Alumni Sharing Their Research

Truman State University Art History alumni Jasmine (Fry) Cloud and Ryan Gregg both presented new research at this year’s Sixteenth Century Studies conference in mid-October. The meeting marked the 50th anniversary of that interdisciplinary organization for scholars of the early modern or Renaissance period. Dr. Cloud, now Associate Professor in the Department of Art & Design at the University of Central Missouri gave her paper–“Early Modern Infrastructure: The Routes and Roads of the Roman Forum”–in a session entitled “The Built Environment of Rome”. Dr. Gregg, department chair of the Department of Art, Design, and Art History at Webster University in St. Louis, presented his research in a session on artistic identity; his paper carried the title “Francesco da Sangallo’s Beard: Artistic Identity in Portraits of Cinquecento Sculptors”. Congratulations to both!

Alumni Artists to Visit Campus

MimiJimmyFLyer

Thanks to funding from the School of Arts and Letters we are happy to have Mimi Kato and Jimmy Kuehnle visit campus to give talks about their work.  Both are successful artists, living and working in Cleveland, Ohio. We hope you will be able to join us to hear about their current creative work.

The flyer has an image from Mimi Kato’s work; an example of Jimmy Kuehnle’s work is below.

New Faculty Member: Dr. Josh Hainy

Dr. Josh Hainy in front of the “American Gothic” house in Eldon, IA.

Josh Hainy joined the Truman State University Art Department in August 2017. He received his Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Iowa with a specialization in 18th– and 19th-century European Art. Before the University of Iowa, Hainy attended the University of Oregon, where he got a Master’s degree in Classics. Drawing from his background in the classical languages, for his dissertation in Art History, he examined the ways in which British draughtsman and sculptor John Flaxman (1755-1826) depicted subject matter taken from ancient literature. Flaxman’s drawings of Homer’s Iliad received particular emphasis. These images—done in the contour style of the late 18th and early 19th centuries—became quite popular throughout Europe, but scholarly interest traditionally focused on Flaxman’s use of contour, not the ways in which he presented the narrative of the Iliad through a series of images.

“Ajax Defending the Greek Ships against the Trojans” by John Flaxman.

 

In addition to presenting his research on Flaxman’s narratives at The Art Institute of Chicago Graduate Symposium, Dr. Hainy has presented other papers about Flaxman and his interactions with classical antiquity at the annual conferences of the American Society of Eighteenth-Century Studies and the Nineteenth Century Studies Association. He talked about the role of the human body in the lectures Flaxman delivered as the first Professor of Sculpture at the Royal Academy of Art at a symposium about art, anatomy, and medicine held at the Columbia Museum of Art. This paper will be part of an edited volume about art, anatomy, and medicine since c. 1800.

At Truman State this fall, Hainy is teaching “Introduction to the Visual Arts”, the survey of Western Art from the Renaissance to the present, and Renaissance Art in the fall. In the spring he will teach the second half of the western survey, as well as one course on Modern Art and a topics (Art 428) section on art from the 18th and early 19th centuries, titled “Rococo to Romanticism.”

We extend our enthusiastic welcome to Josh Hainy, a valued addition to the Art Department at Truman!

Events You Won’t Want to Miss: Friday, April 29th

Two retirement receptions and one gallery reception.  What a way to end the semester and the year! Come join us this Friday to celebrate the end of Bob Jones’ and Jim Jereb’s careers at Truman, and the completion of the BFA degrees of three seniors.


The events start at 2 pm in the Georgian Room in the Student Union.  Come and celebrate the contributions of Professor Bob Jones to Truman and the Art Department.  The senior member of our department, Bob has taught at Truman since 1979, serving in numerous administrative positions, starting the Visual Communications program, and teaching thousands of students over the decades. fad-jonesThen at 6 pm come to the University Gallery for the reception celebrating the last gallery show of the year.

