Department of Art News

The Department of Art faculty have an exhibit open through June in the Cullis Wade Depot Gallery: It’s What I Do.

Read more on MSU’s website.

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Professor Peter Bain contributed an original asterisk to a collaborative typeface for Hurricane Sandy Relief.

Peter Bain, Assistant Professor in the Department of Art, contributed an original asterisk to a collaborative typeface for Hurricane Sandy relief.

The Society of Typographic Aficionados organized “Font Aid VI: Aster Affects” — a project uniting the typographic and design communities to raise funds for Red Cross relief efforts after the events of Hurricane Sandy.

More than 250 designers from 41 countries contributed glyphs to the project.

The project theme was represented in a typeface consisting entirely of asterisks and other star-inspired symbols.

For more information and to purchase the Aster Affects font as a Red Cross donation, visit http://www.typesociety.org/fontaid/vi/

Professor Jeffrey Haupt

The Department of Art is proud to showcase works by its very own faculty members from May through June. Works will include samples of paintings, ceramics, sculpture, drawings, photography and printmaking all made by professors at Mississippi State University.

The Department of Art Faculty Exhibition will be in the Cullis Wade Depot Gallery (second floor of the MSU Welcome Center, next to Barnes and Noble and the Stadium). Hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. The gallery is free and open to the public.

For more information, or to set up a guided tour please contact:
Lori Neuenfeldt, Coordinator for the Visual Arts Center Gallery and Outreach Programs
662-325-2973, lneuenfeldt@caad.msstate.edu

Lori Neuenfeldt talks to Boys & Girls Club members at the Visual Arts Center Gallery.

Boys & Girls Club members in front of the VAC.

Adrienne Callander leads a Valentine’s Day workshop at the Boys & Girls Club.

When Adrienne Callander joined the Department of Art faculty at Mississippi State, her earliest experiences involved outreach. Lori Neuenfeldt, coordinator for the Visual Arts Center and outreach programs, enlisted her right away to lead a fiber arts workshop at the Starkville Boys & Girls Club.

The Department of Art first sat down with Joyce Ellenwood, chief professional officer of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Golden Triangle, last year to talk about how to get students at the university and at the club involved with hands-on art projects and visits to the art galleries on campus. Since then, students from the Boys and Girls Club have visited campus to see two art exhibitions, and art students and faculty have taught numerous projects at the club.

“The work with the Boys and Girls Club has really been an inspiration and launching point for planning more outreach programs in the Department,” said Neuenfeldt.

Callander continues to support Neuenfeldt and other outreach efforts between the Department and the greater MSU and Starkville community, which have been dubbed MSU Arts Inclusion.

The plan right now is to have one project per month with the Boys & Girls Club until more students get involved, and Neuenfeldt and Callander hope to increase the efforts each semester.

Building on her outreach experience with the Boys & Girls Club, Callander also started a club last semester to share her love and passion for fiber arts. The framework for the Fiber Arts Club is that of community-based learning.

As skills develop within the club, members will begin sending artwork into the community. Members have been encouraged to include their work in the upcoming Fiber Arts Showcase put on by the Columbus Arts Council. They have also started joining in on The Golden Triangle Quilt Guild’s Saturday “Sit ’n Sews.”

“This outreach initiative is also an effort to expose students to teaching within the arts,” said Callander. “If someone has something to teach the fiber club, we encourage that individual to take the reins to broaden our knowledge base. In turn, we want to share the fiber club with any and all members of the MSU campus and the Starkville community. This is also an aim of ours in bringing our students to the Boys & Girls Club – we want them to gain hands-on experience teaching in the arts.”

At the same time, Neuenfeldt has been working to grow art outreach through other relationships in the community. Neuenfeldt believes in leading by example and currently sits on the board of the Starkville Area Arts Council (SAAC) and is chair of the SAAC Art in Public Places Committee.

“This is one of the many ways we can get students and community connected,” she said. “The Arts in Public Places shows at the Greater Starkville Development Partnership are one of the places students show their work and allow the community to see the skills practiced by young artists.”

