Tangibility of Faith:
Art & Religion in Appalachia and Tennessee
Cover Image ‘Remembering the Seven: Jesus’ by Halide Salam Catalogue background: ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’ by Joe Letitia © Slocumb Galleries and Participating Artists, 2019 | All rights reserved Images and artist statements courtesy of the Artists and representatives. | Gallery exhibition images taken by Slocumb Galleries Curatorial Interns, staff, and Friends of Slocumb Galleries’ Maria Theresa, Aaron Bell, Mary Nees and East Tennessean. All images and work are copyright property of the Artists. | Catalogue design by Amanda Kilhenny. ETSU is an AA/EEO employer. ETSU-CAS-0078-18 50
Tangibility of Faith: Art & Religion in Appalachia and Tennessee
Curated by Moira Frazier, Cheyenne Good, Amber Howard Sasan Ahovan Clorinda Bell Rachel Boillot William Cross+ Nancy Fischman Joe Letitia Jeff Marley Jocelyn Mathewes Mary Nees Masud Olufani Halide Salam Randy Sanders Katie Sheffield Page Turner Yancy Villa-Calvo Carlton Wilkinson The Reece Museum and Tipton Gallery, ETSU
CURATORIAL STATEMENT ‘Tangibility of Faith: Art and Religion in Appalachia and Tennessee’ Tangibility of Faith aims to highlight the diversity of religious thought and practice in the region of East Tennessee, and Appalachia more broadly, by showcasing works of spiritual art from a variety of perspectives. Oftentimes the reputation of Appalachian religious practice tends to sit squarely in the charismatic Christian tradition, and while that certainly is an important part of the fabric of Appalachian culture, it’s not the only expression of religious tradition that is happening in this diverse region. There are many expressions of faith thriving throughout Appalachia, and all of them have something unique to share. This exhibition seeks to bring together works of art that capture this unique element from each practice of faith. Many of the artists in this exhibition directly incorporate their personal practices of faith in their work, while others choose to represent how a certain faith has shaped our community and environment. By incorporating a wide variety of religious expression, the goal becomes fostering a sense of togetherness, community, respect, and learning among all traditions. Furthermore, because religious art often incorporates elements that may not be seen in other types of art, Tangibility of Faith will explore the qualities of religious or spiritual art that separate it from the rest. While viewing many religious images in preparation for this exhibition, it became evident that for these artists, the choice of subject matter, medium, color, style, and composition is greatly affected by religious practice. Many times, religious or spiritual art is made differently, with a unique process or perspective. This exhibit will explore that element as well and seek to explore shared characteristics across traditions. The project is a multi-media group exhibition with an interfaith panel and performances featuring works that investigate the visuality of diverse faiths in Appalachia, a region stereotyped as geographically and culturally isolated and homogenous. In attempt to veer away from the stereotyped images tied to this region, the exhibition features artists from a variety of religious denominations and expressions who create objects that manifest their understanding, historical interpretation, and visions of their respective religious structures. This exhibition provides a glimpse on contemporary art as cultural objects that artists create to address the visuality or physical manifestation of faith. The title, “Tangibility of Faith,” is inspired by a quote from artist Joe Letitia, a Knoxville-based artist whose work reflects upon the manifestation of faith and the importance of the physicality of belief. Dominant in numbers in the region are the many expressions of Christian faith, and the project seeks to include examples of a wide variety of Christian practice, theology, and thought. These include Catholic religious portraits by Peruvian and Knoxville-based artist Clorinda Bell; spiritual
prints by Orthodox Christian artist Jocelyn Matthews, whose husband is the priest at Christ the Savior Greek Orthodox Church in Bristol; and works by printmaker and Christian artist Mary Nees, whose abstracted landscapes are inspired by select quotes in the Bible. In the realm of three-dimensional representation, William Cross’ sculpture provides a fresh look at a well-known biblical metaphor, while Page Turner’s mixed media assemblages depict the life of Mormon sisterhood. In addition, the distinct yet parallel photo documentations of Rachel Boillot’s Cumberland Gap Project, Katie Sheffield’s and Carlton Wilkinson’s images of Black Appalachia offer further expressions of the variety of ways Christian faith can and does manifest in this region. Mexican-American artist Yancy Villa-Calvo, from Memphis, provides counterbalance with her ‘Hamsa’ paintings, which act as representation of religious objects from the Old Testament and celebrate the presence of Judaism in the state of Tennessee. Likewise, the ceramic work of Nancy Fischman also explores the Jewish faith by combining its mortuary traditions with her personal interpretations of death. Furthermore, artwork by Muslim artist Dr. Halide Salam, a professor at Radford University, show non-figurative images that reflect the Islamic tradition and provide a glimpse of the complex and often misunderstood community of believers. Likewise, Cherokee artist Jeff Marley uses his sculptural work to reconcile the traditions and culture of his ancestral faith with his current position in the modern world. The goal to present an inclusive interfaith visual experience is also reflected by work from Baha’i artist Masud Olufani, whose installation masterfully combines images of differing faiths as a critique of religious history. Baha’i faith, a spiritual denomination that respects the diversity of various messengers and considers them all Manifestations of God, sees the variety of religious traditions as a continuation rather than a contradiction, ultimately seeking “unifying vision for the future society on the purpose and vision of life.” This concept of unifying religious practice is found in the Unitarian Universalist practice, which is represented in this exhibition by Randy Sanders, a Unitarian Universalist turned agnostic, whose work also presents an interfaith perspective. An important aspect of the exhibition is the accompanying Interfaith Panel, facilitated by curators Amber Howard and Cheyenne Good at the Reece Museum. The exhibition was featured on two venues, one at the Reece Museum where the panel and Hijab Day were held, and the other at Tiipton Gallery where the downtown reception included musical performance by Sasan Ahovan, a recent graduate of ETSU, whose musical style mixes traditional Iranian and Bluegrass genres.
