One 'Awesome' UK Art Education Exhibit
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 20, 2012) — Art education students from the University of Kentucky School of Art and Visual Studies are currently exhibiting their art at Awesome Inc. in downtown Lexington, located at 348 Main St. The three-week show, which opened as part of November's Gallery Hop on Nov. 16, will run through Dec. 7. The show theme is titled, "Celebration of Future Artist-Teachers," and the gallery is open for viewing from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The exhibit is free and open to the public.
The undergraduate and graduate students are participants in Professor George Szekely‘s fall 2012 art education classes. Szekely places a strong emphasis on the importance of being an artist-teacher, encouraging all art teachers to continue to create and exhibit their art. In Szekely’s classes, artistic independence is a highly valued artistic trait, and self-determined art and design ventures are initiated and executed by both undergraduate and graduate students. Students in Szekely’s classes are urged to maintain a home studio to further explore all art made in class.
The art on exhibit at Awesome Inc. features strong independent voices in a variety of style and media. In Szekely’s class, independent-minded young artists work on fresh ideas for bicycle designs using found objects and search for creative ideas for playhouses. There will also be new design ideas for toys and home furnishings, and students will be exhibiting works made in wood and experiments with lamp parts. The show features found object portraits and drawings on such unusual surfaces as window screens, giant clipboards, carpet samples and polishing machine papers.
"To inspire the life of an artist-teacher, art education students acquire a taste for 'show business' by preparing to display art in professional settings," Szekely said.
In recent years Szekely’s classes have exhibited their works in Cincinnati, Louisville and a variety of other venues in Lexington.
The UK School of Art and Visual Studies in 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.
MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Hale, (859) 257-8716 or whitney.hale@uky.edu