig, "A Smokey Mountain Christmas" with Dolly Parton and Henry Winkler, and "The Gambler" as Reba McEntire's best friend.
Debra recently wrapped "The Holiday Junkie," a Lifetime Christmas movie starring and directed by Jennifer Love Hewitt, and the sci-fi feature "Redux Redux." She awaits the release of Warner Brothers' first feature version of Stephen King's "Salem's Lot," in which she plays Anne Norton. Debra's production company, Present Moment Productions, has three projects in development. She is currently filming her eighth season as 911 Call Center Supervisor Sue Blevins on ABC's hit TV show "9-1-1."
Carla Connors
Early in her career, Carla Connors '79 was acclaimed as "one of the best young sopranos of this decade" by the Detroit Free Press, "a fresh, steady lyric soprano" by The New York Times, and having "a radiant voice and equally radiant manner" by the Grand Rapids Press. She built her performing career singing operas, oratorios, recitals, and orchestral concerts. Connors made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2001, singing the soprano solos in masses by Mozart and Schubert. She was presented in recital at Weill Recital Hall as a winner in the American Song Competition sponsored by the New York chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. She sang Susanna in "le nozze di Figaro" by Mozart for the New York City Opera National Company's tour. Other opera credits include roles with Glimmerglass, Atlanta, Orlando, Opera Carolina, Chautauqua, Florida Grand, Des Moines Metro, and Michigan Opera Theater.
Connors has performed as a soloist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the St. Paul and Cayuga Chamber Orchestras, and the Phoenix, Pacific, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Chautauqua, Santa Fe, Richmond (Indiana), Tallahassee, and Szczecin (Poland) Symphony Orchestras, among others. Her performances have included works such as Mozart's "Exsultate Jubilate," Barber's "Knoxville: Summer of 1915," and Mahler's Second and Fourth Symphonies. Engaged extensively as an oratorio artist, she has sung major works by Handel, Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Poulenc, Honegger, and Orff and has often performed music from the Baroque era. Connors has performed recitals throughout the U.S., often with her husband, pianist and composer Timothy Hoekman, and has appeared as a soloist on tours of Australia and Europe.
Connors has won numerous opera and art song competitions and was a Metropolitan Opera Audition winner in three districts. In 2016, she was the first person inducted into the Vermillion High School Fine Arts Hall of Fame. Committed to ensuring that music lovers can hear live classical music, she is a long-time board member and current president of The Artist Series of Tallahassee. She can be heard with pianist Timothy Hoekman on "To Make a Prairie," a CD of American art songs, and with the Rawlins Piano Trio on "Attracting Opposites: New Music for Piano Trio," which includes "Three Poems by William Butler Yeats" by Timothy Hoekman. In addition to her performing, Connors maintains a large private voice studio, gives master classes, and adjudicates voice competitions. Many of her students have found success as classical and music theater performers, music educators, and music therapists. Connors received her B.F.A. degree in voice performance from the University of South Dakota and her M.M. and D.M.A. degrees in voice performance from the University of Michigan. A native of Vermillion, South Dakota, she lives in Tallahassee, Florida.
Dale Hale
As told by Hale: I was born in 1933 and raised by loving parents in the small town of Onawa, Iowa. In addition to my parents, I had my father's nine siblings to tell me how and what I should do with my life. I was ready for life. School in Onawa was a pleasant and busy time. Along with the three R's, there was football, basketball, track, school paper, band (where I played tuba), and drawing pictures - a lot of pictures. During this early time in my life, I probably heard at least 1,004,246 people say, "Dale, you're never going to amount to anything if you keep wasting your time drawing silly pictures!" (except my parents and one teacher).
After high school, I attended Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington, Missouri. I graduated in three years and moved on to the University of South Dakota. When I checked out the list of possibilities in the catalog, my brain reeled. I spotted a BFA in Art. Do I dare? So, I did. Thanks to many people like Dr. Stillwell and Dr. Beede, Lambda Chi Alpha, the Music Department and a patient football coach, I got that BFA in 1956.
