Art History

Faculty in New York for Research and Book Signing

Dr. Julia DeLancey’s current research into melancholy in the Italian Renaissance, perhaps a manifestation of what we now call “depression,” led her to research in New York, at the New York Public Library and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She has shared these two images taken during the research trip, funded in part by a fellowship established by former Truman State University president Barbara Dixon.

The New York Public Library, photo courtesy of Julia DeLancey.

Visitors to the Metropolitan Museum of Art walk past Albrecht Dürer’s Melancholia I, photo courtesy of Julia DeLancey.

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Posted on February 21, 2017 by Art Department Art History, Department, Faculty Scholarship and Creative Work, News and Events

Art Faculty and Alumnae at CAA

Several Art faculty attended the annual meeting of the College Art Association in New York this past week. Professor Aaron Fine had the launch of his book on color theory (Dialogues on Color), while Dr. Heidi Cook (Truman alumna and now a faculty member here) gave a paper on Croatian art. Dr. Julia DeLancey hosted a reception for art faculty from institutions that are members of the Consortium of Public Liberal Arts Colleges, and Dr. Sara Orel co-chaired a workshop on undergraduate research in Art History with Dr. Alexa Sand of Utah State University. Dr. Cole Woodcox also attended the conference, taking advantage of the wide range of sessions and museums available in New York.

In addition to the Art faculty, several alumnae attended the conference or otherwise participated in the week’s events. Dr. Jasmine Cloud (now a professor at the University of Central Missouri) gave a paper, and we saw Emily Nickel (now an MFA student at the University of Iowa), Lori Nix (an artist working in New York), and Emily Hagen (a graduate student at Penn State). Some of the alumnae and faculty got together for lunch at the conference. Although not shown in the photograph, we have Aaron Fine to thank for the record of the event.

From left to right: Dr. Julia DeLancey, Dr. Cole Woodcox, Dr. Jasmine Cloud, Emily Hagen, Dr. Heidi Cook. Photo courtesy of Professor Aaron Fine.

Posted on January 26, 2017January 25, 2017 by Art Department Art History, Faculty Scholarship and Creative Work, News and Events, Uncategorized

World War I Exhibitions Opening

In commemoration of the centennial anniversary of World War I, the Truman State University Art Gallery and Pickler Memorial Library’s Special Collections have collaborated on two interrelated exhibitions about art produced during the Great War. Join, Save, Buy: WWI Posters on the Homefront consists of a selection of never-before-exhibited World War I posters from the E.M. Violette Museum which reveal experiences on the American home front. Arts Against the Great War looks at creative responses to the Great War which explore the war’s complications, violence, and human cost.

Truman State University undergraduates contributed and are contributing significantly to the exhibitions, including in research, writing, installation, serving as docents and designers, and other activities.

The University Gallery during installation of Join, Save, Buy: WWI Posters on the Homefront. Photo courtesy of Sara Orel.

And here is a 3D view of the side gallery during installation of Arts against the Great War.

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Posted on January 20, 2017January 16, 2017 by Art Department Art History, Uncategorized

Student Summer Travel in Iran (Summer 2016)

Emma Shouse at Persepolis (the City of the Persians), Iran.

As part of their Art History program, majors do a significant activity that takes them outside of the classroom. We have students who do internships and excavations and study abroad. Emma Shouse traveled to Iran last summer. Here is a short report from her on what she experienced:

This summer, I went on a two week trip with Intrepid Tours to Iran. I was the youngest out of 11 people on the tour, not including our fabulous tour guide Nadia, and was the only American. We traveled around the center of the country, hitting a lot of the more historical cities, and also spent one night in a mountain village with a nomad family. While this was not an academic trip, my goal was to visit as many mosques as possible and use my experience to enhance my research of Persian mosaics. Some of the famous sights we visited include: the Tehran Bazaar, Imam Khomeini’s Shrine, the Necropolis, Persepolis, the Zoroastrian Tower of Silence and Chak Chak Temple, Sheikh Lotfollah and Shah mosques of Esfahan, the tomb of Hafez, and Nasir ol Molk Mosque in Shiraz. As their tourism industry is still in its infancy, there were some moments where we were the only tourists in sight.

