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Georgia Southern arts alumni return to campus to inspire next generation of Eagles
“Celebrate and support your community.”
That’s the message from Double Eagle Jean Gray Mohs, who graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in painting in 2002 and later earned her Master of Fine Arts in teaching in 2008.
This mantra of supporting and engaging with the community began while she was still a student herself. While pursuing her undergraduate degree, she and a group of her colleagues launched their own artist collective, Stillmoreroots, around the state.
“It was a really meaningful community to help explore what we were, to create challenging, accessible art, and to create a space for dialogue with the community,” said Mohs. “There’s an internal support group that you could always throw any idea out and be accepting of.”
That group recently celebrated 20 years of exhibitions with the show Common Thread | Common Ground exhibition at the Kalmanson Gallery in Swainsboro, Georgia, and included more Eagle alumni such as Nick Nelson, Anthony Faris, Brandon Tatom and Desmal Purcell.
These sustained connections with the Georgia Southern arts community are what brought her to another alumni-connected art exhibit: “Continuum: Biennial Alumni Exhibition.” She, along with 15 other Eagles, have submitted their pieces to the display hosted by their alma mater.
This monthlong exhibit is presented by the Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art (BFSDoArt) at Georgia Southern University, and runs from Aug. 10 to Sept. 14 in the Contemporary and University galleries of the Center for Art & Theatre in Statesboro. A reception will be held Friday, Sept. 2, from 5 to 7 p.m. The events are free, and the public is welcome.
“Continuum” highlights the diverse professional art practices and continued creative endeavors of BFSDoArt alumni. The exhibition showcases an interdisciplinary selection of painting, drawing, small metals, digital design, ceramics, photography, prints, textiles, sculpture and more.
“This is a fantastic showing of what our alumni are up to these days” said Gallery Director Jason Hoelscher, Ph.D. “The exhibition features work ranging from relatively recent graduates to those who finished their studies in decades past. Given this breadth, it’s interesting to see the spectrum of approaches–not only in terms of discipline or medium, but also in terms of those continually exploring new artistic approaches, and those who relentlessly refine and perfect their technique to open up new areas of what might otherwise seem to be established modes of artmaking.”
The exhibition features new and recent artwork by Ashley Anderson, Elizabeth Debban, Mariana S. Depetris, William T. Dooley, Lindsey Gerow, Thyatira Grant, Susan Harmon, D’Antre Harris, Nikolaus James, Nicole James, Zak Kelley, Tyre McDonald, Jean Gray Mohs, Cynthia L. Rodday, Brian Russell, and Jing Zhou.
Student juried exhibitions on view Feb. 28 to March 4 at Center for Art & Theatre
Juried 2022 and Form & Content are annual juried exhibitions of student work. The exhibitions will be on view from Feb. 28 to March 4 at the Center for Art & Theatre’s Contemporary and University Galleries.
Juried 2022 features work created by Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art undergraduate students in a variety of media including drawing, painting, fibers, jewelry, multimedia, mixed media, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and ceramics.
The Form & Content exhibition features work created in art foundation courses including drawing, two-dimensional design, three-dimensional design, and digital foundations.
Both exhibitions were juried by Savannah-based artist Will Penny. Penny received a diploma in Fine Art from Fanshawe College in London, Ontario, and a BFA and MFA in Painting from The Savannah College of Art and Design. Penny’s artworks dissolve traditional boundaries of art and design. His art explores tensions between the tangible space a painting inhabits, the impact of digital technology on fabricated forms and illusionistic environments.
Winners will be awarded during the reception on Friday, March 4. Light refreshments will be served.
Visiting artist Andrew Kuebeck’s ‘MANual Labor’ on view at Center for Art & Theatre on Statesboro Campus
“MANual Labor,” an exciting exhibition from artist Andrew Kuebeck featuring small metal and wood sculptures, prints and functional jewelry that highlight the male body, will be on display through Oct. 15 at Georgia Southern University’s Statesboro Campus in the University Gallery, located in the Center for Art & Theatre.
