Tuscaloosa, Ala. – UA Instructor and alumnus Jamey Grimes' sculpture will be in sync with the first total solar eclipse in a century on Monday, August 21, 2017. The New Gallery at Austin Peay State University, at Clarksville, Tenn., which sits in the path of Monday's highly anticipated astronomical event, will feature Grimes' sculpture, Eclipse, as their inaugural exhibition beginning August 19. The first of two previews will be on Saturday, August 19 (4-6 pm) and a second will be on the day of the eclipse itself, Monday, August 21 (9 am-4 pm). The exhibition, which is supported by the Austin Peay State University Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts and the APSU Department of Art + Design, officially opens August 28 and runs through September 21. A Celebration of Space – The idea of space as a part of art was the idea from the beginning. APSU director of galleries Michael Dickins said, "With the first exhibition in the new gallery space in the new Art + Design building, I began thinking about space as a primary art element. I wanted to bring in an artist whose work deals with the transformation of space and was instantly reminded of Jamey’s work. Upon initial conversations, we realized the schedule would coincide with the upcoming solar eclipse, and then the word ‘space’ took on a secondary meaning. Jamey has created an installation specifically for The New Gallery and the historic solar eclipse. This contemporary art exhibition will celebrate space in a way that will transform the viewer’s conception of what a traditional gallery space is to what it could be." Jamey Grimes described more about his work and the installation: "This exhibit explores combinations of objects and light that build on previous work. The inclusion of a large fiberglass sphere is definitely a shift in my work, and I'm excited to see many elements come together as a response to the eclipse. The New Gallery is an expansive space, and I am honored to be the first artist to have a chance to experiment there. It's a great opportunity to be on Austin Peay's campus during the eclipse, as they are coordinating with NASA to host a large number of visitors. I'm hoping that many will also visit the gallery - luckily we'll still be open even if the real eclipse gets rained out!" Grimes' exhibition will be one of several "PeayClipse" events organized by Austin Peay State University, which includes hosting official NASA viewing parties at the campus’ Fortera Stadium. Jamey Grimes is a full-time instructor for the UA Department of Art and Art History where he has taught courses in 2D and 3D design, drawing, sculpture and 3D Design Engineering. He is a co-founder and workshop provider for UA Makerspace. Since 2009, he has also taught drawing courses through Auburn University’s Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project. Grimes has shown his artwork widely throughout the US, including exhibitions at Kendall Galleries (Grand Rapids, Mich.), Dunedin Fine Art Center (Fla.), Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts (Wilmington, Del.), Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts (Grand Rapids, Mich.), Sculpture Key West (Fla.) and FAT Village (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and Whitespace Gallery (Atlanta, Ga.). He is a former Alabama State Council on the Visual Arts Fellowship recipient, and the Arts Council of Tuscaloosa named him the 2014 Visual Arts Educator of the Year. To see more of Jamey Grimes' installations in video, click here. Go to our website for more information about UA’s Department of Art and Art History degree programs.
UA Art Alumni Included in Red Dog Potters Exhibition
The Tuscaloosa Museum of Art-Home of the Westervelt Collection will host a special exhibition of works by the Kentuck Red Dog Potters, July 28 through September 24, 2017. A reception will be held Friday, July 28, 5:30-7:30 pm. Susan Allen, Debbie Benson, Doris Blum, Karen Bownes, Shirley Hayes Dobbins, Kiersten Ellis, Mari Ezawa, Jo Anne Gentine, Carol Lammon, Fred Mitchell, Kayla Moring, Kay Smith, Jaime St Clair, Judith Wheeler. Two of the exhibitors are alumni of the UA Department of Art and Art History. Kayla Moring received the BA in studio art in 2013 and Doris Blum has been a long time non-degree student in ceramics. The Kentuck Red Dog Potters have grown from five to 30 members in just six years. There is a waiting list to join the group, originally formed from Kentuck's Clay Co-op. According to a press release, the Kentuck Red Dog Potters' mission is to perpetuate the art and craft of pottery as a community of artists of all levels who learn, collaborate and create in a cooperative work space. They engage the community and develop appreciation of the arts through classes, demonstrations and displays of members' work. For more information about the programs of the UA Department of Art and Art History, visit this link: https://art.ua.edu/.