Curatorial Collective Spenser Brenner is the Exhibition Coordinator at the Reece Museum on the campus of East Tennessee State University. An Appalachian native, Brenner was raised in Southwest Virginia and earned his associate degree from Southwest Virginia Community College before moving to Johnson City to study at ETSU. During his time as a student, Spenser worked for galleries on campus and in the community. After graduating in 2013 with his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Studio Art, Brenner then served in AmeriCorps for two years as part of the Arts and Heritage team of the Appalachia CARES project in the Reece Museum. In 2015 Brenner was hired as the Curator at the Reece Museum and then hired as the Exhibition Coordinator in 2016. Beyond his work at the Reece Museum, Spenser is an artist, educator and curator working in the region. Moira Frazier is an arts nonprofit administrative director and adjunct professor in the Tri-Cities area. She grew up in Johnson City, and attended Butler University, where she was a Dance Pedagogy major. After an injury ended her ballet performance career, Frazier earned a bachelor’s degree in Religious Studies from Butler University (with a minor in Dance and Classics) and a master’s degree in Art History and Religious Studies from Yale University. She was a Curatorial Intern at the Yale University Art Gallery and has held other positions/internships at museums and cultural organizations such as Yeshiva University Museum in New York City; the Thomas Wolfe Memorial and Museum in Asheville, North Carolina; Hands On Museum in Johnson City; the Center for Interfaith Cooperation in Indianapolis; and Penland School of Crafts in Penland, North Carolina. Frazier moved back to the Tri-Cities area after earning her master’s degree in 2016 and started teaching college courses at various local universities, including ETSU. She also serves as a Curatorial Fellow at ETSU’s Slocumb Galleries, where she organizes and curates gallery exhibits. She has curated art exhibits for Tusculum University and other area organizations. Frazier now utilizes her arts administration background as Managing Director of Bristol Ballet, where she manages all administrative functions of the ballet school/company and serves as a ballet instructor. Frazier’s special interests in her academic research include medieval/Byzantine art and architecture, Orthodox iconography, museum studies, material culture, and the intersection of art and religion.
Cheyenne Good currently resides in Johnson City where she is a student at East Tennessee State University. She is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree with her focuses being Art History and French with a minor in studio Art. She has been a curatorial intern with Slocumb Galleries since 2016 and currently serves as the Slocumb Galleries Student Society Vice President. In her curatorial work, she has enjoyed exploring and presenting the rich and diverse art found throughout Appalachia. Her first exhibition as an intern at Slocumb Galleries was “Our Appalachia: Community and Innovation.” In this first exhibition, her goal had been to highlight artists practicing in Northeast Tennessee. Today, she has the pleasure of co-curating “Tangibility of Faith: Art and Religion in Appalachia and Tennessee.” In this exhibition, she aims to present works that display the fascinating and inspirational ways in which varying faiths inform an artist’s work as well as shape our surrounding community. Amber Nicole Howard is an artist, curator, and performer currently residing in Johnson City. Howard was born and raised in East Tennessee and has made her home in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. She uses the values of her southern upbringing and current popular culture desires to create works that simultaneously critique and authenticate the experience of the average human. Howard works in a variety of media and has co-curated several exhibitions as a Slocumb Galleries Curatorial Intern at ETSU. She will be curating ‘Johnsonville: 150 Artists from Johnson City’ at Tipton Gallery, downtown Johnson City, in December 2019 in commemoration of the city’s 150th anniversary. Howard is also the President of the Slocumb Galleries Student Society, and she has received grants from the SGA BUC Funds to bring visiting artists to ETSU. Howard also serves as Slocumb Galleries’ Community Engagement Facilitator.
InterFaith Panelists FR. STEPHEN MATHEWES
Christ the Savior Greek Orthodox Church Fr. Stephen Mathewes grew up in Virginia and Maryland, the son of an Episcopalian priest. By the early ‘90s his father and mother had become very dissatisfied with the direction of the Episcopal Church, and began to search for an expression of Christianity that proclaimed the Truth of the Gospel and maintained the worship of the original Church. Fr. Stephen earned his B.A. in Musicology, and worked as a piano tuner, before enrolling as a seminarian at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in 2009. Fr. Stephen was ordained to the Holy Diaconate by Metropolitan PHILIP at the end of his first year, and to the Holy Priesthood by Bishop ANTOUN (who had ordained his father 18 years before) at the end of his second. In 2012 Fr. Stephen graduated with a Master’s in Divinity, “with highest distinction,” and he and his family were assigned to serve the Orthodox faithful of the Tri-Cities. Fr. Stephen and his wife, Jocelyn, have three children.
www.christthesaviororthodox.org/about/clergy
MASUD OLUFANI Baha’i Faith
Masud Olufani is an Atlanta based mixed media artist whose studio practice is rooted in the discipline of sculpture. He is a graduate of Arts High School in Newark, New Jersey, Morehouse College and The Savannah College of Art and Design where he earned an M.F.A. in sculpture in 2012. The artist has completed residencies at Savannah College of Art and Design; Savannah, Georgia; The Vermont Studio Center; The Hambidge Center for Arts and Sciences in Rabun, Georgia.; Creative Currents in Portobello, Panama; and The Creatives Project in Atlanta, GA. He is the recipient of the 2016 Southern Art Prize for the state of Georgia; the winner of 2015-16 MOCA GA Working Artist Project Grant; 2015 Idea Capital Grant, and the 2015 Southwest Airlines Art and Social Engagement grant; and is a 2014-15 Walthall Fellow. He is an artist in residence at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center.
