It's been an exciting semester full of wonderful artwork. We're looking forward to next semesters new faces and creative projects. The gallery schedule for next spring is posted and we invited you to join in the creativity. Have a happy holiday from the Department of Art!

High School Art Day 2012

The Pittsburg State University Department of Art hosted their anual High School Art Day last Thursday. Over 300 students from high schools in Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma participated in the event. Students competed in several competitions including: Juror Competition, Newspaper Robot Warriors Group Competitive, Robot Warrior Pets Individual Competitive, and Self Portrait competitions. After lunch Margaret Roach Wheeler gave a wonderful lecture on her career. The Department of Art would like to extend a big thanks to all those that participated and attended this years High School Art Day, for making the day a success!

For more news stories and images about High School Art Day 2012 click on the links below!

Morning Sun

Koam TV

Pittsburg State University Website

PSU Department of Art Facebook

Pittsburg State University Facebook

 

Juried competition results:

Best In Show

Sky Johnson, Prairie View

2D Division

First place

Callie Spencer,  Chanute

Second place

Holly Schomaker, Iola

Third place

Amanda Montgomery, Augusta

3D Division

First place

Rachael Haas, Carthage

Second place

Morgan Sewart, Girard

Third place

Jared Ficus, Chanute

School Challenge results:

Best In Show – Robot Warriors

Osawatomie

Individual 2D Challenge results:

Best In Show — Self portrait

Sam Brown, Augusta

Individual 3D Challenge results:

Best In Show — Robot Pets

Cole Cramer, Erie

Interdisciplinary Lecture Series

Come Join us for the Department of Art's Interdisciplinary Lecture Series this Thursday and Friday!

Click image to enlarge

Erin Wiersma is exhibiting Intervals of Time in the University Gallery at Pittsburg State University. Her public lecture will take place November 1 at 6:00 pm in Room 409 Russ Hall.

Wiersma is an Assistant Professor of Art at Kansas State University. She recieved her MFA in Painting at the University of Connecticut.

Wiersma's "Intervals" Series  is the basis for this semester's Interdisciplinary Lecture Series. In addition to her lecture November 1, she will also be giving  a short lecture Friday, November 2, at 10:00-10:25 am in the Harry Krug Gallery, Porter Hall.

Photos courtesy of Kenzi Jordan

Fall 2012 Interdisciplinary Lecture Series

click image to enlarge

Interdisciplinary Lecture Series November 1 – 2, 2012

PITTSBURG STATE UNIVERSITY, Pittsburg, KS

Thursday November 1

4:00 – 6:00 pm           Family Art Night   Second Floor Gallery, Porter Hall

6:00 – 7:00 pm           Erin Wiersma Artist’s Lecture, 409 Russ Hall

7:00 – 8:00 pm           Reception, Porter Hall

Friday November 2

9:00 - 9:15                   Starbucks Coffee and Mingling

9:15 - 9:30                   Introductory remarks: Rhona Shand, Art Department Chair

9:30 - 9:55                   Thomas Bell: Humanities Librarian: What Does Art Sound Like: Perception of Visual Art and Music

10:00 - 10:25:              Erin Wiersma: Artist: Intervals of Time: The Still Point

10:30 - 10:55:              Dr. James McBain : Philosopher: This Painting Really Tastes

B-Flat: Reflections on Cross-Medium Aesthetic Talk

11:00 - 11:25:              Brunch Break

11:30 - 11:55:              Dr. Steve Ford: Biology: Here’s How Ears Hear

12:00 - 12:25:              Dr. John Ross: Composer : What is Art For? What is Music For?

12:30 - 12:55:              Dr. Xiaolu Wu:  Biologist: The Sound of Biology

1:00 - 1: 25:                 Dr. Charles Blatchley: The Physics of Sound

1:30 - 1:55                   Dr. Paul Smith: Humanities: Simultaneity and Imagination: Art, Music and Poetry

2:00 - 3:00                   Discussion

3:00 - 3:15                   Closing Remarks

CALLING ALL ART ALUMNI!

Participate in SNAAP and Help PSU Current and Future Arts Students!

Pittsburg State University Department of Art is partnering with the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP) to find out more about the lives and careers of our alumni. 

Alumni who graduated but have not yet received an email invitation to complete the survey should first check their junk mail folder or other email accounts. If they do not find the email invitation to participate, then they can go to this site to take the survey, beginningOctober 11: snaap.indiana.edu

Hispanic Artists

Don't miss out on Porter Hall's 2nd floor gallery this week. An exhibit featuring artworks by Hispanic student artists in the Four State-area will run through Saturday, September 22.  

           For more information check out the Morning Sun Article about the show!

