News

2/8 Presentation by Visiting Artist, Patrick Earl Hammie

hammie

Wednesday, February 8, 2017, 3:30pm
Artist Presentation – Storrs Campus, Art Building, Room 109

Patrick Earl Hammie is an American visual artist best known for his large-scale portrait and
figurative paintings that draw from art history and visual culture to examine cultural identity, social
equity, and critical aspects of gender and race today. Hammie’s body of work is defined by his
ongoing engagement with the history of painting, and his use of scale, expression, and emotive
subject matter recalls the painterly gestures of the Baroque and Romantic periods. In part his
interest is historical: he studies the pictorial, technical, and narrative conventions of Western art to
explore the ways in which primarily male artists have imagined the body. Considering such
conventions in a contemporary context, he delivers fresh ideals of bodies of color and women that
both disturb the existing cannon and normalize their presence in public art space and
discourse. Hammie is an Associate Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
His work has been exhibited in galleries throughout the U.S. and abroad, and he has received
awards and grants from Alliance of Artists Communities with the Joyce Foundation, Indianapolis
Art Center, Tanne Foundation, University of Illinois, Wellesley College, and Zhou B Art Center.
His work is a part of several prominent collections including the Kohler Company Collection,
JPMorgan Chase Art Collection, John Michael Kohler Art Center, and William Benton Museum of
Art. He has been an artist-in-residence at the John Michael Kohler Art Center and was named an
“Artist to Watch” by the International Review of African American Art. Hammie is represented by
Yeelen Gallery in Miami and Kruger Gallery in Chicago.

http://www.instagram.com/patrickearlhammie
www.facebook.com/patrickearlhammieartist

 

A.E. Stallings / WALLACE STEVENS POEM PROJECT

A.E. Stallings / WALLACE STEVENS POETRY PROGRAM

Counterproof Press is proud to once again be a part of the 54th Annual Wallace Stevens Poetry Program.

Join us for the following readings that are free and open to the public:
Wednesday, March 8, 2017, 7 p.m., Konover Auditorium, UConn Storrs
Thursday, March 9, 2017, 10 a.m., Greater Hartford Classical Magnet School, 85 Woodland St, Hartford

Acclaimed American poet A.E. Stallings studied Classics at the University of Georgia and Oxford. She has published three collections of poetry — Archaic Smile, Hapax, and Olives —  and has been praised in The Hudson Review as the “most gifted formalist of her generation.” She is also a highly regarded translator; the TLS named her verse translation of Lucretius’s The Nature of Things “One of the most extraordinary classical translations of recent times.” Stallings’ awards include a translation grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and fellowships from United States Artists, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the MacArthur Foundation.  She is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

 

Prospective Students- Imagine Yourself Here! Space is Limited- Sign Up Today!

imagine-yourself-here

Imagine Yourself Here: An SFA Experience for Prospective Students is Monday, October 10, 2016

Imagine Yourself in UConn's Art +Art History Department!

Monday, October 10, 2016
10:00am
School of Fine Arts
Storrs Campus

The UConn School of Fine Arts offers professional arts training in Art & Art History, Dramatic Arts, Music, and Digital Media. As an SFA student, you'll have the opportunity to study with outstanding arts faculty in small, vibrant classes.Try us on for size in this special preview, Monday, October 10th!

In Studio Art, professor John O'Donnell will take you through a fun, exciting workshop (you'll make 'zines), you'll meet other interested arts students, and get a good look at our program, facilities, and classrooms. Space is limited, so sign up today!

Graphic Design Program Takes Home 17 Awards From This Year’s CADC Design Show

At the 41st Annual Connecticut Art Directors Club Design Show UConn Graphic Design & Design Center Studio received an unprecedented 17 total awards in the categories of Digital, Motion, Animation, Poster, Book and Identity Design.

Here is a list of the all the awards our students and faculty received as well as links to the work.

 

JUDGE'S AWARDS

http://www.cadc.org/awards/2016/judges_awards.html

UCONN GRAPHIC DESIGN

HELLO? / ANIMATION / MOTION 

http://www.cadc.org/awards/2016/gold.html#piece-31

DESIGN CENTER STUDIO

KING LEAR / POSTER

http://www.cadc.org/awards/2016/gold.html#piece-25

FOR IT FELT LIKE POWER / POSTER

http://www.cadc.org/awards/2016/silver.html#piece-59

GOLD AWARDS / DESIGN CENTER STUDIO

BFA Exhibition / Identity Design

http://www.cadc.org/awards/2016/gold.html#piece-24

category: Student Print / Published
firm: Design Center Studio / UConn
client: UConn Art & Art History Department
creative director: Edvin Yegir
art director: Edvin Yegir
designer: Renald Louissaint, Joshua Gluck, Raeanne Nuzzo
printer: Various
paper stock: Various
The poster series in this entry represents but one component of the multi-platform design system [print, digital, motion] that was conceived for the 2016 BFA exhibition announcing and promoting this yearly exhibition.