www.masud-olufani.com
DR. HALIDE SALAM Islamic Faith
Dr. Halide Salam received her Master of Art in Painting from New Mexico Highlands University, and Ph. D. in Fine Arts, Studio from Texas Tech University. She now teaches Painting at Radford University, Virginia. She has been exhibiting in national and international galleries and museums, winning numerous awards in painting and collage. Recently, she won the Open Call Award 2017 at the Athenaeum, Alexandria, Virginia, for the exhibition GLOW. Her painting, ‘Title Withheld No. 6’, was chosen by the US Department of State Art in Embassies Program to represent American Artists’ work overseas. In January 2008, Pocahontas Press published her book, Between Two Spaces: Reflections on the Spiritual in Art, which traces the intellectual and spiritual development of a migrant artist living between cultures. It was nominated for the 2008 National Book Award in Non-Fiction.
www.halidesalam.com
KIRAN SINGH SIRAH
Sikh and Interfaith Peace Activist Kiran Singh Sirah is President of the International Storytelling Center (ISC), an educational and cultural institution dedicated to enriching the lives of people around the world through storytelling. ISC organizes the world’s premiere storytelling event, the National Storytelling Festival, and supports applied storytelling initiatives across a wide variety of industries. Prior to his appointment at ISC, Kiran developed a number of award-winning peace-building programs in cultural centers across the UK. As an artist, folklorist, teacher, and advocate for social justice, he has used the power of human creativity to establish dialogue. An advisory member to UNESCO and a Rotary World Peace fellow, he has developed educational programs and publications, articles, talks and conference papers on interdisciplinary approaches to relationship building in communities and around the globe. In 2017, Sirah was awarded the “Champion of Peace” recognition at the culmination of Geneva Peace Week, during Rotary UN Day at United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, in recognition for his work to advance the arts of storytelling, within the arenas of global development and peacebuilding. Kiran firmly believes Storytelling not only has the power to enrich lives, but it also holds the key to building a better world.
www.kiransinghsirah.wordpress.com
Sasan Ahovan, Yarsan / Christian Sasan Ahovan grew up in the Kurdish community in the western part of Iran. The minority religion of his childhood, Yarsan, led to his interest in music. At the age of six, he started playing Tanbour, which is an Iranian stringed instrument that is also referred to as Tamirah among Kurds. Ahovan learned many Kurdish religious maqams, or tunes, by going to weekly jam sessions and listening to others. After finishing his military service, he decided to leave Iran to study American traditional music, which includes Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Country Music. Ahovan recently graduated from East Tennessee State University with a degree in Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Country Music. He performs music from both the traditional Iranian and Bluegrass genres, as well as some of his original compositions in which he combines the styles of the two.
Hopeful Virgin Mixed media
Clorinda Galdos Bell, Catholic Clorinda Galdos Bell was born in Peru as the fifth of eight children. Currently, she lives in Powell, Tennessee after marrying Aaron Bell in 2006 and moving to the United States. They’ve been married twice…once here in Tennessee in 2006 and again in 2008 in Peru at the Church of Our Lady of Mercy. They have a precocious son named Benjamin. Galdos Bell proudly earned her United States citizenship in April of 2014. She studied at the National University of San Antonio and earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education. However, her passion lies in art and particularly in classic religious art. She began to paint at the age of 11, with the only training she received being from her father one year before he died unexpectedly. Culturally, it is rare for women to paint in the style of classic religious art, but she has established herself as the first woman in her family to be well known as an artist in this style, which she has been practicing for more than 30 years. According to Galdos Bell, her inspiration comes from the greatest source of all inspiration – the Holy Spirit. She feels that God gave her this talent to reach out to and inspire faith in others. It is her particular ministry. While she is strong in her Catholic faith and the style of painting is Catholic, one does not need to be Catholic to appreciate the talent and patience needed to produce such beautiful works of art. She continually evaluates and improves her technique to produce the most beautiful and inspirational art she can.
Works in the exhibition: Sacred Heart from The Reece Museum Collection and ArchAngel from Prof. Catherine Murray Collection
www.clorysgallery.com
Roadside Preacher Archival pigment print
Rachel Boillot, Christian Moon Shine: Photographs of the Cumberland Plateau is her first artist monograph and will be published by Daylight Books in the spring of 2019. Boillot recently completed a feature-length documentary film on the musical Sharp family of Jamestown, Tennessee, titled In That Valley of Gold. This film is the cornerstone episode of the Cumberland Folklife docuseries and will premiere in 2019. Boillot currently teaches at Belmont University. She recently joined the team at the Kentucky Documentary Photography Project. The exhibition includes work from Moon Shine, a collection of photographs inspired by the unique musical traditions of the Cumberland Plateau. This region is home to a rich storytelling heritage, showcased in historic fiddle tunes, balladry, religious gospel pieces and other songs passed down as part of a formidable oral tradition. All are infused with faith. As a photographer exploring the region, Boillot has channeled these traditions into a lyrical portrait of place, and the photographs act as a visual score to mirror musical melody. The work explores the relationship between what is heard and what is seen, with a tension between mystery and revelation pervading the work. Rachel Boillot is a photographer, film-maker, and educator based in Nashville. She holds a BA in Sociology from Tufts University, a BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, and an MFA in Experimental and Documentary Arts from Duke University. Her work has been supported by the Annenburg Foundation (Los Angeles, California), the Riverview Foundation (Chattanooga, Tennessee), the Tennessee Arts Commission (Nashville), the Southern Documentary Fund (Durham, North Carolina), and the National Endowment for the Arts (Washington, D.C.). She was recently awarded the 2017-2018 PhotoNOLA Review Award.
www.rachelboillot.com
The Lamb of God Carved stone The Reece Museum Collection
William Cross +, Christian William Cross was born in 1957 in the small town of Erwin, Tennessee, nestled in the Appalachian Mountains of East Tennessee. Cross’s father was a hard-core Hell’s Angel and put William off his motorcycle and out on his own when he was 17. William is quite a wild mountaineer who lives in the mountains of Greene County, Tennessee. He indicates that he is a Tennessee mountain man who “lives off of the fat of the land just as Crockett and Boone.” His passions are carving and playing the banjo. He has been carving for over 20 years, but only a few years ago found his niche in stone. Cross’ works have been discovered and are being sought by folk art collectors throughout the country. He has had no training. When asked about his works, Cross says “I just see those things and I just get crazy until I get it carved in stone, then it takes me 15 or 16 hours to carve it with my knife and chisel in my workshop outback.” Cross’ carvings are exceptionally well executed and have a good sense of design for a self-taught artist. His subject matter is usually religious themes or the female nude with an occasional diversion into something clearly imaginary. The work in the exhibition is a depiction of a well-known metaphor, ‘The Lamb of God.’ William Gregory Cash, also known by his artist name, William Cross, passed away after a short battle with lung cancer Saturday, April 11, 2015.
