Author: Red Sage

Athens State University faculty, staff, and students at the Alabama Center for the Arts have had to adjust to a “less-than-ideal” ending to the spring semester thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. On-ground classes transitioned to online formats, and all in-person events were cancelled.

This consequently affected the bi-annual “LOOK” senior art exhibit, which was planned as an in-person exhibit in the Center’s main gallery. However, in lieu of cancelling the LOOK exhibit altogether, the Alabama Center for the Arts faculty members are turning lemons into lemonade and are hosting the exhibit virtually. With a virtual exhibit, the public will be able to enjoy the artists’ talents and join in celebrating their accomplishments.

“These past few weeks have been a challenging time for everyone,” stated Jessica Spowart, Athens State University’s Assistant Professor of Art and Graphic Design at the Alabama Center for the Arts. “I am truly amazed by this talented and resilient group of artists. Their virtual exhibit is a shining example of how the arts, and creative spirit, is something that the coronavirus pandemic is powerless against. It is my honor to have been their instructor this semester.”

The students featured this spring come from a variety of backgrounds, and their work explores a wide range of themes:

Sara Burnette “I am an acrylic painter who focuses on wildlife. For this series, I focused on the birds that I have grown most fond of growing up.”

Liberty Dare “I am a multimedia artist. I find my work through adventure and exploration.”

Sarah Dove “The artwork I created for my senior show aims to harness light itself as my medium. My goal was to create an experience for viewers to actively participate in the creative process while simultaneously savoring the intrinsic beauty of light itself.”

Jalen Green has a stunning display of graphic art that uniquely explores color with a mystic-themed display of nature.

Carolina Hurtado “Repetition and patterns come in many forms lines, shapes, direction, size, color, texture, value, and space. Patterns make an excellent subject for art because of their active nature and unique aesthetic. The enduring idea I have selected is based on movement, and reflects all the elements of art and principles of design.”

Caitlan Kessinger is studying to become an art teacher and utilized her talents in photography for her exhibit. “Art has always had a way of grounding me. I love all mediums of art and I hope to teach my students that no matter where you come from or how crazy life seems.”

Ethan Lane “I focus my works around color because it is versatile, unifying, and exploratory. Arguably the most exciting attribute of color is the limitless opportunities to explore how color can interact with itself.”

Rebekah Overcast “I believe that beauty has a deeper meaning and can be found in simple things, tasks, and people of everyday life. With my art, I am expressing what beauty personally means and is to me in my everyday life. My art expresses happiness, joy, and beauty by using bright colors, handwritten type, and simple illustrations.”

Sierra Phillips “As you explore my work, I hope you see the details and stories behind each piece. Through my artwork, I want to highlight the details of the overlooked and forgotten. I have used design and photography to show those important details.”

Alicia Walker “Throughout my journey as an artist, I discovered that I want to create things that evoke emotion. Typically, when I begin my creative process, I take into consideration how I am feeling or what I want to portray with that particular piece. Color is something that I generally experiment with to stir up different reactions from the viewer to the content.”

To view the LOOK Spring 2020 Senior Exhibit, please visit https://www.athens.edu/look-senior-exhibit/. If you are interested in purchasing one of the pieces of art, please contact the student directly through his or her portfolio.

The Alabama Center for the Arts (ACA) is excited to call alumni artists and faculty/staff of Athens State University and Calhoun Community College for the fifth juried faculty, staff, and alumni show. Entry deadline is August 10, 2020.

We encourage innovative and progressive work that utilizes a diversity of art forms and media. There is no theme for the 2020 show, however, all works must have been completed in the last year and must not have been shown previously in any of the galleries or hallways of the Alabama Center for the Arts.

Artists may submit up to three works of art in JPG form along with the entry form for consideration by our juror. No more than three works per artist will be selected. Works selected for the exhibition will be displayed in the gallery and potentially the walking gallery at the Alabama Center for the Arts in historic Downtown Decatur.

Everyone who is eligible is encouraged to participate in this call for artists.

