Art Yearbook 2015-2016

CoFA

CONNECTIONS Department of

Art

2015-16 Yearbook

College of Fine Arts Office of the Dean Work by Lee Somers

Davis Hall, Station 6663 Montevallo, AL 35115 205.665.6663

October 2015 FACULTY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

TED METZ Invitational exhibition “2015 artists Biennial” July – Oct 2015 Johnson Center for the Arts, Troy, Alabama.

Invitational exhibition, 2015 Visual artists fellowship award winners Alabama State Council for the arts, Montgomery, Alabama Sept– Dec 2015.

Two person exhibition: Ted & Robin Metz Kennedy Douglas Center for the Arts, Florence, Alabama August- Sept 2015.

MICHAEL WILLETT MICHAEL WILLETT’S work was included in the June/July issue of New American Paintings. Willett also completed a large mural at Oak Mountain Elementary School with 5 current UM Art students, Ben Kaiser, AnnaLeah Commer, Amy George, Britt Terrell, and Robby Wise.

COLLIN WILLIAMS Professor COLLIN WILLIAMS presented new work at the 2015 Sculpture Invitational hosted by the Evelyn Burrows Museum of Art in Hancevile, Alabama. The show showcases the work of 15 artists from across the Southeast and was open from August 1- October 1. Professor Collin Williams’ ART 326 Community Arts class in conjunction with the 2015 Montevallo Mural Camp completed 4 projects this summer. The first project was a mural located on the corner of Main St. and Shelby St. commemorating the sister city relationship between Montevallo and Echizen, Japan. The second project was a mural on the garden shed at the UM Community Garden celebrating sustainability and organic gardening practices. The third project was 2 murals on the back of the bulletin boards in the outdoor classroom at Ebenezer Swamp. Finally for the forth project students designed and made plant markers to identify the plants at the Pollinator Garden at the Montevallo Recycling Center.

The Mural Camp was organized and run with support from the office of Service Learning under the leadership of Professor Hollie Cost and the projects were partially funded through a UM Green Fund Grant.

Karen Graffeo with Romanian delegates

KAREN GRAFFEO Artist KAREN GRAFFEO was the invited guest of the 9th International Congress of European Union Romani Rights Leadership, June 3-5 in Sibiu, Romania. The theme of the International Congress was the comparison of Martin Luther King Junior’s strategy for civil rights and the strategy for the EU Romani organizations. Graffeo photographed leaders of the Congress and included the portraits in her exhibition this past summer at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. Pictured above (left to right) is: Alex Rudi Darius Varga, a Romani student at the RomanianAmerican University in Bucharest, Dana Varga, State Adviser at the Prime Minister’s Chancellery within the Government of Romania, Artist Karen Graffeo, and Igor Alexandr Roznovschi, Personal Adviser to the Prime Minister at the Prime Minister’s Chancellery.

Collin Williams with Mural Campers

October 2015 DR. KELLY WACKER

MISTY BENNETT Upcoming Exhibition: Coalesce: Drawing Collaborations from Joe and Misty Bennett, Unitarian Universalist Church of Birmingham, August 9-October 31, 2015.

Opening reception: September 13, 12:30 – 2:30 pm.

Misty Bennett also presented a selection of works from the Landscape Painting class in the exhibition 13 Days, which took place in Bloch Hall Art Gallery from May 26-June 26, 2015.

DR. SCOTT MEYER DR. SCOTT MEYER published an article featured on the cover of the Summer edition of New Ceramics Magazine. “The Search of Richard Hirsch: A Legacy of Chance and Design” offers insights on the art and life of Meyer’s longtime studio colleague and the subject of Meyer’s book, With Fire. New Ceramics, published in Germany, is considered the premiere publication on ceramic art in Europe. An article focusing on Meyer’s work will be included in an upcoming issue.

DR. KELLY WACKER participated in the Shoal Creek Project Faculty Workshop organized by the Environmental Studies program.

