Department of Art News

(By Mary Beard | Southern Living)
Each month Dixie Chic is scouring the digital storefronts to bring you our favorite Southern artisans. From textiles to typography and everything in between, discovering truly unique Southern pieces has never been this easy—or this fun.

The Shop:
Opened in 2011, Thimblepress is the creation of Kristen Ley, a Mississippi State alumna (BFA, May 2007) and lover of graphics and design. After dabbling in design studios both in Charleston and Jackson, Kristen, always interested in learning new mediums, tracked down a 1925 letterpress in Lexington, Kentucky. She and a friend then transported the 900-pound press all the way back down to Mississippi and with help from fellow letterpress artist Ed Inman, she learned the craft and began her studio. The name came from Kristen’s lifelong collection of thimbles found through her travels and saved from family members—a self-proclaimed dorky, but sentimental habit. The collection now resides in her office.

“I guess the reason I started Thimblepress was to give me a creative outlet where I can create what I want to create,” says Kristen. “The only client is myself, and I can freely create with no red tape or guidelines. Thimblepress is a personal reflection of me and what I love to do. I am still very humbled when people say they love my work.”

Her Style:
Eclectic, cheerful, and vibrant. Her shop has a little something for everyone, offering prints, apparel, and home goods all featuring her unique illustrations, designs, and watercolors. We especially love her collection of state prints. Each one is illustrated with its own state flower.

Drawing Inspiration:
“Influence comes directly from my life. Everything I do has a story behind it. I am very sentimental and the things I create have a direct connection to my life, be it family, friends, travel, or a random memory about fishing on a pier. People ask me where I got the idea to do something, and I can sit down and give them a whole story. I think I get that storytelling from my grandfather. I talk a lot now, I can’t imagine how much I will talk when I get to be 70 years old.”

Southern Influence:
“It has been a huge influence on me—I just love the South. My whole family was raised in the South, and I think some of the sayings that I use on my cards, prints, and other items reflect the culture I was raised in. The South, in particular Mississippi, has been overwhelmingly supportive of my work and my endeavors with Thimblepress. It is like one huge family of supporters!”

Check out Thimblepress’s storefront or find Kristen on Twitter: @thimblepress.

Also, keep an eye out for Kristen’s retail shop, opening this summer on North State Street in Jackson!

Caroline Cooper, academic records assistant for the Department of Art, has been selected as a 2013 Certificate of Merit recipient by the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA).

Cooper received the honor in the Primary Advising Category.

She will be recognized and honored at a special awards ceremony and reception being held at the annual NACADA Conference in Salt Lake City this fall as part of the 2013 Annual Awards Program for Academic Advising.

Read the story by Allison Matthews on MSU’s website!

Riley Reid recently received a Spirit of State Award sponsored by the Division of Student Affairs at Mississippi State University. Reid, a photography major in the Department of Art from Athens, Ala., was recognized with the other recipients at a public ceremony on Friday, April 19, in the Bill R. Foster Ballroom in the Colvard Student Union.

The eighth annual Spirit of State Awards formally honored those students who have excelled in campus involvement and service to the university and have made an impact on their peers and the broader campus community. Students from all MSU campuses, freshmen to graduate, were nominated.

“The many contributions Riley has made to Mississippi State University, the Department of Art, and the photography concentration make her a very special student,” said Assistant Professor Dominic Lippillo. “Her professionalism, integrity and strong work ethic will allow her to succeed in all of her future endeavors.”

Riley has demonstrated a commitment to the integrity and values that exemplify the ‘Spirit of State’ by volunteering her time for meaningful activities on and off campus. She was the lead student volunteer for the 2012 South Central Society for Photographic Education Conference; volunteers for Help Portrait, a global movement of photographers, hairstylists and makeup artists using their time, tools and expertise to give back to those in need; and recently served as a juror for the Starkville Parent Teacher Organization Art Competition (grades K – 12).

“Riley is an exceptional person. She is extremely creative as demonstrated in her recent BFA images,” said her professor Marita Gootee. “Frankly, I do not think we could have managed the October 2012 South Central Society for Photographic Education conference without Riley. She organized the student volunteers and contacted vendors for donations. She did just an amazing job. Her love of photography is in everything she does. She is a special person, and I am proud to know her.”

For more information contact the Department of Art at 662-325-2970.

Andrew Yerger | “PAW2″

Andrew Yerger, a senior in the Department of Art, was awarded the 2013 Jefferson Clarke Wilson Memorial Award For Excellence in Photography, which carries a $100 award.

Yerger was selected for his overall portfolio of entries.

The award is sponsored by Stuart Herring in memorial to his friend Jeff Wilson, who was an accomplished photographer and woodworker in addition to being a computer programmer and an employee of Mississippi State University for 35 years.

