Students in Dr. Jennifer Feltman’s ARH 360-Early Medieval Art course created their own artworks as a way to reflect on the materials and methods used to make early medieval (and a few Byzantine) works of art. Each student chose an object that dates from between 250 and 1150, and researched the original work focusing on the materials that had been used to make it, its context, function and what it meant to the people of that time. Then, the students created their own artwork inspired by the past. The goal of the project was to encourage reflection on the importance of materials and processes that medieval artists used in making a work of art. Students were also encouraged to make connections and distinctions between the past and present. Junior Rachel Balding, a psychology major with a minor in studio art, painted a folio – or page – of text and images. Inspired by the famous 6th century manuscript Vienna Genesis, for her project she drew an analogy between the devotion given to narratives in religious art and the football legends of UA. The original manuscript, an expensive object likely made for the Byzantine Emperor, was dyed purple and its script was written in silver. Balding dyed her page in grape juice and inscribed the UA fight song in gold using Roman Uncial script. Another student, junior Elizabeth Essary, a double major in art history and studio art, created an icon using woodblock printing, a process through which multiple copies can be faithfully replicated, much like the concept of the icon as a true image itself. For this assignment, students created their own work of art and conducted research and wrote a short paper, explained Dr. Feltman, “I’ve designed this project to be both a little fun and also challenging. I think it really helps students to see that the works of art we study are more than just images projected on a screen. They required meticulous attention, extended amounts of time to make, often in precious materials, all of which contributed to their meaning.” Here are photos of some of the students' work with images of the original medieval works they were inspired by: Above: Rachel Baldung, junior psychology major with a minor in studio art, and the Vienna Gospel folio. Above: Emily Craven, junior advertising major with a minor in studio art, and the Church of Santa Costanza in Rome. Above: Elizabeth Essary, junior double major in art history and studio art, and the Icon of Christ. Above: Ryan Hogan, junior double major in creative media and studio art, and the Sutton Hoo Belt Buckle. Above: Maggie Hocutt, junior BFA major in painting,with a minor in history, and the Book of Durrow. Above: Victoria Andry, senior double major in studio art and marketing, and the Matthew folio of the Ebbo Gospels. For more information about the UA Department of Art and Art History academic programs, go here: https://art.ua.edu/academics/.
UA Art Presenters Hail SECAC Meeting Success
The University of Alabama was well-represented at the recent national conference meeting of SECAC held in Birmingham October 17-20, 2018. Faculty, students and alumni of the UA Department of Art and Art History presented research and chaired sessions at the annual meeting of one of the largest art conferences of its kind in the US, hosted by UAB's Department of Art and Art History and nicknamed "SECAC Y'all." UA art faculty who gave presentations were Dr. Wendy Castenell, Jonathan Cumberland, Dr. Jennifer Feltman, Dr. Kate Kocyba, Giang Pham, Dr. Rachel Stephens and Dr. Doris Sung. Bryce Speed and Dr. Stephens chaired sessions. A PARTICULAR ACHIEVEMENT Of special note was art history graduate student Morgan Heard, who presented her research paper, “‘May the Points of Our Needles Prick the Slaveholder’s Conscience:’ Women’s Abolitionist Needlework and the Anti-Slavery Fair,” in a session titled "Historic American Painting." Heard's research probes the little known work of anti-slavery women in producing abolitionist items to sell at anti-slavery fairs. These handmade objects, she asserts in her research, became important signifiers of early female activism within a domain (sewing) that was considered appropriate for women during the antebellum period. Heard began her research in a course, "Slavery and American Art," taught by Dr. Rachel Stephens, and became so interested in the topic that she decided to make it the focus of her thesis research. Dr. Stephens pointed out that it was a particular achievement for an MA student to present research. "SECAC is a friendly