The goal of this workshop was to help faculty to bring issues of sustainability into the classroom in meaningful ways.

Wacker spent a week at the University of Louisville in the Margaret M. Bridwell Art Library doing research on connections between eco-art, art history, and natural history and found an interesting and unexplored connection between ecology and art history. In short, she is exploring some new ways of looking at art and nature within the framework of the anthropocene. The Shoal Creek Project and her summer research trip combined with having attended in the Plastic Gyre: Artists, Activists, Scientists Respond Symposium in March are contributing to Wacker’s research program. In addition, connections that Professor Wacker made at the symposium have resulted in bringing artist Pam Longobardi to campus to speak in November as part of our Martha Allen Lecture Series in the Visual Arts.

DR. CATHERINE WALSH In May 2015, DR. CATHERINE WALSH (Art) was awarded the Ph.D. in History of Art and Architecture at Boston University.

On October 2-3, Walsh will participate in the inaugural Digital Humanities at Boston University conference, for which she is an invited panelist in the session “What are the digital humanities?” Walsh also is delivering a paper at the Sixteenth-Century Society Conference in Vancouver, October 22-25. Her paper, “Environmental Disruptions in Renaissance Sculpture: Mapping Origins and Destinations of Marble, Stalactites, and other Materials,” explores how Italian Renaissance sculptures expose ecological awareness. The paper also examines theoretical and technical challenges of early modern spatial data and is a presentation of her in-progress spatial (digital) art history project Mapping Sculpture.

November 2015 FACULTY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

KELLY WACKER SCOTT STEPHENS attended the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) annual meeting in Houston, October 15-17. NASAD is our accreditation organization for the visual arts and this year we are in the self-study phase of our reaccreditation cycle.

and Instructor Amy Feger attended the Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC) in Pittsburgh, October 21-24. Feger presented her recent work, “New Landscapes,” in a session, Art and the Anthropocene.

Wacker gave a presentation on “Art History in an Expanded Field” regarding her research and pedogogical practice in a session, Socially Engaged Art History.

KAREN GRAFFEO MICHAEL WILLETT was awarded a Research and Creative Project Grant through UM for a project titled Cosmic Order. The grant will support the production of an upcoming solo exhibition at the Tennessee Valley Museum of Art in Tuscumbia, AL. This month, Willett also began a collaboration with Creative 369, a Birmingham Advertisement Agency, and organized an exhibition of his work at Bistro Two Eighteen in downtown Birmingham.

Some of the works on display were published this past summer in the June/July issue of New American Paintings, a national contemporary art periodical.

The Prime Minister of Romania sent two of his aids to attend Karen Graffeo’s recent exhibition, “Let Us Now Praise the Roma”, which was on display at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. Graffeo was a panelist in a symposium addressing human trafficking. This symposium was organized by the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in conjunction with her solo exhibition, “Let Us Now Praise the Roma”. Graffeo also was awarded a Research and Creative projects grant for her upcoming projects in Cuba.

November 2015

Karen Graffeo’s work was reviewed in two issues of Weld magazine by Rebecca Sheehan.

Graffeo’s work will be included in the following upcoming solo and group exhibitions: l

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“Let Us Now Praise the Roma,” Julio Larramendi Gallery of Photography, Old Town Havana, Cuba, January 1- March 2 “Let Us Now Praise the Roma,” Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Birmingham, Alabama, July 14-September 27 “Medium Festival of Photography: Size Matters,” the signature exhibition of the 2015 Medium Festival of Photography and San Diego’s month of photography at the Low Gallery, San Diego, California, October 24-November 23 “Celebrating Contemporary Art: The Biennial 2015,” Johnson Center for the Arts, Troy, Alabama, July 31-October 24

MIN SUN LEE is currently a Design Week Birmingham committee member and volunteer.

