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Past ExhibitionS

Alabama Artists Gallery

The Alabama State Council on the Arts is proud to showcase the work of 

Alabama artists in its Montgomery gallery in the RSA Tower. 

Hours are Monday - Friday 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.  

CELEBRATING CONTEMPORARY ART IN ALABAMA: The Biennial

November 8, 2011 - January 6, 2012 

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SIGNATURES: Contemporary Expressions

September 11 - October 28, 2011 

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THE SANCTUARY ARTISTS: The Nature of Art

July 13 - August 31, 2011 

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ALABAMA QUILTS: Stitched for Warmth & Beauty

January 14 - March 18, 2011 

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Time For Play: 

Festive Thoughts & Whimsical Expressions

November 5 - January 7, 2011

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Original Language: 

Contemporary Art of Alabama

September 12 - October 29, 2010

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Summer Blossoms: A Bouquet for Alabama

June 23 - September 3, 2010

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Echoes From the Woods: Images and Object

June 4 - July 16, 2010

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Visual Arts Achievement Program 2010

AWARD-WINNING STUDENT WORK ON EXHIBIT

March 20 - April 30, 2010

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The Governor's Arts Award: Work by Al Sella and Hugh Williams

January 29, 2010 - March 19, 2010

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CELEBRATING CONTEMPORARY ART IN ALABAMA

November 20, 2009 - January 15, 2010  

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VISUAL NARRATIVE: Object and Story/Text and Image

September 13, 2009 - November 13, 2009

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FLUXUS AND FOLK: Mike Howard & Buddy Snipes

July 24, 2009 - September 4, 2009

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Italy to Alabama: Artigianart

April 16, 2009 - May 2, 2009

This exhibition showcases artistic craftsmanship realized in Pietrasanta, Italy with the manufacture of marble and bronze sculpture, mosaic, marble inlay, ceramics, iron, jewelry, and prints, with presentation of the related instruments and tools used for their production. The exposition is accompanied by several photographs and a video, "Secret Hands," which illustrate the procedure of making the various aspects of craftsmanship.

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Alabama Vernacular: Bethanne Hill & Ted Wisenhunt

November 7, 2008 - January 2, 2009

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1,000 lbs. of Clay

May 9, 2008 - June 20, 2008

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2008 Visual Arts Achievement Program

April 7, 2008 - April 25, 2008

In recognition of outstanding achievement in visual arts, 112 middle and senior high school students from across Alabama will be honored at the Alabama State Council on the Arts’ Visual Arts Achievement Program Awards Ceremony on Friday, April 25.

            The ceremony honoring these young artists will be held in the auditorium of the State Capitol on Friday, April 25, from 1 p.m. until 2 p.m., with a reception immediately following at the Alabama State Council on the Arts’ Alabama Artists Gallery, at 201 Monroe Street.

            This Visual Arts Achievement program, which is in its twenty-second year, provides an opportunity for talented middle and high school students in Alabama to receive local and state recognition for their achievements in visual arts.  It is designed to showcase the quality art being created by Alabama’s students enrolled in both public and private school systems.

            During the awards ceremony, students, their parents, guests, and teachers will have an opportunity to hear Bruce Larsen, a found objects artist from Fairhope, Alabama.

For the Visual Arts Achievement Awards, the state is divided into six districts. The participating art teachers within the districts selected the most creative and technically executed work done in their classrooms.  These pieces were submitted for the district competition. Works selected at the district level are currently displayed for the month of April at the Alabama Artists Gallery, located in the lobby of the Alabama State Council on the Arts.  Selected professionals juried all district winners in order to select a group of state winners.  Medallions and gift certificates will be presented to students whose works are designated the “Best of Show,” and “Best” in each category, and “Best of each District”.  Additionally, an award will be given to the art teacher and the school system with the highest number of works in the state exhibition.  All district winners will also receive certificates.

            Additionally, the State Arts Council’s Visual Arts Achievement Awards provide an opportunity for twelfth grade students who have excelled in visual arts to receive financial assistance in the form of scholarships.  These students being awarded financial assistance, have not only demonstrated their artistic abilities, but have also planned to continue their education in the art field. This portion of the program is a partnership between the State Arts Council and several colleges and universities. In order to be considered for scholarships, students submit portfolios of their work to be judged by a panel of professionals. The top five participants are selected and receive a $500 scholarship.  If the student elects to attend one of the institutions agreeing to match the Council’s scholarship of $500, the scholarship is then increased to $1,000. This matching commitment makes for a possible five scholarships at $1,000 each.

Alabama Originals: 

A Sense of Place

May 10, 2007 - June 29, 2007  

Works in painting, photography and printmaking addressing themes connecting with Alabama land, community, people and custom.

Jennifer Alam, Asland

Pinky Bass, Fairhope

William Christenberry, Tuscaloosa/Washington, D.C.

Chip Cooper, Tuscaloosa

Caroline Davis, Birmingham

Mark Gooch, Birmingham

Nick Gruenberg, Midfield

Andy Meadows, Montgomery

Jim Morris, Tuscaloosa

Stephen Savage, Mobile/Fairhope

Wayne Sides, Florence

Sam Tumminello, Huntsville

Barbara Lee Black, Gordo

Kathleen Fetters, Gordo

Sonja Rieger, Birmingham

Beth Maynor Young, Birmingham

Alabama Originals: 

Classical Approaches

January 31, 2007 - March 16, 2007  

The Alabama State Council on the Arts is proud to showcase the work of Alabama artists in its gallery in the RSA Tower in downtown Montgomery.  Hours are Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m. This exhibition is the second in a series titled ALABAMA ORIGINALS, honoring living Alabama artists for the YEAR OF ALABAMA ARTS. Others to follow during 2007 will include such themes as Contemporary Craft, A Sense of Place, and Expanding Perspectives.

The artists in this exhibition use traditional techniques in painting, sculpture, printmaking and drawing as means of personal expression. They include college professors, a high school teacher, professional artists who do primarily commissioned work and artists who present their work in art festivals and markets throughout the country. Several have been recognized by the Alabama Bureau of Tourism and Travel as Art Ambassadors or Artists of the Month for the Year of Alabama Art.  

Artists in the exhibition:

Samuel W. Barnett, Decatur

Brian Bishop, Tuscaloosa

Dana Brown, Huntsville

Gary Chapman, Birmingham

Glenn Dasher, Huntsville

Casey Downing, Mobile

Anita Hoodless, Huntsville

Dale Kennington, Dothan

Ronald Lewis, Birmingham

Branko Medenica, Birmingham

Ronnie D. Riner, Tuscumbia

Benjamin J. Shamback, Mobile

Wendy A. Slaton, Shorter

Scott Stephens, Montevallo

Evan Wilson, Tuscaloosa/New York

Alabama Originals: 

Self-Taught/Contemporary Folk Art

November 10, 2006 - January 5, 2007

This exhibition is the first in a series titled ALABAMA ORIGINALS, honoring living Alabama artists for the YEAR OF ALABAMA ARTS. Others to follow during 
2007 will include such themes as Classical Approaches, Contemporary Craft, A Sense of Place, and Expanding Perspectives. 

The artists in this exhibition are among the most well-known and collected artists of Alabama. They are self-taught, working outside the classic tradition of academic training and the mainstream art world. The art on exhibit here has often also been labeled outsider, primitive, visionary, vernacular or contemporary folk art.

These individuals have much to say both visually and spiritually. They generally do so with materials at hand and with techniques and forms they devise. Some of the pieces seem aligned with traditional forms such as quilting, yet there is invention, spontaneity and freedom not present in those community traditions. Other pieces present aesthetic statements with a clear connection to the best contemporary art forms. The work is unfiltered by any rules of what art should be and how it must work. 

Artists in the exhibition:   Butch Anthony, Seale Michael Banks, Guntersville Chris Clark, Birmingham Thornton Dial, Bessemer Lonnie B. Holley, Birmingham Shelby Lee Horton, Boaz Woodie Long, Andalusia Charlie Lucas, Selma Annie Lucas, Prattville Betty Sue Mathews, Tuscaloosa Joe Minter, Birmingham

Bernice Sims, Brewton James A. “Buddy” Snipes, Hurtsboro Jimmy Lee Sudduth, Fayette Annie Tolliver, Montgomery Mose Tolliver (deceased), Montgomery John Henry Toney, Seale Yvonne Wells, Tuscaloosa Myrtice West, Centre

Twenty Years: The Montgomery Area Business Committee for the Arts

September 10, 2006 - November 3, 2006

The Montgomery Area Business committee for the Arts is celebrating twenty years of presenting art objects to businesses as awards to recognize contributions to the arts.

