Truman State University Art Department

Happy Summer!

Photo Credit:  Tim Barcus (Campus Photographer)

The Art Department blog is on break until classes resume in late August...enjoy the summer, everyone, and be sure to check back again later in the summer to find out what's going on in Art at Truman!

Students check out art in Des Moines

Photo Credit:  John Bohac

Last month Prof. John Bohac took a group of Art students to Des Moines, Iowa to visit three great art sites:  the Des Moines Art Center, the John & Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park, and Creative Coldsnow (art supplies).  The group is pictured above outside the Des Moines Art Center.

New honorary art society at Truman State University!

The Art Department at Truman now has the newest chapter of Kappa Pi International Honorary Art Fraternity.  Truman's chapter--the Theta Eta Chapter of Kappa Pi--will be officially installed at some point during the Spring 2012 Semester when the President of Kappa Pi will visit Truman's campus to conduct the Chapter installation and Charter Member induction (specific date and further information forthcoming).  Truman's chapter of Kappa Pi is the direct result of a student initiative and petition effort lead by current art majors Emily VanGelder, Andy Doering, and Andrea Linskey.  

Kappa Pi is a 100-year old honorary art fraternity that through the "artistic interests and influence of its members, upholds the highest ideals of a liberal education; [and] provides a means whereby students with artistic commitment meet for the purpose of informal study and communication...to raise the standards of productive artistic work among students..."  (from the Kappa Pi Constitution).  Among the goals of Theta Eta chapter will be the promotion of the visual arts on the Truman campus and within the broader community and the enrichment of the creative environment within the Art Department.  Membership in Kappa Pi is a recognition of excellence in and dedication to the visual arts.  All art majors -- studio, visual communications and art history -- will be eligible for membership once the chapter is officially installed.

Gallery Opening Tonight!

We hope to see you at the University Art Gallery (OP 1114) tonight for the opening reception for two great shows!

The Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition will feature works by Truman State University Art students selected by exhibition juror Prof. Armin Mühsam.  Prof. Mühsam, who is Associate Professor of Painting and Drawing at Nortwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri, was invited to jury the show.

At the same time as the Juried Student Art Exhibition, also up in the Gallery will be an exhibition, entitled "Narratives of Inevitability".  This show features Prof. Mühsam's own paintings which deal with "the changing and changed landscape, particularly the face of nature as altered by human intervention".  For Prof. Mühsam's artist's statement and images of some of his paintings, please click here.

Both exhibitions were funded in part by the Missouri Arts Council and are both free and open to the public.  We hope to see you at the reception!

Ceramics Sale in Ophelia Parrish!

 

All day on both Thursday, December 8 and Friday, December 9 the Clay People (the club for students interested in ceramics) will be holding a sale of some of their pieces (Atrium Lobby, Ophelia Parrish, just opposite the Severns Theatre).  It's a great chance to support Art students, to do some holiday or home shopping, and to get some new, beautiful, hand-made things.  Proceeds for the sale will support travel to the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) conference in Seattle this academic year.

Congratulations Studio Seniors plus Gallery Opening plus Art History Presentations!

Photo Credit:  print by Danielle Pahls;  photo by Aaron Fine.

Lots going on in this last week of classes!

All Art History majors are required--sometime during their time at Truman--to complete some sort of art historical experience outside of the classroom.  This might be an internship, study abroad, a workshop, or lots of other possibilities.  Students then share their experiences with the campus community;  on Monday, December 5 at 7:00 p.m. in OP 2210 the Art History Society (the club for students interested in Art History) will be hosting a series of presentations by students who completed their experience in Summer 2011.  Please join us to learn more from Amy Hall, April Johnston, Allie Straussner, and Elmer Stunkel about internships at both the DUMBO Arts Center in Brooklyn, New York and at the St. Louis Art Museum (with Truman Art History alum Dr. Mike Murawski), and study exchange in the Czech Republic!