Neuenfeldt said Department of Art students are also volunteering with the SAAC.

“Many areas of the arts wouldn’t survive without volunteers,” she said. “It gets students working with a professional organization – one that gives back to the community.”

“We have a lot more ideas that we would love to bring to fruition,” said Callander about MSU Arts Inclusion. “For instance, an art van that would bring supplies and teachers to locations where instruction in the arts is needed. It’s easier to bring the art to the people sometimes.”

This summer, the Department of Art will launch a weeklong summer program for high school students wanting the complete artistic experience. In-Vision: MSU Visual Arts Summer Program will be an exciting, intensive introduction to the studio fields of art and design. Participants in the program will work hands-on creating art in classes taught by faculty and professionals in fields such as sculpture, graphic design, drawing and illustration.

“We are very excited about offering this to talented and curious high school students,” said Neuenfeldt. “And parents are pleased to hear that we will also address careers in the field of art post college graduation.”

Neuenfeldt said the plan is to have the program every summer and continue to keep even the young members of the community involved and interested in the arts.

“It’s fun to grow something from scratch, and I feel like in Starkville, you can do it,” said Callander. “You just need to take the first steps, and see where it leads you.”

If you’d like to get involved with MSU Arts Inclusion, or if you have more ideas for outreach, contact Lori Neuenfeldt at 662-325-2973 or Adrienne Callander at 662-325-1515.

Read the story in The Reflector by Catie Marie Martin: Crafting Relationships: Department of Art, MSU art students reach out to Starkville Boys & Girls Club.

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.

“Dusty’s Spring Window” | Neil Callander | 20″x20″ oil on panel

Neil Callander, assistant professor in the Department of Art, is currently exhibiting in the 28th Annual Positive/Negative National Juried Art Exhibition, Minority Rule. The exhibition runs February 18 to March 8, 2013 in the Slocumb Galleries of East Tennessee State University.

Juror Michael Ray Charles writes that Minority Rule “is a concept inspired by evolving forces integral to life in America during, what I refer to as, the threshold years of the 21st century. Cultural norms, tradition and values are in a constant state of negotiation.  In an attempt to accommodate nontraditional norms that are shaped by technology, labor, economics and globalization, established customs and beliefs are re-examined, modified, and, in some cases, rendered obsolete. . . .It has been said, ‘the distinction between past, present, and future is only a persistent illusion.’ What each artist chosen for this exhibition loves and whatever they have come to understand has influenced the work they’ve produced. Each generation of artists are faced with the ultimate challenge of discovering itself, its values and norms. This generation of artists is no different. Its road towards self discovery is shaped by ideas derived from proven and failed practices of previous generations, but it will eventually find its ways of making art which reflects who it is and what it will become.”

Callander recently moved to Starkville from Louisville, Ky., where he taught at the University of Louisville for five years. He is the Foundation Program Coordinator in the Art Department and teaches Drawing and Design courses.    

“Chiroptera” | Intaglio/Monoprint | Natasha Patterson

Natasha Patterson, an MSU art major, and Professor Linda K. Seckinger recently participated in the Cascade International Print Portfolio Exchange.

Submissions for the exchange were entered from around the nation and world.

Patterson and Seckinger produced two-run intaglio/monoprint editions of eighteen impressions for the exchange. Patterson’s edition was produced in Seckinger’s Art 4620 Advanced Printmaking course.

Each participant will receive a print portfolio containing thirteen different impressions randomly selected from the submitted entries. Prints from each participant will be entered into the permanent print collection of Oregon State University.

Gregory Martin

Gregory Martin, assistant professor in the Department of Art, has several paintings in the exhibition, Still Lifes, Landscapes, and Posers, that runs from February 23 – March 9 at Threesquared Gallery in Nashville, Tenn.

