Carlye Thornton | Lariat Photographer
By Taylor Rexrode
A&E Editor
Starting this semester, faculty in the art department will have a chance to show their art on campus separate from the student exhibition.
The 2014 Baylor Department of Art Faculty Exhibition will feature artistic work from studio art professors in the Martin Museum of Art at the Hooper-Schaefer Fine Arts Center.
The faculty exhibit will run until March 7. The student exhibition will not start until March 27.
The exhibition is free and open to the public.
A reception will be held 5:30 to 7 p.m. today in the museum foyer to honor the faculty and their artwork.
This new exhibition is planned to take place every other year.
Karin Gilliam, director of the Martin Museum of Art, said the choice to make it a biennial event gives faculty time to create pieces for the show.
“I think it’s wonderful,” Gilliam said. “They have plenty of time to develop a body of work.”
Jennifer Spry, educational coordinator for the Martin Museum of Art, said the new faculty exhibition also came about because of a lack of space for both student and faculty art in the gallery.
“We only have two galleries,” Spry said. “With the student shows getting larger and larger, we’ve had phenomenal participation. It also had to do with the fact that the faculty has grown. Even for them to be confined in one gallery is very, very tight.”
All 16 studio art professors submitted anywhere from two to five pieces in various types of artistic media, from ceramic to photography, from drawings to sculptures.
Several faculty members have had their art featured in international venues as far as Australia, China, England and Israel, and each participant has been featured in solo and group shows.
Mark Anderson, professor and chair of the art department, submitted two monotypes, which are drawings transferred to paper via a printing press.
Anderson said he is proud of the exhibition and of his colleagues.
“It’s an honor to be included in the caliber of work in there,” Anderson said. “It means a lot to me because the quality of the faculty is exceptional. To be part of that is gratifying.”
Three art history faculty members will also give 20-minute lectures as a part of the exhibition. The lecture presentations will begin at 2 p.m. Feb. 25 in 149 Hooper-Schaefer Fine Arts Center.
A catalog has been included as a companion to the exhibit. The catalog, featuring short biographies of the artists as well as photos of their pieces, was created by Virginia Green, associate professor in the art department.
Julia Hitchcock, associate professor in the art department, said she is glad there is a catalog of work for others outside of Baylor to see.
“A catalog is a useful marketing tool and a marketing tool if done well can certainly make Baylor more visible in terms of its art program to benefactors, to potential donors and to other universities that may not be all that aware of our art program simply because we don’t have a master’s program,” Hitchcock said.
Anderson said he hopes students and the community will take time to see the exhibit.
“It’s not very often that students are going to see the fruits of the labors of the professors unless they are used in the classroom,” Anderson said.
He said that viewing art aligns with university teachings because of the critical thinking connections that can be made with art.
“The interesting thing about the work is the connections,” Anderson said. “Creative people tend to look at one thing and see another to get connections. One of the purposes of the university is to make people think critically so if you bring in visual intelligence, I think it does elevate critical thinking.”
The Martin Museum is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday. It is closed on Mondays and on university holidays.
