Professor Lindsey Dunnagan’s Collaborative Art Project

Painting professor Lindsey Dunnagan invites people to participate in her new artwork at Paul Artspace Residency in Saint Louis, on August 6th.  She writes:

Carrying resentment, anger, or regret can negatively affect mental health and the body.  International Forgiveness Day (August 6th, 2017) provides an opportunity to shed these feelings.  In this interactive project, visitors are invited to Paul Artspace in Saint Louis where they can transfer unwanted negative emotions to “stones” through writing.

These stones are interconnected sculptural forms made of concrete that are absorbent and heavy.  Once participants write or draw on the concrete forms they may cover parts or their entire message with a black polish.  Then visitors can leave their stones in the forest.

Because the concrete is heavy, it serves as a metaphor of emotional weight.  Leaving the stones behind is physical act of literally letting go and a symbolic way of healing.

After the event, stones will be collected for a sculptural altar in a gallery where the project can continue. In the gallery, new visitors may write on new stones while sifting through the ones others have left. My hope is that this project can help people feel less alone and provide some peace for people who are dealing with difficult issues.

The details:

When: August 6th, 12 – 6pm

Where: Paul Artspace 14516 Sinks Rd, Florissant, MO 63034

For more details, including a map to the location, take a look at her website.

Goodbye to Dr. Julia DeLancey

Dr. DeLancey with current students and alumni at her goodbye reception.

We are saddened to say goodbye to Art Historian Dr. Julia DeLancey, who will be moving to Virginia for a new academic position.  She has been at Truman for more than twenty years, and although we will miss her, we wish her luck in her new position.  A reception was held in the University Gallery on July 20th, in honor of her and her husband, Dr. Peter Kelly, and several students and alumni were able to say goodbye in person.

Art Faculty Attend Institute in Asheville, NC

Art faculty Julia DeLancey, Aaron Fine, Aaron Neeley, and Sara Orel, along with Amanda Langendoerfer, who is the Head of Special Collections and University Museums at Truman, attended a Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges Summer Institute on Liberal Learning in Asheville from June 8-10, 2017.  This year the annual institute focused on art programs.  Titled “Adaptations: Working in Art Departments at Public Liberal Arts Colleges,” the program brought together faculty from 18 universities to share ideas and discuss such topics as encouraging undergraduate research in Art, teaching Art History without having major museum collections nearby, and partnering with community arts organizations.

Photograph of participants in the COPLAC Summer Institute, courtesy of Emma Anderson.

Truman Faculty (all in the front row): Aaron Neeley, Julia DeLancey (2nd and 3rd from the left, respectively), Sara Orel (8th from left), Amanda Langendoerfer (5th from right), and Aaron Fine (2nd from right).

At the Institute Truman faculty also had the opportunity to congratulate the incoming Executive Director of COPLAC, our former colleague Cole Woodcox, who has retired from Truman to take the position. (He is the first person on the right in the back row of the photo above).