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 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

A reception was held on Thurs., April 11 for 16 fine art and photography students. The seniors were announced in the Department of Art Gallery in McComas Hall, and the reception continued at the Colvard Student Union Gallery and the Visual Arts Center on University Drive.

The exhibition, which will be on display from April 9 through April 13 in McComas Hall and the Visual Arts Center Gallery (and through the end of April in the Colvard Student Union Gallery on the 2nd floor), represents the culmination of a year of research and thesis studies, as well as four years of university foundations, survey, art history, academic and emphasis classes. The capstone experience consists of the development of a significant body of work, as well as critical studies, writing and exposition that leads to a group exhibition, archive and portfolio in the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.

Students exhibiting include:
Loren Bartnicke
Mary Katherine Blackwell
Kellie Brady
Alexis Harrington
Nathan McRee
Ashlei Michelle
Jon Nowell
Destiney Powell
Dorothy Printz
Riley Reed
Whitten Sabbatini
April Shelby
Mary Switzer
Morgan Welch
Hannah Williams
Kacey Woolery

The Spring 2013 BFA Fine Art and Photography Senior Show is sponsored by the MSU Department of Art and the College of Architecture, Art and Design.

If you would like to purchase any of the work or for more information, contact the Mississippi State University Department of Art at 662-325-2070, or email lneuenfeldt@caad.msstate.edu.

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Click here for the schedule of events.

Watch the video on WCBI!

Read the article by Daniel Hart in The Reflector.

MSU senior art student DestineyPowell at work in her studio.

(Written by thesis students:)
What started out as a simple series of drawings grew into a much more personal battle for MSU art student Destiney Powell when she found out that her son has a hole in his heart and will require surgery, just three days before her senior art show opens on April 9. Life is built up of a series of experiences in which we have the chance to grow based on the decisions we make. Just ask Destiney, a senior Art/Drawing major from Batesville, about her own life experiences, and she will show you her scroll-like works of art that are as large as figures, complete with vibrant, organic forms alive with movement and color. She has illustrated the creation of life, from conception through the birth process. Powell chose to use this journey as a metaphor for her growth as an artist in order to “express the moods and emotions that [she] felt throughout [her] own pregnancy.” An optimistic and hopeful young woman, Powell says, “Maybe this life lesson is happening for a reason. My thesis is now about experiencing life with your creations. It’s now about my son and the experiences and challenges that he will face. Perhaps art is life after all.”

April Thesis Show Features Works by Sixteen MSU Students
Powell and 15 fellow senior art students will exhibit their Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) Fine Art and Photography Thesis Exhibition during the month of April in three galleries across the MSU campus: the Department of Art Gallery in McComas Hall, the Colvard Student Union Gallery and in MSU’s Visual Arts Center at 808 University Drive. A public reception filled with faculty, students, friends, family and food will be held on April 11th in all three galleries beginning at 5:30 p.m. in McComas Hall, proceeding to the Union Gallery at 6:30 then arriving at the Visual Arts Center at 7:15 p.m. and ending at 8 p.m. It is also open to the public, so all are encouraged to attend. Student introductions will take place in McComas at 6 p.m.

The exhibition, which will be on display from April 9 through April 13 in McComas Hall and the Visual Arts Center Gallery (and through April in the MSU Colvard Student Union Gallery on the 2nd floor), represents the culmination of a year of research and thesis studies, as well as four years of university foundations, survey, art history, academic and emphasis classes. The capstone experience consists of the development of a significant body of work, as well as critical studies, writing and exposition that leads to a group exhibition, archive and portfolio in the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Each student is mentored by a faculty thesis committee and develops the exhibition processes as part of a team of students. The BFA Graphic Design senior show will follow this exhibition. Mississippi State University’s Art program, a part of the College of Architecture, Art and Design, is the largest undergraduate studio program in the state of Mississippi and offers views of its senior student work each semester.

Student Artists Represent Diverse Art Disciplines
Sixteen MSU senior students represent Fine Art Concentration emphasis areas of Painting, Sculpture, Ceramics, and Drawing, as well as the Photography Concentration.