conference and inclusive of scholarship at all levels," however, Stephens added, "more often, it is advanced PhD students who participate at SECAC." Heard said that this was her first time presenting at a conference of this scale. "Although I was nervous, I enjoyed being able to share my work and receive feedback and encouragement from those who attended." UA ART ALUMNI Several UA art alumni also participated in the annual art conference. Recent graduate Reed O’Mara (BA 2017, double major in German and economics, minor in art history) presented “Strasbourg’s Prince of the World as Political Foe and Sinful Suitor.” Last year, as a UA graduate student in medieval art history, O’Mara won a competitive Barbato Fellowship in art history to Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, which awarded her a graduate assistantship with a full tuition scholarship and stipend. National conferences often bring new friends and colleagues together. Rachel Stephens met presenter Laura Lake Smith, a UA art history major from 2000. A recent Ph.D. recipient from the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia, Smith presented "An Origin in Absentia: Richard Tuttle’s First Work" at the conference. She is currently visiting lecturer and teaching associate at Coastal Carolina University. Other alumni presented research in a wide array of subjects, including Amy Feger (MFA 2012), whose work was selected for the 2018 SECAC Juried Exhibition, which was juried by Peter Baldaia, head of Curatorial Affairs, Huntsville Museum of Art. Corey Dzenko (MA 2007) presented "The History of Graphic Design as a Discipline: Surveying Student Responses to Curricular Changes;" Jenny Fine (BFA 2006, photography), chaired a session and presented research titled "Time as Material;" Michelle Moseley-Christian (MA 2000, BA 1997, art history) chaired a session and presented "Hairy Female Bodies and the Early Modern Wild Woman in Visual Art;" and Raymond Gaddy (MFA 2000, painting) co-presented with Ashley Waldvogel, "Are You Vulcan’ Kidding Me? Mythology Everywhere." SECAC, formerly known as the Southeastern College Art Conference, promotes the the study and practice of the visual arts in higher education and is now the second largest national organization of its kind. This year's conference, hosted by the University of Alabama at Birmingham, is the first in Alabama since 1986 when the annual meeting was held in Tuscaloosa. For more information about The University of Alabama’s programs in studio art and art history, go here: https://art.ua.edu/academics/.
BFA Exhibitions: Caroline Japal and Candace von Hoffman
The University of Alabama Department of Art and Art History is pleased to present two Bachelor of Fine Arts exhibitions, November 19-29, 2018. Youth Expressions by Caroline Japal, and Sensory Notions by Candace von Hoffman, will be held in the Sella-Granata Art Gallery. The public is invited to a reception for the artists in the gallery Tuesday, Nov. 20, from 4:00 to 6:00 pm. In her exhibition, Youth Expressions, CAROLINE JAPAL focuses on portraits of young people and their experience of coming of age in Birmingham, a small Southern city, something that Japal realized had never been done before. "In researching this," she said, "I found only photo projects that focused on youth culture in larger cities and none in small cities like Birmingham, or in the South." Japal's photos of young people feel personal because the artist actively engages with her subjects while she takes pictures. "I meet with them in a public place, like Railroad Park or UAB campus, and we walk around talking while I photograph them." She says she catches "the in-between moments" when her subjects are open and unself-conscious. "I think viewers will be able to relate to them whether they know my photographic subjects or not." Birmingham native Caroline Japal is a creative director at Belladonna magazine, the first fashion magazine founded in Birmingham, Alabama. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of Art Concept Magazine and owner of Caroline Japal Photography. Japal was recently featured in Freelancer Magazine: http://frlmag.com/meet-woman-on-the-rise-birmingham-based-photographer-caroline-japal/. She has exhibited her work in UA's 2018 Annual BFA Juried Exhibition and in the Loft Show in Birmingham, and TheMix Birmingham Showcase. Japal is the recipient of the Carol B. Merkle Endowed Scholarship in 2017 and the Windgate Charitable Foundation Endowed Studio Arts Scholarship in 2016. Her website is https://www.carolinejapal.com/. Throughout her college career, CANDACE VON HOFFMAN has experimented with the overlapping the media of painting and photography. The body of work in her exhibit, Sensory Notions, von Hoffman said, "is guided by the idea that our bodies are in constant conversation with our surroundings. I am curious about exploring the relationship between the body, the human sense, and the fragility of perception. What does it mean to inhabit the body and how do our bodies direct our perception of reality?" Alabama native Candace von Hoffman has exhibited her work in UA's 2018 Annual BFA Juried Exhibition at Harrison Galleries; in a four-woman show, Canorous, in 2018 and in the 2016 and 2017 Open Media exhibitions in the Sella-Granata Art Gallery. She is the recipient of the Farley Moody Galbraith Endowed Scholarship in 2018 and the Julie Peake Holaday Memorial Endowed Scholarship in 2017. Image credits: (top) Caroline Japal, Ana, 2018, photographic print, 30” H x 20” W. (bottom) Candace von Hoffman, Untitled Study 4/16, September 2018, multimedia collage, 4 x 4 inches. Both images courtesy of the artists. The Bachelor of Fine Arts degree is the professional degree for the artist; it is also the foundation for the masters program in studio art at UA. For more information about the BFA degree and our other degree programs in the Department of Art and Art History, go to http://art.ua.edu/academics/undergraduate-programs/babfa-in-studio-art/ or contact the department at (205) 348-5967. Woods Hall is a five-minute walk from the Campus Drive Parking Deck and Bus Hub on Hackberry Lane. Gold 1, Crimson, Blue and Bronze CrimsonRide buses stop between Garland Hall and Gorgas Library. Information about visitor parking is available here: http://bamaparking.ua.edu/visitor-information/. For more information contact Rachel Dobson, communications specialist, at (205) 348-1893 or rachel.dobson@ua.edu.
UA/UAB Joint Program in Art History Announces Call for Papers
The University of Alabama and the University of Alabama at Birmingham Joint Program for the MA in Art History announces a call for papers for its 24th Annual Graduate Student Symposium in Art History. This year, the symposium will be hosted by the Department of Art and Art History at The University of Alabama on Friday, March 1, 2019 and will take place on The University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa. The symposium’s keynote speaker will be Dr. Catherine Zuromskis, Assistant Professor of Fine Art in the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology. MA students in all fields of art history are invited to submit paper proposals on completed research as well as works in progress. Presentations are limited to 20 minutes and will be followed by discussion. Please submit a 250-word abstract and a one-page c.v. on or before Friday, December 14, 2018 (by e-mail) to both: Dr. Lucy Curzon (lcurzon@ua.edu) and Dr. Cathleen Cummings (ccummings@uab.edu). Notification of acceptance will be made by January 7, 2019. Please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Curzon or Dr. Cummings with questions. In addition, a call for Undergraduate Poster Session Proposals is also announced. To encourage the work of emerging scholars in the discipline, the faculty of the Joint Program invite undergraduate art history majors to submit proposals for presentations of senior-level or thesis work in a poster session, to be held during the day of the symposium. Proposals should consist of a 250-word abstract regarding the project and be accompanied by a letter of recommendation from the student’s advisor or major professor. Please submit completed proposals Friday, December 14, 2018, (by e-mail) to Dr. Tanja Jones (tljones10@ua.edu). Notification of acceptance will be made by January 7, 2019. Please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Jones with questions. Every year, the Joint Program for the MA in Art History presents the Annual Graduate Student Symposium in Art History, which provides a forum for the presentation of graduate student research drawn from all areas of art history, as well as an undergraduate poster session. The symposium also features a keynote lecture by a leading scholar of art history. Previous speakers have included Paul Barolsky (Italian Renaissance art), Allison Kettering (Dutch Baroque art), Michael Yonan (18th-19th century European art), and Graham Boettcher, the William Cary Hulsey Curator of American Art at the Birmingham Museum of Art.