Luckily, my first job was waiting for me at Art Instruction Inc. in Minneapolis. Charles Schulz (Peanuts), who had seen some on my work, recommended me for the job. When he moved his family from Minneapolis to Sebastopol, California, Schulz asked me to join him and be his first assistant. That was a fun and happy time for me and Nona (another gift from USD). After several years and some hard thinking, I decided being someone's assistant was not my real goal. We said a friendly goodbye (we stayed good friends the rest of his life) and headed to Hollywood for riches and fame.
It took three months and many persistent phone calls to a lot of studios to convince the first one to take a chance on me. Even though I had a reasonable amount of drawing skills, the questions were always, "Where did you get your animation training and where did you work last?" The old Catch-22. Employers in animation did not think I could move from static comic strips to movable animation. So, I told the next one I could also write. After a pause, he told me I was getting to be a persistent pain and I should just come to the studio the next day and we could talk.
Working in animation is much like working in a field. Like a seasonal crop picker, we go from one job to another. As we finish one show, we move on to the next one. And that's how I got started. Here are some of the shows and projects I worked on: "Clutch Cargo" (first job in animation); Warner Bros. Animation: "The Pink Panther," "The Road Runner"; "DuckTales"; "Ghostbusters"; "Tiny Toons"; Hanna-Barbera Studio: "The Flintstones," "Yogi Bear"; "Bugs Bunny"; "Alvin and the Chipmunks"; Bob Clampett: "Beany and Cecil"; "The Ant and the Aardvark." More at IMDb.
In 1965, I did one more project for Charles Schulz, the first "Charlie Brown's Christmas" book. I have also illustrated several other books and did R&S for both Mattel and Revell toy companies. I have been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1970. I am also lucky enough to be involved in several awards, including the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Emmy for "Tiny Toon Adventures" and their prime-time Emmy award for "Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories."
My newspaper comic strip "Figments" and the comic panel "You're Getting Closer" can be seen on cleancartoons.com, cartoonsforkids.com, or dalehale.com.
Shirley Neugebauer Luebke
Shirley Neugebauer Luebke is a lifelong music educator. She received her BFA in music education ('71) and MM in voice ('76) from the University of South Dakota, and her DMA in conducting from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. She taught vocal and instrumental music in Huron and Vermillion, South Dakota, and at Monmouth College, Carl Sandburg College, and Augustana College in Illinois before moving to Sioux City.
Shirley served as Head Teacher for the Music Department of the Sioux City Community School District for 24 years. During this tenure, she was honored with the Iowa Fine Arts Administrator of the Year award. She is the founder and music director of the Siouxland Youth Chorus, celebrating its 35th season. The ensemble has performed with the Sioux City Symphony, Sioux City Municipal Band, Sioux City Rockestra, Morningside University, and at many community events. The singers have toured and participated in music festivals across the United States and Canada. They also performed at a lighting ceremony at Mount Rushmore and as backup for John Denver and Kenny Rogers.
Currently, Shirley is an adjunct professor at Morningside University in Sioux City, where she teaches music education and clarinet. She is a member of the National Association for Music Education, Iowa Alliance for Arts Education, and American Choral Directors Association. She conducted the Iowa OPUS 5th and 6th grade Honor Choir, is a guest conductor of music festivals, and serves as a mentor, adjudicator, and accompanist in the tri-state area. Shirley has held leadership positions in the Iowa Music Educators Association, which honored her with the Iowa Music Educators Association Distinguished Service Award. She is also a member of Delta Kappa Gamma, an organization for women in education, and received the Educational Excellence Award from Delta Kappa Gamma Society International.
In addition, Shirley served on the music staff at the Black Hills Playhouse in Custer State Park for nine years, where she met lifelong friends and developed a love for theater. Through her involvement in the USD theater department and the BHP, she was selected to be a member of the USO troupe that toured U.S. military installations in the Northeast Command, including Labrador, Greenland, Iceland, and a Coast Guard outpost located 600 miles from the North Pole.