Riley Reid, MSU Photography student from Athens, Ala.

“Woman at Window” by Riley Reid

Art/Photography major Riley Reed of Athens, Ala., explored the sociological and psychological theory that says our perception of ourselves is really based on how we think others perceive us. Reed observed this theory through her camera lens as she has photographed people interacting inside their homes, but she will not be inside with them. She stands outside and takes the photographs through a window, with the permission of the subject(s), of course. Reed says that this “allows her and her audience to become involved in the lives of others but distanced in a way that gives an extended look into the lives of others outside the critical eye of the world/community.”

Jon Nowell, MSU art student, stands in the proximity of his work

Jon Nowell, an Art/Sculpture major from Ridgeland, strives to celebrate his artistic freedom. He says that these “artistic objects and instances manifest naturally and ostentatiously to illuminate the things [he has] learned, observed, desired and failed to comprehend fully.”

Dorothy Printz, an Art/Painting major from Brandon, seeks to communicate past, present and future emotions through her mixed media, sculptural spheres that include letters from her grandmothers and dyed fabric.

Art/Painting major Kacey Woolery of Morton depicts the struggle of dealing with past relationships through his charcoal and paint representations of “The Red String of Fate.”

Art/Photography major Alexis Harrington of Starkville studied Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs,’ a psychological theory, as she photographed the experiences her subjects go through when a specific need is taken away.

Loren Bartnicke, an Art/Painting major from Little Rock, created busy, visually intriguing, thought-provoking images of people. Her paintings are not about the subject but about the physical existence of the paintings.

Ashlei Michelle of Ocean Springs is an Art/Drawing major; however, she succeeds in creating three-dimensional objects that complement her drawings. The series of objects appear to be clothing made of latex that obviously constricts the motion of the wearer. The purpose of these wearable objects is to convey the social implications of physical disability.

Starkville native and Art/Painting major Mary Switzer says that there is “a cognitive spontaneity” in the way she has painted her atmospheric, soft, neutral acrylic paintings.

Kellie Brady, an Art/Photography major from Brookhaven, uses a monoprinting process to create nonrepresentational images of conflict and tranquility that stem from her own life experiences.

Mary Katherine Blackwell, an Art/Drawing major from Macon, has illustrated a murder ballad called “The Mountain” written by her brother and local Blues musician, Drew Blackwell. To create a sense of unease, Blackwell chose to splash red ink on the otherwise neutral color palette.

Art/Photography major Nathan McRee of Grenada captures his curiosity of nighttime and dim light in a series of landscape photographs taken across the countryside of Webster and Grenada counties.

Morgan Welch, an Art/Sculpture major from Jackson, has built a workbench to be presented not only as a tool but also as a historical study and an effective design object. He has strategically planned out this highly practical workbench so that it functions in the best interest of the user.

Hannah Williams, an Art/Photography major from Amory, has photographed the interior of her home in order to create a dialogue of the transitional tension that takes place when domestic change occurs.

Art/Photography major Whitten Sabbatini of Clinton explores people, places and incidents through the medium of digital photography.

April Shelby of Florence is an Art/Ceramics major who combines hand-built and wheel-thrown clay techniques. She has constructed multiple ceramic objects that can be arranged differently each time they are displayed so that the perception of the work of art is never the same.

The Spring 2013 BFA Fine Art and Photography Senior Show is sponsored by the MSU Department of Art and the College of Architecture, Art and Design. For more information, contact the Mississippi State University Department of Art at 662 325 2070, or email lneuenfeldt@caad.msstate.ed

Artist Bill Dunlap (left) and TV producer Sam Haskell III (center) watch as colleague and friend W. Ralph Eubanks, director of publishing at the Library of Congress, speaks to an audience at Mississippi State University. (Photo by Megan Bean)

As the first artist in residence at Mississippi State, Bill Dunlap has set the bar high – interacting with the community, students and faculty and bringing in numerous colleagues to teach workshops and lectures and to interact with students.

