Axe ’Em, Jacks!
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Although The Cole Art Center is currently closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, art lovers will still be able to view all of the artwork and the winning entries in the 26th Texas National Competition and Exhibition, Stephen F. Austin State University’s acclaimed art competition and exhibition, which can be seen virtually starting April 30 and running through June 13.
This year’s exhibition will be in video format that will be posted on the SFA School of Art Facebook page and website. The show will include approximately 60 pieces of art, including photography, painting, sculpture and mixed media, according to John Handley, director of SFA galleries. An online catalogue will also be provided.
The School of Art’s annual juried competition and exhibition attracts entrants from across the United States, providing artists an opportunity to have their work juried by highly acclaimed curators and critics, such as this year’s juror, Annette Lawrence, professor of studio art in the College of Visual Arts and Design at the University of North Texas. She will critique and judge the entries with the assistance of a walk-through video.
“We have created a walk-through video for our juror, Annette Lawrence, with the assistance of video expert Herbert Midgley,” said Alisa Steed, event coordinator for Cole Art Center. Midgley is music technology instructor in the School of Music. “As soon as the juror lets us know her decisions, we will post a ‘virtual reception’ video announcing the winners and including a brief walking tour of the exhibition. We hope to have this up on our website and Facebook page by early next week. While the exhibition is on display, we will feature the artists on our Facebook and Instagram pages.”
Lawrence’s work has been widely exhibited and is held in museums and private collections, including The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; The Dallas Museum of Art; The Rachofsky Collection; ArtPace Center for Contemporary Art; Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin; and the Art Collection of the Dallas Cowboys. She received a 2018 MacDowell Fellowship; the 2015 Moss/Chumley Award from the Meadows Museum; and the 2009 Otis and Velma Davis Dozier Travel Award from the Dallas Museum of Art. Her work was included in the 1997 Biennial Exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York. She is an alumnus of the Core Program at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Skowhegan School.
Texas National is sponsored in part by the SFA Friends of the Visual Arts, The Flower Shop, William Arscott and corporate sponsor R&K Distributors, Inc.
For more information about the exhibition, call (936) 468-1131. The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House is SFA’s historic art gallery, located in downtown Nacogdoches. The SFA School of Art can be accessed at http://www.art.sfasu.edu or on Facebook at SFA Art Galleries & Cole Art Center.