Shirley has found great joy in inspiring and nurturing young people in the field of music, paying forward the support she received from her teachers and mentors. Her students have gone on to state, regional, and national honor groups, and many have become professional musicians, community leaders in the arts, and music educators, passing on the gift and love of music to the next generation. One of Shirley’s former students stated “My choral experience with Shirley was often times equivalent to a college level experience. The advanced literature and techniques that we used were simply amazing. Her excellent teaching, inspiration, and motivation was evidenced by Vermillion High School having 25 students selected to the SD Honor Choir (there are only 150 in the entire choir) in the summer of 1978. Shirley taught with a passion, energy, and commitment that is rarely seen in teachers. I have never been around so many high school age students that were so excited about music.”
Shirley is the organist at Trinity Lutheran Church in Sioux City and plays clarinet in the All-American Band, the Sioux City Municipal Band, and the LeMars Municipal Band. She also performed with the former Sioux City Rockestra. She is married to John, and they have one son, Michael, and a dog named Buddy.
John Day (posthumous)
John Day (posthumous) will receive the College’s highest honor, the Special Recognition Award.
Day was a Midwesterner, born in East St. Louis, Illinois, and lived in various Midwestern states. He also traveled extensively, studying both in the U.S. and abroad. He attended St. Benedict's College in Atchison, Kansas, a Benedictine institution that resonated with him on many levels, where he majored in English, history, and French. His interest in art began in childhood, and in his senior year, he enthusiastically delved into painting and sculpture. As graduation from St. Benedict's approached, his art professor suggested he consider graduate work in visual arts. This led him to a master's program at Notre Dame, where he continued his studies in art and art history. Additionally, he studied at the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York; the University of Laval, Quebec, Canada; and the University of Kansas, Lawrence.
Day's professional career in the arts spanned four decades in South Dakota, and his support for the arts was expansive. He began his teaching career at Mount Marty College in Yankton, South Dakota, in 1965 and joined the art faculty at the University of South Dakota in 1976. He served as art department chair until becoming dean of the College of Fine Arts in 1980, a post he held until 2004. He then moved to professor emeritus of art at the University of South Dakota, where he continued to serve as director of the University Art Galleries and curator of the university's Oscar Howe Collection.
Day held many roles at USD, including professor of art, director of the University Art Galleries, and USD vice president for academic affairs in 1984-1985. As a professor of art, he taught engaging classes in studio arts, art history, gallery management, and writing about the arts. He presented more than 100 lectures and workshops for conferences and events. As an educator, he directed and taught in the annual Oscar Howe Summer Art Institute, developed a survey course in the history of Native American art, and coordinated the development of an undergraduate Indian studies program. Day served as director of the University Art Galleries from its founding in 1977 until 2009. During that time, he curated more than 50 major exhibitions, including several that toured nationally. As curator of the USD Oscar Howe Collection, he oversaw the world's largest collection of Howe's work and was instrumental in establishing the Oscar Howe Archives and the Oscar Howe Memorial Association at USD. Day lectured and wrote on the art and life of Oscar Howe for over 30 years, in addition to organizing more than 20 Oscar Howe exhibitions.
Always people- and student-centered, Day continued to pursue his love of education while also becoming an advocate for South Dakota arts and artists. Day's passion was serving as a champion for the Native arts of South Dakota, with a special focus on Oscar Howe. As an administrator, he established the Oscar Howe Memorial Association and Fund that supported a variety of projects, including the Oscar Howe Archives and Research Project, the Annual Oscar Howe Memorial Lecture on Contemporary Indian Art, and a scholarship program for Native American art students. Additionally, he curated or directed retrospective exhibitions of Northern Plains artists such as Arthur Amiotte, Don Montileaux, Robert Freeman, and Robert Penn. He supported the Northern Plains Tribal Arts Exhibitions and Market in Sioux Falls and served as board president for two years. He coordinated the South Dakota American Indian Living Treasure Award presented annually at the Governor's Awards in the Arts.
In service to South Dakota and beyond, Day served on the South Dakota Arts Council for 10 years and was a member of the South Dakota Capitol Beautification Commission from 1982-2013. He received the South Dakota Governor's Award for Outstanding Support for the Arts by an Individual and the 2003 Western American Award from the Center for Western Studies at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He served on many arts advisory boards, including the Sioux City Art Center, Upper Midwest Conservation Association, and National Music Museum. After retiring from USD, Day returned to his studio work.
