LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 7, 2011) − Artists and art aficionados alike are invited to campus for a series of guest lectures given by flourishing and established artists/scholars who will visit the Bluegrass as part of the University of Kentucky Department of Art 2011-2012 Visiting Artists and Scholars series. The series, now in its 10th year, has brought locally and nationally recognized artists/scholars to the Commonwealth for residencies with UK's art faculty, students and staff, as well as public lectures. Arts administrator Natalia Mount, of Residency Unlimited Inc., will open this year's series with a free public lecture scheduled for noon Friday, Sept. 9, in 118 White Hall Classroom Building.
"With funding from an endowment from Josephine Abercrombie, the Visiting Artists and Scholars Series has allowed us to bring in artists from around the world who have conducted workshops where they demonstrated processes and techniques that have improved our classes," says Benjamin C. Withers, chair of the UK Department of Art. "Their workshops and lectures have benefitted our students and faculty and the community at large, since many of them have been open to the general public. They have shared their personal stories of the challenges they overcame to become professional artists, and inspired us with the art they have produced."
Visitors featured in the art series have included prominent national and international artists and scholars such as El Anatsui, Willie Cole, Chakaia Booker, George Blakely, Vitaly Komar, Jim Stone and Tom Huck; noted art historians, educators and critics such as Cynthia Hahn, Nicholas Mirzoeff, David Ehrenpries and Stuart Horodner; and emerging artists such as Jason Salavon, Christina Anderson and Zoe Strecker.
"Our department, this university and the people of the Commonwealth are richer intellectually and artistically because of this endowment; we are very grateful to Ms. Abercrombie for her generosity in making this visiting artist series possible," adds Withers.
Natalia Mount's public lecture will be part of a four-day residency at UK. Based in New York City, Mount has curated a number of theatre, art and music projects in both commercial and nonprofit venues. After receiving her master's degree in media management from Metropolitan College of New York, she founded NEXT Art Gallery and Flux Art Space in New York City, and served as executive director at Red House Arts Center in Syracuse, N.Y. until May 2010. Mount is currently a development consultant at Residency Unlimited Inc., an international artist in residence program in New York City.
Other artists/scholars taking part in this year's Visiting Artists and Scholars Series and their corresponding public arts professions lecture dates are:
- photographer and installation artist Joy Christiansen Erb on Oct. 14;
- potter and Syracuse University Emeritus Professor of Ceramics David MacDonald on Oct. 21;
- painter and Visiting Kenyan Artist-in-Residence Allan Githuka on Nov. 4;
- sculptor Andrew Baxter on Nov. 11;
- printmaker and designer Dennis McNett on Nov. 18;
- sculptor and Professor of Ceramics at Bowling Green State University John Balistreri on Feb. 10;
- tapestry artist and weaver Louise Halsey on Feb. 17;
- contemporary artist and writer Christopher Cozier on March 23;
- sculptor and UK alumnus Isaac Duncan III on April 6; and
- co-founder of Teaching for Artistic Behavior and art educator Katherine Douglas on April 13.
As part of these lectures, the speakers in the series will discuss their careers and take part in a question and answer session. The series lectures are presented as part of UK's arts professions course and are given at noon on Fridays, in 118 White Hall Classroom Building. During the spring semester, the lectures will move to 108 White Hall Classroom Building.
The UK Department of Art, at the UK College of Fine Arts, is an accredited member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in the fields of art studio, art history and art education.
For further information on a particular artist/scholar’s visit or the Visiting Artists and Scholars Series, contact the UK Department of Art at (859) 257-8151.
MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Hale, (859) 257-8716 or whitney.hale@uky.edu