Call (256) 260-4299 or email Jennifer.Bunnell@athens.edu with any questions.

[button link=”https://www.alabamacenterforthearts.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Prospectus_FacultyAlumniShow_2020.pdf” type=”big” newwindow=”yes”] Download the Prospectus & Application PDF[/button]

APPLICATION DEADLINE: March 20, 2020 at 5pm

High School Students in Visual, Music & Performing Arts:

The faculty of Athens State University and Calhoun Community College, along with the Alabama Center for the Arts, invites high school students to apply for acceptance to a 2-week Summer Arts Pathway Program – The Project 2020. The Project is an intensive, 2-week, summer camp experience, open to rising sophomore, junior, and senior high school students. Students accepted to the program will work with our Athens State and Calhoun faculty on a collaborative project using all aspects of Fine and Performing Arts. Participation in The Project will grant those student participants the opportunity to earn scholarships for attending Calhoun Community College and Athens State University.

The Project 2020, now in its second year, is being co-directed by Jax Vadney (Athens State Theatre Arts faculty) and Chris Vrenna (Calhoun Music Production faculty). Additionally, we have two full time instructors, Kim Parker (Calhoun Film and Visual Arts faculty) and Jessica Spowart (Athens State Graphics Design and Visual Arts faculty), on the The Project 2020 team. During The Project, students will engage, work and learn from our faculty, as well as current students from both of our Athens and Calhoun programs, allowing them to experience what it is like to be a student in our Visual and Performing Arts programs at the Alabama Center for the Arts.

Each summer, The Project’s focus is on exploring and creating new works in the arts. During The Project 2020, students will create and produce short films that will be shown during The Project’s Film Festival on the final day of camp. Students will explore every aspect of this artistic endeavor, from concept to writing to designing to filming and editing. Included in this 2-week experience are Master Classes in Pottery, Sculpture, Music and Sound Design, and Acting for Film, as well as 2 community building events on Wednesday afternoons.

Participation in The Project is free. Lunches and snacks are included daily. The Project runs from 8:30am-3:30pm on Monday-Friday of each of the 2 weeks. Please note, the only exception to this schedule is on Wednesdays for the community events, which will extend the day on Wednesdays to 6pm.

Students must be available to attend the full 2-week program, which is scheduled for June 8-12 and June 15-19, 2020. To be considered for acceptance into this program, student applicants must:

• Complete an application form available through Google Forms
• Submit a Letter of Recommendation
• Digitally submit samples of their work
• Submit a short 500-word essay to describe a concept for a short 2-4 minute film (scene), please note that we are looking for scene concepts with 4 characters or less.

Specifics about the Letter of Recommendation, Samples of Student Work, and the Essay are all posted on the online application. All application materials can be submitted to jacki.vadney@athens.edu or chris.vrenna@calhoun.edu by March 20, 2020 at 5pm. Please note, students who are accepted to participate in The Project 2020 will be notified via email starting April 20, 2020.

To share this experience with other high school students, please have them go to http://www.facebook.com/theprojectaca for more information.

Application Materials & Information:

The pdf of the application can be printed, completed, scanned and then sent to the same emails above with the other documentation for application. Additionally, please see the pdf of our “What to Bring to Camp/What Not to Bring to Camp” list and a FAQ sheet.

• Application PDF
• What To/Not To Bring To Camp PDF
• FAQs PDF

If you have questions, please feel free to contact either Jax or Chris using the following contact information:

Jax Vadney:
jacki.vadney@athens.edu
(256) 260-4295

Chris Vrenna:
chris.vrenna@calhoun.edu
(256) 306-2692

The Alabama Center for the Arts is pleased to announce the opening of “Forgotten Alabama” in the Main Gallery on Monday, December 2, featuring photography by Glenn Wills. Wills, a self-proclaimed explorer, photographer, author, and preserver of history, made it his mission to capture thousands of images of neglected places in Alabama before they disappear. He grew up in Huntsville and worked for WAAY-TV, WHNT-TV, and WVTM-TV before he retired. The exhibit will be Wills’ first ever gallery show and is an Alabama Bicentennial Endorsed Event.