Shamash Ceramics
Nancy Fischman, Reform Jewish Death has played a significant role in my life during the last two years. While Orthodox and Conservative Jews would never cremate remains, the Reform movement does allow it. Members of this Reform Jewish movement— of which I am a current member—while encouraged to be buried, are not prohibited from being cremated. Although I belong to a family that was not particularly religious, both my mother and my father were cremated. My mother had asked me to make an urn for my father when he died back in 1983. I never got around to it, so she wound up making an urn for his remains. This is why after her death, I felt obligated to make my mother an urn. I wanted to make vessels that would evoke feelings expressing the temporary nature of mortality, while simultaneously showing a strength that belongs where memories reside. Both the shapes and the surfaces would reflect that strength, but also give comfort to the bereaved. A carefully crafted piece, I used two different kinds of stoneware clay, and used different surface treatments and glazes, giving thought to which kilns I would use to fire the finished pieces. The result is both a piece of art and an artifact of celebration of someone’s life. My piece in the exhibtion, Shamash, holds a linear shape which speaks to a reaching upward. It stands tall in recognition of a life well-spent. The title of this piece means “servant” in Hebrew, in the context of an assistant or helper, so this urn acts as an assistant to the cremated remains, holding them in comfort. The ‘shamash’ is also the name of the candle that lights the other eight candles in the Chanukah menorah. In the context of this piece, I use the name Shamash for the bright light that remains after the death of a loved one. Nancy Fischman moved with her husband, David Close, to Johnson City, Tennessee, in 1978. While she was studying for her master’s degree in Geography at ETSU, Nancy also signed up for pottery classes with Gary Gearhart, a potter who had a studio in Jonesborough. After graduate school, Nancy worked fulltime and then started a family. She didn’t pursue ceramics until, semi-retired at the age of 60, she signed up for an Introduction to Ceramics class at ETSU and began to create pottery in earnest. Using hand-building techniques, she creates sculptural forms that are also functional. She also has been fortunate to be able to use a variety of firing atmospheres for her stoneware pieces, from gas reduction to wood, wood-salt, and gas-fired soda. Fischman has recently purchased a building in downtown Johnson City. One of her goals is to create space for an arts incubator, where recent college graduates who have studied art can have access to low-cost studio space where they can explore their art as a career. She is also an active member of the Johnson City Public Art Committee.
Collosians Oil on canvas
Joe Letitia, Methodist “24.But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25.The other disciples therefore said unto him, we have seen the LORD. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.” (John 20:24-25) In this verse from the book of John, the apostle’s belief can be ratified through not only perception but also the necessity of a physical encounter. In my mind, the biblical scene and the idea behind it examine the fulcrum point denoting issues of faith. The symbolism in this gesture has personal spiritual significance to me, to the depth of which is at times difficult to fathom. In some regards, the essential notion of this depth may resonate in the process, complexity and layers of my paintings. The idea resonates in both a spiritual or secular way. In our culture, images are vast, vulnerable to manipulation and meaning is so easy to fall to abstraction. Following the trail of a statement from its articulated source to its extrapolated sound bite is often misleading. Like a story that is told so many times it barely exists except in the telling, my process starts with a very clear and singular image, which in itself is still a symbol of an action, which in turn, symbolizes a gesture that desires to prove the tangibility perception as well as belief. The works are made by the repeated replication of this core image. Most often the image is lost in its own profusion. Joe Letitia graduated from Yale University in 1989 with his Master of Fine Arts in Painting and Printmaking. Letitia has exhibited in numerous solo and group shows, participated in several lectures, and has multiple publications about his work. He is a part of the Ewing Gallery Collection at the University of Tennessee, Rutgers University Collection at the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art, Printmaking Archives in New York. Letitia lives and works in Knoxville, Tennessee.
www.joeletitia.com
Untitled (Seven Heads) Fired earthenware, glaze Karlota Contreras-Koterbay Collection
Jeff Marley, Cherokee Jeff Marley is a painter from Cherokee, North Carolina. He grew up on the Qualla Indian Boundary and is an enrolled member of the Eastern band of Cherokee Indians. He received his Bachelor of Fine Art from Western Carolina University in 2005. While attending WCU, Jeff worked with the Fine Art Museum’s internship program. Jeff has had several solo exhibitions and has participated in numerous group exhibitions and shows since 1995. His work has been featured in several publications including the Swain County Genealogical Society’s ‘Bone Rattler.’ As an active member of the arts community, Marley’s work can be seen at the Fine Art Museum and Cherokee Studies, both at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC, and at the Swain County Center for the Arts in Bryson City, North Carolina. Marley works in an expressive style that has been termed by some as post-expressionism. His work is expressive and bold, utilizing vibrant colors and expressive marks. Jeff commented on his work, “I find painting and drawing to be intertwined; mark making being the element that binds them.” The work in the exhibition explores decolonization in ways that allow him to reconcile issues of race, identity, culture, and religion as well as his place within these concepts. The ritual beliefs of creation common to the Cherokee tribe are contemplated in the creation of Seven Heads.