The Alabama State Council on the Arts is pleased to present this exhibition of the past award pieces as well as additional works by several of the artists. 

The first award was presented in 1987 and was a painting by Montgomery artist Barbara Gallagher.  Barbara passed in July of this year, so it is particularly appropriate to honor her work in this exhibition. Dawn Kuykendall is also deceased.

Clark Walker is the featured artist for this year, 2006. The award pieces painted by Clark are hanging in the exhibition and will be presented at a luncheon on November 2.

Other artists in the exhibition:

1988-Larry Godwin

1989-Robert Shelton

1990-Jack DeLoney

1991-Leonard LaRoux

1992-Crow & Michaux

1993-John Phillips

1994-Jim Gunter

1995-Donna Jones

1996-Frances Lanier

1997-Melissa Tubbs

1998-Terry McKee

1999-Elena Aleinikov Kohn

2000-John Phillips

2001-Dawn Kuykendall

2002-George Allen “Bud” Harris

2003-Cecily “Cissie” Hulett

2004-Carol Barksdale Meredith

2005-Connie Watts  

Courageous Journey: Honoring Helen Keller

July 18, 2006 - September 1, 2006

The Alabama State Council on the Arts is proud to showcase the work of Alabama artists in its Montgomery gallery in the RSA Tower.   

In 2006, Alabama activities brought attention to two Alabama women.  Montgomery celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Bus Boycott inspired by Rosa Parks, and the State of Alabama began the process of replacing one of its two statues honoring significant Alabamians in Statuary Hall at the Nation’s Capitol with a new sculpture of Helen Keller.

To accompany increased awareness of these two leaders, the Alabama State Council on the Arts organized two exhibitions giving artists the opportunity to create work honoring the lifetimes, the “Courageous Journeys”, of Rosa Parks and Helen Keller. The exhibitions tour to four locations: The Tennessee Valley Art Center in Tuscumbia; the Alabama Artists Gallery in Montgomery; the Mary G. Hardin Cultural Arts Center in Gadsden; and Jemison-Carnegie Heritage Hall in Talladega.

Twenty-three artists participated in this exhibition honoring Helen Keller (1880-1968).   The major concept is based on the themes of her life, especially serving as a tribute to her inner strength as she transformed the challenges of her human condition. She said, “Self-pity is our worst enemy and if we yield to it, we can never do anything good in the world.”

Contemporary artists created works after studying not only the life and writings of Helen Keller but also ways of communicating, including sign and Braille. Images of hands and eyes have been incorporated into several of the works. Other pieces, such as Nancy Goodman’s quilt, Rain and Hope, are made to visualize “the notion that no matter how grim things get, the human spirit has a way of shining though. [Keller] must have had a lot of the kind of light within her to overcome her obstacles.”

Several of the artists in this presentation have also transformed challenges in their own lives. Barbara Gallagher, Montgomery, suffered a severe stroke and could no longer paint with her right hand. As soon as possible, she tried with her left hand—and continued her successful painting career. One of the pieces in this exhibition was painted right-handed, and the other left-handed.

As a young woman, Lila Graves, Alexander City, was given only a few months to live after several efforts to cure malignant melanoma. She believes she was healed with a “beautiful, merciful miracle” in Mexico, where she gave up “all of the old angers and fears in my life” and made and wore a pair of white angel wings, constructed with palm leaves and a feather boa. She says, “Instead of dying with cancer, cancer helped me figure out how to live.”

Five artists who participate in programs for adults with autism and Asperger’s syndrome at Studio By the Tracks in Irondale are included in this exhibition. The Studio seeks “to redirect anger and frustration toward constructive expression and creativity”, believing that “our student’s creative process, and the resulting artwork, represents a profound shift in focus from personal limitation to possibility.” Just as teacher Annie Sullivan helped open Keller’s world by dedicated teaching, the faculty at Studio By the Tracks serve as a modern example of opening the world through the arts.

ARTISTS IN THE EXHIBITION

Pinky Bass, Fairhope

Gary Chapman, Birmingham

Linda Cooper, Studio by the Tracks, Birmingham

Carole Fay Esk’ridge, Huntsville

Frank Fleming, Birmingham

Wendy Flowers, Birmingham

Barbara Gallagher, Montgomery

Nancy Goodman, Mobile

Lila Graves, Alexander City

Michael Hall, Studio by the Tracks, Irondale

Art Horton, Studio by the Tracks, Irondale

Lillie Mack, Black Belt Designs, York

John Miller, Studio by the Tracks, Irondale

Tommy Moorehead, Talladega

Nall, Fairhope

Amanda Napper, Mobile

Judith Taylor Rogers, Birmingham

Carolyn Sherer, Birmingham

Jeanie Thompson, Montgomery

Julie Watters, Birmingham

Yvonne Wells, Tuscaloosa

Monika Woody, Studio by the Tracks, Irondale

Rachel Wright, Mobile 

Works of Distinction:

2005-2006 ASCA Fellowship Recipients

May 15, 2006 - July 12, 2006

The Alabama State Council on the Arts is proud to showcase the work of Alabama artists in its Montgomery gallery in the RSA Tower.  The ten artists featured in this exhibition have received the Council’s highest recognition as recipients of competitive Individual Artist Fellowships.   

Artists in the Exhibition: 

Cal Breed, Fort Payne, studied at Pilchuck Glass School and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. His full-time studio is Orbix Glass, and his work has been exhibited at the American Craft Council Southeast Region juried exhibition “Spotlight” 2003 and 2004 and has received the prestigious 2004 Niche Award from the Rosen Group. Works in this exhibition are created by using the incalmo technique of joining multiple open-ended blown glass bubbles. “In exploring the scope of this traditional technique, I discovered the ability to highlight elements beyond that of color, such as surface texture and optical depth.”

Annie Kammerer Butrus, Birmingham, holds a Master of Fine Arts in Painting from the University of Notre Dame. She says, “My paintings are meditations on changes in the contemporary Alabama landscape. My interest … not being from Alabama – is to capture the experience and point-of-view of the farmer by documenting their landscape and the encroaching development before their way of life, method of farming and habitation of the land disappears entirely.” Her works on his theme have included Fallen Fruit and installations at Space One Eleven for “BAMA,” Shadow: Seasons and Weather: Seasons.

Merrilee Challiss, Birmingham, received a BA in Studio Arts (painting) from UAB, followed by an MFA in 2000 from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (drawing and installation). In addition to regular exhibitions in the Birmingham area, in 2004 her work was exhibited at the Los Angeles Art Fair with Bucheon Gallery and in a group show in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Also in 2004, she received the Magic City Art Connection’s Emerging Artist Award and was included in the Southeastern Edition of New American Paintings.    She has become interested in using craft (domestic skills such as needlework) to express her ideas, which she says, often “marry a Victorian aesthetic with Voo-doo.”   

Mary Jane Everett, York, holds a BS in ornamental horticulture from Auburn University. She has studied basketmaking with such recognized artists as Billie Ruth Sudduth and Hisako Sekijima. She exhibits her work and has received awards at festivals and juried exhibitions throughout the south. Her works have been featuring the addition of hardware and antique objects to the forms. These additions include such things as shoe lasts, watch parts, water faucets, tools and drawer handles. Her studio is part of the art community developing in downtown York.

Marilee Keys, Auburn, received her education at the Sergie Bongart School of Art in California and at the University of Utah. She says, “I live on 50 acres in the woods of Alabama. My work continues from an on going search for information about my environment. The gathering, the layering, the collecting and the transparencies of common materials recycled from natures recycling, cover my studio walls. Specifically my interests lie in systems, repetition, space and volume – cycles of life. In all of my art I am drawing, whether it is in two dimensions or three, with pine needles, rocks, photographs or shadows.