Student Victoria Schlensker and Professor Lee participated in an invite-only industrial design sketching workshop with Spenser Nugent at UAB. Nugent has worked with brands such as Microsoft, Intel, Hewlett Packard, BodyGlove, Adidas, Verifone, Kyocera Altec Lansing, Hasbro, Dell, Tupperwar and Motorola. Nugent also teaches industrial design classes at Brigham Young University, where he focuses on visual communication in design.

JOE & MISTY BENNETT received a Research and Creative Projects grant for their project, “Coalesce: Birmingham Public Library Exhibition,” which will take place at the downtown branch of the library in November and December of 2016. The exhibition has been designed in collaboration with the curator of the library gallery to include paintings by Misty Bennett and drawings

by Joe Bennett, bridged by fifteen new collaborative works.

RYAN FOSTER recently completed a 4’x12’ indoor mural at the non-profit organization, Common Thread, located in Homewood. Work will began in late October on two more indoor murals. Ryan’s second solo exhibition with The Richard Heller Gallery opens in Los Angeles in January, 2016.

November 2015 STUDENT NEWS BFA students ANNAHEAH COMMER, BEN KAISER, EMALEE BUTLER, and KRISALYN HAMMOND are working with Ryan Foster to design and execute two murals at Seeds Coffee in Homewood and on a new training/workout facility “A 4 One” in Southside. MARY CATHERINE FEHR, a current photography major, has agreed to document the painting process of the murals.

GARRETT HENDERSON and BILLY SHAW participated in The Birmingham Flag Project with Aaron Draplin.

COURTNEY HOLT, JONATHAN BLACK, ZACH EVANS, CHAD LANGSTON, VICTORIA SCHLENSKER, LINDSEY PRICE, JOI BLACK and ASHLEY NOBINGER participated in Design Agency Open House tour, networked and made connections with Birmingham’s design professionals.

They visited 10 Design Studios: Telegraph Branding, BIG Communication, BW&Co., Cayenne Creative, FitzMartin, Intermark, Kinetic, Modern Brand and Scout Branding.

ALUMNI NEWS DREMA MONTGOMERY (BFA, Drawing and Ceramics, 2012) is in her final year of graduate school at the University of Georgia Lamar Dodd School of Art. She is the recipient of the Mary Rosenblatt Scholarship and the Looney Foundations Fellowship, as well as a UGA Sustainability Grant. She was a Senior Elite at UM, and participated in the Universidade Federal de Goias student exchange program to Brazil during her matriculation.

KELLY REDDING and SARAH REIMER (2014) participated in Birmingham Flag Project last year with Aaron Draplin.

December 2015 FACULTY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Graffeo will travel to Cuba to install a solo exhibition, “Hacia Adelante” that opens on January 2, 2016 at the Julio Larramendi Gallery of Photography in the Old Town district of Havana. The installation includes 40 lenticular (3-D) photographs accompanied by a site-specific text installation as well as 20 large-scale mixed media photo/drawings.

KAREN GRAFFEO Graffeo’s photography has been selected for the Art of the State 2016 exhibition at the Tennessee Valley Museum of Art. The Art of the State exhibition is a juried exhibition of works by studio art faculty at Alabama’s colleges and universities. The exhibition fosters public awareness and appreciation for contemporary visual art and provides a setting to display the experimental, innovative and creative work of studio art faculty. The exhibition will be open to the public from January 17-March 4 at the Tennessee Valley Museum of Art in Tuscumbia, Alabama.

RYAN FOSTER recently completed his third mural for the Fall 2015 semester, a 9-foot mural that was painted inside the “cupping” room of Seeds Coffee in Homewood. BFA students Emalee Butler, Ben Kaiser, and Krisalyn Hammond helped execute the mural. Ashley Santa Cruz (Art 2007) also helped paint. Photo credit goes to Mary Catherine Fehr, a current photography concentration student in the department.

Foster will be having his second solo exhibition at The Richard Heller Gallery beginning January 9th 2016. The Richard Heller Gallery is located in Los Angeles, CA and will be displaying the last three years of Ryan’s oil paintings. The exhibition will run through mid February.