An artist talk and reception will be on Sept. 30 from 5 to 7 p.m., with the talk beginning at 5:15 p.m. Guests may attend the artist talk in person or virtually. Guests may register to attend via Zoom. Both the exhibition and artist talk are free and open to the public.
“I look forward to Andrew Kuebeck’s exhibition for a number of reasons, not least of which is his ability to meld the medium of small metals to a range of social issues and to personal expression,” said gallery director Jason Hoelscher, Ph.D. “Andrew served as a visiting artist at Georgia Southern in early 2020 and was a real hit with the students, who appreciated not only his incredible technical know-how but also his ability to explore complex themes through a medium sometimes focused more on visual richness than on thematic intensity. Both Andrew’s exhibition and artist talk are not to be missed.”
Kuebeck is an assistant professor and area head of the jewelry/metals/enameling program at Kent State University. Kuebeck works in a variety of formats ranging from functional jewelry to sculptural objects and vessels. He has lectured and taught workshops nationally on the incorporation of photographic images into jewelry pieces and vessels. Kuebeck has also exhibited regionally and nationally, and his work has appeared in numerous publications including 500 Enameled Objects, 21st Century Jewelry, Wrap, Stitch, Fold, and Rivet, and Metalsmith and Niche magazines. He was also a 2012 SNAG Emerging Artist.
Center for Art and Theatre to host contemporary art exhibition
The Georgia Southern University Center for Art and Theatre on the Statesboro Campus will host “Mode/Code,” a contemporary art exhibition featuring paint, textiles, illustration and digital exploration, through Feb. 12. A virtual artist talk will be on Feb. 11 at 5:30 p.m.
“I’ve followed the work of these artists for years,” said Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art Gallery Director Jason Hoelscher. “I have seen and shown some of their work before. I’ve never seen them exhibited together, however, and I look forward to seeing what visual and conceptual magic happens when their work converges in one gallery space.”
The virtual artist talk will feature emerging artists Trish Andersen, Andrea Caretto, Will Penny, Michael Porten, Jen Small, Britt Spencer and Ben Tollefson. Due to COVID-19, gallery capacity is limited and guests must wear a mask and stay 6 feet apart.
Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art hosts first online exhibition ‘Form and Content’
The Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art (BFSDoArt) is hosting its annual juried student exhibitions this spring, but for the first time they will appear online. The first of three exhibitions, “Form and Content,” features student work from art foundations classes that include Drawing I, Drawing II, 2D Art and Design Foundations, 3D Art and Design Foundations and Digital Foundations. The exhibition is available to view online through April 12. Typically hosted in the University Gallery on the Statesboro Campus, the COVID-19 pandemic changed exhibition plans.
“While this spring’s exhibitions have posed a series of logistical challenges, I am excited to be able to host the exhibition online,” said Jason Hoelscher, gallery director. “This year we had a great selection of work across multiple disciplines and media. The fact that our students are already doing work at this level so early in their studies is impressive and I can’t wait to see what they will be doing as they progress.”
This exhibition was juried by Sheila Stewart-Leach, art consultant, curator and former head curator at the Averitt Center for the Arts in Statesboro.
The exhibit features works from 40 students including Julie Brown who was awarded first place for her piece, “Strong.” Brown is a sophomore and her work is made entirely of staples. Timothy Grant received second place for “Super Famicom Cartridge” and Peyton Bailey was awarded third place for “The Story of Me.”
For more information on the art exhibition and to view it online visit georgiasouthern.edu/digitalgallery.
Georgia Southern University, a public Carnegie Doctoral/R2 institution founded in 1906, offers 141 degree programs serving more than 26,000 students through nine colleges on three campuses in Statesboro, Savannah, Hinesville and online instruction. A leader in higher education in southeast Georgia, the University provides a diverse student population with expert faculty, world-class scholarship and hands-on learning opportunities. Georgia Southern creates lifelong learners who serve as responsible scholars, leaders and stewards in their communities. Visit GeorgiaSouthern.edu.