David Marquez on Campus Sept. 24th

David Marquez will deliver a public lecture September 24th at 10:00 am in the Governors Room of the Overman Center. It will be followed by a reception in Porter Hall at 11:00 am. Marqez recieved an MA in sculpture 2002 and an MFA in Sculpture in 2003 from the University of Iowa. He is currently developing his work as a studio artist and has also served as an educator of the visual arts at Western Kentucky University since 2007.

PSU Art Exhibitions - Fall 2012

Click on the images to view poster at a larger size

            _____

First Call for Faculty and Community Participation: Fall 2012 Art Department Interdisciplinary Lecture Series       November 1-2, 2012

Each semester the Art Department hosts a series of lectures that provide an opportunity to have faculty and community members share their expertise. This is done in relationship to a central theme provided by one of the exhibitions found in the PSU University Art gallery.
  
The lecture format for Fall 2012 will be a condensed three-day event from November 1th – 3rd. The exhibition we are basing our event around is artist Erin Wiersma.  The PSU Department of Art intends to explore the Wiersma work through the lenses of a series of panel discussions and lectures related not just to the painting medium and artistic language.

The Department of Art envisions a situation where faculty (beyond the Department of Art) research will have a point of intersection with the artist’s work and that the panels, presentations and dialog about such significant and poignant topics are not only a place for faculty to share their research ideas, but it also broadens the experience of the exhibit.

About the Artist

Artist Erin Wiersma, Assistant Professor of Art, Kansas State University and Thomas Bell, Humanities Librarian at Hale Library, Kansas State University, will lead a series of lectures and panel discussions. Wiersma and Bell will explore ideas by author’s like David Stubbs, Fear of Music: Why people get Rothko, but don’t get Stockhausen, and Peter Vergo’s The music of painting:  Music, modernism and the visual arts from the Romantics to John Cage, while discussing the ideas of musicians who were originally trained as visual artists such Brian Eno, David Byrne, Laurie Anderson, to name a few. Interested panelists from PSU faculty, staff and the Pittsburg community will explore the relationship and commonalities, between visual art and music with particular focus on the paintings of Erin Wiersma.

As Bell and Wiersma write, “It can be overwhelming to put into words what visual art looks like, but what does it sound like? Often, the more detailed the description becomes the further away one gets from the emotive power and depth of the work itself. This is one thing in the case of representational art, but something quite other in the case of  modernist and contemporary abstract works, whether it be the freely scribbled calligraphic style graffiti of Cy Twombly, an abstract expressionist piece by de Kooning or Pollack, or the works of minimalists such as Donald Judd or Sol le Witt. Conversely, what does music look like? Not the mere representation of notational styles, but what do the sounds look like? What do music critics mean when they say, “if this album were a painting it would be a Gerhard Richter.”? Is it nonsense? Or is there some way to view the sonic and the visual arts through one another’s language, concepts and idioms in order to grasp both more fully, to more deeply comprehend and articulate the aesthetic, wordless language of both?”

_____

These are the things we want to talk about.  Care to join us? Please send a short abstract of what you would like to share to the Department of Art Office, by September 30, 2012.      art@pittstate.edu

Check back here at the  PSU Department of Art blog or Facebook for updated information.

Artist's Presentation and Reception - The Kligmans

© Amy Kligman

Cheap Date, acrylic and resin on canvas.

May 3 @ 4:00 pm  Room 409 Russ Hall
Reception to follow at 5:00 pm in Porter Hall

The Kligmans will deliver a public lecture May 3 at 4:00 pm in room 409 Russ Hall followed by a reception in Porter Hall at 5:00 pm. In 2009, Misha earned a MFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Kansas at Lawrence, KS. In 2001, Amy earned a BFA from the Ringling College of Art and Design of Sarasota, FL. The Kligmans were the recipients of the Juror‚s Selection first-place exhibition award for their entries in Visual Territory, the PSU Art Department‚s biannual national juried exhibition. The exhibition gathered artists from around the U.S. to investigate „the intimate territories of personal experience and the global landscape of place and the environment‰.

Department of Art Senior Exhibition_ Second Floor Student Space Gallery

Student iPad Exhibition in Porter Hall

PSU Art Department was happy to present an exhibit of digital sketchbook works, created using iPads, on the Second Floor Gallery of  Porter Hall April 16 – 20.

The exhibit highlighted the exceptional work of students enrolled in the Life Drawing II class during the spring semester 2012, as well as the iPad Pilot Project through the Center for Teaching and Learning.

Congrat to Department of Art student worker, Alexandra Anger!

Professor Portico Bowman (PSU Gallery Director) and Alexandra Anger (gallery work-study superstar)

Department of Art student worker, Alexandra Anger received the 1st Runner Up Student Employee of the Year! Alex has been a strong force for several years in the behind the scenes management of the Department of Art Harry Krug and University Galleries.

