Welcome to the Department of Art and Art History. The department is home to two distinct programs, one in art history, the other in studio arts. The art history program focuses on the study of the visual arts and architecture in their historical contexts. As such, courses in the art history program are first and foremost concerned with the social, cultural, and intellectual contexts in which art and architecture were conceived, executed and lived. The studio arts program explores the creation of art in both its technical and conceptual components. The studio program includes courses in sculpture (stone, wood, metal, plaster and ceramic), painting, drawing, printmaking, photography and digital arts.
We are now in the second year here in the Jim and Janet Dicke Art Building in the new Ruth Taylor Arts Center. The building is beginning to seem like home.
Within the context of the Stieren Arts Enrichment Series in academic 2007-08, we shall hold a symposium in honor of Dr. Charles Talbot, who retired from the department at the end of the Spring 2007 semester. The symposium is titled “To Create Anew: The Renaissance in the Americas,” and will be held on 18 April 2008. This symposium will bring to campus Dr. Thomas Cummins, the Dumbarton Oaks Professor of the History of Pre-Columbian and Colonial Art and chair of the department of the history of art at Harvard University, and Dr. Claire Farago, professor of Renaissance art, theory and criticism at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
The 2007-08 academic year will see one of the faculty on leave: John Hutton (Spring 08). We welcome back Professor Jessica Halonen (painting and drawing) for the whole year. We are especially fortunate to have soon-to-be Dr. Rangsok Yoon join us for the whole of academic 07-08 to teach courses in Northern Renaissance. Also teaching in the department this year, some of whom have been with us previously, are: Léo Lee (drawing), Kimberly Drennen (modern and contemporary architecture), and Brantley Hightower (modern and contemporary architecture).
The art gallery, located on the ground floor of the Ruth Taylor Arts Complex, has a full plate this year. In Fall 07 Professor Ward will have an exhibition of her recent work entitled “River and Waves.” From 14 January to 22 February 2008 Dulce Pinzón will have an exhibition of his photographs in association with his visit as a speaker within the Stieren Arts Enrichment Series for the department of communication. Immediately following that show a collaborative curatorial project with art alumnus Steven Lam (Art and Art History, 2001) will take place. Mr. Lam, a working artist based in New York, was the 2006 recipient of the Lori Ledis Memorial Award for the Curatorial Initiative. His recent exhibition project “Spectral Evidence,” at the Rotunda Gallery in Brooklyn, was praised in the New York Times and in the journal Artforum. Lastly, in late April the senior art major exhibition will go up. Look for future announcements concerning details and the dates of the openings of these exhibitions.
Finally, we plan to use the beautiful areas provided by the gallery, foyer and outdoor patio for informal get-togethers with majors and interested students throughout the year. We look forward to seeing all of you at these events.
The upcoming year thus looks to be a full one. Please contact the departmental secretary, Ms. Ann Mueller (210-999-7682), for more information about the location of faculty offices, studios, or any other questions that you may have about the department.
Mark B. Garrison
Professor and Chair