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

 

Museum Educator (and Alumnus) Visits Truman

 

Emma Shouse with alumnus Mike Murawski, at his gallery presentation.

Art History major Emma Shouse with alumnus Mike Murawski, at his gallery presentation.

Thanks to funding from the School of Arts and Letters, the Art Department was happy to welcome back Dr. Mike Murawski (BA – Art History and History, 2000), Director of Education and Public Programs at the Portland Art Museum, and Pacific Region Director for the Museum Division of the National Art Education Association.  Dr. Murawski met with students and faculty and spoke to several classes, including the interdisciplinary Museum Studies class taught by Dr. Sara Orel.

He also led a program in the University Art Gallery. His interactive presentation, “Art Encounter: The New Education in Museums and Galleries,” gave the attendees several models of how to involve visitors to an art exhibition that did not start with an authority delivering a contextual lecture.  These exercises were designed to draw out observations and responses from the viewers.  Techniques included group-writing poetry and shaping (folding and tearing) paper in response to images, among other approaches.

Mike Murawski, Heidi Cook (Gallery Director), and Emma Shouse setting up torn and folded paper responses to a quilt in the University Gallery.

Mike Murawski (class of 2000), Heidi Cook (Gallery Director), and Art History major Emma Shouse arrange torn and folded paper responses to a quilt in the University Gallery.

During his visit, Dr. Murawski had a chance to speak about his path from Truman to American University for his graduate degrees.  He returned to Missouri, where he worked as the head of education for the Saint Louis Art Museum.  While there he was selected the Missouri Art Educator of the Year (Museum Education) for 2011.  He is an innovator in the use of digital technology in Museum Education and has been involved with the MacArthur Foundation’s Connected Learning initiative, the National Writing Project, the Educator Innovator initiative, and is a member of the Advisory Board for the New Media Consortium’s Horizon Report 2013 Museum Edition, the Advisory Board for Art History Teaching Resources.  We were very happy to have him visit and the students who interacted with him had a good opportunity to talk with a specialist in a field many are interested in pursuing.  Thank you for the visit and talks, Mike!

Hannah Nicks reading a group-written poem in the University Gallery.

Art History major Hannah Nicks reads a group-written poem in the University Gallery.

If you are an alum and have news to share, please write to us at art@truman.edu  We’d love to hear from you.

 

 

 

Midterm Break Travels

Even over a break, Truman people go out of their way to experience art.  We asked for pictures from the week off and several students and faculty sent us some from their travels.  Thank you and enjoy!

Pictures from Midterm travels: (clockwise from upper left) Nala Turner in New York, Emily Pulley in Denver, Maddie Tweed in New York, Dr. Sara Orel in Ghent (Belgium), and Taylor Knoche in St. Louis.

Pictures from Midterm travels: (clockwise from upper left) Nala Turner in New York, Emily Pulley in Denver, Maddie Tweed in New York, Dr. Sara Orel in Ghent (Belgium), and Taylor Knoche in St. Louis.

Students Attend National Ceramics Conference

Professor Wynne Wilbur and several ceramics students attended the  National Council for Education for the Ceramic Arts 50th Annual Conference in Kansas City, MO, in mid March.  Among the almost 6000 in attendance, our students had a great time talking with artists and other students from across the United States and abroad.  Wilbur takes students to the conference annually and this year, because it was so close, more were able to make the trip than usual.

Truman students at the opening ceremonies at NCECA 2016. From close to far: Kristin Kennedy, Josslyn Ross, Nala Turner, Morgan Price, Charles Cantrell, and Piercyn Charbonneau (Photo: Wynne Wilbur).