King Lear / Poster Design

http://www.cadc.org/awards/2016/gold.html#piece-25

category: Student Print / Published
firm: Design Center Studio
client: William Benton Museum of Art
creative director: Edvin Yegir
designer: Franklin Canales
I wanted to create a more simple illustration that would capture the tragedy of the story. I use the skull of the fallen king as the main focus point of the poster wearing a three point crown that represents his three daughters who drove him mad.

EXCELLENCE AWARDS / DESIGN CENTER STUDIO

Neighborways / Identity Design

http://www.cadc.org/awards/2016/excellence.html#piece-73

category: Student Print / Published
firm: Design Center Studio / UConn
client: NEIGHBORWAYS DESIGN
creative director: Edvin Yegir
art director: Edvin Yegir
designer: Carlos Dominguez, Kellie Pcolar, Sarah Williams
illustrator: Carlos Dominguez, Kellie Pcolar, Sarah Williams
Neighborways partners with communities to transform residential streets into low volume, low speed zones that are safe for children, pedestrians & cyclists. We were asked to design a modular mark & stencil system that could be developed over time.

 

GOLD AWARDS / UCONN GRAPHIC DESIGN

Hello? / Animation / Motion Design

http://www.cadc.org/awards/2016/gold.html#piece-31

category: Student Online & Interactive / Published
firm: Canales, Franklin
client: University of Connecticut
designer: Franklin Canales
The animation is about using parts of the 1983 stamp to create a simple but emotional narrative depicting the form of communication. It relates to the stamp’s design in how it celebrates the year of telecommunication.

 
Expo '70 / Animation / Motion Design
 

http://www.cadc.org/awards/2016/gold.html#piece-32

category: Student Online & Interactive / Unpublished
firm: University of Connecticut Graphic Design
client: University of Connecticut, ART3132 Graphic Design: Motion Graphics
creative director: Mark Zurolo
designer: Ke Ding
Response to the brief Static-Kinetic. Deconstruct, then design and animate a narrative reveal for a two-dimensional stamp.

 

SILVER AWARDS / UCONN GRAPHIC DESIGN

Morning/Night / Animation / Motion Design

 
 
 

SILVER AWARDS / DESIGN CENTER STUDIO

Long River Review [LRR] 2016 / Journal Design

http://www.cadc.org/awards/2016/silver.html#piece-55

category: Student Print / Published
firm: Design Center Studio / UConn
client: UConn Creative Writing Program
creative director: Edvin Yegir
art director: Edvin Yegir
designer: Franklin Canales, Vanessa Hopkins, Hunter Kelley, Nicole McDonald, Raeanne Nuzzo, Brigid Reale, Samantha Weiss
copywriter: Various
printer: GHP Media
paper stock: Finch & GPA
LRR is a joint creative effort between the UConn Graphic Design and the UConn Creative Writing Programs. It features literary and art works by graduate and undergraduate students and is produced by an exclusively undergraduate staff.

Are We All Here? / Catalog Design

http://www.cadc.org/awards/2016/silver.html#piece-56

category: Student Print / Published
firm: Design Center Studio / UConn
client: MFA Program / Art & Art History Department / UConn
creative director: Edvin Yegir
art director: Edvin Yegir
designer: Franklin Canales, Vanessa Hopkins, Nicole McDonald
copywriter: Various
printer: GHP Media
paper stock: Finch
Are We All Here? catalog was designed for the MFA Exhibition 2016 at UConn. The design is but one component of a larger identity system that was established for the exhibition alongside other deliverables in both print & digital platform.

First Year Writing Program / Identity Design

http://www.cadc.org/awards/2016/silver.html#piece-57

category: Student Print / Published
firm: Design Center Studio / UConn
client: Department of English / UConn
creative director: Edvin Yegir
art director: Edvin Yegir
designer: Renald Louissaint, Olivia Narciso, Bruno Perosino
illustrator: Renald Louissaint, Olivia Narciso, Bruno Perosino
The visual identity presentation, as outlined in this document, established a very concise verbalization and visualization of the concept representing a new mark for the FIRST YEAR WRITING Program at UConn.

MFA Art Auction Benefit / Poster Design

http://www.cadc.org/awards/2016/silver.html#piece-58

category: Student Print / Published
firm: Design Center Studio / UConn
client: MFA Program / Art & Art History Department / UConn
creative director: Edvin Yegir
art director: Edvin Yegir
designer: Kellie Pcolar, Jacob Rochester, Samantha Weiss
copywriter: Various
printer: DPC
paper stock: Cougar
The poster series along with other related collateral [both print & digital] were designed to promote a yearly auction that benefits the incoming MFA graduating class. All art auctioned was donated by student & faculty.