www.jeffmarley.com
Mary & Child, Hospitality of Abraham and The Bridegroom Linocut prints on paper
Jocelyn Mathewes, Greek Orthodox My images of the Orthodox faith are to be understood as not for use in regular worship, but they are grounded in the tradition of using images as a part of worship that has been around for thousands of years. In the exhibition are notable icons Hospitality of Abraham, Mary & Child, and The Bridegroom. I approach these stories of faith and the visual history from an illustrative point of view with linoleum block prints while retaining some of the traditional color and symbolic elements that make these images what they are. I am most interested in presenting these histories to an audience unfamiliar with them, to communicate and foster a sense of understanding of the Orthodox faith and tradition. Jocelyn Mathewes is a fine artist working in mixed media and photography, living with her husband and three children Johnson City, Tennessee. Most recently, she has shown at Nelson Fine Art, the William King Museum of Art, Lightbox Photographic, The Image Flow, PhotoSynthesis, and the Academy Center for the Arts. Her work has been published in SHOTS, HAND magazine, and The Word magazine, as well as appearing in BOTANICA. She writes about living in Appalachia and shares her creative process at www. jocelynmathewes.com.
www.jocelynmathewes.com
Signs of Times Mixed media Dr. Gay Battle Collection
Mary Barton Nees, Christian Gestures and abstractions, like visual poetry, enhance the ideas that move me into the materials to work. My interest in landscape, or more specifically “what is out there!” began very early. Before I had much life experience, I was captivated and heartened by what I could glimpse out the window from my nursery. The years have only reinforced this sense of ‘the beautiful bigness beyond’. I recognize, now in hindsight, that this early memory is evidence of a spiritual quest before I could even put words to such. My mature work is driven by an informed and sorely tested confidence in the promise laid out by the maker of the horizon, the maker of the warming sun, the maker hidden behind all these things. And these ‘made things’ speak forth deeply through their substance. The Chinese landscape tradition resonates with me for what was obviously meditative study into the nature of that “bigness” in contrast to the nature of the onlooker. The Hebrew poets and prophets speak deeply to this long-view into the very character of the Creator. My Christian convictions, begun during my university study, have given me the basis and the freedom to keep investigating that which my child-heart yearned to follow. Mary Nees is a former adjunct instructor in the Department of Art & Design at ETSU. She trained at Cornell University, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, and then earned her Master of Fine Art at ETSU in 2007. She has taught local workshops and has also done a number of lectures and workshops in the People’s Republic of China. Nees works out of her studio in Johnson City. She is also a member of thejohnson city public Art Committee. Follow her on Instagram @maryneesstudio.
www.marynees.com
Listeners / Witnesses of the Trade Mixed media
Masud Olufani, Baha’i Faith Masud Ashley Olufani (MAO) is an Atlanta based actor, mixed media artist, and writer whose studio practice is rooted in the discipline of sculpture. He is a graduate of Morehouse College, and The Savannah College of Art and Design where he earned an M.F.A. in sculpture in 2013. Masud has exhibited his work in group and solo shows nationally and internationally. The artist has completed residencies at The Vermont Studio Center; The Hambidge Center for Arts and Sciences; and Creative Currents in Portobello, Panama. He is a 2017 Southern Arts Prize State Fellow; a recipient of a 2015 and 2018 Idea Capital Grant; a Southwest Airlines Art and Social Engagement grant; and a recipient of 2015-16 MOCA GA Working Artist Project Grant. He is the creative director of Blocked: A Global Healing Project, a multimedia performance created to memorialize spaces marked by the trauma of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. He had a reoccurring role on the BET series The Quad, and has appeared in numerous television shows including Greenleaf Being Mary Jane, Devious Maids, Satisfaction, and Nashville. He is a featured actor in the film biopic All Eyez on Me. As a writer, Masud has published articles for Burnaway, Baha’i Teachings, and is a featured contributor for the Jacob Lawrence Struggle Series catalog, produced to coincide with a major exhibition of the Struggle Series paintings. The two works featured in the exhibition approach the notion of belief from two divergent perspectives. ‘Listeners: Witnesses of the Trade’ memorializes the enduring resonance of spiritual literacies, and their ability to seed the cultural memory of a people. Inspired by the Gullah Geechie communities of the Georgia sea islands, this mixed media installation is meant to honor the spirits of the millions of Africans who died in transport to the ‘new world.’ The clam shells are fitted with cast ears, which are placed on a bed of sand sourced from Sapelo island, home to an enduring Gullah community that maintains a culture closely linked to West Africa. The time lapse video of the encroaching sea suggests the watery grave of the dead. The audio recording of the seashore sets a rhythmic meter as the voice of a young girl chanting an Islamic prayer can be heard over it. The work affirms the history of Islam in America, as nearly one third of Africans forced into slavery were Muslims. The first slave bought to Sapelo was a man named Bilal which literally translates to ‘the first to believe in the Prophet.’ To Trap a Trickster’ looks at the culpability of faith communities in the enterprise of slavery. Inspired in part, by the complicity of the Catholic church in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, this multi-media work casts the iconic Christian dome structure of Portugal
www.masud-olufani.com
Remembering the Seven: Moses Mixed media
Halide Salam, Islamic Faith My paintings are a personal sanctuary where I communicate directly with the ‘natural’ worlds, conducting a sacred conversation with archetypal forms encountered in the imagination. Although my visions are of an empirical nature, I am confronted nonetheless, with the innate symmetries that lie latent within all complex natural phenomena. These, combined with history, knowledge and experiences give rise to a vision that unites cosmological ultimates – of genesis and extinction – and finalizes into a magical metaphor of an enlightened state of experience. Coming from the school of sacred geometry and universal patterns, I find connections with the everyday phenomenon in nature and life experiences with sacred texts. In my work, the square represents enclosure and what is finite whereas the circle that which is infinite and unbroken. I investigate this duality of form and meaning through Time, fluctuating and tying the physical space to memory, the imagination and my surroundings. My paintings are investigations to be viewed as time-zones in which she intuits patterns and structures inherent in nature that speak to the connection of all living organisms. Dhikr – remembering faculty – is an induced memorystate of mind where comprehended signs can be interfaced with an inner vision and knowledge. Using this state of mind, I investigate ‘the unity of the real’ – that everything within one’s consciousness, the unconscious and all that is outside our understanding, operate within the same universal plane. In this way, my experience-field remains activated to inspire my painting process. I belong to the school of contemporary aniconic art where the image is the vestige, effect, or end result of this sojourn in Space. Therefore, at times, I use words, letters and symbols that come from my immediate consciousness to charge the meaning and purpose of the images. These are applied in an unobtrusive way but aim to register at some level within the viewer’s consciousness. There is never any attempt at atmosphere, shadow, perspective or modeling. Each mark of color remains independent yet perceptibly connected to the galactic energy surrounding it. In Trees of Existence: Tree of Light, I use a system of visual metaphors from geometry and nature by which the viewer may interact and feel stimulated towards imaginary suggestions and representations of an interstellar nature. In Remembering the Seven– Noah, Abraham, and Moses and Jesus, each work symbolizes a specific, spiritual level of wisdom and discovery. The imaged metaphor, created by geometrical patterns of a spatial nature, is just a vehicle to convey paradoxical references to the actual and virtual nature of the legendary men. Halide Salam received her Master of Art in Painting from New Mexico Highlands University, and Ph. D. in Fine Arts, Studio from Texas Tech University. She now teaches Painting at Radford University, Virginia. She has been exhibiting in national and international galleries and museums, winning numerous awards in painting and collage. Recently, she won the Open Call Award 2017 at the Athenaeum, Alexandria, Virginia for the exhibition GLOW. Her painting, ‘Title Withheld No. 6,’ was chosen by the US Department of State Art in Embassies Program to represent American Artists’ work overseas. In January 2008, Pocahontas Press published her book, Between Two Spaces: Reflections on the Spiritual in Art, which traces the intellectual and spiritual development of a migrant artist living between cultures. It was nominated for the 2008 National Book Award in Non-Fiction.
www.halidesalam.com
Practicing for the Rapture Mixed Media
Randy Sanders, Agnostic Born in Johnson City, Tennessee, Randy Sanders was raised in a military family. In his first twelve years of schooling, he attended thirteen schools. Trained as a graphic designer, he lived and worked for five years in New York where he showed his paintings in the East Village, SoHo, and Brooklyn. In 2006, he accepted a position as the managing editor of Now & Then: The Appalachian Magazine—a publication of the Center for Appalachian Studies and Services at ETSU. He served in that role until 2014, when he stepped-in to fill a sudden vacancy in the Reece Museum as the interim director. In 2015, he was named Director. Initially grounded in the Southern Baptist Church, most of Sanders’ childhood followed a generic military post/Protestant upbringing. As an adult, he spent twenty-five years as a Unitarian Universalist before turning to meditation as a spiritual path. As a questioning agnostic, he takes a lighthearted approach to religion as evidenced by Practicing for the Rapture.
etsu.edu/cas/cass/reece
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church Archival pigment print
Katie Sheffield, Roman Catholic The photographs I make are based on my observations of the communities and landscape of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. They reflect how Appalachia has been affected by our contemporary society, as well as maintaining a deep connection to the history of the area. While documenting these areas I tend to focus on the religious aspect of the communities I visit. The diversity of religion within these places shows how Southern Appalachia has evolved over recent years. One constant that has remained the same are the beliefs of the individuals who call these mountain communities home. I have chosen to explore the diversity of Southern Appalachia in a way that presents the viewer with the essence of how these areas subsist in the present day and the overall connectedness the communities have to one other. The two photographs exhibited at the Reece Museum show the religious influences of Baptist churches in the region, while those at Tipton Gallery are of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and St. George Catholic Church. Katie Sheffield is a photographer and works as Visual Resources Curator for the Department of Art & Design at ETSU. She teaches art history and photography for King University in Bristol, Tennessee. She received her BFA and MFA in photography from ETSU. Sheffield’s work has been shown regionally, nationally, and internationally including the biennial, From These Hills: Contemporary Art in the Southern Appalachian Highlands, at the King Museum in Abingdon, Virginia; Light is All, Stone Voices Magazine Winter Art Exhibition, Brunswick, Maine; and New App: Contemporary Art in Appalachia, Art Space: Gallery of the International Pavilion, University of Ulsan, Ulsan, South Korea.
https://www.katiesheffieldphoto.com/
Headmistress Harpie Mixed media
Page Turner, Mormon Roanoke artist Page Turner collects items of deep personal meaning to painstakingly create delicate objects that honor the feminine, and the desires, experiences, and roles of women. Raised as a devout Mormon, she looks to the Church and its complex history as inspiration. Turner has exhibited widely in Virginia, in North Carolina, in New York City, in Washington, DC, and in Los Angeles. Her assemblage art has been featured in Schiffer Publisher’s 50 Contemporary Women Artists: Groundbreaking Contemporary Art from 1960- Now. She was the cover artist for Exponent II- Publishing the Experiences of Mormon Women since 1974, cover artist for Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Artemis Journal: Artist and Writers of the Blue Ridge, and has been featured in six issues of Studio Visit Magazine, blogs and other media. Turner’s works are informed by the traditional hand-working skills that have been passed down through the generations. In this body of work, Turner explores the divide between righteousness within the faith and women’s personal power; with deep reverence, she pays homage to the original pioneer women of the Mormon Church, as well as the contemporary sisterhood. Power & Restraint: a Feminist Perspective on Mormon Sisterhood was commissioned and exhibited in the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia, and the William King Museum of Art in Abingdon, Virginia. David Volodzko wrote, “Each piece comprises a beehive super (a symbol of the faith) bedded with bittersweet sprigs and backed with white fabric (symbolizing the temple veil) taken from an ancient temple wedding gown once worn to the Salt Lake Temple. The scenes depict Mormon women in various settings: one displays her holy temple garments, another blesses her pregnant sister (a practice women may no longer perform).” This is something of a departure for Turner, whose past work is often mischievously surreal. For example, a bird skeleton, finely sewn into the plush folds of a Victorian dress, offers us material exuberance paired with a wry memento mori. Such fragments are almost philosophical epigrams. But if her previous work is epigrammatic, her commentary on Mormon sisterhood is fully argumentative.