“We are just so fortunate that he’s bringing that experience and culture to campus,” said Lydia Thompson, head of the Art Department, when introducing Dunlap at one of his final events as artist in residence.

While in graduate school, Dunlap said he was touched by some visiting artists who told him there was life in the arts after the university. So, he decided to wrap up his residency by sharing that experience with the help of two friends – W. Ralph Eubanks and Sam Haskell III.

Eubanks, director of publishing at the Library of Congress, credited his success with networking and connections early on, and he extended that offer to the audience.

“Someone helped me; I want to help you guys as well,” he said.

Eubanks went on to explain that in his position, he works to develop books based on collections at the library.

“I take them; I make stories about them; and I try to make sense of them,” he said. “I’m a storyteller.”

He credits his Mississippi roots for helping him tell his stories, explaining that storytelling is a huge part of Mississippi’s culture.

Haskell has also credits his Mississippi roots in helping him fulfill his childhood dream of working in television, and he is now the worldwide head of television.

“When you think about a life in the arts, when you think about just enjoying the arts … you have to think about dreams,” said Haskell, who said he dreamed as a child of working in television and would walk around his small town of Amory with a TV guide in hand, telling people what was coming on television that night.

Haskell then told the story that changed his life and made him believe his dreams could come true. He explained how he saw a Procter & Gamble commercial when he was nine that said the “Cheer man” would be visiting towns across America and would give $10 to anyone who could show proof they used Cheer detergent.

“Well, I was absolutely sure that he was coming to Amory, Mississippi,” said Haskell, who – much to the ridicule of friends and family – painted a giant Cheer box on a sign to display in his yard.

A year later, the Friday before Labor Day in 1965, the Cheer man did show up, and Haskell was given his $10. He learned that every registered voter in every county across the country was put into a computer system that chose two addresses at random. Haskell’s house happened to be one of the two chosen in Monroe County.

After that, “I learned at a very young age what blind faith was … the blind faith about having a dream and working hard for that dream.” Haskell said, “The Cheer man has come for me many times since, and the Cheer man can come for you, too, you just have to have the capacity to dream.”

The guest speakers then took some time to answer a few questions about their ‘lives in the arts’ and how they achieved their dreams.

Click below to watch video clips:
W. Ralph Eubanks
Sam Haskell III
Sam Haskell III (part 2)
panel

For more information about the artist-in-residency program, contact the MSU Art Department at 662-325-2202.

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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

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The Department of Art, College of Architecture, Art and Design and Mississippi State University is proud to host a series of presentations, “A Life in the Arts,” that will explore what it means to have a life in the arts. Guest speakers will discuss aspects of their careers in fine arts, publishing, design, television media and creative writing.

March 25
4:30pm
Giles Hall, Robert and Freda Harrison Auditorium
William Dunlap – Artist
W. Ralph Eubanks – Author
Sam Haskell III – Television producer and author

More about the presenters:
William Dunlap:
William Dunlap is a nationally recognized artist born in Mississippi. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1967 from Mississippi College in Clinton, worked as a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Mississippi from 1967 to 1969, and earned a Masters of Fine Art from the University of Mississippi in 1969. In 1985 he won the Mississippi Arts and Letters, Visual Arts Award and since has had numerous exhibits of his work around the state. His paintings, sculpture and constructions are included in prestigious collections such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Lauren Rogers Museum, Mississippi Museum of Art, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, IBM Corporation, Federal Express, Arkansas Art Center, and United State Embassies throughout the world.

W. Ralph Eubanks:
W. Ralph Eubanks is the author of Ever Is a Long Time: A Journey Into Mississippi’s Dark Past (Basic Books), which Washington Post book critic Jonathan Yardley named as one of the best nonfiction books of 2003. He has contributed articles to the Washington Post Outlook and Style sections, the Chicago Tribune, Preservation and National Public Radio. A graduate of the University of Mississippi (B.A.) and the University of Michigan (M.A., English Language and Literature), he is a recipient of a 2007 Guggenheim Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation and has been a fellow at the New America Foundation. Ralph lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and three children and is director of publishing at the Library of Congress.