Dale Lewis, Oneonta, received a Master of Arts degree in Educational Media with an additional certificate in Art Education from the University of Alabama in Birmingham. He exhibits his work throughout the United States in art festivals and juried exhibitions, and his pieces are included in the collections of the Huntsville and Mobile, Alabama Museums of Art. He says, “Function is important to me, so my creations are primarily furniture. My work is based around exceptional pieces of wood. Occasionally the extraordinary grain pattern or color of a board influences my designs. Whimsy, fantasy and wit characterize much of my work.”

Christopher McNulty, Auburn, is Assistant Professor of Art at Auburn University and holds an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He says, “ My recent work explores the problem of knowledge and the limitations of Reason as a means of understanding both the internal and external world.” In his work he attempts to achieve ideals through simple, repetitive and labor intensive projects such as ”quantification, addition, division, measurement, mapping and reproduction”. This work is performed using only his “hands, eyes, and basic tools”. The resulting objects are a record of his process of striving to achieve perfection—despite knowing that the ideal was unachievable to begin with."

John Phillips, Montgomery, learned artist-blacksmithing after he took a job as staff on a wagon train that traveled from Mexico to Canada and back over the course of a year, with the purpose of rehabilitating serious juvenile delinquents. After four years, he returned home to open a metalwork/repair shop and then expanded his metal working skills by “reading books, looking at pictures and just figuring it out.” His designs are generally architectural pieces such as furniture, railings and gates. Among other recognition, his work was included in the Schiffer Book by Dona Z. Meilach, The Contemporary Blacksmith.  

Carolyn Sherer, Birmingham, says, “ A career photographer, my early work, black and white environmental portraits, allowed me to travel nationally to create 40 images for an award winning book, “Just as I am:  Americans with Disabilities”. However, I emerged last year from diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer with an overwhelming urge to stay home and document my personal world in Alabama. Suddenly I needed to record the beauty of my friends and family with a nod to painterly influences using color. I purposely set the “state” for images and then watch as the characters interact with the camera and me."

Pamela Venz, Birmingham, received the MFA from The Ohio State University in 1985 and is Associate Professor in the Department of Art at Birmingham-Southern College. She exhibits regionally, with work selected for the Triennial Southeastern Juried Exhibition at the Mobile Museum of Art in 1999 and the 2001 Montgomery Art Guild Biennial Exhibition at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. She notes that her visual interests have always fluctuated between photography and sculpture, exploring the unique qualities of each. The black and white photography on exhibit was taken in her home during a recent sabbatical and shows bold explorations of light and dark forms.

Contemporary Alabama: Four Artists

February 3, 2006 - March 24, 2006

Misty Bennett, Montevallo, holds her Master of Fine Arts in Drawing and Painting from the University of Georgia. She is on the art faculty at the University of Montevallo. In her statement she says, “I began this new body of work after reading about something commonly known to physicists—that time does not always pass at the same rate. Of course, you would have to be traveling very fast to physically sense the acceleration of time, but the idea that something I had always believed to be fixed was in fact variable at first astounded me. If this is true, then perhaps there are other aspects of life, both miniscule and monumental, that are completely misunderstood. I find this idea to be very encouraging. I am drawn to scientific diagrams for their sincere attempt to simplify a complex idea into a clear and concise image. It is comforting to know that this is possible. Life’s big unanswered questions continue to confront me, and these paintings represent my endeavor to discover the answers through painting. My methods are more sensual than scientific, and allow me to explore the mysteries without the limitation of definition.”

Zdenko Krtic, Auburn, holds a Master of Fine Arts in Painting from the University of Cincinnati, Ohio. A native of Croatia, he is Associate Professor of Art at Auburn University. The installation on exhibit is composed of thirty-two square panels of polyptych and encaustic on wood. In his statement about the work he says, “Each panel developed from an appropriated image, often technical and scientific in its origin. I have been experimenting with laser cutting/engraving machines as a means of incising such (mainly linear) forms into a bed of beeswax. The coherent laser beam light is used as a mapping device—the latest technological tool “drawing” over the ancient painting medium of encaustic—giving often forgotten forms new life and materiality. For me, this unlikely but potent marriage of process and material serves as a junction where innovation and tradition intersect.”

Courageous Journey: Honoring Rosa Parks

December 1, 2005 - January 17, 2006

The current exhibition was organized to honor Rosa Parks and the 50^th Anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. During preparation for the exhibition, Rosa Parks passed, so the exhibition attained even more significant meaning. Eighteen artists from throughout Alabama created work for the exhibition. 

Artists in the Exhibition: 

Larry Allen, Birmingham

Art Bacon, Talladega

Chris Clark, Birmingham

Glenn Dasher, Somerville

Winfred Alan Hawkins, Montgomery 

Darius Hill, Birmingham

Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr., Akron

Janice Kluge, Birmingham

Charlie Lucas, Selma

Ronald Scott McDowell, Tuskegee

Clifton Pearson, Montevallo 

Bernice Sims, Brewton

Yvonne Wells, Tuscaloosa

Tommy Moorehead, artist-in-residence created pieces with fifteen students at Talladega County High School. A collaborative piece by four artists is a table setting, with dinnerware by Charles Smith and Tut Riddick of Mobile and a table cover by Marilyn Gordon and Lillie Mack of Black Belt Designs in York.

Art on the Inside: Alabama Prison Arts & Education Project

October 19, 2005 - November 23, 2005

The Alabama State Council on the Arts is proud to showcase the work of 

Alabama artists in its Montgomery gallery in the RSA Tower. 

Hours are Monday - Friday 8 a.m - 5 p.m.  

This exhibition featured poetry, drawing and photography created through the Prison Arts & Education Project of the Center for the Arts & Humanities at Auburn University and directed by Kyes Stevens. The project has been hosted in Tutwiler Prison for Women, Frank Lee Youth Center, Elmore Correctional Facility, two work release units, and the L.I.F.E Tech facility of Pardons and Paroles.  

Connecting Alabama: Six Artists

September 11, 2005 - October 12, 2005

Connecting Alabama brings six artists from various areas of the state, making geographic connections but also showing more subtle relationships. Coleman Mills, a contemporary painter in Fairhope, found inspiration for his works in the quilts of Gee’s Bend, making links between contemporary and traditional expressions. Melissa Tubbs, Montgomery, presents elegant pen and ink drawings of architectural forms, which also celebrate (and connect with) the artists who created the forms. Paula Frances Peek, Waverly, presents images that document a section of Highway 280, but also show ways people are connected through specific, common experiences.

Elaine Augustine, Florence, has an extensive national exhibition record working in pastels. She has been designated a Master Pastellist by the Pastel Society of American; Signature Member of the Degas and Alabama Pastel Societies; and Member of Excellence in the Southeastern Pastel Society. She is “inspired by images with contract and value—interesting shapes, textures and lights and darks. I don’t really care what the subject is.”  Works in the exhibition range from landscapes to abstracts to florals.  

Coleman Mills, Fairhope, prefers the title  “painter” over that of artist and holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in architecture from Auburn, Cornell and Harvard. He studied and trained under AIA Gold Medalists Samuel Mockbee and Michael Graves. The paintings in this series are entitled Defiant Humility:  Paintings Inspired By The Quilts of Gee’s Bend. He says they ”are an investigation of the infinite layers of surface, the transparency of the well-worn patina and the subtle, self-effacing complexity of composition of the quilts themselves.”    

Jim Morris, Tuscaloosa, frequently travels back roads searching for images capturing the uniqueness and beauty of the South, considering it an additional personal challenge to preserve photographically those scenes that are continuously changing or disappearing from our landscape. He finds humor in the form of hand-painted signs and “road-side attractions.” His technique also includes adding “selective” colored accents or highlights to the black and white photographs.

Paula Frances Peek, Waverly, is Assistant Professor of Interior Design at Auburn University. She says that her “creative research has consistently focused on memory, both collective and individual.” Roads of Alabama Series - Highway 280, “incorporates ideas associated with movement and freedom, or documenting the lack thereof. Highway 280, being integral to the heart of my community is a lifeline to and context for many of my life experiences.” The pieces show segments of rural Alabama, but also show a universal connection through many cultures, regions and people.  