www.pageturnerstudios.com
Dreidel Mixed Media
Yancy Villa-Calvo, Christian “I consider my work to be an intertwined web of art and life. My life experiences have influenced how I define, make, and encounter art. Experiences such as being born and raised in Mexico, living in Mozambique, and traveling to many countries have provided me with a cross-cultural perspective and an awareness of my place as both a global citizen and a resident of the U.S., a country I call my own. My work appears in diverse forms ranging from visual art, to activism, to performance art, to urban planning. For me, the creative process starts by questioning current systems and social dynamics. It leads me to produce asset-based artwork that is aesthetically and emotionally powerful and that emphasizes dialogue, participation, and action. My art provides a platform to see common ground in the midst of our complex humanity, and it encourages civic engagement for the betterment of our shared spaces. The works in the exhibition were created as a collaboration.” Villa-Calvo’s multimedia work seeks to create awareness, provoke thought, and stimulate conversation on issues of social justice, equality, and prosperity. She was born in Mexico City. She has been a resident of Memphis for over 20 years, where she lives with her husband Mauricio Calvo and their children Anna, Carolina, and Santiago. She received her formal art education at Christian Brothers University and Memphis College of Art. Villa-Calvo is the creator of Barrier Free: A Socially Engaged Art Installation. She currently works as a City Artist with the Memphis 3.0 Comprehensive Growth City Plan. Her Memphis 3.0 project, Go Explore Memphis Soul (GEMS), uses art to engage city residents in neighborhood planning and development. She is also a recipient of grants and art commissions sponsored by the Smithsonian Institute Latino Center, the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture, the Tennessee Arts Commission, ArtsMemphis, UnidosUS, the Funders’ Network, the UrbanArt Commission, and the City of Memphis, among other entities. She frequently exhibits in solo show and group shows in addition to participating in collaborative projects. Her paintings are displayed in private collections in the United States, Mexico, Spain, Colombia, Israel, and the Netherlands.
Works in the exhibition: Tree of Life - Hamsa from Jennifer Watts Collection and Esperando from Adrea Cervantes and Marco Sandoval Collection
Christening Procession Archival pigment print
Carlton Wilkinson, Baptist Carlton Wilkinson is a photographer whose images reflect and establish the life and beauty of his community. After being introduced to African American writers by his activist mother, DeLois Wilkinson, Carlton earned degrees in art from Washington University in St. Louis and UCLA. His work is part of major collections such as the Schomburg Center in New York, Gaylord Entertainment, and BellSouth. Carlton was granted the Tennessee Arts Commission Fellowship and is the founder and owner of In The Gallery, a contemporary arts space in Nashville. Wilkinson’s photography seeks to heal and reclaim the identity of his community and heritage by documenting and providing a sense of testimony. The composition, light, and color are technical aspects considered to articulate the emotion and reverence of the African American congregation during worship. These color photographs are highly commemorative of the churches involved in the civil rights movement and were carefully selected to represent the African American experience of faith here in Appalachia. Wilkinson received the Tennessee Artist Fellowship (1994) which is the state’s highest honor for an artist. He began his studies as an artist at Washington University at St. Louis (BFA) and continued at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he received his Masters of Fine Arts in Design. Wilkinson has exhibited his photography nationally, including, the Smithsonian Institution, the University of Notre Dame, Vanderbilt University, University of Berkeley, California, Fisk University, the Frist Art Museum and several private and public art galleries. Wilkinson’s photography was been included in a traveling exhibition and book, Reflections in Black. His 25th year retrospective exhibition and catalog, Coming Home, was exhibited at the Parthenon Museum in 2005. Wilkinson has been speaking internationally on his photography of Latin America and a researched paper on Moor Art of Europe. He has recently lectured at Harvard University, Palermo, Italy, Johannesburg, SA and the countries of Jamaica and Colombia. Presently, Wilkinson teaches college level photography at Volunteer State CC. He has taught at Vanderbilt University, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Fisk University and Watkins College of Art. Along with teaching, He has recently curated exhibitions at the Moldavian Arts Council, Murfreesboro City Hall and Vol State Community College. Wilkinson has been largely inspired by his involvement of art of the African Diaspora, which he has been in business for over 30 years, when he opened his gallery, In The Gallery, in 1987. His new business, Wilkinson Arts, represents all media artwork from the African Diaspora.
InterFaith Panel & Receptions
World Hijab Day
Student Mentoring
Lecture & Student Critique
ETSU Department of Art & Design, Slocumb Galleries and Reece Museum in partnership with the Women’s Studies Program, the Department of Philosophy and Humanities, the SG Curatorial Internship Program, Office of Multicultiral Affairs, Saudi Arabian Students Association and Tennessee Arts Commission’s Arts Project Support (APS) Grant Department of Art & Design The ETSU Department of Art & Design provides comprehensive training in the visual arts and art history. Our students develop problem-solving skills, a strong work ethic, and an ability to communicate verbally and visually through their time with us. Alumni from our program are thriving in various careers int he art. Our faculty includes internationally exhibited artists, published authors, and a Guggenheim fellow. We are affiliated with the Mary B. Martin School of the Arts at ETSU, which sponsors an eclectic calendar of visiting artists, curators, art historians, and exhibitions on the ETSU campus each semester. Our facilities are comprehensive, with materials and spaces for Graphic Design, Fibers, Painting, Printmaking, Ceramics, Drawing, Jewelry & Metals, Sculpture, Analog and Digital Photography, and Extended Media. We have two exhibition spaces, and a satellite gallery in downtown Johnson City, Tipton Street Gallery, where we host exhibitions by students, visiting artists, faculty, and more.
