New work by Jan Clough is on display at Southeastern Community College.

“Pictures at an Exhibition,” a series of drawings by Bruce Walters, was displayed in the RiverCenter from March 1-9, 2013. The exhibit was curated by Ethan Leader of MidCoast Fine Arts. The exhibit was on display to coincide with the Quad City Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition at the Alder Theatre on Saturday, March 9, and in Centennial Hall, Augustana College, on Sunday March 10.

Shawn Spangler was in the 20th Anniversary Clay on the Wall Invitational Exhibition at Texas Tech.  The cover of the catalog is an image of a collaborative piece between Shawn and clay artist Bryan Vzibesz. This link below is  to the virtual catalog the curators essay and show images.

http://www.depts.ttu.edu/ART/SOA/nav/landmark/exhibitsschedule/cotw/clay.php

Halloween Traveler poster by Bruce Walters

The ArtSpace Gallery at Black Hawk College is showcasing Halloween Flight 2012 by Bruce Walters starting Monday, Oct. 1 through Friday, Nov. 2.

“This exhibition is an exploration of Halloween as the surviving link to ancient harvest celebrations and traditions of remembering the dead that reach back millennia,” Walters says. “I’ve tried to capture a sense of its mystery and eeriness.

“Halloween Flight is a cyclical series of graphite drawings that begins with a silhouetted cat sitting in a window looking out at the moon on Halloween. Together they form a Yin-Yang symbol. The dark half, Yin, is formed by the black cat. Yin originally meant secret, dark and mysterious -consistent with the sense of eeriness I wanted to convey. The series ends with the waiting cat.”

Check the ArtSpace Gallery website for more information.

From the River Cities’ Reader:

Exhaling Dissolution by Sarah Deppe photographed by Bruce Walters

Just north of the corner of 18th Street and Middle Road in Bettendorf is – strangely – a large head made of bark in an open field. More than 13 feet tall, it’s hard to miss. What makes the sculpture feel truly immense, however, is how the artist has fulfilled her goal of “giving the Earth a voice” through this work.
The sculpture, created by Sarah Deppe – a 24-year-old artist from Maquoketa, Iowa – is meant to represent the natural world. Its surface is made of cottonwood bark found on the ground. As Deppe has written: “I incorporate bark and wood because I believe it is less detrimental for the environment than other mediums. I feel as though I am simply borrowing from nature, and it will be returned to the Earth as it decomposes off my sculptures.”

The artwork’s title, Exhaling Dissolution, refers to the pollution constantly being spewed into the environment.

Inspired by Deppe’s research into deforestation, the artwork took four months to plan and construct. Since its completion in 2010, it has been displayed on the Northern Iowa University campus and along the Riverwalk in the Port of Dubuque before being installed in Bettendorf on June 29, 2012. The artwork will be displayed in Faye’s Field for only one year – through June 2013.

Read more.

Labyrinth 2 by Bruce Walters

PEORIA —Bruce Walters loves a good mystery, but not the kind you read in a book. It’s the mysteries of life that get Walters.

In two major projects, the Davenport-based artist is exploring two seemingly dissimilar mysteries — Halloween and NASA.

“They seem on the surface like dead opposites, but they are both about exploring the unknown,” explained Walters during a recent telephone interview. “Halloween is about remembrance of the dead, NASA is about looking at outer space, at what is truly unknown. One deals with superstition, and the other is looking at the subject more objectively.”

Walters’ long-term project, “Halloween Flight,” will be on display at the Contemporary Art Center through Oct. 26. As an added bonus, he will also show some of the videos that comprise “Exploring NASA” during the exhibit.

“Exploring NASA” is Walter’s newest endeavor. Both projects have roots in the artist’s youth. Like many children of his generation, Walters, 57, was fascinated with space travel. He was a big fan of John Glenn, and was amazed to learn that his graphic design students at Western Illinois University didn’t even know the famous astronaut.

Read more.

Shawn Spangler Construction Workshop

Shawn Spangler, art department instructor, presented “Shawn Spangler: Construction,” October 4 - 5, 2012 at the Fort Hays State University Ceramics Lab.

The workshop focused on the interface of design, functional ceramic forms and surfaces. Shawn discussed his work in a lecture as part of the workshop.

He has an installation at the Krasl Art Center in St. Joseph, MI from September 21- November 4th. The work is a collaboration with University of Iowa professor, Monica Correia, and is a foam structure based on the design of a snake skeleton entitled ‘Ophidian.’

"Ophidian" by Terry Rathje, WIU, and Monica Correia, U of I.

From the Krasl Art Center website:

Ophidian by Monica Correia & Terry Rathje
As artists and designers, the projects of Monica Correia and Terry Rathje are situated on a borderline between disciplines. Their work is about reshaping space; it references geometry, natural forms, and the organic geometry that connects the idiosyncrasies of nature with mathematical beauty. Both artists alternatively construct objects that are functional as well as pure celebrations of form. In the artlab Correia and Rathje construct a fantastical polyurethane foam structure that may be entered and explored by gallery visitors.

Rathje also exhibited as a part of the FORM Design show in St. Louis, MO. It is an exhibition of contemporary functional design.

Sherry Lindquist, Assistant Professor of Art History

Sherry C. M. Lindquist, Department of Art, has three publications currently.

• Meanings of Nudity in Medieval Art (Ashgate, 2012)
• “Gender” in “Medieval Art History Today - Critical Terms” a special issue of Studies in Iconography, 33 (2012): 113-30
• “Memorializing Knute Rockne at the University of Notre Dame: Collegiate Gothic Architecture and Institutional Identity,” Winterthur Portfolio, 46/1, (2012): 1-24.

Art Education major Emily Morrell interned at the Saint Louis Art Museum this summer in the Art Education Department.

Art major Ashley Merchant interned at Def Jam Recordings in NYC this summer.

Art Education major Ashley VanDeCasteele interned for Quad City Arts this past summer for the third time.

Tyanna Buie, "Favored," screen print and collage, 2010, 38" x 50"

Alum Tyanna Buie , BA Art 2006, just completed a residency at the Womens Studio Workshop in Rosendale, NY. Tyanna is also exhibiting in a two woman show at the WIU Art Gallery from September 25 to October 25.

Alum Kihyun Kwon, BFA Art 2011, just completed his first year at Arizona State University working on his MFA in printmaking. Kihyun is from Korea, came to WIU’s WESL program and is all around fabulous. After the Tsunami hit Japan last year and his family’s finances were unsecured, ASU have him a scholarship to attend their program.

Julie Mahoney, Apricots

Julie Mahoney has a solo exhibition of  paintings at the Len G. Everett Gallery at Monmouth College from Friday August 31 through September 21.

Ken George, BA Art 2007

Alum Ken George, BA Art 2007, has found a way to combine his love of art and his interest in athletics.

George has been a competitive bodybuilder since 2009 and has taught animation and motion capture classes as an adjunct instructor in DePaul’s College of Computing and Digital Media (CDM) since 2010. To George, the two disciplines have important common qualities.

“I appreciate both fitness and animation because there is always something that you can improve on,” he says. “Both take an eye for detail. I can continue to strive for perfection.”

Read more at the DePaul News Online.