For It Felt Like Power / Poster Design

http://www.cadc.org/awards/2016/silver.html#piece-59

category: Student Print / Published
firm: Design Center Studio / UConn
client: Counterproof Press
creative director: Edvin Yegir
art director: Edvin Yegir
designer: Renald Louissaint, Sydney Roper
copywriter: Carl Phillips / Poet
illustrator: Renald Louissaint, Sydney Roper
printer: Wallace Stevens Poetry Program & Counterproof Press
Each year, the Wallace Stevens Poetry Program is gifted with a new unpublished poem by a visiting poet which is designed & published by the Counterproof Press in a limited edition of 100 commemorating the event and the series.

 

UConn MFA in Studio Art: New York Thesis Exhibition

The UConn Department of Art and Art History is proud to announce the UConn MFA in Studio Art New York Thesis Exhibition at Sideshow Gallery in Brooklyn. The show includes works by Amanda Bulger, Don Burton, Kacie K. Davis, Neil Orians and Kamar Thomas. Works are in sculpture, installation, ceramics, painting, drawing, film and video art.

Exhibition Dates
June 4 - June 21, 2016

Opening Reception
Saturday, June 4th
4-7 pm

Sideshow Gallery
319 Bedford Ave.
Brooklyn, New York 11211

Here are the graduates being featured in the show :

Art Programs & Degrees

Don Burton

Art Programs & Degrees

Kacie Davis

Art Programs & Degrees

Neil Orians

Art Programs & Degrees

Kamar Thomas

Carl Phillips / WALLACE STEVENS POEM PROJECT

Carl_Phillips_For_It_Felt_Like_Power

Carl Phillips / WALLACE STEVENS POEM PROJECT
A limited-edition letterpress broadside was produced by the collaborative initiative, Counterproof Press, in an edition of 100. Students in the Design Center class created several designs, one of which was chosen to be produced. This has become an annual project to coincide with each year’s Creative Writing Department visiting Wallace Stevens Poet.

See more at Our Projects

Wallace Stevens Poetry Program

 

UConn Today Features the MFA Exhibition: Are We All Here?

Amanda Bulgar, Disc 1, Archival Inkjet Print, 2016
Amanda Bulgar, Disc 1, Archival Inkjet Print, 2016

 

The 2016 Masters of Fine Arts Exhibition: Are We All Here? opened on April 9th featuring work from our current Graduate students in The Department of Art and Art History. UConn Today wrote a piece about the show highlighting Sculptor Amanda Bulger and Painter Kamar Thomas, and exploring the differing inspiration behind their work. The article also mentions video work by Don Burton, installation pieces from Neil Daigle-Orians, and drawings by Kacie Davis.

To see the article in its’ entirety go to UConn Today.

2016 Bachelor of Fine Arts Exhibition Opening Reception – 4/14/16

The day is almost here! The 2016 BFA Exhibition begins tomorrow with an opening reception from 6pm-8pm in Artspace Windham Gallery at 480 Main St, Willimantic, Connecticut 06226. 

There will be work on display from our graduating seniors in Sculpture/Ceramics, Photography/Video, Painting/Drawing, Illustration/Animation, Graphic Design, and Printmaking, as well as food donated by local restaurants, and great music. Come out and support our Seniors, and enjoy projects that they have been working on all year.

See the Facebook Page for all of the details!

Here’s a look at our seniors setting up their work.

Master of Fine Arts Exhibition 2016 – April 9th-May 8th

 

 

This year’s Master of Fine Arts Exhibition is here! The exhibition will be in the William Benton Museum of Art at the University of Connecticut from April 9th – May 8th.

There is an opening reception on Wednesday April 20th from 5pm-7pm.

The exhibition features Amanda Bulger, Don Burton, Kacie Davis Kamar Thomas, and Neil Orians.

Meet our grads here!

UConn Alum, Matthew Jensen, receives Guggenheim Fellowship

UConn MFA Alum, Matthew Jensen, has just received a Guggenheim Fellowship for his work in multiple disciplines, which include photography and sculpture. Here is what the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation had to say about his work:

Screen Shot 2016-04-07 at 10.57.03 AM

Artist Matthew Jensen’s multi-disciplinary practice combines walking, collecting and rigorous site-specific explorations of landscapes. His projects strive to connect people to places by expanding the traditions of landscape photography to include a range of mediums and actions. Each body of work develops from time spent in publicly accessible landscapes or by examining the way different technologies transform this experience. 

Jensen received his MFA from UConn in 2008. Since then he has become a MacDowell Fellow, participated in residencies at the Queens Museum, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Wave Hill, and Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts. He has had exhibitions in The National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and has been featured in The New Yorker.