Wills discovered his love for old photos in the 1970s while working for a chimney sweep. The gentleman he worked for owned an old Victorian home in Huntsville whose interior walls were lined with dozens of black and white photographs that were 40 – 50 years old. Fascinated by the photos, Wills decided that he too would like to preserve the history of Alabama through his own photography one day.

While traveling for work in 2007, Wills noticed an old car along the highway and discovered that car was part of a junkyard full of classic automobiles, slowly rusting away. Wills did not have a camera with him that day, but he never traveled without one again. What began as a hobby – taking photographs of forgotten relics of Alabama’s past – transitioned into a full time endeavor after Wills retired.

Over the last decade, Wills has traveled to all 67 counties in the state of Alabama, logging over 50,000 miles and taking nearly 40,000 photographs. The photographs were released in a series of books that document Alabama’s past: Forgotten Alabama, More Forgotten Alabama, and most recently, 200 Years of Forgotten Alabama, the most comprehensive work of his collection.

“Forgotten Alabama” will be on display until Friday, February 14, 2020. A reception and guest lecture by Glenn Wills will be held on Saturday, December 14 at 12:00 pm in the Alabama Center for the Arts’ Visual Arts Building. The reception will coincide with a 200th birthday celebration for the state of Alabama. Event details to be released soon. The exhibit and reception are both free and open to the public.

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The Alabama Center for the Arts is the region’s premier art center and degree program. The project continues a long-standing collaborative academic effort between Athens State University and Calhoun Community College and serves as a model of academic institutional cooperation for the state. The Alabama Center for the Arts is a venue for cultural events and activities and will enhance an appreciation of art while promoting opportunities for creative expression for residents throughout the region.

Athens State University was founded in 1822, making it the oldest continuously-operated institute of higher learning in the state of Alabama. Offering over 50 undergraduate majors and degree options in addition to graduate programs, Athens State focuses on providing affordable, flexible, and high-quality options for all learners.

Making Alabama: A Bicentennial Traveling Exhibit presented by Alabama Humanities Foundation, displays 200 years of Alabama history and beyond. The exhibit opened in March 2018 before going on a 19-month tour, ending its run in Decatur, Alabama at the beautiful Alabama Center for the Arts Performing Arts Building at 133 2^nd Avenue from November 6 – December 14.

The schedule for the exhibit in Decatur is Monday-Thursday 8:00 am-8:00 pm and Friday 8:00 am-12:00 pm.

This impressive display blends artistic collages, interactive computer tablets and an audio medley of song and spoken word to tell the story of Alabama – from becoming a territory to achieving statehood. It also conveys a message of “Hope” in its presentation about the future.

The exhibit has been on tour for 19 months, traveling to all 67 of Alabama’s counties. Four exhibits were built, and they have traveled the state concurrently so that all counties have been able to experience this historic event in that time period.

Organizers say AHF was a natural choice for coordinating the traveling exhibit with decades of experience through its partnership with the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street traveling exhibit.

“Just like the Smithsonian, where not everyone has the opportunity to view a Smithsonian exhibit in Washington, not everyone can make it to Montgomery to see Alabama Department of Archives and History’s unparalleled ‘Voices’ exhibit,” said AHF Executive Director Armand DeKeyser. “What we are putting together gives them that opportunity.”

In addition, host communities have assembled their own historical exhibits and collateral programming and activities to showcase their own history and put their signatures on this event.

“It’s amazing what these communities are planning to celebrate their history and the 200 years of Alabama as a state,” DeKeyser said. “We are honored to be able to be a part of this epic undertaking, and we look forward to the next 19 months as it makes its way through towns and cities across our state.”