Tennessee Arts Commission Arts Project Support (APS) Grant The Arts Project Support (APS) Grant provides funds for diverse arts projects in urban counties. Proposed arts projects must involve one or more Commissionrecognized art forms, including: visual arts, craft, media, design, music, theater, dance, folk and ethnic, or literary arts. The grant applicants are reviewed based on its merit on demonstrating the artistic, cultural, and/or educational value to the community being served. The proposed project must advance the organization’s mission to the community as well as support the work of artists. The organization must demonstrate its understanding of the diverse interests and needs of the community it serves, the value of public and private partnerships, and the principles of documentation, evaluation, and results used to guide future planning and programming. The organization must also prove financial stability and a broad base of financial support with the ability to carry out proposed project based on history of TAC funding.
https://www.etsu.edu/cas/art/
tnartscommission.org/art-grants/
Slocumb Galleries
Reece Museum
The Slocumb Galleries and Tipton Gallery under the Department of Art & Design at the ETSU College of Arts and Sciences promote the understanding, production, and appreciation of visual arts in support of the academic experience and the cultural development of surrounding communities. Our Mission is to promote artistic excellences, diversity, collaborations, and creative thinking as innovative exhibition venues that provides access to contemporary art.
For more than 50 years the Reece Museum has told the many stories of Appalachia. Housing over 20,000 artifacts, the Reece collection captures the region’s past as well as its contemporary art and culture. As one of the first museums in Tennessee to be accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, the Reece continues to meet AAM’s high standards of excellence. Currently, the Reece is one of only eighteen museums in Tennessee to receive this accreditation.
https://www.etsu.edu/cas/art/galleries
https://www.etsu.edu/cas/cass/reece
Women’s Studies Program We are committed to strengthening interdisciplinary and diversity emphases at the university and to training students to address issues affecting women in the Appalachian South, nationally, and globally. Drawing on a feminist approach to subject matter, method of inquiry, teaching, and learning, we - Promote women-centered inquiry through curriculum, campus programming, and program governance; - Direct attention to women’s historical and contemporary experience and accomplishments; - Study gender as socially constructed rather than intrinsic or innate; - Focus on diversity through the intersections of ability, age, class, culture, ethnicity, gender, nationality, race, religion and sexuality; - Improve students’ critical thinking skills in academic, personal, and professional life; - Model interdisciplinary collaboration in research, teaching, learning, and co-curricular activities; and - Promote and sustain an atmosphere for women’s leadership. Our focus on “Leadership through Diversity” makes us unique and highlights our emphasis on applied learning and leadership. As a result of our program’s emphasis on this link between the theory and practice, our graduates enter the workforce and/or graduate programs as accomplished social thinkers who are focused on civic engagement, social justice, and change and who can help to satisfy the continuing need—locally, nationally, and globally—to improve the lives, opportunities, and futures of women. https://www.etsu.edu/cas/litlang/wsp
Department of Philosophy & Humanities Our department is a dynamic group of faculty committed to excellence in undergraduate education. Through our courses and programs we cultivate in our students an appreciation for the life of the mind and the importance of thinking through difficult conceptual problems carefully and rigorously.
The study of philosophy is provocative, enlightening, and meaningful. It helps us understand that things are not always what they seem, it helps us learn about ourselves and the world, and it teaches us how to grapple intelligently with fundamental questions. For this reason philosophy is a central component of any liberal arts education. The methods of philosophy emphasize careful reasoning and the ability to critically evaluate arguments. These techniques are relevant to any field of study or endeavor, and the skills one develops in philosophy are highly sought after by employers who value creative and analytical thinking and the ability to communicate effectively in writing. The study of philosophy is also excellent preparation for professional and graduate studies. The Department offers a traditional philosophy major, as well as a philosophy major with religious studies concentration. https://www.etsu.edu/cas/philosophy
Office of Multicultural Affairs The Office of Multicultural Affairs is responsible for creating and fostering a campus-wide climate of respect for each individual and advocating for a culturally diverse and non-discriminatory campus community. The Office of Multicultural Affairs embraces all students regardless of ethnicity, gender, color, religion, national origin, disability, or sexual orientation. Students receive many services through the office including counseling, academic advisement, numerous educational programs and social opportunities. The office provides numerous formal and informal opportunities for students of color to learn about their history and take pride in their heritage. The office affirms and celebrates the diversity of the community through signature programs, cultural programs, and programs and services. The office also advises and collaborates with student organizations to enhance intercultural understanding while assisting the university community in acquiring the knowledge, attitudes, and values necessary to live and work in a changing, diverse, and global community. https://www.etsu.edu/students/multcult/
DEPARTMENT OF ART & DESIGN, SLOCUMB GALLERIES AND REECE MUSEUM, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE WOMEN’S STUDIES PROGRAM, DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY AND HUMANITIES, SG CURATORIAL INTERNSHIP PROGRAM, AND TENNESSEE ARTS COMMISSION’S ARTS PROJECT SUPPORT (APS), PRESENT
TANGIBILITY OF FAITH
Art and Religion in Appalachia and Tennessee Curated by Moira Frazier, Cheyenne Good, Amber Howard
Featuring works by: Sasan Ahovan, Clorinda Bell, Rachel Boillot, William Cross+, Nancy Fischman, Jeff Marley, Jocelyn Mathewes, Mary Nees, Masud Olufani, Halide Salam, Randy Sanders, Katie Sheffield, Page Turner, Yancy Villa-Calvo, Carlton Wilkinson Interfaith Panel and Reception, at the Reece Museum: January 31, Thursday, 5 p.m. Exhibit runs until February 15 Panelists:
Fr. Steve Mathewes, Christ the Savior Greek Orthodox Church; Masud Olufani, Baha’i Faith; Dr. Halide Salam, Islamic Faith; and Kiran Singh Sirah, Sikh and Interfaith Peace Activist
First Friday Reception at Tipton Gallery: February 1, 6 to 8 p.m
Reece Museum
Tipton Gallery