Click here for more information on his Guggenheim Fellowship. To see more of his work, visit his website at jensen-projects.com

Alum Nicole Horsman Featured in The 40th Anniversary Atlanta Film Festival

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2015 Graduate of the School of Fine Arts, with a concentration in Illustration, Nicole Horsman has been featured in the 40th Anniversary Atlanta Film Festival. She screened her stop-motion animation “Klaus” on April 6th. “Klaus” began as her Senior Project work, completed for the April 2015 BFA Exhibition. “Klaus” was featured in a showcase entitled “Touch of the Puppet Head” which featured live puppetry performances alongside several films.

To see “Klaus” and more of her work go to nicolehorsman.com

Congratulations Nicole!

Professor Laurie Sloan exhibition @ EBK Gallery in Hartford

Sloan

Professor Laurie Sloan, printmaker and founder of our own Counterproof Press, has a great show of images fusing digital technology and traditional screenprinting for the month of April (in Hartford, at EBK Gallery). Plus she’s getting some serious ink (pun intended) in “Two Coats of Paint,” Sharon Butler’s well-respected blog about fine arts. Check out more Professor Sloan’s work here.

Sharon Butler from EBK Gallery writes about Sloan’s work:

Sloan says her process, which involves fusing digital technology and traditional screen printing techniques, is like that of a naïve (or irresponsible) scientist who tests hypotheses, executes experiments, and injects random occurrence into established order. A fragment may become a tail, a claw, or an ear depending on the context. At first glance, the black and white images, loosely conjuring woodblock prints from medieval manuscripts, seem abstract and graphic, but over time, they gain resonance as steady, accusing eyes seem to emerge from the dark masses. Sloan works the images until, as she says, they have the odd quality of agency but also feel like victims. Sloan’s monsters, like Grendel in Beowulf are powerful and dangerous but at the same time targeted and vulnerable.

Laurie Sloan,” curated by Sharon Butler. EBK Gallery, Hartford, CT. April 1- April 30, 2016. Opening reception Saturday, April 2, 6-9pm.

Art History Major, Brandon Smalec Receives National Science Foundation Fellowship

Our very own Brendan Smalec was one of ten UConn students and alumni to receive a fellowship from the National Science Foundation. UConn Today writes this about the award,

Regarded as one of the premier awards in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines, the NSF awarded 2,000 fellowships this year to support students in the early stages of their research-based master’s or doctoral careers. The fellows will receive an annual stipend of $34,000 for three years and $12,000 support for tuition and fees. The awardees also qualify for international research and professional development opportunities. The total value of the fellowship exceeds $138,000.
For this highly competitive award, applicants must submit research proposals, which are reviewed by expert scientists in their field. NSF fellowship recipients, as well as honorable mentions, represent the most promising young scientists in the nation, and the awards are seen as “investments that will help propel this country’s future innovations and economic growth,” according to a statement released by the agency.

Brendan’s research consists of examining cancer susceptibility and progression in a non-traditional mammalian model, specifically, the Peromyscus leucopus, or white-footed mouse. Working with an inbred line of P. leucopus found to be highly susceptible to developing an adenocarcinoma (cancer from a glandular origin) of the Harderian gland, the project seeks to determine what genetic signatures are present in the inbred mice line that predispose them to developing this cancer, and also what makes it so highly metastatic, since metastasis is usually the cause of death in most cancer-related fatalities.

Along with a BA and MA in Biology, Brendan is also receiving a second degree in Art History from the UConn School of Fine Arts.

See the full story in UConn Today

Artist Talk – Glen Baldridge on 4/1/16

Artist Glen Baldridge will be visiting UConn on April 1st, 2016 to give a talk at the School of Fine Arts in Art Building Room 109 at 1pm

A native of Montana, Baldridge lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. His work often satires the mainstreaming of countercultures and the glorification of escapist entertainment. Printmaking and photography dominate Baldridge’s work methods where process often acts as a foil within the narrative.

For more information on Baldridge and his work click here

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SNEAK PEAK: Upcoming Exhibition in the Contemporary Art Galleries by Jong Oh

Artist, Jong Oh prepares for the opening of his show in the Contemporary Art GalleriesSotto Voce. Oh identifies his primary medium as space. His sparse constructions sculpt their environments by employing negative spaces, lighting effects and cast shadows to alter viewers’ perceptions of their surroundings

Oh states about his work:

“Responding to a site’s nuanced configuration, I build spatial structures by suspending Plexiglas and painted strings in the air. These elements connect or intersect with one another, depending on the viewers’ perspectives. Viewers walk in and around these paradoxical boundaries constituted by three-dimensionality and flatness, completion and destruction. The viewers’ experience becomes a meditation on perception’s whim.”

 

 

 

 

 

Sotto Voce opens on March 26th, 2016 with an Artist Talk at 5pm and the Reception will follow from 6pm-7pm

The show will be open from March 26th – May 6th