In Decatur, plans for the local exhibit and activities include a special exhibit of rarely-seen unique artifacts and documents on loan from the Morgan County Archives, accompanied by narrative panels that tell the history of Morgan County. The exhibit will officially open on Tuesday, November 5 at 10:00 am in the lobby of the Performing Arts building where Sen. Arthur Orr, Chairman of the Alabama Bicentennial Committee will welcome the public to this important exhibit. Refreshments will be served. A fascinating lecture by Bicentennial Scholar Frances Robb on photography in Alabama (date and time TBA) is planned for early December. Plans are also in the works for a special celebration through music and spoken word on the day of Alabama’s Bicentennial, December 14 at 5:00 pm.

To learn more about this statewide exhibit and scheduling, go to: MakingAlabama.org.

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About the Alabama Humanities Foundation

Alabama Humanities Foundation mission is to foster learning, understanding and appreciation of our people, communities and cultures. As the independent, state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the AHF supports and offers programs that will enhance the minds and enrich the lives of Alabamians.

Dateline: August 8, 2019, Decatur, AL – The Alabama Center for the Arts is pleased to announce the opening of Zeuxis’ “My Studio” exhibit in the Main Gallery on Thursday, August 15. Zeuxis, an association of still life painters, was founded by Phyllis Floyd and several of her painter colleagues in her New York City loft in 1994. The association’s name derives from the ancient Greek still life painter, Zeuxis, whose career flourished during the 5^th century BC.

Zeuxis exhibitions have appeared in over 50 commercial galleries, museums, and college exhibition spaces across the country and have been reviewed in The New York Times, The New York Observer, The New York Sun, and numerous other publications. Among the artists featured in the “My Studio” exhibit are Philip Jackson, Associate Professor of Painting at the University of Mississippi, and Brooke Alexander, Visiting Professor at the University of Mississippi.

Philip Jackson, a contemporary realist painter, has had his work shown in many national and international juried, group, and solo exhibitions in more than twenty states, is part of the permanent collections of art museums in Evansville and Fort Wayne, Indiana and Huntsville, Alabama, and has had his paintings featured in a number of premiere magazines. In 2008, Jackson was chosen as the youngest artist to receive his first major museum exhibition and was named the Martha and Merritt DeJong Memorial Artist-in-Residence at the Evansville Museum of Art in Evansville, Indiana. He currently lives in Oxford, Mississippi and is head of the painting area at University of Mississippi.

Brooke Alexander, one of Jackson’s former students, graduated from Athens State University in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in studio arts. She received her Master of Fine Arts from the University of Mississippi in 2018 and now resides in Oxford, Mississippi. Alexander is currently a Visiting Professor at the University of Mississippi where she teaches painting, drawing, and 2D classes.

Alexander has always wanted to be an artist, saying, “I can remember when I couldn’t read, but I cannot remember a time when I didn’t draw.” She considers herself a representational artist and works primarily in oil, charcoal, and graphite. Her work has been shown regionally and nationally, with her oil painting, Always already there, to be displayed in the “My Studio” exhibit.

Growing up in Athens, Alabama and receiving her bachelor’s degree from Athens State makes being featured in this show particularly special for Alexander. “I’m very proud to be a guest artist in a Zeuxis show, but this show particularly because it is being displayed at the Alabama Center for the Arts,” she said. “Calhoun Community College and Athens State University were my first academic homes, and I spent many hours at the ACA. Being able to show my painting in the ACA gallery alongside so many incredible artists is a true pleasure.”

“My Studio” will be displayed until Friday, October 25. An opening reception with guest speaker Philip Jackson will be held on Thursday, September 5 from 5:30 – 6:30 pm. The exhibit and reception are both free and open to the public.

—

The Alabama Center for the Arts is the region’s premier art center and degree program. The project continues a long-standing collaborative academic effort between Athens State University and Calhoun Community College and serves as a model of academic institutional cooperation for the state. The Alabama Center for the Arts is a venue for cultural events and activities and will enhance an appreciation of art while promoting opportunities for creative expression for residents throughout the region.

Athens State University was founded in 1822, making it the oldest continuously-operated institute of higher learning in the state of Alabama. Offering over 50 undergraduate majors and degree options in addition to graduate programs, Athens State focuses on providing affordable, flexible, and high-quality options for all learners.