Department News

Fall 2015

Prince Thomas wins prestigious 2015 ArtPrize time-based category

That was ThenPrince Thomas, associate professor in the Department of Art, won the prestigious 2015 ArtPrize time-based category, announced Oct. 9, 2015.

Thomas's entry, "That Was Then," layered audio reporting of the first hours of Operation Desert Storm on CNN over footage of a 4th of July fireworks display to jarring effect. ArtPrize is an international art competition held in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

John Alexander Painting Studio dedicated Oct. 8

The Department of Art at Lamar University honored internationally celebrated artist and LU alum John Alexander with a naming and dedication of the John Alexander Painting Studio Oct. 8 at 5:30 p.m. in the Art Building. The event was free and open to the public. A Beaumont native, Alexander received an art degree from LU in 1968 and an M.F.A. from Southern Methodist University. A recipient of National Endowment for the Arts and Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellowships, his work is included in the permanent collections of leading museums around the nation. Alexander was on hand for the dedication and reception.

 


2015 Art Faculty Exhibition

2015 Art Faculty ShowThe Dishman Art Museum will host the 2015 Art Faculty Exhibition Aug. 17 - Sept. 20. The annual faculty showcase highlights work created by the faculty of LU’s Department of Art, including Keith Carter, Kurt Dyrhaug, Xenia Fedorchenko, Sherry S. Freyermuth, Donna M. Meeks, Natacha Poggio, Prince V. Thomas and Christopher Troutman. The show will also display works by adjunct faculty members Linnis Blanton, Tanna Burchinal, Greg Busceme and Rose Matthis; as well as studio staff member Neal Pitak.

The exhibit reception will be Friday, Sept. 28, from 6:30-8:30 p.m.


Iron Pour Workshop Weekend at LU

Iron Pour Workshop at Lamar University logoThe Department of Art will host an iron pour workshop and fundraiser in conjunction with the Texas Atomic Iron Commission on May 1-2.

On Friday, May 1, visiting sculpture artists Dewane Hughes and Hans Molzberger will give a lecture in the Dishman Art Museum at 5:30 p.m.

Festivities on Saturday, May 2 begin with a workshop and demonstration at noon in the Department of Art. Guests will have the opportunity to purchase a star-shaped mold and carve their own design for use in the iron pour. After the iron is poured, it cools for about 20 minutes before the molds will be opened to reveal the new sculptures. Read more...


Dyrhaug exhibits work at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum

Professor Kurt Dyrhaug participated as an invited artist in the third International Crosscurrent Exchange Show in Tokyo, Japan, March 20-28, 2015. Dyrhaug, a sculptor, was one of 15 artists selected from the United States to show their work at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum.

Suguru Hiraide, associate professor at Midwestern State University, and Yasunari Nakagomi, director of the Association of International Artists Exchange in Tokyo, co-curated the exhibition. Read more...


Christopher Troutman wins grand prize at the 66th Miyazaki Sougou Art Exhibition

Christopher Troutman, assistant professor of drawing, was awarded the grand prize at the 66th Miyazaki Sougou Art Exhibition, which includes a paid trip to Paris, France, in the summer of 2015. The resulting artwork completed after the trip will be exhibited in Miyazaki Prefectural Art Museum in October 2015.

Troutman's drawings will be featured in Marking Time – Marking Space, March 20 - April 26, a two-person exhibition at the University of Dallas with Hollis Hammonds, chair of the Department of Visual Studies at St. Edward’s University. Troutman’s drawings will also be on shown in a solo exhibition, Time and Place, at the Art Gallery of Lone Star College – Montgomery, April 6 - May 1. 

In addition to solo and two-person exhibitions, Troutman’s drawings will be on display in several juried exhibitions throughout the U.S. in spring 2015, including Americas Paperworks 2015 through Emporia State University; Columbia College’s Paper in Particular 2015; the 35th Bradley International Print and Drawing Exhibition, at the Contemporary Art Center of Peoria, the Peoria Art Guild, the Prairie Center of the Arts and the Heuser Art Gallery at Bradley University.

Troutman’s work is also a finalist for the 35th Hunting Art Prize, the winner of which will be announced at the Hunting Art Prize gala on May 2, 2015. 