Melissa B. Tubbs, Montgomery, has been creating finely detailed pen-and-ink drawings of architectural subjects for 15 years. Her works document buildings and their ornamentation in order to preserve them for generations. They especially convey the depth created by the contrast of bright light and cast shadows. She holds a BA Degree in Visual Design from Auburn University; was featured in the November 2004 issue of American Artist magazine; and has exhibited, taught and lectured internationally.  

Craig R. Wedderspoon, Tuscaloosa, holds the MFA degree in sculpture from Virginia Commonwealth University. He is Assistant Professor, Sculpture, University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, with experience in a wide variety of metal and wood fabrication as well as architectural art glass and glass carving. He says, “Sculpture itself is visual philosophy.” About the piece on exhibit, he says, “My current work addresses aspects of the human body and how it relates to, exists in, and moves through the spaces that surround it. The piece Flailing is an illustration of the hypothetical movement of a human body through space. Flailing is designed to be the traced motion of a body that has flailed, almost in a frenzied dance, across the gallery.”

Ink: Printmaking in Alabama 

July 1, 2005 - August 25, 2005

The eight artists featured in this exhibition work with various forms of printmaking, ranging from letterpress and silkscreen posters to fine book printing and fine art prints using relief and intaglio processes. An original print is a fine art process that produces multiples. Each print is an original - created and hand-pulled by the artist.  

Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr., York, holds an MFA from the University of Wisconsin. He is a printer and a bookbuilder, with art books in such collections as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and the Tate Museum, London England. He has become known in Alabama for the diverse posters he prints on his letterpress in York. Kennedy says, “I am a Printer! I build books for the glory of my peoples.”  

Jane Marshall, Birmingham, holds an MFA in Printmaking and an MA in Painting from the University of Wisconsin. She has extensive professional exhibition and artist in residence experience and has taught art at Primary, Secondary and University Levels, including the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her works explore myth and stories, often related to the theme of change.

Sarah Marshall, Tuscaloosa, is Assistant Professor of Art at The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. She received her BFA from Carnegie Mellon University and her MFA from the University of Iowa.” Her works on paper show organic forms which become portraits and characters; repeated in various environments, these characters examine our ideas about decision making and the ways we treat each other.”

Paul Moxon, Birmingham, is a graduate of The University of Alabama MFA in Book Arts program and is a letterpress printer. He has taught workshops at the [NY] Center for Book Arts, University of Iowa Center for the Book, Indiana University, The University of Alabama and Mass Art. His press names are Fame or Shame Press and Kempis Press.

Scott Peek, Standard Deluxe, Waverly (population 226), with friends and co-lead designer Matt Harris, uses 21 years of professional experience in screen-printing and print design to create posters for a wide range of national and international clients. Facilities (including an on-site retail store, have been developed from a transformed 1930’s era warehouse, a general store and an old mule-drawn logging company.

Scott Smith, Huntsville, is Assistant Professor of Art at Alabama A & M University. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, he holds an MFA in Printmaking from the University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida. His works are made with materials he is collecting, including weathered machinery and buildings. He says, “The images I make are visual connections between me, the materials, and the process of printmaking.”  

Scott Stephens, Montevallo, holds an MFA from the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. He is Professor of Art at the University of Montevallo and has twice received an Individual Artist Fellowship from ASCA. In 2001, he developed The Alabama Big Prints Project to allow a total of 13 artists to use the large Takach etching press and to create original prints in a new scale.  Pieces in this exhibition are a recent series of photo-etching and cyanotype.

Peg Udall, Fairhope, has studied at Scripps College, St. John’s College and Penland and holds a degree as well as postgraduate study in art from UCLA. She has worked in ceramics as well as printmaking and has curated several contemporary exhibitions in southern Alabama, including CLAY! , SWAMP and It’s About Time. Works in the exhibition are woodcuts and linocuts.

Expressions of Place: Three Alabama Artists

May 4, 2005 - June 27, 2005

Annie Kammerer Butrus, Birmingham, holds a Master of Fine Arts in Painting from the University of Notre Dame and received a 2004 Individual Artist Fellowship in Visual Arts from the Alabama State Council on the Arts. She says, “My paintings are meditations on changes in the contemporary Alabama landscape. My interest … not being from Alabama – is to capture the experience and point-of-view of the farmer by documenting their landscape and the encroaching development before their way of life, method of farming and habitation of the land disappears entirely.” Her works on this theme have included Fallen Fruit and installations at Space One Eleven for “BAMA,” Shadow: Seasons and Weather: Seasons.

Jerry Siegel, Selma and Atlanta, holds a degree from the Art Institute of Atlanta and has worked as an advertising and corporate photographer for the last 18 years. On exhibit are photographs from his series Black Belt Color. He says, “Sometimes you don’t realize what you have until it’s gone. Growing up in a small town and then moving to the city, I never really understood just how connected I was to Selma and the South as a whole. But with the passing of time and my parents, I’ve begun to realize how much my hometown and its surroundings have shaped who I am. These images are but a small part of a continuing study, a journey to my beginnings.”

Samantha Rinehart Taylor, Marion, is an MFA candidate, the University of Alabama, May 2005 and is an Adjunct Professor of Art History at Judson College. She has worked with the Auburn University Rural Studio Program, completing a mural for The Music Man Project in Greensboro. Her works are about her home, the Black Belt of Alabama. She has harvested kudzu and uses its staining properties as a major element in her work, tying material and concept. She says, “Through this close communion with place, the touching and gathering of the kudzu plant, I am connected to the actuality of the land… It is my dream to share the lyrical, subtle and feeble beauty of the Black Belt with a broad spectrum of viewers.”

Orange Alert

January 19, 2005 - March 23, 2005

This exhibition was curated by artist Casey Downing and was originally shown in Space 301 in Mobile. It opened on September 11, 2004, the anniversary date of the national tragedy at the World Trade Center. Selected pieces by Alabama artists were brought to The Alabama Artists Gallery. This presentation shows artist responses to issues of terrorism, security, freedom, and individual actions. Downing, quoted by Thomas B. Harrison in the Mobile Register, said “I want people to talk about things, think about things. If you don’t move people, you’re not creating art.”

Artists in the exhibition:

Everett Cox, Huntsville

Casey Downing, Jr., Mobile

Billie Goodloe, Mobile

Bruce Larsen, Fairhope

Fred Marchman, Fairhope

Chuck Mathews, Huntsville

Ted Metz, Montevallo

Ted Metz & Catherine Dunn, Montevallo

Nick Passino, Huntsville

Kara Warren, Huntsville

Lynn E. Yonge, M.D., Fairhope

Just Use It: Contemporary Craft Expressions

November 10, 2004 - January 7, 2005

This exhibition features utilitarian objects made with traditional craft media and processes.  Included are clay vases and dinnerware, baskets, quilts, blown glass pitchers and goblets, lamps, furniture and other decorative objects for home use. In January, the exhibition tours to the Mary G. Hardin Cultural Arts Center in Gadsden.  

Baskets:  Mary Jane Everett, York; Mary and Bill Smith, McCalla; Mark Kolinski, Town Creek.

Clay:  Greg Freeland, Montgomery; Jim Gasser, Lineville; Christopher Greenman, Montgomery; Randal Holland, Muscle Shoals; Tena Payne, Leeds; Clifton Pearson, Montevallo; John Rezner, Fairhope; Guadalupe Robinson, Huntsville.

Wood Furniture: C.R. Brown, Saraland; Dale Lewis, Oneonta; Bobby Michelson, Birmingham.

Quilts:  Lynda Dyken, Mobile; Flavin Glover, Auburn; Nancy Goodman, Mobile; Marianne Jackson, Remlap; Hallie O’Kelley, Tuscaloosa.  

Blown Glass:  Cal Breed, Ft. Payne; Cam Langley, Birmingham.

Metal: John Phillips, Montgomery; Sloss Furnaces Metal Arts Program, Birmingham; Robert Taylor, Birmingham.

Turned wood:  Dave Lupton, Phil Campbell. 

People Watching: Artists and The Human Form

September 12 - October 27, 2004

Although traditional figure drawing is a mainstay of artistic expression, skill and training, the works in this exhibition also exemplify artists’ unique, varying approaches to the human form.