New Works by Alumnus Daniel Livingston at Harrison Galleries
UA art alumnus Daniel Livingston will present an exhibition of new ceramic and 2-D abstract pieces at Harrison Galleries during the month of August. The show will open on First Friday, August 4, from 6-9 pm. Widely known for his skillful and beautiful raku ceramic work, Livingston will also exhibit two-dimensional work in the upcoming show. "This will be a new one for him," said gallery owner Jim Harrison. Livingston received the MFA in ceramics from UA in 1979. He retired from UA in 2013 as full-time instructor. Livingston has been a demonstrating artist at the Kentuck Festival and Kentuck Center in Northport, Ala., for three decades. A Facebook event page is here. Harrison Galleries is located at 2315 University Boulevard in downtown Tuscaloosa and is open Monday through Friday, 12 noon to 5:00 pm, and by appointment. Call (205) 464-0054 to check for updates to the exhibition schedule. For more information about the programs of the UA Department of Art and Art History, visit this link: https://art.ua.edu/.
UA Professor Emeritus Contributes to New Online Architectural Resource
Associate Professor Emeritus Robert O. Mellown has published ten articles on the historic architecture of The University of Alabama and Tuscaloosa for SAH Archipedia, a free and subscription-based encyclopedic resource for worldwide architecture published by the Society of Architectural Historians. Mellown's articles are viewable in both versions. Mellown wrote entries for Bryce Hospital; Jemison-Van de Graaff Mansion; The University of Alabama campus; Gorgas House; President's Mansion; Manly, Clark, and Garland Halls; Frederick R. Maxwell Hall (the old Observatory); Woods Hall; Morgan Hall and Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library. Mellown is the author of numerous books and articles on architecture in Tuscaloosa including Historic Structures Reports for the Jemison-Van de Graaff Mansion, Drish House, Marmaduke Williams House and Bryce Hospital, authoritative architectural references commissioned by the Heritage Commission of Tuscaloosa County with support from the Alabama Historical Commission. His most recent book is The University of Alabama - A Guide to the Campus and Its Architecture (University of Alabama Press). Read more about Mellown's publications here. Right: Robert Mellown recently led a sold-out OLLI tour of UA's historic campus architecture. Left: Robert Mellown preparing to be interviewed for Discovering Alabama's special on our state capitals for the Bicentennial. The episode will air in October. Mellown received his undergraduate degree in studio art from The University of Alabama. After receiving the PhD in art history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he returned to UA and taught nineteenth-century art and architecture, Renaissance and Ancient art for forty-one years. He serves on a number of community and state committees. He is a lifetime member of the Tuscaloosa Preservation Society and a founding board member of the Jemison-Van de Graaff Mansion Foundation. He was a member of the Bryce Hospital Historical Committee which was formed by the Alabama Department of Mental Health and The University of Alabama to insure the preservation of the integrity of the historic structure. He is a member of the Tuscaloosa Bicentennial Committee and a consultant for the Alabama Bicentennial Commission. Launched in 2013, SAH Archipedia is an authoritative online encyclopedia of the built world, published by the Society of Architectural Historians and the University of Virginia Press. Their goal is to have all fifty states represented and to become a comprehensive resource for information on buildings around the world. Funding for the project also comes from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Institute of Architects, the Graham Foundation and Two Cat Digital. The Society of Architectural Historians, founded in 1940, is a nonprofit membership organization that promotes the study, interpretation and conservation of architecture, design, landscapes and urbanism around the world. Robert Gamble, retired Senior Architectural Historian at the Alabama Historical Commission, is State Coordinator for Alabama for the Archipedia project. Gamble wrote and compiled many of the current Alabama entries and recruited other architectural historians from around the state to write on their specialties. Gamble is the author of The Alabama Catalog – Historic American Buildings Survey: A Guide to the Early Architecture of the State (University of Alabama Press). Entries were also written by Ralph Allen, Cart Blackwell, Alice Meriwether Bowsher, Delos Hughes, Michael Panhorst, and Caroline Swope. Alabama has sixty-four entries in all on the new website, the most coming from Tuscaloosa County and the University. Birmingham, Huntsville and Mobile have seven entries each. According to the SAH Archipedia website, Alabama's current sixty-four entries comprise the first half of a list of the state's most representative buildings and sites. There'll be more to come! Above: Dr. Mellown discusses the renovation of a 19th century statue, "Hebe," salvaged from Bryce Hospital with Bob Fanning (Engineering) and Art and Art History technicians Patrick O'Sullivan and Mike Eddins and (center) Professor Craig Wedderspoon. The statue was repaired, repainted and placed at the entrance of the New Bryce building.