UA Seniors Present BFA Exhibition
Tuscaloosa – In one of the culminating events of their degree program at UA, Bachelor of Fine Arts candidates Allie Gant and Jennifer Gault present an exhibition, titled Raw & Unfinished Business, in the Sella-Granata Art Gallery, November 5-8, 2018, with a closing reception on Thursday, Nov. 8, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Gault, who works in sculpture and ceramics, specifically in raw, unfired clay, said that she has been exploring “forms that communicate a personal mythology of emotions and memories.” She added that the raw clay she often uses in her work “represents the changeability of emotion, fallibility of memory and the transience of life.” Gant, who works in printing processes and ceramics, describes her visual ideas as attention to her own self care, as well as the things which “catch her eye,” such as flowers, trees, sunsets and people, the subjects of her work: “Through the course of being an art student over the last few years, I’ve made a ritual for myself to pay attention to what I pay attention to, meaning to spend a little extra time thinking about why I am drawn to certain things and try to figure out why.” Originally from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Jennifer Gault's BFA concentrations are in sculpture and ceramics, with an anthropology minor. She has exhibited her art work in the 2018 Student Sculpture Exhibition, and the 2017 Annual BFA Juried Exhibition, both at Harrison Galleries, and in QuickTurnaround at the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center in 2017. In addition, she has published art work in UA's Marr's Field Journal in 2018. Gault is the recipient of the Angelo Granata Endowed Scholarship, the Elmore Endowed Scholarship, and the Windgate Charitable Foundation Endowed Studio Arts Scholarship. She works full-time as a certified Fire Alarm Technician in the Office of Environmental Health and Safety at UA. A native of St. Louis, Mo., Allie Gant's BFA concentrations are in printmaking and ceramics, with an art history minor. In 2017, Gant exhibited her work in Eclectic Way, an exhibition of art from the Paul R. Jones Collection of American Art and art by UA students inspired by those works, at the Paul R. Jones Museum. She participated in Geeza a Wee Exhib, a Scotland study abroad student exhibition in 2018 at Judith Rae Solomon Gallery, in Youngstown State University, Ohio, and has had several pieces accepted for publication in Marr’s Field Journal in 2017 and 2018, including the cover art of both editions. Image credits: left: Jennifer Gault, Temporary Love, 2016, 15 x 10 x 8 inches, unfired clay; right: Allie Gant, Lips, 2017, 22 x 30 inches, linoleum cut. The Bachelor of Fine Arts degree is the professional degree for the artist; it is also the foundation for the masters program in studio art at UA. For more information about the BFA degree and our other degree programs in the Department of Art and Art History, go to http://art.ua.edu/academics/undergraduate-programs/babfa-in-studio-art/ or contact the department at (205) 348-5967. Garland Hall is a five-minute walk from the Campus Drive Parking Deck and Bus Hub on Hackberry Lane. Gold 1, Crimson, Blue and Bronze CrimsonRide buses stop between Garland Hall and Gorgas Library. Information about visitor parking is available here: http://bamaparking.ua.edu/visitor-information/.
Sella-Granata Gallery Features Studio Art Graduate Students
Tuscaloosa, Ala. — New and returning graduate studio art students in The University of Alabama’s Department of Art and Art History will exhibit recent work in the Sella-Granata Art Gallery September 4-27, 2018. On Thursday, September 6, beginning at 4 pm, each student will present a 5-minute talk about their work, followed by a reception for the artists, in the gallery at 109 Woods Hall. The reception on September 6 will be one of two during Art Night on Woods Quad, including an exhibition reception at the Sarah Moody Gallery of Art, 5-7 p.m. New students Sarah Dittmann (printmaking), Kelsey Meadows (ceramics), Amber Quinn (photography), Chris Byrd (sculpture) and returning students Katie Adams (sculpture), Jude Anogwih (painting), Nasrin Iravani (ceramics), Juan López-Bautista (painting), Patrick Hoban (ceramics), John Klosterman (printmaking), and Amy Smoot (ceramics) will all have art works on display. In the video below, featuring the graduate students from this year's show, Assistant Professor Allison Grant talks about how important it is for students to learn how to talk about their work: Art Graduate Student Exhibition from UA College of Arts & Sciences on Vimeo. Join us September 6 for an exciting afternoon as students reveal what they have been working on in their art over the summer! For more information about UA Department of Art and Art History programs, click here: https://art.ua.edu/academics/.
