Axe ’Em, Jacks!
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Works of art created during summer residencies will be showcased in Stephen F. Austin State University’s annual School of Art Faculty Exhibition showing Aug. 30 through Sept. 30 at The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.
Each year, the faculty exhibition features a wide variety of artworks in ceramics, sculpture, photography, painting, prints, metals and mixed media, according to Christopher Talbot, director of the SFA School of Art.
“We are excited to see what our talented faculty has been up to,” said Erik Ordaz, exhibition coordinator for Cole Art Center. “This is always a wonderful opportunity to share their work with the community and to welcome our students to the new academic year.”
The show this year will feature works created by SFA art professors Lauren Selden and Shaun Roberts while they were on residencies this past summer in Finland and Norway, respectively, in a combined exhibition, “Nordic Proximity,” presented in the upstairs Reavley Gallery in Cole Art Center.
Selden, professor of metals/jewelry, completed an internationally competitive studio art residency at Fiskars AiR in Fiskars, Finland. The residency provided access to important and rare research resources, as well as offered studio space for the creative generation of conceptual and studio works, which Selden said will aid in advancing her study of Scandinavian and Nordic design. She also participated in a mid-career retreat at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The project was conducted using SFA Research and Creative Activity Grant funds.
Roberts, associate professor of painting, was accepted to study in the modern-day Renaissance workshop of the world-famous and accomplished painter Odd Nerdrum. There, students had two main goals: create a self-portrait and make a narrative painting.
An opening reception for the faculty shows will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 30. Admission to the exhibition and reception, which is sponsored in part by William Arscott and the Friends of the Visual Arts, is free. The Cole Art Center is located at 329 E. Main St. For more information, call (936) 468-5500.