BFA posterAnd a fitting way to end the evening is the retirement reception for our printmaking professor Jim Jereb, who has been at Truman since 1990. In addition to teaching a generation of printmakers, Jim has taught a variety of courses in foundations and the university core.  He has mentored many students who were interested in learning about conservation and most recently has helped to prepare an exhibit of posters from the Great War to be displayed in the University Gallery in 2017.  Come to the Dukum Inn at 7 pm Friday and celebrate his contributions, his past, and his future.fad-jereb

 

Truman Newspaper features two ART professors

The Index, Truman’s student newspaper, featured articles on two Art Department professors in their March 24th edition.  Jim Jereb was featured in a tribute article about his retirement. Jim, who has taught at Truman for  26 years, will be moving to Big Horn, Wyoming, to take up a curatorial position at the Brinton Museum there.  He will also head the printmaking section of the museum’s new education center.

The second article featured Priya Kambli, our professor of photography, who presented her work at the St. Louis Art Museum.  The symposium, “If it Wasn’t for the Women: Women of Color Behind and Through the Lens,” was a Women’s History Month event.  “If It Wasn’t for the Women” is a free annual program that brings special attention to women of color and their experiences in the arts.  This year the focus was on photography.

Mami 2015: A recent work by Professor Priya Kambli.

Mami 2015: A recent work by Professor Priya Kambli.

Happy Halloween!

Taylor (Klein) Worley (BA Art History, 2009)as Max, from Where the Wild Things Are.

Taylor (Klein) Worley (BA Art History, 2009) as Max, from Where the Wild Things Are.

Art students celebrate Halloween enthusiastically because of all its creative potential (not to mention a bit of candy to enjoy).  Those who overlapped at Truman with Taylor (Klein) Worley from 2005 to 2009 will remember her elaborate and convincing costumes.  After she graduated with her Art History BA, Taylor completed her Master of Library Science at Emporia State University in 2012.  She is now a Youth Services Librarian at Springfield Public Library in the Oregon Willamette Valley. She still enjoys going all out for Halloween, this year by entertaining children and parents alike with her convincing Max (Where the Wild Things Are) costume.  She is pictured here at her library’s annual “Little Monster’s Bash!” event. Youth Librarianship lends itself creativity in many ways, but dressing up as beloved characters is one of Taylor’s favorites!Taylor (and we) wish you the Happiest of Halloweens!  If you are an alum and have news (or Halloween pictures) to share, please write to us at art@truman.edu  We’d love to hear from you.

Happy Winter Break!

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Finals Week ends on Friday, December 12 with December graduation taking place on Saturday, December 13th.  Congratulations to all Art Department (and Truman) graduates!  Please stay in touch (art@truman.edu).

This also means that the Art Department blog will be taking a break until the week before classes start in January.  However, during that time the blog will feature faculty artwork (and other images) related to winter themes so do check back often!

For now, greetings of the season to all!

Welcome back! + Atrium exhibition and reception

Strong Foundations 001
Welcome back and good luck today with the first day of classes!

If you're looking to get some good art in this first week back in classes, please come by the Atrium space in the Art wing of Ophelia Parrish (south wing, ground floor) to check out the exhibition "A Strong Foundation:  Faculty Selections from the Fall 2011 Proficiency Display" (January 9 – 13, 2012).  This exhibition features work selected by faculty members from the first-year Studio and Visual Communications majors' proficiency portfolios and so features some of the best artwork made (in general) by first-year majors in those areas.  There will be a chance to congratulate those students, as well as their instructors, at a reception this Thursday, January 12 at 4:30 p.m.  Light refreshments will be served.  Hope to see you there!

Congratulations to the students whose work was selected for the exhibition:

Emily Bendet, Tim Cooper, Megan Doil, Colleen Glaeser, Andrea Hock, Melanie Pailer, Kyle Pappalardo, Lauren Priest, Emma Roeder, Erin Smith, and Alexandra Williamson