Sarah Kilpatrick said she made two ottomans last semester, and she is working on tables this semester.

Kilpatrick’s rocking chair

Sarah Kilpatrick

Sarah Kilpatrick, a junior sculpture major in the Department of Art, has received a scholarship to participate in the summer 2013 Higher Education Partners Program at Penland School of Crafts. Mississippi State was one of just 33 schools nationwide selected to participate in the matching scholarship program made possible by generous gifts from three of the department’s advisory board members: Ann Arledge, Charlotte McNeel and David Trigiani.

Kilpatrick will attend Penland’s Summer Session 5, Dean Pulver’s The Art of Chair Making, from July 21 through August 6. The class will include presentations, demonstrations, and discussions and will cover drawing, model making, mockups, ergonomics, joinery, laminate and steam bending, shaping and carving with hand and power tools and surface techniques.

“I know it’s going to be intense,” said Kilpatrick, who has taken three Maymester courses at Mississippi State. “You’ve got to be able to work fast,” she said. “You can’t just play around because it’s going to be over.”

Kilpatrick has already taken both of the chair classes offered in the Department of Art taught by Professor Critz Campbell.

“I know Critz’s techniques and methods,” she said. “Mr. Pulver may have a whole different method of doing stuff, so that’s just going to broaden what I know.”

“I expect to get a lot out of the class I will be attending; I feel like this experience will not only enhance the work I produce during my senior year in thesis, but also my future work as a furniture designer and artist,” she said.

Kilpatrick, who originally started in the Interior Design Program where she fell in love with furnishings, plans to follow her passion after graduation.

“It is my goal to one day have my own shop and create and build my own designs.”

collage 5 | Ashlei Michelle

stitches | Ashlei Michelle

Ashlei Michelle, a senior art student, received second place in the Arts and Humanities category of the MSU Undergraduate Research Symposium on March 22.

Michelle’s presentation included her thesis work from this semester and research from the past year.

Read the full story on MSU’s website.

Darrious and Jay | Whitten Sabbatini

Tim and Timothy | Whitten Sabbatini

Mississippi State Department of Art student Whitten Sabbatini had two photographs accepted into the Spirit of Place photo and video competition hosted by Maine Media Workshops + College. Sabbatini is a senior concentrating in photography.

More than 3,800 images and videos were submitted to 11 competition categories from image makers around the world. More than $25,000 in prizes will be awarded in a special ceremony on June 7 at Maine Media Workshops + College, along with an exhibition in the Maine Media Gallery in Rockport Village.

Two of Sabbatini’s images received Honorable Mention by the jurors.”Tim and Timothy” is an image of two young men sitting on the front of a car with its hood up. The two look as if they were working on jumping the battery as the car sits in the drive. The other image, “Darrious and Jay,” is of two older boys standing on a unpaved driveway. One boy holds a basketball. Deep in the background is an American flag.

“In both cases, Whitten saw the image and stopped to talk to the individuals. The photographs in this series are taken while Whitten converses with his subjects,” said Professor Maria Gootee, area coordinator for photography in the Department of Art. “There lies the mixture of the staged and unstaged. For a moment the viewer is invited in to visit, but there is also a feeling that this visit is only temporary. It is this duality that makes Whitten’s work so interesting.”

“We are very pleased with the response to this contest from people all over the U.S. and many other countries around the world and impressed by the quality of images and videos selected by our jurors,” said Meg Weston, president of Maine Media Workshops + College.

An esteemed panel of nine jurors representing the fine art, documentary, film and television professions selected winners.

“I was struck by the versatility and expansive points of view that suffused the work I reviewed,” said Norton Museum of Art curator Tim Wride.

Ben Fowlie, founder and director of the Camden International Film Festival, noted “the quality of the work was exceptional, and provided a glimpse inside both local and global communities.”

“Whitten’s work is a way for him to explore his surroundings and understand the people residing in this area. The images speak on many levels and seem to slow down the viewer’s sense of time, allowing the audience to explore all of the details in these temporary moments,” said Assistant Professor Dominic Lippillo.

The jurors were Stacey Baker, associate photo editor, New York Times Magazine; Roger Dell, director of education, Farnsworth Art Museum; Charlotte Dixon, artist and educator; Edward Earle, curator of collections, International Center of Photography; Ben Fowlie, founder and director, Camden International Film Festival; Patricia Luchsinger, producer, NBC Today; Jessica May, curator of contemporary & modern art, Portland Museum of Art; Laura Ozment Schenck, executive producer of television and special projects, Maine Public Broadcasting Network; and Tim B. Wride, William and Sarah Ross Soter Curator of Photography, Norton Museum of Art.