Paintings by Ryan Foster

December 2015 METZ RETIREMENT ANNOUNCED

This panorama image, photographed by DANIEL LAWSON, proves that Art is Big at the University of Montevallo!

KERMIT JONES (1973) writes, “I have just retired (10/1/15) from 42 years of teaching and coaching in the Tuscaloosa area. My plans for retirement are to spend time with my wife, some travel, lots of golf, and rekindle my efforts and love for the arts.

BENJIE HEU (1994) had a recent exhibition of his work in ceramics and drawing on display at the Durbin Gallery of Art, Birmingham Southern College. After Montevallo, he earned an MFA degree from Ohio University and is currently Professor of Ceramics at Southeastern Missouri State University, where he has been teaching for 10 years.

Professor Ted Metz has announced his retirement after 42 years of teaching art at the University of Montevallo. Ted came to Montevallo in 1973 directly from his graduate program at the University of South Carolina, where he earned his MFA degree is in Sculpture and Ceramics.

When he began at Montevallo, he was the sole faculty member responsible for instruction in the 3D arts. All art facilities were housed in Bloch Hall, where 4 full-time faculty taught fewer than 50 art majors.

Today the Art Department has over 250 majors, 13 faculty, and facilities in 4 buildings on campus, including the newly opened 3D Art Building featuring state–of-the-art studios in sculpture, ceramics and design. Our growth and reputation for excellence during Ted’s tenure is due to his leadership as teacher, artist and citizen.

Ted is a nationally recognized artist who has maintained a consistent studio practice throughout his career. He has twice been designated a Visual Arts Fellow of the State of Alabama and he received a National Endowment for the Arts grant for his studio work. His most lasting contribution to our arts community is his completion of five major public sculptures, including Becoming, a 16 ft. tall cast bronze sculpture commissioned for the centennial of the founding of the university. Located near the Bowers Colonnade in the center of campus, the work focuses on the theme of learning through the student/teacher relationship. Ted completed it on campus with the help of his students in foundry facilities he constructed.

A dedicated and compassionate teacher, Ted has guided hundreds of students in their discovery of a personally meaningful art that is crafted to professional standards. He has received numerous recognitions for his teaching and was designated Alabama Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation in 1997.

Throughout his career in Montevallo, Ted has also given generously to his community. He has participated in all levels of service on campus and been a leading citizen in town: from building Habitat houses, to working with students at Montevallo public schools, and being a founding board member of the Montevallo Sister City Commission, where his earlier work with artists from Echizen, Japan led to our sister city relationship.

Ted’s life in art, teaching and community is a model career that sets a high standard for all who continue on a similar path. Thank you, Ted, for leading the way.

--Scott Stephens, Professor and Chair, Department of Art

February 2016 FACULTY ACCOMPLISHMENTS KAREN GRAFFEO A solo exhibition opened on January 2 in Havana, Cuba at the Julio Larramendi Gallery of Photography. Her exhibition included 20 mixed media images and 30 lenticular (3-D images) with a text installation. She has begun a photographic essay “Troika: three visions of Cuba “with Julio Larramendi and Chip Cooper. They traveled throughout Cuba and will show this project at the University of Montevallo at the Bloch Hall Gallery of Art beginning Fall of 2016. She returns to Cuba in March and June of 2016 to continue this essay and project.

LEE SOMERS A series of ceramic collages exploring landscape and unconventional material combinations was featured last January in a solo exhibition at the Jane Hartsook Gallery, Greenwich House Pottery, New York City.

He recently showed two works from the series in the annual juried exhibit, Art in Craft Media 2015, at the Burchfield Penney Arts Center in Buffalo, NY. This exhibit included over fifty artists from across the nation and was open from October 10, 2015 to January 25, 2016. Visit burchfieldpenney.org for more images and information. Next stop for this work: Positive/Negative 31, a national juried exhibition opening February 8 at the Slocumb Galleries of Eastern Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN.