Spring 2015

Kurt Dyrhaug's sculpture selected for two national juried exhibitions 

Sensor Device IIProfessor Kurt Dyrhaug's work was recently selected for two highly competitive national shows. Sensor Device #2 will be on display in the Sculpture For All outdoor competition and exhibition at Stephen F. Austin State University. Ten works were selected from a pool of more than 125 entries from California to New York. The opening reception will be April 17. The show will remain on display through 2017. 

Dyrhaug's Bower Device #1 was chosen for the DownEast Sculpture Exhibition in Greenville, NC. Twenty indoor and 10 outdoor works from pool of 120 pieces were selected for this exhibition. 

Additionally, Dyrhaug's sculpture, Tonka Buster, received the Joseph A. Cain Memorial $2,000 Purchase Award in the 49th Annual National Drawing and Small Sculpture Show at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi. The show will open February 20 and will run through May 8, 2015. Tonka Buster will remain on permanent display in the White Library at Del Mar College.


Department to hold second annual Empty Bowl marathon 

The Dishman Art Museum and Feldspar, the Department of Art’s ceramics club, will hold a bowl-making marathon Saturday, February 21, from 1 to 4 p.m. The public is invited to come and make a bowl to be donated to the Empty Bowl sale on Saturday, April 11, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Proceeds from the sale of all of the bowls will go directly to the Southeast Texas Food Bank. Read more...


2014

Prince Thomas's national television appearance

Prince

Associate professor Prince Thomas appeared on the popular game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in December 2014. The show taped in New York, and he described it as "an incredibly fun and new experience." Read more...




Alumnus exhibits at Grackle Art Gallery

Art Nations snowman

Art Nations, B.F.A. Studio Fine Art, '79, exhibited work from his Snowman series in a group show at the Grackle Art Gallery in Fort Worth in November 2014.





Reception for annual art faculty exhibition

Art faculty show card

The Dishman Art Museum on the campus of Lamar University will host a closing reception for the Art Faculty Exhibition from 7 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 21.

The annual faculty showcase, exhibited Oct. 13 through Nov. 21 in the Dishman, highlights work created by the faculty of LU’s Department of Art, including Keith Carter, Kurt Dyrhaug, Xenia Fedorchenko, Rose Matthis, Donna M. Meeks, Sherry Saunders, Prince V. Thomas and Christopher Troutman. The show will also display works by adjunct faculty members Linnis Blanton, Greg Busceme, Zachary Dubuisson, Summer Lydick and Justin R. Varner, as well as staff members Neal Pitak and Robert Zokaites. Faculty-selected student work will also be on display in the upstairs gallery. Read more...


Faculty coordinates Keen Foundry Invitational Symposium

Keen Foundry Symposium

Professor Kurt Dyrhaug co-coordinated the Keen Foundry Invitational Symposium "Part B with Erin Cunningham (Instructor of Art, Texas State University) and Luke Sides (Professor of Art, Collin College). This symposium took place Nov. 12-16, 2014 at the Keen Foundry in Houston. Eight faculty and 12 students from Collin College, Fort Hays State University, Northern Illinois University, San Diego Community College, Texas State University and the University of Texas at Tyler participated in this unique event to produce cast iron sculpture in an industrial setting.

Department opens Student Organization Lounge Gallery

The new Student Organization Lounge Gallery, which opened fall of 2014, is a student-run gallery designed to provide exhibition opportunities for Department of Art student organization members as well as students that may not be members of specific departmental student organizations. Read more...

Art students exhibit their work in Italy

Students intalling art in Florence, ItalyStudents from Lamar University’s art and history departments visited Italy this summer for a unique study abroad class that offered an experience consistent with the tradition of the “Grand Tour” once considered a rite of passage for young American artists. Xenia Fedorchenko, associate professor of color theory, drawing and printmaking co-taught the class with Rebecca Boone, associate professor of history.

Participants displayed their work at Santa Reparata International School of Art, the group’s host institution abroad, and attended a paper marbling demonstration by the master artist at the Papyrus paperie in Florence. Both offered terrific hands-on experiences. Students also received a pass for all public museums in Florence. 


Kurt Dyrhaug and student participate in Art in Public Places

Junior studio art major Brian Buckalew, sculpture concentration, assisted Dyrhaug in the installation of an outdoor sculpture for Art in Public Places in Bristol, Va., in August 2014.


Keith Carter revives historic photography process

Keith Carter photo by Sam KeithInternationally acclaimed photographer Professor Keith Carter is sharing the unique process of wet-plate collodion photography with his students and with the broader Southeast Texas community.