The Student Employee of the Year Awards are sponsored by PSU’s Office of Career Services. Director Mindy Cloninger said the estimated 1,000 students who work on campus, and the hundreds who work in businesses throughout the community and in the region provide valuable service at the same time they are learning life-long skills.

“PSU student employees play a very important role in the operation of the university,” said Cloninger. “I think some people are surprised when they learn of the responsibilities some students have.”

A wonderful weekend for the Department of Art

 Morning Sun _ Marydorsey Wanless

 Morning Sun_ Family Art Morning

THIS WEEK!!! Spring 2012 Interdisciplinary lecture series

The Art Department is pleased to present our Spring 2012 Interdisciplinary lecture series focusing on and inspired by the "Evidence of Aging" exhibit created by Marydorsey Wanless.  For your planning convenience we have divided the events into the following categories:

Thursday March 8:  Artist and Artwork Focus: Photography and Alternative Processes
6:30 - 7:30 pm:  Marydorsey Wanless
8:00 - 9:00 pm:  Rhona Shand: Art Department Chair

Friday March 9 : Spring 2012  Art Department Exhibition Interdisciplinary Lecture Series
Intended as an opportunity for a variety of perspectives related to issues that engage with the subject of aging, a variety of speakers will present their opinions through their diverse and wide-ranging areas of expertise and personal experience.

Biology of Aging  2:00 ˆ 3:15
Dr. Steve Ford: Biology Department
Dr. Xiaolu Wu: Biology Department
Psychology of Aging 3:30 ˆ 5: 45
Dr. Lynette Olson: Provost and Vice-President For Academic Affairs
Harry Krug: Professor Emeritus and former Art Department Chair
Dr. Sean Lauderdale: Psychology and Counseling Department
Dr. Harriet A. Bachner: Psychology and Counseling Department

Culture of Aging 6:00 ˆ 7:00
Yazeed Aldhwayan: International Student from Saudi Arabia.
Alheli Aranda Britez: International Student from Paraguay
Dr. Joey Pogue: Communications Department

Saturday March 10: 10:00 - Noon Family Art Morning
Meet at Porter Hall
Scavenger Hunt and Cyanotype photo workshop
Co-sponsored by the UAA (University Art Association), Student Activities Council,
Gorillas Out of Bounds, and the SAI Sigma Alpha Iota.

We invite you to participate in all or any part of the events listed.  Everyone is welcome and all events are free and open to the public.

Art Auction this week!

PATRICK'S PEOPLE: Pittsburg State is holding an art auction

Students, Art & Pizza

Department of Art students have been working hard over the past couple of months to give a fresh look to the Wheat State Pizza building that is adjacent to the PSU campus. The project is ongoing as students have patiently waited for optimal mural making weather in Kansas.  Their progress is visible to everyone who drives down the Broadway. We will also keep you posted at varies stages of the mural.

PSU Professor exhibits work in the Windy City

Pittsburg State University Professor Rhona Shand flew out to Chicago last week to attend the opening night of the MoCP's Limits of Photography exhibition. Shand had several pieces chosen by the Museum of Contemporary Photography's curator Rod Slemmons for the show.

Limits of Photography explores the area where the viewer loses faith in the veracity of photography. We have been confident since the beginning of widely published photographic images in the late 1920s that photographs are telling us something very truthful about the world. When publisher Henry Luce launched Life Magazine in 1936 he wrote a promotional ad:

To see life; to see the world; to eyewitness great events; to watch the faces of the poor and the gestures of the proud; to see strange things….to see and take pleasure in seeing; to see and be amazed; to see and be instructed; thus to see and be shown is now the will and new expectancy of half mankind.

In the entire ad he uses the words “see,” or “watch,” or “eyewitness” 14 times. He does not use the word “photograph” when, in fact he means “see in photographs.” This confusion of sight and photography would become very useful to news magazines and to advertisers in them.
This confusion can be challenged when the photograph is manipulated to the point of where we lose our trust both in its identity as a photograph, and subsequently in its veracity as a document. A subtext of this exhibition is how long we can still identify a photograph as photograph, and the realization of how good we are at confusing photography with reality.
The exhibition contains a wide variety of contemporary mixed media, video, and technical alteration and manipulation. Some of these departures from photographic purity result in very minimal imagery and some in dense, intricate detail. Taken as a whole this work results in something more akin to a series of partially remembered dreams—reports as to what was behind rather than in front of the camera. Each artist, however, has their own purpose and goal. The limits of their medium is a tool rather than an agenda.