Work by Lee Somers

MICHAEL WILLETT

STUDENT NEWS

has two mixed media works on canvas in a group exhibition titled “Poetic Logic: Collage & Assemblage” at the Sweetwater Center for the Arts, outside Pittsburgh, PA. The exhibition runs through February 26.

“The Plastic Project” is a sculpture resulting from a community art project created at the end of last semester by adjunct instructor AMY FEGER and the students enrolled in her ART100-001: Art Awareness class. The sculpture is on display at Carmichael Library until March 10.

There will be an exhibition reception from 5:00 to 6:30 on Thursday, February 25.

Art 100 working on “The Plastic Project”

March 2016 FACULTY ACCOMPLISHMENTS KAREN GRAFFEO Graffeo’s photograph has been selected for the Barrett Arts Annual National Photography Exhibition by Karen Irvine, Curator and Associate Director at the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago. The photograph, Let Us Now Praise the Roma, will be on display at the gallery March 19-April 30, 2016.

STUDENT NEWS KATIE LANIER (BFA Photography) has completed a month-long photography internship working for Angela Kohler and Ithyle Griffiths Studio in Los Angeles, California. The studio is well known for directing TV commercials. Katie worked in the studio and on commercial sets, and she actually built a darkroom for their studio. She is a photographer for Shelby County Reporter.

JEREMY BLACK (BFA) has been the Volunteer Photographer for The Birmingham Zoo, where he has photographed the Junior Vet Lab Event, Breakfast with Santa Event, and the Groundhog Day Event.

These three events have helped him to expand his love for wildlife and incorporate people into the images promoting programs at the zoo. He is in the process of working with the Marketing Department at the Zoo and will have images displayed on a large scale in the Children’s area.

Jeremy has been working with UM alum Clark Maxwell to have images displayed through the Zoo’s social media platform, too. One of Jeremy’s images was recently featured in The Original Alabaster Newsletter in an advertisement to help promote the Shelby County Camera Club.

DR. SCOTT MEYER is back in the classroom following his fall sabbatical. He had a solo exhibition of his new ceramic sculpture, “Scott Meyer: Crucibles and Icons of High Heat” at the Johnson Center for the Arts in Troy which ran through Feb. 21.

DR. KELLY WACKER just received confirmation her article, Plein Air Learning, was recently published online.

Photos by Jeremy Black from the Bimingham Zoo

March 2016 FACULTY ACCOMPLISHMENTS KAREN GRAFFEO Graffeo’s photograph has been selected for the Barrett Arts Annual National Photography Exhibition by Karen Irvine, Curator and Associate Director at the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago. The photograph, Let Us Now Praise the Roma, will be on display at the gallery March 19-April 30, 2016.

STUDENT NEWS KATIE LANIER (BFA Photography) has completed a month-long photography internship working for Angela Kohler and Ithyle Griffiths Studio in Los Angeles, California. The studio is well known for directing TV commercials. Katie worked in the studio and on commercial sets, and she actually built a darkroom for their studio. She is a photographer for Shelby County Reporter.

JEREMY BLACK (BFA) has been the Volunteer Photographer for The Birmingham Zoo, where he has photographed the Junior Vet Lab Event, Breakfast with Santa Event, and the Groundhog Day Event.

These three events have helped him to expand his love for wildlife and incorporate people into the images promoting programs at the zoo. He is in the process of working with the Marketing Department at the Zoo and will have images displayed on a large scale in the Children’s area.

Jeremy has been working with UM alum Clark Maxwell to have images displayed through the Zoo’s social media platform, too. One of Jeremy’s images was recently featured in The Original Alabaster Newsletter in an advertisement to help promote the Shelby County Camera Club.

DR. SCOTT MEYER is back in the classroom following his fall sabbatical. He had a solo exhibition of his new ceramic sculpture, “Scott Meyer: Crucibles and Icons of High Heat” at the Johnson Center for the Arts in Troy which ran through Feb. 21.