Khara Koffel, Tuscaloosa, AL/Louderton, PA, received her MFA from the University of Alabama. Works in her graduate exhibition humorously and tenderly used a variety of media to create a sculptural homage to her family and the accompanying banal objects of the everyday. On exhibit is a tapestry altar to her parents which uses over 20,000 paperclips attached in chains.

Dale Lewis, Oneonta, has twice received the highest recognition given by ASCA, the Individual Artist Fellowship. His unique functional pieces are characterized by whimsy, fantasy and wit, with a playful nature emphasized by bright colors and exaggerated features. All refined to a state of elegance. He uses traditional furniture construction techniques. His works are exhibited nationally and are in many private and public collections including the Huntsville and Mobile Museums of Art.

Bertice McPherson, Mobile, received her MFA from the University of Alabama, with additional workshop experience in class and ceramics. She is adjunct professor at the University of Mobile and University of South Alabama. In addition to works in clay, her sculptures often combine metal and glass. She says that because of the characteristics of her materials and the unpredictability of their behavior together or separately, “I never know what is going to happen. Creation is an ongoing interaction between the materials and myself.”

Sergei L. Shillabeer, Troy, received his MFA from the Instituto Allende de Universidad de Guanajuato, Mexico. He is on the art faculty of Troy University and his work is collected internationally. He says, “I am after the un-sung spirit of my subjects, that which goes un-noticed in the daily inventory of life. I am after as much of the truth about a subject that I can possibly get.”  

Terry Strickland, Pelham, received her BFA at the University of Central Florida and has studied additional at UAB. In addition to her painting career, she is a part-time illustrator for Avalanche Press, published of board games and gaming adventure books. She has been accepted in many regional juried exhibitions and received a solo show at the Meridian, MS, Museum of Art. She says, “My current work is exploring transitions in life: growing up and growing older as universal truths.”

Brian Thompson, Deatsville, received his BFA from Auburn University and is a recipient of a North Carolina Arts Council Visual Arts Fellowship. His work has been accepted in many regional juried exhibitions and is in the collections of the Meridian, MS, Museum of Art and the Tennessee Valley Art Center, Tuscumbia. He says, “My life size figure drawings dramatize pure emotion. . .I like to think of them as ‘mind-photos”-specific gestures at specific times.”

Tony Wright, Mobile, received his MFA at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and is on the art faculty and head of the ceramics program at the University of South Alabama in Mobile. He served as chair for the 2004 Alabama Clay Conference as well as participating regularly in the National Council on the Education of Ceramic Artists. He says, “I am a potter. I work within a well established tradition of making objects. . .I strive to make objects that are beautiful and elegant.” 

Alabama Masters Part 2: 

ASCA Fellowship Recipients 2003-3004

The five artists featured in this exhibition have received the Council's highest recognition as recipients of competitive Individual Artist Fellowships 

July 16 - September 3, 2004

Mario Gallardo, Gadsden, received his MFA from the University of Alabama and is on the art faculty at Gadsden State Community College. He has served as Curator and Outreach Education at the Center for the Cultural Arts. Objects presented here are from a site-specific work, “Me Watching You Watching Me”, in Tuscaloosa utilizing Department of Transportation cameras. The exploration was personified in the creation of Yellowman who sat staring directly in the surveillance camera’s line of view from 6 pm to 6 am for a series of nights. The work addresses very serious issues related to surveillance and privacy and is also an ongoing expansion of Marcel Duchamp’s “art as idea.”  

Darius Hill, Birmingham, is visual arts department chair at the Alabama School of Fine Arts. He received his BFA from the Atlanta College of Art with a concentration in printmaking. He was one of the selected artists for “Big Prints”, a project organized at the University of Montevallo, with an exhibition touring the state. James Nelson, writing in the Birmingham news, said of Darius, “Just when you think you know what the work is about the contents seem to shift and drift, dreamlike, into new fragments and meanings. . . Dramatic explorations create a sometimes puzzling and always exciting surface.”  

Anne Howard, Huntsville/San Diego, received her MFA from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She says, “My work grows from an interest in connections, in that point where things join together and are merged or changed from that encounter and the value that is left behind . . .I am fascinated by the arbitrary ways in which things are connected and how strange those connections often seem.”  Reviewing her work, Brett M. Levine of the University of Alabama in Birmingham noted, “Howard constructs complex architectural elements, painterly open fields, and what may or may not be machine-made objects using everyday, almost throw-away materials.”

Vaughn Randall, Birmingham, received his MFA in sculpture from the University of Washington. His additional experience includes apprenticeships in Foundry Patternmaking and Industrial Design Modelmaking. He is Community Programs Coordinator and Artist in Residence in the metal arts program at Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark, where he is responsible for developing a youth sculpture apprenticeship program.  Works on exhibit were developed during a 2004-2005 residency at the Kohler Foundation in Wisconsin and are studies for a gazebo form. The pieces are assembled cast iron with moveable elements.

Charles Smith, Mobile, holds a BS in Art Education with a minor in Pottery from Jackson State University, Mississippi. He says, “I began studying art after a tour of duty in Vietnam, the trauma surrounding the war made me want to pursue the art.” While the size and shape of each piece is unique, it is—and always has been—the hand-carved surface that distinguishes his work. He continues, “They are the shapes and patterns of nature, and until Mother Nature finds it necessary to rediscover herself, I’ll remain content following her lead.” He has exhibited at art festivals in the region and also in exhibitions throughout the country including the American Craft Museum in New York City.

Alabama Masters Part I: 

ASCA Fellowship Recipients 2003-3004

The six artists featured in this exhibition have received the Council's highest recognition as recipients of competitive Individual Artist Fellowships

May 19 - July 7, 2004

Murray Johnston, Birmingham, is a juried member of Piedmont Craftsmen, Inc. and Southern Highland Craft Guild. Her art quilts are in the collections of the Birmingham Museum of Art; Alabama Power Co.; AmSouth Bank; Federal Reserve Bank, Atlanta; and Xerox Corporation, among others. She says, “Using primarily commercial cotton fabrics, along with some hand painted fabrics, I create the works directly on a work wall. The surface design is a combination fabric collage and machine piecing.” Her inspiration comes from environmental sources: mountains and sky, rocks, wood and water.

Scott Meyer, Montevallo, holds a Ph.D in Art Education from The Pennsylvania State University and is Professor of Art at the University of Montevallo, where he has built a series of kilns, culminating in the construction of a forty-foot Japanese anagama wood kiln. He has been a ceramic artist for twenty-five years and is currently working in two parallel paths: one focusing on the production of wood and salt fired ceramic sculpture. The other presents large-scale installation sculpture. On exhibit is “Process,” an installation model for the Birmingham Museum of Art sculpture garden. The piece seeks to integrate fuel, object, combustion and remnant with unfired, vulnerable clay surfaces.

Michael Perry, Birmingham, began his pottery career in 1992 following a wheel-throwing class at a community art institute. Very early he discovered the dramatic effects created by Raku firing, a process originating in 16th century Japan and influenced by Zen Buddhism, with pieces used in the tea ceremony and emphasizing tranquility, serenity and the ideal of a connection among all things. “Raku” is loosely translated to mean happiness, enjoyment, contentment or pleasure. On exhibit are pieces combining a luster glaze with spiral texture to create an intricate sparkle effect as well as pieces with a crackle finish. He shows his work in art festivals throughout the United States.

Elements Transformed: 

Five Alabama Artists

January 29-March 25, 2004

The artists featured in this exhibition represent a variety of approaches to contemporary expression and have achieved significant state, regional and national reputations:

Russell Everett, Roanoke, holds an MFA from the University of Cincinnati, Ohio. He is Adjunct Instructor at Auburn University at Montgomery and has been ASCA artist-in-education for several years at the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind as well as other K-12 public schools. Vessel shapes in the exhibition are carved from soapstones found in the woodlands of Chambers and Tallapoosa Counties. Sticks added to the vases enhance the utilitarian aspect, inspired by walking canes and tools neatly arranged by his grandfather in barrels and large ceramic urns.