Journey Concert Poster | Jamie Mixon

A concert poster created by Professor Jamie Burwell Mixon for Verizon Arena won second place in the Pollstar LIVE! Poster of the Year competition at the 2013 Pollstar Concert Industry Awards and Conference. Her poster for a performance by the band Journey was on exhibit at the CIC 2013 in Los Angeles in February along with 30 other posters selected as finalists for the award. Over 200 concert poster entries were received from around the country this year.

The 24th Annual Pollstar Awards were held Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013 at Club Nokia in Los Angeles and hosted by Michael McDonald. Presenters included singer-songwriter Jackson Browne, producer and musician Dave Stewart (Eurythmics), performer Deadmau5 and Mayor Karl Dean of Nashville.

Artist Richard A. Lou, one of the jurors for the exhibit, congratulates all the students and tells them the quality of their work made his job tough.

A reception for the 41st MSU Student Juried Exhibition was held on March 7 in the Department of Art Gallery in McComas Hall. The presentation of awards honored winners in the Fine Art and Graphic Design competitions.

This year, 105 works were selected consisting of sculpture, painting, drawing, printmaking, ceramics, mixed media, graphic design, typography and package designs. Over $2000 dollars in prize and purchase awards were given out.

The work was selected for the exhibit by two jurors outside of the university. Richard A. Lou is a photography professor and chair of the Department of Art at the University of Memphis, and Doug Barrett is an assistant professor of graphic design at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

The show will remain up until March 28. Gallery hours in the Department of Art Gallery in McComas Hall are Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. All galleries are closed during school holidays.

Congratulations to the following winners:
• 1^st Place in Fine Arts category – Shelby Nichols for Scanography: Ecuadorian Tropics
• 2nd Place in Fine Arts category – Trey Hardin for Clarence
• 3^rd Place in Fine Arts category – Dominique Belcher for Colorful Soul
• Honorable Mention in Fine Art – Angela Latham for Nestled Tea Pot
• Starkville Area Arts Council Award ($100) – Nicole Beck for Fantasy and Reality
• 1^st place in Graphic Design – Sweta Desai for “We Click – Self Promotion”
• 2^nd Place in Graphic Design – Ashley Bennett for “Stay Foxy, Self Promo”
• 3^rd Place in Graphic Design – Margaret La Foe for “Cured! Pork Products Packaging”
• Graphic Design Juror’s Award ($100) – Bethany Johnson for “Letter Press Business card”
• RGH Paint Award to Regan Watts
• Mount Vision Pastel Award to Anthony Lowe for “Plugs”
• Potter’s Wheel Award to April Shelby
• Bill Dunlap Purchase Prize – Angela Latham for Nestled Tea Pot
• Bill Dunlap Purchase Prize – Jacob Craig for Untitled
• Bill Dunlap Purchase Prize – Sarah Kilpatrick for Tea Bowl

[Show as slideshow]

Katja Walter (photo by University Relations)

Katja Walter received the student 2013 MSU Diversity Award and was recognized at a ceremony on Friday, March 1 with the faculty, staff and team winners.

The annual awards program is designed to recognize individuals who have demonstrated a significant commitment to enhancing diversity.

Dr. Ravi Perry, assistant professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, was the featured speaker.

Click here for the full list of winners.

Watch the video on WCBI.

(from MSU’s website:)
Katja Walter is an undergraduate senior from Wasserburg am Bodensee, Germany. She is pursuing a degree in Graphic Design with a minor in Apparel, Textiles and Merchandising.

Katja is a very hard working, focused, and dedicated individual. English being her second language and the American norms, culture and lifestyle being an alien concept, Katja has blended in with the crowd very smoothly. Katja believes in giving back to the community and being active on campus in several different ways.

In 2011, she was elected as the president of the MSU German Club. Along with 53 other members, she actively takes part in various diverse events. Katja is currently working as a program coordinator assistant for the Holmes Cultural Diversity Center, as an information desk assistant for the Colvard Student Union, and as a customer service assistant for the Event Operations Group. She is also involved with Montgomery Leadership Program as part of the 2013-2014 class. Katja was a recipient of the 2012 Spirit of State Award and was selected as the 2012 Study Mississippi International Student of the Year in the undergraduate category.

Along with all these achievements, Katja Walter is involved in extracurricular and campus activities. She is part of the Gamma Beta Phi and Tau Sigma Delta National honor societies. Katja was nominated and selected to be one of the five students being featured on a Difference of One video series to capture her campus involvement. Katja also helps the Art Department to recruit new students and helps to improve the Department of Art as a member of the Student Arts Council and is a member of the Student Honor Code Council.

Besides her active involvement in on and off campus activities, Katja also shows a very promising and streamlined attitude towards her academics.

Click here to see the State Snapshot!