DR. KELLY WACKER just received confirmation her article, Plein Air Learning, was recently published online.

Photos by Jeremy Black from the Bimingham Zoo

March 2016 Art major EMALEE BUTLER presents her painting of the university mascot to UM Athletic Director Mark Richard. Richard commissioned the new work for his office.

ALUMNI NEWS JENNIFER ALSABROOK-TURNER has been working in collaboration with UM student MARY CATHERINE FEHR. Jennifer’s photography business, Bang images, does marvelous and inventive portraits and weddings.

Work by Mary Catherine Fehr

Collaboration between Mary Catherine Fehr and Jennifer Alsabrook-Turner

April 2016 FACULTY ACCOMPLISHMENTS KAREN GRAFFEO

“Let Us Now Praise the Roma” by Karen Graffeo opened at the Walnut Gallery (Gadsden, Alabama) on March 18 and runs through April 18. The photography exhibition documents the culture of the Roma, or “gypsies,” inside refugee encampments, caravans, slums and housing projects in Italy, Romania and France.

STUDENT NEWS ANNUAL JURIED FOUNDATIONS SHOW The Art Department hosted the opening reception for the Annual Juried Foundation Show on March 17. This exhibition featured current student work from the studio foundations classes Drawing I and II, and 2D and 3D Design, and the introductory studios in ceramics, drawing, graphic design, painting, photography, printmaking, and sculpture. This year’s juror was Birmingham artist Merrilee Challiss, who selected the exhibition from student entries and designated the award winners:

Best of Show – CHANDLER FOUSHEE First Place – CARLY ZYWNO, Second Place – AUDREY MEEKE, Third Place – SARA SCOTT, Honorable Mention – MARINA ROSS. JESSICA WEBB, STEVEN FINLEY JR.

ANNUAL HONORS DAY The Annual Honors Day recognitions in the Art Department are merit based scholarships and awards are determined by the art faculty based on submitted portfolios of student work and class performance. The awards are designed to honor students at all levels of the curriculum and program areas.

New Student Scholarships For Freshmen And Transfers 2015-16: The Dean’s Fine Arts Scholarship: MOLLY THOMAS, DALTON WELDON, NICHOLAS CALLINS The Joan Gregory Scholarship: AUDREY MECKE, CADLEY JACKSON, EVELYN MYERS, HANNAH GREEN The Madge Taylor Sims Scholarship: JESSICA WEBB, KATLYN COLEY, JORDAN HALL The Jefferson Co. Alumni Scholarship: CAITLYNN DONNELLY VAAP Scholarship: KATLYN COLEY, CHRISTIAN CROW Program Area Awards: The Virginia Barnes Emerging Artists Award: KAREN PEARCE, STEVEN FINLEY JR., BENJAMIN KAISER, KATHRYN LANIER, JESSE WARECH

Current Student Scholarships For Junior & Senior Art Majors: The Dorothy Robbins Mullican Scholarship: KILY PAYNE The Madge Taylor Sims Scholarship: MARGARET JOBE, MACKENSIE SANDLIN, BECCA MALOY, JONATHAN EVANS The Martha Allen Memorial Scholarship: ELIZABETH DUFOUR The Southern Progress Scholarship in Graphic Design: SERENA MANNING Excellence Awards: Art History – MARGARET JOBE Ceramics – BLAKE DILLARD Drawing - MARGARET JOBE Graphic Design – COURTNEY HOLT New Media – BECCA MALOY Painting – ASHTON HUFFSTETLER Photography - MARY CATHERINE FEHR Printmaking – WILL HENRY Sculpture – ROBERT WISE The Virginia Robert Liles Overall Excellence Award - ROBERT WISE Outstanding Service Award – ANNALEAH COMMER

Annual Juried Mary Foundations Show Collaboration between Catherine Fehr and Jennifer Alsabrook-Turner