Art History Graduate Achieves Long-term Goal
Allison Springer is following a path she set for herself when she received degrees in apparel and textile design and marketing at UA ten years ago. After Springer received the MS in marketing in 2006, she moved to New York City to work in fashion. For the next five years, Springer worked in the creative departments at Saks Fifth Avenue and Macy's. Then she left New York to travel in Europe and develop her interests in art and history. She returned to her alma mater in 2015 to pursue a master's in art history, with the goal of seeking a Ph.D. in art history in order to teach and research. This spring, Springer successfully defended her master's thesis in art history, titled "Mixed-Race Fantasies: Abolitionist Propaganda as Spectacles of Race in the Nineteenth Century." Springer was accepted to PhD programs at Rice University in Houston, Tex., and the University of Kansas in Lawrence. She reports that she plans to attend Rice in the fall. Right: Allison Springer presents her thesis research in a paper at the 22nd Annual Graduate Student Symposium in Art History in 2017. For more information about the programs of the UA Department of Art and Art History, visit this link: https://art.ua.edu/about/prospective/. The University of Alabama, the state’s oldest and largest public institution of higher education, is a student-centered research university that draws the best and brightest to an academic community committed to providing a premier undergraduate and graduate education. UA is dedicated to achieving excellence in scholarship, collaboration and intellectual engagement; providing public outreach and service to the state of Alabama and the nation; and nurturing a campus environment that fosters collegiality, respect and inclusivity.
Alumnus Matt Daugherty at the Arts Council Gallery
(Tuscaloosa, Ala.) “Dark Patriot,” an exhibit featuring the work of Matt Daugherty, will be displayed in The Arts Council Gallery at the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center July 7-28, 2017. An opening reception will be held on July 7, 2017 from 5-8 p.m. during First Friday. The reception and exhibit are free and open to the public. “'Dark Patriot' is a body of paintings that explores American political extremisms and the connection between religion, the entertainment industry and political influences,” said Daugherty. The exhibit of acrylic paintings takes the viewer through the divided American political landscape and the seeming lack of moderate politics by way of the artist’s exploration of conspiracy theories and propaganda from both the political left and right. As Daugherty dove into non-traditional media outlets via the internet, he found himself fascinated by stories making claims with the intent of swaying public opinion. “These conspiracy theories appear to me to be fantastic science fiction. In all honesty, I do have moments where I think ‘maybe.’ ” That "maybe" state of mind is where the artist begins. He views these paintings as less of a personal visual diatribe of his own beliefs and more of an exploration of fantastic stories presented as truth and how that trickles down to an individual’s vote. Matt Daugherty received his BFA from The University of Alabama in 2000. He has exhibited his work at the Gadsden Center of Cultural Arts, the Sella-Granata Art Gallery and at Grace Aberdean Habitat Alchemy. He is a life-long resident of Alabama and resides in Tuscaloosa with his daughter Olivia. The Arts Council Gallery is open weekdays 9 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m. with free admission. The Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center is located at 620 Greensboro Avenue in Downtown Tuscaloosa. For more information about the CAC, The Arts Council or Bama Theatre, patrons should LIKE the Facebook page “The Arts Council – Bama Theatre – Cultural Arts Center” and follow tuscarts on Twitter. Call 205-758-5195 or visit tuscarts.org for further information. For more information about the programs of the UA Department of Art and Art History, visit this link: https://art.ua.edu/.