Two Receptions Hosted for September Art Night
Start your semester off with a double-feature Art Night on Woods Quad! The UA Department of Art and Art History will host two receptions in our two Woods Quad art galleries, Thursday, September 6, beginning at 4 p.m. and lasting until 7 p.m. At 4 p.m., in Woods Hall, the Sella-Granata Art Gallery hosts a reception for our annual Graduate Student Exhibition, showcasing work by our current and new graduate students in studio art. Works presented will be in ceramics, digital media, painting, photography, printmaking and sculpture, and each student will present a 5-minute talk on their work beginning at 4 p.m. A reception for the artists will follow and be open until 6 p.m. Across the quad in Garland Hall, beginning at 5 p.m., the Sarah Moody Gallery of Art hosts a reception for its fall survey of the Permanent Collection, Com-bine. Works in this exhibition are from the Farley Moody Galbraith Collection, the Morgan Collection, the William and Sara Hall Collection and other generous gifts of artwork. The reception will go on until 7 p.m. Join us for Art Night in the historic heart of UA campus. Stroll between galleries through the Woods Quad Sculpture Garden with six outdoor sculptures, including a new one in Garland Hall's backyard by marketing major and studio art minor Paget Kern. Sarah Moody Gallery of Art Sella-Granata Art Gallery Historic Woods Quad is a five-minute walk from the Campus Drive Parking Deck and Bus Hub on Hackberry Lane. Information about visitor parking is available here: http://bamaparking.ua.edu/visitor-information/. For more information about The University of Alabama’s programs in studio art and art history, go here: https://art.ua.edu/academics/.
UA Graduate Student Paints “The Immigrant Life”
UA graduate student in painting and professor of biology Juan López-Bautista has paintings on display now through August 10 at Ayers LRC Art Gallery in Anniston, Ala. The exhibition, titled "The Immigrant Life," expresses López-Bautista's ideas of the migratory life through abstract, fluid, moving shapes that allude to the most internal processes of life. In his artist statement, he writes, "Through washes, layers, and biomorphic shapes I intend to explore the development of consciousness as a result of a cultural assimilation by migration. My work is an invitation to the viewer to perceive this migratory effort. In my practice, each work is not a final product but a continuation of the previous one and itself the preceding stage for the consequent work. I envision my paintings as an evolutionary continuum, where issues of race, tolerance, immigration, separation, pursue of happiness, and survival occupies the same pictorial space." López-Bautista has a Ph.D. in plant biology from Louisiana State University and has taught for fifteen years in UA’s Department of Biology. Before entering the MFA program in studio art at UA, he took courses in painting at LSU and at The University of Alabama. The Ayers LRC Art Gallery is located on 1801 Coleman Road, at Gadsden State Community College - Ayers campus, in Anniston and is open Mon. through Thurs., 8:00 am to 7 p.m. For more information about the UA Department of Art and Art History and its programs, visit this link: https://art.ua.edu/academics/ or contact the department at (205) 348-5967.
New Sculpture in the Garden
Like an exotic flower that blooms overnight, a new sculpture has recently appeared in the Woods Quad Sculpture Garden. Mobius and Borromean Rings was designed and created in steel by marketing major and studio art minor Paget Kern. Kern, who has taken sculpture courses for her art minor and makes jewelry at home, designed the work in a collaborative project with students in the departments of Math and Art and Art History. She linked two complex mathematical ideas together in a massive sculptural example. Kern explained that the design is “a triple Möbius strip tied together in a Borromean knot.” Kern's monumental sculpture joins a bouquet that includes work by nationally known sculptors, art faculty and former sculpture students. At the center of the garden is Craig Wedderspoon, "Quilted Vessel," 2013, cast and welded aluminum. "Montgomery Marker" by Craig Wedderspoon, in the Woods Quad Sculpture Garden, UA campus Lindsay Jones Lindsey, "Fibonacci Spiral" installed in the Woods Quad Sculpture Garden, 2014. Billy Lee, Homage to Brancusi, 1993, 138 x 28.5 x 12.5 inches; painted steel. Joe McCreary, "Goldie 1971," 2009, iron and steel; approx. 23 ft., in 2018, in the Woods Quad Sculpture Garden. Read more about the Woods Quad Sculpture Garden and UA's public sculpture. Go here for more information on The University of Alabama's Department of Art and Art History.