The exhibition title exploits a double meaning. The first is that many of the artists in the show push photography to the limits of recognizing it as photography. The second refers to the limitations encountered when we trust photography as if it were perception—as if it were a window rather than a flat, constructed surface. These two obviously play off against each other and provide good metaphoric possibilities for making art as well as for viewing. —Rod Slemmons, Curator at Large, Museum of Contemporary Photography

A New Welcome in the Art Office

Marty White

The Department of Art is pleased to announce that a new face will be greeting everyone who comes to Porter Hall. Marty has been appointed the new Administrative Specialist for the department. She will be filling the position left vacant since the retirement of Jolene Robinson last October. 

"We are excited to welcome Marty to the Department of Art family. Her prior work experiences in OIS and Financial Aid will be a great boon to both faculty and students. Marty has already done an excellent job transitioning into her new role. " - Rhona Shand, Department of Art Chair

Students use iPads in Art 434 Life Drawing Course

This spring the Office of the Provost provided funding for an iPad pilot project. Small classes that could demonstrate a unique way of impacting student learning were selected to use the iPads for the semester.  Department of Art faculty member, James Oliver's Life Drawing students were shocked to find out they would be receiving the iPad's to use for the semester.

" I was stunned that we would receive the opportunity to used them in an art class. My favorite reaction when we learned about it was from another student 'I must be dreaming'. The student then asked Jamie (James Oliver) to repeat the news."  - Carol Longman, student

Life Drawing student John Mesplay gets comfortable while learning how to drawing on the iPad.

First Day in Ceramics

You are employable with an Arts degree!!

Arts degree graduates are really in high demand in the jobs market with well-paying positions. Lets take a look at the most commons myths about getting a degree in Art...

Myth 1: A Bachelor of Arts degree is not enough to find a well-paying, interesting job. You need to go to Law School, the Faculty of Education, or a technical training institute to be competitive for professional employment.

Fact 1: Based payscales.com salary survey conducted, average salary for bachelor's arts degree graduates in various job fields at United States are ranging from $32,000 to $55,000 annually, without having any further college or university study.

Myth 2: A Bachelor of Arts degree will get you a job of flipping burgers.

Fact 2: Based recent job survey conducted by a well-known survey company, arts graduates are often employed in a professional or managerial capacity (50 - 81%). This compared favorably with those in Commerce (60%) and those with technical or vocational diplomas from colleges and technical institutes (24 - 35%).

Myth 3: A Bachelor of Arts degree is a waste of time and money and does not earn as much money as a bachelor degree in science and technology.

Fact 3: According to a job survey report from "Express News" of University Alberta, Those with a general arts degree do well in the long term, although initially they may not make as much as graduates of professional faculties, what's really striking is the gains they make over five years, the gap starts to close. This is because Arts graduates emerge with highly developed research, communication, creative problem-solving and critical thinking skills that are in high demand because they are difficult to teach in the workplace. Many employers want this type of well-rounded employee, who can be trained for more specific skills.

How much do arts graduates earn?         Where do artists reside?          How satisfied are arts alumni with their education?          How many arts alumni have graduate degrees?           More questions about Art degrees?

The Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP) has created a unique website to frame a clearer picture of arts alumni in America. This is just the beginning. Each year more and more survey respondents provide priceless information for the next generation of arts students.

         Strategic National Arts Alumni Project Website

Department of Art students are back to school!

 After a quiet winter break, Porter Hall is filling up with students and the rumblings of future art works. Classes started yesterday, Tuesday January 17th.

Congratulations to James Oliver!!

James Oliver (on right), Painting faculty

As the new year starts, we have one more bit of news from 2011. Congratulations again to James Oliver. James was one of the two recipients of the 2011 PSU Arts and Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award. 

" James Oliver has been on the faculty of Pittsburg State University’s Department of Art since 2000. His time at Pittsburg State University has shown him to be an educator of exceptional ability and character. James’ excellence in teaching goes far beyond the confines of the classroom.  He provides thoughtful academic advisement and mentoring, strong long-term planning related to his duties as an Undergraduate Advisor and as Graduate Student Coordinator, and a personable approach to students, his fellow faculty and contemporaries.

He is the perfect model for a faculty in the College of Arts & Sciences. He is a highly dedicated and dynamic communicator who knows how to motivate his students to strive for excellence. James is committed to making art and always conveys an excitement about being able to share his extensive knowledge of the subject with others, his students in particular. The student comments often describe him as an outstanding teacher with the ability to grab their undivided attention and leave them with the satisfaction of, in the words of one student, “having truly learned and understood the material thanks to the accessibility of his lectures”.

Innovative teaching and mentoring requires continuous advancement of a faculty’s current discipline specific knowledge and also investigating new methods of teaching and learning. From the use of smart media in his studio courses to taking additional coursework that expand his knowledge of advisement; James is always seeking new ways to grow as an educator

I do hope that the foregoing will give you and your committee some indication of the pure excellence, which James Oliver brings to our University. He is most worthy of the award for which he is being awarded."

- Rhona Shand, Department of Art Chair