Everyone is also invited to the University Art Gallery on Tuesday, December 6th at 6:00 p.m. for the opening of the exhibition of work by students planning to graduate with a BA: Art or BFA:  Studio Art degree.  The exhibition will be up through Friday, December 9 and will feature work by Sarah Harford, Sierra McCown, Danielle Pahls, Amanda Rispoli, and Sammy Wheeler.  As always, the exhibition is free and open to the public, and (again, as always) refreshments will be served at the opening.  More information on Gallery events can be found at http://tsugallery.org.

Hope you can join us to support and congratulate these students!

Awards Ceremony for Art Students

 
Student award winners with Art Department Chair Prof. Rusty Nelson (center)

This afternoon, on the last day of classes for the academic year, the Art Department held a ceremony to officially recognize students who have won either university-wide or departmental awards.  Please join us in congratulating all of these talented artists, designers, and art historians!

Outstanding Undergraduate in Art (university wide):  Anna Youngyuen

Outstanding Undergraduate in Art History:  Valerie Lazalier

Outstanding Undergraduate in Studio Art:  Laura Wellington

Outstanding Undergraduate in Visual Communication:  Julianne Gross

Department Service Award: Huyen Dinh

The following students were awarded Art Department scholarships:

    Kat Klebenow;  Kristine Campbell;  Sara Rudder;  Jon Moeller;  Megan Schaffer.

In addition, the following students will be awarded Departmental Honors next Friday at a separate, university-wide ceremony:

Julianne Gross (Vis. Comm.);  Becky Hernandez (Studio Art);  Valerie Lazalier (Art History); AnnaYoungyuen (Studio Art)

 

 

Student docents in University Art Gallery

 
First-year Art History major Emily Hagen works with visiting middle and high school students in "The Workshop and the World".  Emily also worked as a Curatorial Assistant for this exhibition.

This semester, as always, many Truman State University students have been active as volunteer docents in the University Art Gallery.  Many are members of Art History Society, but the Gallery also has docents from Departments across campus;  for example, a number of Communication Disorders majors and Disability Studies minors docented for the recent "4 Real 4 Faux" exhibition.  Anyone interested in being trained as a Gallery docent should contact Prof. Aaron Fine, Gallery Director, at afine@truman.edu;  in addition, anyone interested in arranging for a docent-led Gallery tour may also contact Prof. Fine.

 
First-year Art History major April Johnston shows printmaking equipment related to "The Workshop and the World" to middle and high school students.

Art Historians Outside the Classroom!

This evening, Tuesday, November 2, three senior Art History majors will present on their experiences last summer outside of the classroom.  Art History majors are all required, during their time at Truman, to engage in Art Historical activity outside the classroom:  a workshop, an internship, study abroad, or lots of other options.  In addition, they present that experience to the campus community as a whole in a symposium organized by the Art History Society.  This evening, Stephanie Barry, Jaime Chambers, and Michelle Kimberlin will talk about their respective internship or study abroad experiences in Kirksville, Texas, and St. Louis--5:30 p.m. in OP2210.  Hope to see you there! 

Renaissance Art in St. Louis!

Some of the students who participated in the trip in front of the St. Louis Art Museum

A group of students, mostly Art History majors and mostly from ART324 Renaissance Art and ART428 Topics in Art History:  Reading Michelangelo recently visited two exhibitions in St. Louis. Students went to the St. Louis Art Museum to see a wonderful exhibition entitled "The Mourners".  This show featured stunning alabaster sculptures originally made for the tomb of Jean sans Peur (John the Fearless), Duke of Burgundy who died in 1419;  these late Medieval/early Renaissance works were paired with an early twenty-first-century video installation by the American artist Bill Viola entitled Visitation.  In addition, at the Vatican Splendors show at the Missouri History Museum, students had the chance to see autograph documents by artists such as Michelangelo and Bernini as well as a sculpture probably by Michelangelo, as well as lots of other items from the Vatican collections in Rome.  In addition, students had the chance to meet with Truman alumni Dr. Mike Murawski (Director of School Services, St. Louis Art Museum) and Ms. Lisa Gilbert (Education Coordinator, Missouri History Museum) to discuss musuem work, education in the museum settings, and internships available through both organizations.

One of the mourner figures for the tomb of John the Fearless