In Still Lifes, Landscapes, and Posers, artist and guest curator Mary Addison Hackett brings together six painters from across the country whose use of deceptively simple subject matter reveals itself to be more complex than it first appears. Her relationship to each of these painters is based on a dialogue of shared sensibilities and a respect for the process of painting and depth that each artist brings to the table.

The exhibition features the work of Cole Case (Los Angeles, Calif.), Mary Addison Hackett (Nashville, Tenn.), Carla Knopp (Indianapolis, Ind.), Steven LaRose (Talent, Ore.), Nomi Lubin (New Haven, Conn.) and Gregory Martin (Starkville).

Martin is a California native whose work explores the relationship between human ideals and practice. Citing growth and decay, the illusion of depth and flatness, the “truth” of photography along with the “fiction” of painting, Martin’s landscapes become contemplative spaces in which to experience dualities and polarities within human nature, the natural world and the practice of painting.
Martin studied visual art at CSU Long Beach and Claremont Graduate University where he received his MFA in Painting in 2002. Solo and group exhibitions include the Museum of Art & History, (Lancaster, Calif.); Electric Lodge, (Venice, Calif.); George Billis Gallery, (Culver City, Calif.); Ruth Bachofner Gallery, (Santa Monica, Calif.), and most recently, McComas Gallery at Mississippi State University, where he is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Art.

Located in the historic Chestnut Square Building, threesquared is a contemporary art space dedicated to showcasing work that exemplifies conceptual and aesthetic expertise. The aim is to create a forum for discussion and foster a greater sense of artistic community in Nashville. threesquared was founded by Dane Carder, whose studio space currently houses the gallery. Sara Estes is the gallery director and curator. Aside from opening parties, the gallery is open by appointment. For more information, visit threesquaredgallery.com.

Read the online post about the exhibit by Laura Hutson with Nashville Scene.  (A more extensive post was published in the print edition.)

Check out the video about the exhibit!

Dominic Lippillo, professor in the Department of Art, was recently featured in an article about his collaborative project with Mark Schoon, “Anti-Local.”

Read the article!

“Spiral” | Gregory Martin

Assistant Professor Gregory Martin’s painting “Spiral” was awarded Best in Show by juror Dr. Paul Manoguerra in the Louisiana Purchase Second National Biennial Juried Exhibition at the F. Jay Taylor Visual Arts Center Gallery at Louisiana Tech University in Rustin, La.

“Spiral” is one of several paintings by Martin included in the Louisiana Purchase exhibition, which runs from Jan. 15 through Feb. 18.

After a difficult deliberation, Manoguerra chose 49 artists to share their work in the exhibition.

“As juror for this exhibition, and given the types of art entered via the submission process, I elected to make use of the title and its reference to the early 19th-century land deal negotiated by Thomas Jefferson, and to focus on a single exhibition theme: landscape and the human presence within the landscape. Artists accepted for the biennial display made excellent, contemporary visual use of landscape imagery and environmental motifs: beauty, sublimity, history, maps, agriculture, flora, fauna, shelter and industry, among others. And, although the call for entries was open to all media, a majority of the works submitted were photographs. As such, photographs of landscapes and the human impact on landscapes compose a significant portion of Louisiana Purchase,” said Manogeurra, chief curator and curator of American art, who has worked at the Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, since 2002.

Manogeurra also wrote One Hundred American Paintings, published in late 2010, which was recently named a 2011 Book of the Year Finalist in Art by ForeWard Reviews. It also won the Special Projects award from the Georgia Association of Museums and Galleries. Manoguerra has served as curator for and developed more than fifty art exhibitions of various sizes. He also served as curator and author for Classic Ground: Mid-Nineteenth-Century American Painting and the Italian Encounter, an exhibition and book that examines American paintings, created as the result of Italian travels, within the context of U.S. social and cultural history. Classic Ground won the Award of Excellence for Exhibitions at the Southeastern Museums Conference in 2005 and the Mary Ellen LoPresti Art Publication Award of the Southeast Chapter of the Art Libraries Society of North America.