Ralph’s most recent book, The House at the End of the Road: The Story of Three Generations of an Interracial Family in the American South, was released May 19, 2009, by the Harper imprint at HarperCollins.

Sam Haskell III:
In 2007 Television Week Magazine named Sam Haskell III “One of the 25 Most Innovative and Influential People in Television of the Last 25 Years.” Haskell earned his ranking among the industry’s best through his 26-year career at the renowned William Morris Agency where he was one of the most powerful agents and dealmakers in the business.

Originally from Amory, Haskell graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1977. Haskell worked in Los Angeles for William Morris Agency first as an agent in the TV Variety Department then as senior vice president, after which he was promoted to West Coast Head of Television. In 1997 he was named executive vice president and a member of the WMA Board of Directors, and, in 1999, he was appointed to the position of Worldwide Head of Television.

Prior to Haskell’s retirement from WMA in late 2004, his clients included: Bill Cosby, Kathie Lee Gifford, Ray Romano, Whoopi Goldberg, Dolly Parton, George Clooney, Sela Ward, Martin Short, Kirstie Alley, Tony Danza, Sean Hayes, Michael Feinstein, Lily Tomlin, Lucie Arnaz and His Royal Highness The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex.

Haskell is also known for his role as executive producer of “Mississippi Rising,” a three-hour, MSNBC special hosted by Morgan Freeman, which raised over $30 million for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. As Chairman of the Mary Kirkpatrick Haskell Scholarship Foundation, Mr. Haskell’s biennial “Stars Over Mississippi” benefit concerts in Amory have raised millions of dollars in college scholarship funds for Mississippi youngsters in need of financial assistance to further their education. In addition, Mr. Haskell serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Miss America Organization and Executive Producer of the Miss America Pageant telecasts.

Haskell’s discusses is journey from a small town Mississippi boy through his days in Hollywood in his nationally-bestselling memoir, Promises I Made My Mother, in which he attributes his success to the lessons he learned from his mother at an early age – lessons such as faith, hope and character.

Check out the story by Margaret Kovar with MSU University Relations!

“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.    

Artist Wyatt Waters paints fellow artist and friend Bill Dunlap. (Photo by Whitten Sabbatini)

Photo by Whitten Sabbatini

Faculty from the Department of Art stand with Wyatt Waters and Bill Dunlap after the workshop.

By Margaret Kovar | University Relations

STARKVILLE, Miss.–Mississippi watercolor painter Wyatt Waters demonstrated his techniques and discussed his life as an artist during a free event at Mississippi State Thursday.

Sponsored by the MSU Artist-in-Residency program featuring William “Bill” Dunlap, Waters shared stories, musings and techniques with an audience that included students, faculty, staff and members of the community.

Waters brought copies of many of his watercolors and gave insight into his painting style while painting a portrait of Dunlap.

Waters said that for him, the real appeal of art is connecting with one person.

“You do this for yourself, but you do it to connect with people too. And you have to have a generosity of spirit,” he said. “You have to connect with people somehow and sometimes its strange ways that makes those connections.”

The Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson and the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art in Laurel have hosted solo shows of Waters’ work and two books of his paintings have been published. He is currently represented by Gallery 119 in Jackson and Southside Gallery in Oxford.

The artist is a past president and signature member of the Mississippi Watercolor society and his work has been featured in numerous magazine articles including American Artists Special Watercolor Issues, Art and Antiques, and Mississippi Magazine.

Waters studied painting and drawing at Mississippi College in Clinton, receiving his bachelor’s degree in art with a minor in English and later a Master of Fine Arts.

The university’s art department recently established the artist-in-residence program to enhance its mission of preparing students for careers or advanced studies. The program emphasizes studio practice, liberal arts, visual language and exposure to regional, national and international artists.

For more information about the artist-in-residency program, contact the MSU art department at 662-325-2202.

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