Marilee Keys, Auburn, is a full-time artist educated at the University of Utah and Sergei Bongart School of Art in California. Her installation in the gallery is titled “Pine Text,” and involves assigning each letter of the alphabet a new shape formed with pine needles pinned to the wall. These shapes create a quote, discovered through an adjacent alphabetical key. She says, “This installation of work is about my on-going search for information about my environment. The transparency, layering, gathering and use of simple materials recycled from nature, pine needles, leaves of anything that you would see in your everyday existence are given new life here.”

Brad Morton, Birmingham, holds an MFA in sculpture from the University of Georgia with additional education at Auburn University and UAB. He has received commissions for public art from Fort Jackson, South Carolina; St. Vincent’s Hospital, Birmingham; The University of Alabama; Health South Corporate Headquarters; The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame; and the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, among others. He says, “I like the whole process of bringing something into being that wasn’t there before.” Slender tower forms in the exhibition combine differing metals (stainless steel and bronze), differing process (fabrication and casting); and differing design elements (sleek contemporary shape and rounded organic form.) Inspiration came from events of 9/11.

Jean Schulman, Florence, holds a BFA in fashion design from Washington University, St. Louis, and an MA in Education and Education Specialist from the University of North Alabama. A teacher and lecturer as well as artist, she inaugurated the art program at Muscle Shoals High School and taught there for more than twenty years. Her distinctive art reputation has been based on work using clay as a pigment to create art on fabric. Her research has taken her to many locations to dig clay and to discover clay colors ranging from blue, green and pink to brown and red tones, and then to use them in batik or paint processes in her artwork. Her work has been selected for the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution.

Toni Tully, Birmingham, has used fabrics as a basic material in much of her work, continuing exploration of new techniques, materials and equipment in the making of art. Her new works were inspired by her time spent with three Japanese artists learning to apply disperse dyes to polyester fabrics using a heat sublimation technique and adding dimension to the surface. Trained as a painter as well as studying in couture fashion houses in Paris and London, her work is included in corporate collections including Energen, Delta Airlines, IBM in Atlanta and Xerox in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale.

ALABAMA CONTEMPORARY: 

vARIATIONS IN fORM AND cONCEPT

December 2 - January 20, 2004

The exhibition features eight artists working with a variety of approaches in two and three dimensional work.

From Goat Hill to the Valley: Eleven artists present approaches in two and three-dimensional work 

September 25 - November 20, 2003

Kim Appel, Auburn. With an extensive magazine layout record for Southern Progress Corporation and other publication photography, she also created the photographic series “People Born Before 1900,” a study of individuals who have aged with dignity. 

Beryl Chestnutt, Montgomery. An artist who owns the Highland Gallery, she creates garden sculpture, small tables and other furniture as well as wall piece formed with bottle caps and other found objects.

Nancy Hartsfield, Montgomery. Recently retired as Chair of the Auburn University Department of Art, she has been painting a series about the Curb Market. On exhibit is an acrylic on canvas composition of “Peaches and Eggplants.”

Rosalyn Johnson, Montgomery. Paintings represent a love of color expressed in diverse subjects ranging from music to religious statements to cultural expressions. Her work is exhibited and collected widely.

Leonard Laroux, Auburn. Holding an MFA in drawing from Southern Illinois University and an MA in printmaking from State University of New York at Albany, he is Professor of Art at Auburn University.

Chuck Moore, Valley. Considered self-taught, his carved stone and wood sculpture has been commissioned by individuals and organizations. He created the “Ironman” sculpture out of found objects for the City of Valley. He is also a weaver of baskets.

Teresa Rodriguez, Auburn. With an extensive exhibition record including an Award of Excellence in the 2003 “Face of Alabama” exhibition, she works in painting, drawing and mixed media assemblage.

I-Ting Chou, Montgomery. Handbuilt ceramic shrines follow her Chinese heritage and present simplicity and serenity, the goals for her works. She notes that, “Art is a reflection of an artist’s mind and soul.” These pieces represent her cultural values.

Conrad Ross, Auburn. Professor Emeritus of Art (drawing and printmaking) from Auburn University, his work was included in the 2003 Big Prints project touring Alabama and has been published and collected internationally.

Janice Koenig Ross, Auburn. Holding an MFA in painting from the University of Illinois, she taught in the Tuskegee University Art Department until 1991. Paintings of individuals and groups show unique composition and interactive poses.

John Wagnon, Montgomery. Active as an exhibiting artist working primarily in oil, with extensive gallery representation throughout the south, he is also an instructor in many artists’ workshops. Watercolor and paper collage are featured in this exhibition.

Welded Steel, Quilted Fabric

July 16 - September 10, 2003  

Welded Steel, funded by the Alabama State Council on the arts and organized by the Centre for the Living Arts, Inc in Mobile, was part of the Art Off Centre project at the Saenger Theatre. Sculpture by eight artists from south Alabama was selected by curator Casey Downing, Jr. to be shown in the theatre’s window gallery. The works all relate in some way to images of birds.

Sculptors in the exhibition are:

Joe Miller, Fairhope

William Colburn Jr., Fairhope

Bruce Larsen, Fairhope

Corey Swindle, Fairhope

Jeff Lowther, Fairhope

Casey Downing Jr., Mobile

John L. Smith, Mobile

Ameri’ca Jones, Daphne

Quilted Fabric showcases contemporary pieces by artists from throughout Alabama. A quilt by Nancy Goodman, Mobile, titled Capitol Dome, is part of her series of quilts first inspired by a picture of the interior of the Capitol in Montgomery.

Seven artists in the exhibition are members of the Southeast Quilters and Textile Artists organization. Members have moved from exploring traditional quilting to the use of textiles and the quilt form as media for artistic expression. They include:

Mary Boulton, Dadeville; 

Linda Harshbarger, Opelika; 

Mary Stevens, Waverly; 

Tracy Oleinick, Auburn

Cynthia Reinke, Auburn

Betty Smith-Senger, Auburn

Leigh Hinton Stribling, Auburn.

Alabama Signatures / Eight Artists: 

Painting & Photography 

May 2 - June 27, 2003   

Mark Davis holds a Masters Degree in Art Education from the University of South Alabama and serves as artist-in-residence at the Mobile Museum of Art. His work has been exhibited widely in juried and invitational exhibitions as well as private galleries. He received the 2001 Best of Show Award at the juried exhibition “Art With a Southern Drawl” held annually at the University of Mobile. He says, “Color is the mood and atmosphere of my paintings.”  The apparent minimalism of his work is in reality a complex layering of color and opaque marks, giving rise to meditative pieces of texture, rhythm and color.

Kathleen Fetters, Gordo, received the 1999 Individual Artist’s Fellowship in Photography from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and exhibits regionally in arts festivals and galleries.  The gallery Blue Spiral 1 in Asheville, NC has written about her work, “Skillfully interpreting the Southern gothic spirit through figurative and still life compositions, Kathleen Fetters’ hand painted, narrative photographs convey sublime eccentricity. Her work is a celebration of rural life through an honest and faithful lens.”

Bethanne Hill, Birmingham, is a graduate of the Alabama School of Fine Arts and received the BFA from Birmingham-Southern College. Her regional recognition includes the 2003 Best in Show Purchase Award from the Meridian Museum of Art. Her stylized, narrative paintings use abandoned rural buildings and landscapes as recurring themes. They seem to tell stories with both a sense of humor and a mysterious, dark element. She says, “I am haunted by these places, thinking of the stories that must exist.”

Julie Moos, Birmingham, studied at McGill University, Montreal; Sorbonne University, Paris; New York University and the International Center of Photography in New York. Her work was included in the 2002 Whitney Museum in New York Biennial, an exhibition of 113 artists considered one of the most prestigious in modern American art.  Her pieces involve pairings of portraits and investigate “how issues of gender, race and class affect our communal expectations of identity.”  Hat Ladies depicts church-going African American women in Ensley, Alabama.

Amy Pleasant, Birmingham, received the MFA from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. Her work was chosen for the 2002 Huntsville Museum of Art regional juried Red Clay Survey and for 2003 New American Paintings published by Open Studios Press. In her pieces thin, multiple layers of paint cover the human form in repetitive activity. She says, “ Images become veiled and seem as if they are still shifting. I want to use the surface to create a sense of animation and layer images as our memory does. The figures begin to interact with one another and alter the way the story is read.”    