I was aware that the version of Iran shown by the American media is not an accurate portrayal of the thoughts and feelings of average Iranians, but I was absolutely blown away by the hospitality and kindness shown to me. Almost every day I had girls around my age ask to take selfies with me, and some were kind enough to give me their phone numbers just in case I had any emergencies while in Iran. It was quite the celebrity treatment. We were offered food and gifts, and almost everyone had something to say about the upcoming presidential election once they found out I was American. There was not a single moment where I felt unsafe, and being American, the Iranian government was more worried about my safety than I was (one problem including an American would have the potential to destroy their entire tourism industry). If given the chance, I would go back in a heartbeat.

Posted on July 26, 2016 by Art Department Art History

Alumna Publishes First Article

April Johnston (Art History 2014) works in St. Louis as a curator for a private art collector, and she sent us the following message this spring:

I wanted to share with you that I’ve had my first piece of art-writing published! I was invited by the editors of All the Art, St. Louis’s new visual arts quarterly, to contribute to their Art + Money issue. The piece is a short interview with my boss, John Horseman. It’s been a little over a year since he hired me and managing the collection continues to be extremely fun, rewarding, and educational! The entire issue can be read with this link; my piece is on page 12-13 of the print edition, and on page 15-16 in the digital edition.

Congratulations, April! And if you are an alumna/alumnus of our program and have some news to report we would love to hear from you. Our email address is art@truman.edu.

Posted on July 5, 2016June 28, 2016 by Art Department Art History

Greek Sculpture Studies at Truman

In Dr. Sara Orel’s spring Greek and Roman class, students photographed themselves in poses taken from sculpture and vase paintings of the Archaic and Classical Periods (roughly 600 BCE to 330 BCE). This gave them a chance to study the poses, objects, and relationships of the figures. Here are some of the photos they submitted for the assignment:

Sam Pohlman as a Fallen Warrior from the pediment of the Temple of Aphaia at Aegina

Stay tuned for images from their replication of Greek painted vases.

Posted on June 20, 2016June 13, 2016 by Art Department Art History

Students heading to Graduate School

Congratulations to the following Art majors who have been accepted to graduate school in their fields:

Emily Hagen, who has been accepted at Penn State University to study Art History,

Matt Treasure, who will study Egyptian Archaeology and Language at the American University in Cairo,

and Darrell Williams, who will be going to the University of Missouri to study for his MFA in Painting.

One of the pieces from Darrell Williams' BFA exhibition, up in the gallery from November 30th to December 4th.

One of the pieces from Darrell Williams’ BFA exhibition, 2015.

Stay tuned for updates on what other students will be doing with their summers, and if you are a current or former alum who has news, please email us at art@truman.edu.

Posted on March 30, 2016March 25, 2016 by Art Department Art History

What is Valerie Lazalier (BA 2011, Art History) up to these days?

Valerie Lazalier (pictured above, right) started a new job in January. She writes us:

“I started work at Lawrence University as the Gallery and Collection Assistant in the Wriston Art Center Galleries. In this role I oversee the care of the university’s art collection which involves accessioning new donations, performing inventories, preparing works for storage, arranging art viewings, and overseeing interns. The galleries change exhibitions five times a year, so I also get to help with installing and deinstalling shows, which I really enjoy. I am also responsible for digitizing more of our collection and getting it posted to ARTstor. Lawrence is a liberal arts university, just like Truman, so I’m feeling very at home here!”

Thank you for the update, Valerie!

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.

Posted on February 28, 2016February 17, 2016 by Art Department Art History, Faculty Scholarship and Creative Work, Uncategorized

Dr. Julia DeLancey Contributes to the Italian Conferenza del Colore

Julia DeLancey (Professor of Art History) has been invited to serve for a second year on the Scientific Committee for the interdisciplinary Conferenza del Colore (Conference on Color); the 12th Conference will be held in Turin (Torino) Italy in 2016.

This international conference features work on color in all its aspects, including not only color theory and color in art history, but also color as used in industry, lighting, education, design, psychology, and so on. The Scientific Committee is made up of academics and other professionals who deal with color from a wide range of perspectives. Dr. DeLancey’s research is focused on the color sellers of Venice in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

More information about the 12th conference of the Gruppo del Colore has been posted, and their bright logo is the splash to the left.

Posted on October 29, 2015October 28, 2015 by Art Department Art History, Department History Gallery

Happy Halloween!

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.

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