Month: April 2016

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:

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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