Wayne Sides, on the faculty of the Department of Art, University of North Alabama, Florence, holds the MFA in Photography from Pratt Institute, NY. He received the 1995 Individual Artist Fellowship in Photography from the Alabama State Council on Arts. His extensive teaching, curatorial and exhibition record includes a photographic series of the Ku Klux Klan, exhibited in 2003 at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and the collaborative piece, Litany for a Vanishing Landscape. He says, “I’ve been photographing rural scenes for about 20 years now.  . .I try to be as honest to my own experience as I can.”

George Taylor resigned an accounting career and returned to Montgomery in 1995 to pursue a lifelong dream of being an artist. He has received awards in the 2001Montgomery Art Guild Biennial Exhibition at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts and Exhibition South at the Tennessee Valley Arts Center. He says, “I paint exclusively in oils because they have an unequaled feeling of solidity, depth and chromatic intensity. I paint most of my pictures en plein air because I have to be there, in the scene, in order to select the relationships and essences I’m after.”

Pamela Venz received the MFA from The Ohio State University in 1985 and is Associate Professor in the Department of Art at Birmingham-Southern College. She exhibits regionally, with work selected for the Triennial Southeastern Juried Exhibition at the Mobile Museum of Art in 1999 and the 2001 Montgomery Art Guild Biennial Exhibition at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. She notes that her visual interests have always fluctuated between photography and sculpture, exploring the unique qualities of each. More recently she has been connecting the two, “combining the perception of reality inherent in photography with the abstract reality inherent in sculpture.”

Across Alabama : New Work 

In Sculpture & Painting    

January 24 - March 21, 2003

P. Hope Brannon, Wetumpka, is Art Instructor and Visual Art Department Head at The Montgomery Academy. She was recently named the 2003 National Art Educator of the Year by the National Art Education Association. In 2001 she was awarded the Grand Prize Purchase Award from the Energen Corporation juried exhibition in Birmingham. She holds a B.A. in Fine Art from Auburn University Montgomery and an M.S. in art education from Troy State University, Alabama. She is currently working “primarily in encaustic because of the fluidity of the medium, the richness of the colors and the textural qualities one is able to achieve.”

Norma Emsminger, Mobile, holds a B.F.A. in painting and drawing as well as a Masters of Education in Special Education from the University of South Alabama. The pieces on exhibit are acrylic on wood panel and are from The Marshland Series. She says, “The mysteries which lie between the grasses, under the waters and in the dark spaces between the rich and dense growth of the delta remind me of the generosity of nature.”

Bruce Larsen, Fairhope, holds a Bachelor of Fine Art from Auburn University and has over 13 years freelance experience designing and constructing special effects, props, animatronics and animation for such music groups as Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones and for films including The Patriot and Planet of the Apes. His constructions are made from a complex arrangement of a variety of found objects. Much of his work addresses themes of environmental concern. He recently completed a major sculpture—a butterfly with moveable wings attached to a 30’ steel blade of grass—for the front of the renovated Mobile Museum of Fine Art.

Julia St. Clair Peerson, Montevallo, received her B.F.A. from the University of Montevallo in 2002. Her senior exhibition featured sculpture entitled Metalwear.  The pieces are metal dresses and were “built on a steel form to fit the artist, as a seamstress would tailor to a fabric form. Each dress demonstrates an expression of self along with a sense of protection.” She says, “The feminine style and pastel hues of the dresses express the fragile inner self protected by unseen strength. The metal represents the inner strength which is typically concealed.”

Maralyn Wilson,  Birmingham, has been owner of The Maralyn Wilson Gallery from 1973 to the present. She founded Studio by the Tracks in Birmingham and has been active in the Arts in Education Task Force, the Birmingham Art Association and the Birmingham Museum of Art. She holds a B.A. in Studio Art from Sophie Newcomb College, New Orleans, exhibiting both sculpture and painting and receiving the 2002 Award of Distinction at the Kentuck Festival of the Arts in Northport. The encaustic works on exhibit use hot wax, fused with a heat gun and enhanced with color pigment, gold leaf and rice paper.

Alabama Masters: 

ASCA Fellowship Recipients 2002

November 15 - January 2003

Larry Allen, Birmingham, clay

Gary Chapman, Birmingham, painting

David Haynes, Blount Springs, Photography
Julia Kjelgaard, Auburn, mixed media

Stephen Savage, Mobile, photography

Connie Ulrich, Huntsville, jewelry

From Tradition: 

Baskets of Alabama & Quilts

July 11- August 29, 2002

Baskets of Alabama and Quilts 

by 2001 National Heritage Award Fellow, Mozelle Benson  

Organized by the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the Alabama Folklife Association.  

New Work:  Emerging Alabama Artists

May 9 - July 5, 2002

Emily A. Bodner, Huntsville, painting; 

Richard Curtis, Huntsville, performance art;  

Julie J. Hankins, Montevallo, installation of ceramic stoneware;  

Samantha Rinehart Taylor, Marion, drawing and painting.  

Red:  Exploring Primary Color

January 18-March 20, 2002

The Alabama State Council on the Arts is proud to showcase the work of Alabama artists in its gallery in the RSA Tower. Hours are Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m. The following is a recap of  works by six artists who participated in an exhibition organized for GULF, an alternative space in Fairhope, Alabama.

Simeon Coxe, who also curated the exhibition, has been living and working in Fairhope since 1999. In the 1960’s at the age of 21 and following early education in New Orleans, he struck out for the New York art scene. There he exhibited frequently and was included in a “New Talent” show at the Museum of Modern Art. During the late 60’s he began the Silver Apples music experience, with national and international tours and recording contracts. He continues to exhibit his art extensively throughout the United States and has also received several Awards of Excellence for Film and Video editing.

David McCann received the MFA with a major in painting from the University of Cincinnati in 1972. He is also a graduate of the Museum Management Institute at the University of California Berkeley, working at the Fine Arts Museum of the South in Mobile from 1977-1991. He exhibits his work extensively and currently serves as Assistant Manager in the City of Mobile Office of Special Events. He has been active in the arts programming of FIRST NIGHT MOBILE and VSA . 

Catt Sirten’s work is in the collection of the Mobile Museum of Art, has been shown in three solo exhibitions and also the Southeastern Juried Triennial exhibition, Art with a Southern Drawl and The Red Clay Survey organized at the Huntsville Museum of Art. He is one of the founding members of Mobile’s photographic collective, “Group of Twelve.” The recipient of several Addy awards, Sirten’s commercial portfolios include work for Bayfest, First Night Mobile, The Mobile Press Register and is featured on the cover of the new “History of Mobile” book.

Tom Telhiard’s sculptures stand outside the Mobile Regional Airport, the Mobile Museum of Art among other prestigious locations, and an assemblage is located in the collection of the Gordon Person’s building in Montgomery.  After graduating from the University of South Alabama with a degree in both painting and sculpture, he attended graduate school at the Cranbrook Academy of Art and then returned to teach at Bishop State Community College in Mobile, from which he has retired.

Annie Tolliver is the daughter of legendary Alabama folk artist Mose Tolliver, and her pieces follow his style. In about 1990, with encouragement from collectors and from the Kentuck Festival of the Arts, Annie first signed and exhibited her work with her own signature.  She is one of 12 artists selected for the exhibition Voices Rising:  Alabama Women at the Millennium originally shown as the state showcase at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. and now touring Alabama.

Rich Touart has been involved with creating art since the late 1960’s and began doing graphic arts on the computer in the late 1980’s. He has gone through various enthusiasms such as screen printing, wooden furniture design and building, wood sculpting, carpentry and photography. All of these various creative activities formed the foundation for his current work, which focuses entirely on digital photography and graphics and video for the web.  

Out of the Fire: The Metal Arts Program 

of Sloss Furnaces

November 15, 2001-January 10, 2002 

This past exhibition featured major works by four Artists-in-Residence in the Metal Arts Program of Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark in Birmingham. It also includes works from the Sloss Summer Youth Apprenticeship, an 8-week summer jobs program in which high school students with talent and an interest in the arts work with the professional artists to learn the complex series of steps used to cast metal sculpture.