“Small Curious Wonders” Features Intimate Art Works
The Wellness Walls for Art Initiative presents Small Curious Wonders at the University Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, July 8 through September 1, 2017. The exhibition features more than fifty "small, curious" works of art by Bryce Speed, Elayne Goodman, Sydney Gruber, Chris Metzger, Lorrie Lane, Deborah Hughes and many others. It's a show that invites the viewer to “get intimate” with small-scaled creations, says curator and artist Deborah Hughes. The artists include several who have shown their work in national and international exhibitions. Artist and UA art alumna Deborah Hughes has curated the Wellness Walls for Art changing exhibitions at the University Medical Center since 2013. Exhibitions have included the Ann and Henry Betak exhibition, Side by Side; A Brush With Art – Paintings by The Tuscaloosa and University Painters; The Many Faces of Art in Adult Continuing Education; A Sense of Place; The Artist’s Studio, Inside and Out; About People and Quilting and Carving; and More Quilters, Carving and Printing Too! featuring the prints of Isadora Bullock and quilts by the West Alabama Quilters Guild. The UMC is located 850 5th Ave E, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35401. The exhibition is open during its regular business hours: Monday-Friday, 8:30 am-4:45 pm. A Facebook event page is here. For more information, call 205.310.5939 or email deborahhughes50 @ gmail.com.
Artist Transforms Storybook Themes to Paintings
The Arts Council of Tuscaloosa will host an exhibit of paintings by artist and UA art alumna Janet Mego at the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center Aug. 4-25, 2017. Titled "Dancing 'Round the Rabbit Hole," the display will be featured in The Arts Council Gallery. A reception honoring the artist will take place on Aug. 4 from 5-8 p.m. during First Friday. Mego has been creating art since the age of six. She received the BFA in painting from The University of Alabama. Much of what the artist creates has been influenced by the fine art of “learning to see,” implemented masterfully by those professors essential in taking her far beyond the face value of that degree. These influential mentors include Alvin Sella, Richard Zoellner and Arthur Oakes. She has served as Artist in Residence for the Sumter County Fine Arts Council in the 1980s, adjunct art instructor at Livingston University (now The University of West Alabama) and has received commissions due to her unique style and use of color. "Dancing 'Round the Rabbit Hole" is about the artist’s own series of rabbit holes: places and faces of magic and mystery, tweaked by her imagination and conveyed through acrylics and watercolors. “Lewis Carroll's Alice encounters the things that dreams are made of on her trip, as do I. Some of her experiences evoke wonder, even delight. At times, though, these creatures evoke conflict and concern,” said Mego. The title piece reflects the love for drama and Shakespeare that the artist’s mother instilled in her as a child; On the other hand, "Rabbit Holes" can represent places of danger, conflict and chaos with “Hiroshima Dream,’” a parallel of this dark element. The relationship between humans and animals, especially birds, fascinates Mego with animals often playing a role in her landscapes. “My grandfather owned a pet crow and he also possessed that magical ability to draw other animals into his space. Alvin Sella, the painting teacher who most inspired me, once wrote to me that “Fences were made for those who can't fly,’” recalled the artist. The Arts Council Gallery is open weekdays 9 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m. with free admission. The Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center is located at 620 Greensboro Avenue in Downtown Tuscaloosa. For more information about the CAC, The Arts Council or Bama Theatre, patrons should LIKE the Facebook page “The Arts Council – Bama Theatre – Cultural Arts Center” and follow tuscarts on Twitter. Call 205-758-5195 or visit tuscarts.org for further information.
Micah-Shea McKibben Defends MA Thesis on Botticelli
Micah-Shea McKibben successfully defended her MA thesis in art history, titled "Moving Beyond Beauty: Uncovering Sandro Botticelli's Isis," and graduated from The University of Alabama in December 2016. McKibben graduated cum laude from the University of South Alabama's Honors Program in 2012 with a B.A. in art history and a minor in history. Her undergraduate honors thesis was titled, "Knowing the Code, Analysis of Three Female German Expressionists." As a graduate student, she specialized in 15th-century Renaissance Italy and early 20th-century art. In March 2016, she presented her research on Botticelli's "Isis" at the South Central Renaissance Conference in St. Louis, Missouri, a regional conference of graduate students and professionals in Renaissance Studies. For more information about the programs of the UA Department of Art and Art History, visit this link: https://art.ua.edu/about/prospective/. The University of Alabama, the state’s oldest and largest public institution of higher education, is a student-centered research university that draws the best and brightest to an academic community committed to providing a premier undergraduate and graduate education. UA is dedicated to achieving excellence in scholarship, collaboration and intellectual engagement; providing public outreach and service to the state of Alabama and the nation; and nurturing a campus environment that fosters collegiality, respect and inclusivity.