Dr. Sue Thomas, President of Truman State University, invited students to submit small works of art to be used as gifts for visiting dignitaries, something more unique than Truman memorabilia (which is great too, of course!). Students submitted works that were smaller than 5x5x5 inches, ones that were unmounted (if flat work) so they can be easily packed in a suitcase. Students submitted some 40 pieces, and faculty narrowed the selection, and from Dr. Thomas selected ten, including ceramics, fibers, paintings, drawings, and prints. Each student received $30 and the knowledge that their work would represent the university around the world. Congratulations to the students, and thank you to Dr. Thomas for coming up with such a wonderful idea.
Month: November 2017
Happy Thanksgiving!!!!
Truman classes are off for the full week of Thanksgiving to allow students and faculty a chance to catch up on sleep, writing and grading, and to get together with friends and family and reexamine all the things that make us fortunate in life. We hope you will have a good holiday yourself, and come back in a week to hear about all the exciting happenings in the Art Department.
Professor Francine Fox, “Turkey.”
Watercolors from Nature
Laura Bigger’s Art Foundations I students are spending a couple of weeks enjoying the lushness in the Magruder Hall Greenhouse amid winter gloom! Their botanical watercolors will be on display in Ophelia Parrish the week after Thanksgiving Break.
2003 Alumna Dusty Folwarczny Visits Campus
Dusty Folwarczny, Studio Art graduate, and co-founder of Chicago’s Ink Factory, visited Truman in October to talk about her post-Truman career and provide a workshop on Visual Note Taking. She spoke to classes, including the Senior Capstone Seminar, and explained to students what she does as part of this innovative Chicago start-up, and gave them a chance to practice visual note taking themselves.
Dusty and Art Department chair Aaron Fine talk after her presentation. 
Student tries out visual note taking.
Truman Gallery Hosts Museums Conference
Friday evening, October 27th, the University Gallery hosted a reception for the Missouri Associations for Museums and Archives, whose annual meeting was in Kirksville this year (October 26-28). Amanda Langendoerfer, Associate Dean of Libraries for Special Collections and Museums, was the local representative for the conference, and organizer of the events. Several students attended the conference, which included pre-conference workshops at the Museum of Osteopathic Medicine and days of presentations from museum and archive professionals at the Missouri Department of Conservation regional office on Friday, and at Truman State University on Saturday. Art faculty members Dr. Heidi Cook, Dr. Josh Hainy, and Dr. Sara Orel attended all or part of the conference, along with several Truman students and others from as far away as Kyrgyzstan.
Sculpture Roaming the Halls
Danielle Yakle’s sculpture classes are always up to something. Recently the atrium of Ophelia Parrish was filled with some rather entertaining animals.
Design IV Student Artwork on Display
As you wander down the the corridors of the south wing of Ophelia Parrish, you can see the latest work by our talented students. These were for the Graphic Design IV class.
Ceramics Students Display Their Art
In October, Professor Wynne Wilbur’s Ceramics I students showed their pottery that had been inspired by ancient or medieval vessels (at least 500 years old). They hand-built the forms and use the decoration on the originals to inspire their modern interpretations. These were on view in the lobby of Ophelia Parrish.