The Sloss Metal Arts Program Artists-in-Residence in the exhibition are:

Matthew Endicott Eaton is Metal Arts Coordinator at Sloss and is an MFA Candidate in Sculpture from the School of Art and Design at Georgia State University. In New Mexico he received a Professional Printers Certificate from Tamarind Institute and also worked as a woodworker in the construction of fine furniture. His work has been exhibited throughout the southeast.

John Stewart Jackson holds a BFA in Sculpture from Birmingham Southern. In his artist’s statement he says, “ I am interested in the way that objects are joined together, or kept separate. At this junction is where the energy is and where I try and live my life.”

Vaughn Randall is Community Programs Coordinator at Sloss and holds an MFA in Sculpture from the University of Washington. He has also completed apprenticeships in Industrial Design Model Making and Industrial Patternmaking, working intensively in foundry and tool patterns. His work has been exhibited extensively, and he is represented in galleries in Atlanta, Glascow, Seattle and Birmingham.

Julie Ward holds a BFA from Georgia Southern University and has also worked at the Inferno Art Foundry in Atlanta. Her works in the exhibition are based on armor, which she has been researching for quite some time. In her statement she says, “Seeing the pieces evolve from a hiding place to being completely exposed is a direct reflection on my life.”  

Visual Conversations:  

Three Alabama Artists

September 9-November 8, 2001

This past exhibition featured three artists working with a variety of  styles and materials.  The theme of the exhibition, Visual Conversations, is set to include work using complex symbolism—work which allows an extended dialogue with the viewer. Artists in the exhibition:

Barbara Lee Black, Gordo, holds a BA from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, with a major in fine art photography and cultural studies. She was 1992 recipient of the Individual Artist Fellowship in Photography from the Alabama State Council on the Arts.

She describes the works in this exhibition as, “Radiant photographs in sculptural frames.” The photographs were initially inspired by Lee’s work at Ma ‘Cille’s Museum of Miscellanea in Gordo. Mrs. House had created her own museum collecting objects ranging from glass bottles to dolls. Lee assembled these objects and photographed them in still life format. She says of her work, “The soul of my work speaks through mythic and symbolic imagination. It tells of the reciprocity of decay and rebirth. It calls forth to the restorative power of beauty, and by means of the creative arts proves its existence.  I have been born a seeker for affirmation . . .Affirmation that the destiny of chaotic decay is redeemed through a renaissance of joyous regeneration.”  

Shelby Lee Horton, Boaz, is a self-taught painter and sculptor and this is the first group of his works to be publicly shown. The pieces were created during the past ten years and use wide observations of history, symbolism and life to make a very personal statement. The paintings use abstract shapes that incorporate passageways—doors, tunnels, windows, caves—blocked pathways to an open door or a beach paradise. These seem to be reflections of personal anguish and “foolish dreams of foolish people who should know better than to dream at all.” The sculpture ranges from life-sized, carved and painted forms such as the Apache to a vignette of a saloon scene to abstract forms, each carefully crafted and each making a very personal statement.

Tracie Noles-Ross, Birmingham, has had over fifteen solo presentations as well as managing an artists studio co-op and studio center and curating many exhibitions. The pieces in this exhibition, “consider all of the elements in my life that have molded my personality and perceptions as an artist and a woman. Old linens and clothes are used to create small dresses that become metaphors for my childhood. Items like spoons, eggs, nests and shoes are used as symbols for the emotional and psychological base that molded my personality and perceptions as an adult and as an artist. Several of the pieces are in boxes that like the nest symbolize my beginnings, my home, and my foundation. Bird imagery is significant because of the obvious nesting  symbolism. . .but also significant as symbols for liberation—from the past, from fear, from social expectation.”  

New Work: Five Alabama Artists

July 11-August 29, 2001

Five artists working with a variety of styles and materials were included in the exhibition:

Diana Cadwallader, Jacksonville, has lived in Pakistan, Tanzania, Kenya, Hong Kong, England and the United States. Educated at Arizona State University (BFA) and Yale University (MFA), she is Associate Professor of Art at Jacksonville State University where she teaches Graphic Design. She is the designer of the “Support the Arts” license tag for the State of Alabama. She describes her work as being mostly nonrepresentational, expressing ideas predominantly in line and color. 

Sue Anne Hoyt, Clanton, holds a BFA from Maine College of Art and an MFA from Auburn University. In 2000 her work was purchased for the “Mini-Works on Paper” collection at Jacksonville State University, and her work has also been included in such juried exhibitions as “Art with a Southern Drawl” and “Abstraction: The Power of Memory”. The paintings in this exhibition use intense color to express bold abstraction.

Christopher Payne, Montgomery, holds, a BFA from Auburn University and an MFA from Wichita State University. He is Associate Professor of Art at Huntingdon College. He received a First Place Award at the 2001 Arts Alive Exhibition at the Kennedy Douglass Center in Florence and maintains an extensive exhibition record. The sculptural works in this exhibition express a variety of themes and use clay and enamel to create trompe l’oeil assemblages of objects.

Sandra Rice, Lake View, has no formal art degree but has participated in a variety of metal and ceramic workshops. Most recently she studied with Kenyan artist Magdalene Odundo and re-discovered an interest in the ancient method of creating vessels without an electric wheel. The clay pieces in the exhibition are smoked without using the traditional “pit.” They, as well as the metal assemblage, investigate abstract figurative forms.

Natalyn Havenick Rose, Auburn, holds a BFA from Auburn and an MFA from the University of Cincinnati. Most recently her work has been selected for the cover of “Alabama Writers Speak”, published by the University of Alabama Press. She creates images from direct observation, memory and photographs, generally “choosing restrained, controlled and static compositions.” She continues, “My involvement with an image often spreads over time and into series that are separated in sequence.  

Familiar Reality:  

A Celebration of Alabama Art

May 4-June 28, 2001

This past exhibition featured six artists working with realistic depiction of subjects in their work. At first glance, a realistic image seems completely understandable and is generally very comfortable for the viewer. However, the skill of the artist in capturing images with absolute fidelity is only a first step in the creation of a successful statement. The dialogue/communication between viewer and artist through the artwork may even be complicated when the immediate image is more pictorial. The artist makes choices about the inclusion of details and the focus of the piece and thus transforms the reality.

Jon Coffelt, Birmingham: This installation contains a series of hand-sewn miniature garments. The pieces were created during a two month period when the artist was bedridden recovering from a serious illness.  He commented, “. . . when you don’t know if you’re going to live or not, what counts is the simple things.” Although at first glance the casual observer may assume these garments are skillfully sewn doll clothing, they are not. The artist refers to them as “relics”, “soft sculpture”, or “memory clothes.”  Each article originated as a vision Coffelt had of a particular person. This installation might  be viewed as a type of  quilt, a collage of treasured fabrics and memories. Each object provides thoughts about the significance and symbolism of  garments as they represent the people who wear them.

Sheila Hagler, Grand Bay: Photography can record nature with absolute fidelity, yet pieces reflecting work done in Mobile, Cuba (Alabama), and Grand Bay from 1980-1999, show a changing approach. Kelly is an image made to simulate a feeling of sculpture with a timed exposure rendering soft edges under window light. Three abstract color prints are in reality small segments of surfaces on aging vehicles. The Dark Figure is a cathartic image “meant to represent the evil sometimes lurking, and even hidden amidst beauty.”

Dori and Joseph DeCamillis, Birmingham: This husband and wife team  collaborate on each of their paintings. The couple acquired a motor home, a vehicle known as the Ultra Van and named “Lucy” by them. They embarked on a three-year artistic expedition across America. The small, intimate paintings speak about the lives of ordinary people through the spaces they inhabit. The depiction of everyday objects provides a mysterious narrative. 

Tim Stevenson, Florence: About twenty years ago he moved from abstract paintings, which he decided were “doing nothing but baffling people,” to rich, intricately detailed still-lifes. His layers of translucent watercolor depict often symbolically chosen objects and give honor particularly to historic Flemish master painters.  He has said, “Over time I realized that I had never looked at an apple. You end up looking at an apple or a piece of silver or a vegetable for four or five hours. The more I look at them, the more wonderful they become. Then I try to communicate the intensity of that experience.”

Evan Wilson, currently living in New York:  The magnificent Down to the Water, oil on canvas, reflects his growing interest in depicting the emotion and significance of Alabama life, moving him from his already substantial portrait work.

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