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UA Alumna Curates a Cornucopic Art Show

Salmagundi – Invited Artists in a Distinctive Mix of Styles, October 3, 2017-January 9, 2018, University Medical Center, Tuscaloosa

salmagundi. 1 :a salad plate of chopped meats, anchovies, eggs, and vegetables arranged in rows for contrast and dressed with a salad dressing. 2 :a heterogeneous mixture :potpourri. First Known Use: circa 1674.Salmagundi - Wellness Walls for Art exhibition

If you are wondering what you’ll see in an exhibition titled “Salmagundi,” it will be delicious, but it might not be what you’re expecting. Curator and UA art alumna Deborah Hughes has gathered together another distinctive and delightful group of paintings by expert artists, and as usual, this one will not disappoint the visitor to the University Medical Center.

The Wellness Walls for Art program at the University Medical Center presents Salmagundi – Invited Artists in a Distinctive Mix of Styles, open now through January 9, 2018, with accomplished Alabama artists Sue Pieri, Karen Jacobs, Chris Metzger, Janet Mego and Deborah Hughes. All of the artists exhibit their work regularly in state and regional exhibitions. Mego and Hughes are alumni of the UA Department of Art and Art History.

This time, Hughes said, she approached the show a little differently. “I invited artists before I considered a theme. After assembling the work, it was obvious that it presented a real challenge because of its diversity. After trial and error and careful attention to proximity and spacing, I found a really nice flow through the walls.” Like the salmagundi the exhibition is named for, there is a tasty variety in the art work she eventually chose. “The paintings offering contrast but also complement each other in their diversity.”

ABOUT THE WELLNESS WALLS FOR ART PROGRAM

In 2013, artist and UA art alumna Deborah Hughes took over coordinating art exhibitions at the University Medical Center and in January 2014 she became the official curator of the Wellness Walls for Art program. Past years’ shows include Small Curious Wonders, Side by Side: Paintings of Henry and Ann BetakMetaphysics in Almost Black and WhiteRecaptured, Rediscovered, and ReconsideredThe Artist’s Studio, Inside and Out, A Sense of Place, A Brush With Art – Paintings by The Tuscaloosa and University Painters; The Many Faces of Art in Adult Continuing Education; About People and Quilting and Carving, featuring the prints of Isadora Bullock and quilts by the West Alabama Quilters Guild, and More Quilting, Carving, and Printing Too!, among others.

For more information, contact Deborah Hughes at 205 310 5939. The University Medical Center is located at 850 5th Avenue East, Tuscaloosa and is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

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