BFSDoArt Featured in CLASS Notes

September 11, 2013

CLASS Notes Aug’13 from CLASS – Georgia Southern University on Vimeo.

Forbes magazine says that creativity is an undeniable catalyst to an organization’s success. At the Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art, faculty work diligently to prepare students to become these very creators that organizations cannot survive without.

Leading by example, faculty members demonstrate their craft through actively creating works, completing research, and presenting at conferences. During the 2012-2013 academic year, faculty collectively crafted nearly 100 creative works and presented 40 papers at various professional conferences. Notable awards in the past year include Photography Professor Jessica Hines’ international Kolga Award, hosted in the former Russian state of Georgia. Hines was recognized as the winner for Best Experimental Photography Project and was one of only five to receive a 2012 Kolga. 4D Studios Professor Derek Larson was one of four finalists named from a pool of 370 applicants for the prestigious Hudgens Prize given annually by the Hudgens Center for the Arts in Duluth, Ga. Sculpture Professor Marc Moulton received the University’s 2012 Award of Excellence in Research and Creative Scholarly Activity. Also, during the summer, three faculty members led study aboard opportunities including Jessica Burke, Julia Fischer, and Derek Larson; two others, Jeff Schumki and Patricia Walker, had residencies.

The Department continues its efforts to reach the community and provide students with valuable workforce experience. The 2012 Empty Bowl Project’s chili sale raised a record $3,930 for the Statesboro Food Bank and contributed to the University receiving its first-ever recognition in The President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. ArtsFest celebrated its 31st year with one of the largest crowds to date, hosting 30 Art Stops and more than 20 artist market vendors. Department-led Eagle Nation on Parade now has eight eagles nested in Bulloch County for visitors to explore. Eagle Nation on Parade also completed the first year of the Eagle Nation in Education program in 2012, allowing local students a chance to design the next eagle. The winner, then-seventh grader Kelsey Fallin, created her “Statesboro Nation” with Master of Fine Arts candidate Janet Suarez. Current MFA student Scott Foxx was the artist for the latest eagle, “Bulloch County Family Tree,” to be installed at the Statesboro Regional Library on September 25.

Over the past year, gallery programming featured several artists with outstanding national and international reputations. It is a testament to both the Department and Georgia Southern that we were able to highlight artists whose works have been displayed at venues such as the Museum of Arts & Design in New York, Katzen Art Center in Washington D.C., Witherspoon Museum of Art in North Carolina, Danforth Museum of Art in Massachusetts, Yale University, Robert Steele Gallery in New York, Luis de Jesus in Los Angeles, DCKT Projects in New York, Parsons Gallery in Paris, Dietch Projects in New York, and many more. In addition to presenting exhibitions, the gallery hosted nine visiting artist lectures and/or sessions where artists would provide students with feedback regarding their artwork.

Our students have also been hard at work this past year with the graphic designers earning ADDYs from the American Advertising Federation of Savannah. Sixteen students pursued opportunities for real-world experience through internships worldwide including locations such as India, the United Arab Emirates, and the UK.

Our alumni are active in their fields and are award winning, published and respected throughout their communities. They have held internships at establishments such as Toms Shoes, Anthropology, QuadGraphics, and Trader Joes. Some have become entrepreneurs and active exhibiting artists while others hold jobs with notable companies such as R.R. Donnelly, CNN, Turner Broadcasting, ESPN, Georgia Pacific, Victoria’s Secret, The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and Cartoon Network.

The Department welcomes new foundations professor Sarah Bielski this year and will be searching for a new chair and art history lecturer in the coming year. The Department has an event going on each month whether it is in the galleries or the community! Thanks to a CLEC grant, the BFSDoArt will host a screening and director’s talk of Linotype: The Film, a feature-length documentary centered on the linotype type-casting machine. The Department is also excited to announce that it will reintroduce the December student artwork sale! Now called “Student Made,” the sale will be held in the Center for Art & Theatre and invite students of all BFSDoArt disciplines to join in selling their work! So, watch your calendars for the upcoming 2013-2014 BFSDoArt events!