A unique and historic exhibition at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts that includes UA art alumni and faculty opens November 17. Uncommon Territory: Contemporary Art in Alabama honors the 200th anniversary of Alabama’s organization as a United States territory in 1817. The exhibition, Uncommon Territory, recognizes 30 artists/collaborative teams in a survey that showcases a cross-section of the exciting and challenging art currently produced in the state. The exhibition opens Friday, November 17 and runs through January 21, 2018. Works by UA Department of Art and Art History MFA alumni Clayton Colvin, Claire Lewis Evans, Amy Feger, Jamey Grimes (also UA faculty), Darius Hill and studio faculty Pete Schulte and Sky Shineman are included in the exhibition. A reception for the artists will be held Thursday, November 30 at 5:30 pm at the museum. At 7 pm, exhibition curator Jennifer Jankauskas will moderate a panel discussion with artists Katie Baldwin, Claire Lewis Evans, Stacey Holloway and Jürgen Tarrasch to reflect on their diverse ways of working. According to the MMFA's website, "Focusing on new and innovative works produced within the last few years, this survey demonstrates not only a commitment to community and place, but also a dedication to highlighting new viewpoints and practices." MMFA's press release states, "Many of the selected artists demonstrate sustained levels of significant accomplishment both in and out of the state while others at the beginning of their careers display growth and distinction. Each of the artists creates art that is relevant at this precise moment and contributes to the current vitality of artistic creativity found throughout the state." The complete list of artists in the exhibition: Katie Baldwin; Aaron Tennessee Benson; Annie Campbell; Merrilee Challiss; Clayton Colvin; Colleen Comer; Claire Lewis Evans; Amy Feger; Will Fenn and Molly Freeman; Ryan Foster; Jamey Grimes; Darius Hill; Stacey Holloway; Chintia Kirana; Carlton Nell; Cary Norton and Jared Ragland; Irby Pace; Elisabeth Pellathy; E. Bruce Phillips, Jr.; Amy Pleasant; Pete Schulte; Sky Shineman; Greg Skaggs; Lee Somers; Jürgen Tarrasch; Pamela Venz; Cindy Wagner; Michael Willett; Rachel Wright and Tanner Young. For more information about Uncommon Territory, call the MMFA at 334.240.4333 or visit the website at http://mmfa.org/. See photos of the installation on Facebook. For more information about The University of Alabama’s programs in studio art and art history, go here: https://art.ua.edu/academics/graduate-programs/art-requirements/.
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.