Author: Rick O'Toole

AAH Students Win Major Awards At Connecticut Art Directors Club

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Our BFA students won several major awards at the Connecticut Art Directors Club Awards Night. Recent graduate Mikey Karpiel earned the Judge’s Choice Award and a Gold Award for “Dog Days,” and a Silver Award for “New Appliance.” Juror Aaron Goodman said, “The combination of style and substance made it one of my favorites in the show.” Current students Fei Fei Luo and Haley Taylor also accepted scholarship awards for Illustration and Graphic design, respectively.

The Connecticut Art Directors Club is  the leading independent professional organization serving the Connecticut creative community.

Congratulations, UConn artists!

 

Donate to the Gus Mazzocca Visiting Artist Program

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The Art & Art History Department is pleased to announce the creation of The Gus Mazzocca Visiting Artist Program.

During his distinguished forty-two year career at UConn, Professor Emeritus Gus Mazzocca was a leader in promoting and developing artists’ residencies at arts schools and universities.

DOUBLE THE IMPACT OF YOUR GIFT!

Tom and Carol Dillon, in honoring Gus, are putting forth a dollar-for-dollar challenge up to $10,000 to match new donations to The Gus Mazzocca Visiting Artist Program Program Endowment.

Join the Art & Art History Department in nurturing new art and educating the next generation of artists by making your gift today!

Please contribute your gift online through the UConn Foundation.

If you have questions, please call the Department of Art and Art History at 860.486.3016.

Art & Art History Students Excel, Win Prestigious University Awards

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Art & Art History students have proved themselves to be high achievers, sweeping some of the University’s most prestigious awards for undergraduate academic achievement and research.

Three Art & Art History students have been awarded University Scholar status, the highest honor for academic achievement, and one which enables students to undertake an independent research project with a team of faculty advisors.  To put this achievement in context, only twenty-two awards are given.

Six Art & Art History students received IDEA grants, which enable students to pursue an independent project that i s creative, innovative and entrepreneurial.  Only twenty IDEA grants are awarded to the entire student body.

“We’re very proud of the academic and creative success of our students,” said Department Head Anne D’Alleva. “This reflects the faculty’s strong commitment to mentoring our students, and the University’s willingness to embrace and promote achievement in the arts.”

Illustration Student Wins Highly Competitive National Scholarship

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BFA student Hayato Jin Kawai’s illustration, “FUN WITH KIM AND DENNY”, has been officially selected by the Society of Illustrators in New York, for their Student Scholarship Show. In addition, Jin was one of a select few students to receive a scholarship from the Society.

 The Society of Illustrators exhibition is truly the top showcase for up-and-coming illustrators, and we are  proud to have Jin be a part of it. His work will not only be exhibited in the Museum of American Illustration in New York, but it will also be featured in the Society’s catalog, which is distributed to editors and art directors around the world.

This is the first time the University of Connecticut has had a student selected. The selection process is highly competitive, as the Society only selects about 5% from their pool of entrants for the exhibition. Of those, only a select few receive scholarships.

 

Sculpture Students and Alumni Exhibiting at ArtSpace, Windham

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From the conceptual to the material to the technical, contemporary sculptural practices represent a rich, multifaceted area of investigation for art students.

Utilizing various techniques such as metal fabrication, constructed environments with sound and video projection and labor intensive installations, Ashley Frato, Antonio Campelli, Andrew Janevey and Katrina Orsini are four young artists and students who are consciously embracing the formal, historical, technical, political and personal features of this practice in ways that deserve our attention.

AS IS is an exhibition that reflects both the depth and span of some of the artwork being created in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Connecticut.

We hope you can join us the opening at ArtSpace Windham, on March 27 at 7:30 PM.

AAH and Creative Writing Establish Counterproof Press

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Counterproof Press is an exciting new collaboration between the Creative Writing Program in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and programs in Printmaking, Communication Design and Illustration, as well as the Design Center Studio, in the Department of Art + Art History at the School of Fine Arts.

Counterproof Press will facilitate collaborative studio projects whereby students, faculty, and visiting artists/scholars from various disciplines collaborate to produce limited edition art objects, artifacts, and publications.

We will develop a collection of yearly projects, events, and collaborations that will be documented and published by Counterproof Press.

Counterproof Press also plans to initiate internships, courses, donor subscription programs, membership programs, fundraising events, and operate on a regional, national, and international level by leveraging internal and external funding support.

This initiative will have high visibility via its online presence with a dedicated identity, website and associated exhibition, print, social media marketing, PR and promotion.

FACULTY MEMBERS 
For upcoming projects in 2014 and 2015
Penelope Pelizzon: Creative Writing Program, English Department
Mary Banas: Communication Design, Art + Art History Department
Cora Lynn Deibler: Illustration, Art + Art History Department
Alison Paul: Illustration, Art + Art History Department
Laurie Sloan: Printmaking, Art + Art History Department
Edvin Yegir: Communication Design & Design Center, Art + Art History Department
Mark Zurolo: Communication Design, Art + Art History Department

VISITING / CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS for 2014
Paul Muldoon: The 51st Wallace Stevens Poet, English Department
Sharon Butler: Visiting Artist in Residence; Art+Art History Department

UPCOMING INTERDISCIPLINARY PROJECTS / PUBLICATIONS in 2014

PROJECT 01 
PAUL MULDOON / WALLACE STEVENS POEM PROJECT
Widely considered to be the greatest English-language poet of his generation, Paul Muldoon was born in Ireland in 1951. He has published over a dozen collections and has been honored with the Pulitzer Prize and the T. S. Eliot Prize. He will visit UConn on April 10 as the 51st Wallace Stevens Poetry Program guest. His visit is sponsored by The Hartford, the UConn Humanities Institute, and the English Department Speaker’s Fund in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Mr. Muldoon will generously allow students to print one of his new poems as a limited-edition letterpress booklet created by Design Center and hand-printed by student artists in the Printmaking studio. This will be the inauguration of what we plan as an annual project to coincide with each year’s visiting Wallace Stevens Poet.

PROJECT 02
HAPPENSTANCE CHARRETTE
Happenstance involves a collaboration/encounter between a group of student poets, artists, and designers. Happenstance is an improvisational and experimental creative charrette to be held at the Printmaking facilities in Bishop to facilitate dialogue between poets and visual artists; this encounter will result in a collaborative product in the form of a limited edition publications and an exhibition.

PROJECT 03
SHARON BUTLER PRINT SERIES
Sharon L. Butler, an artist and writer, maintains an award-winning art blog, Two Coats of Paint, blogs for The Huffington Post. Her art work is included in private collections in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Baltimore, Tampa, Philadelphia, Providence, Berlin, London and Kyoto.

Sharon Butler will be in residence throughout this semester to create a series of prints. Students will benefit by learning to professionally edition the works and by observing Sharon’s art and process.

Current Students: Undergraduate Research Awards, Deadline Feb. 3

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SURF (Summer Undergraduate Research Fund) Awards provide students with up to $4,000 to undertake summer research or creative projects under the supervision of UConn faculty members. The application deadline is February 3, 2014.  More information about SURF can be found at http://ugradresearch.uconn.edu/surf/. The Office of Undergraduate Research is holding an information session on Thursday, January 23 from 12:30-1:30 pm in Laurel Hall 305 and students are also welcome to email the Office of Undergraduate Research at our@uconn.edu.

Current Students: Study Abroad in Copenhagen, Summer 2014

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If you are interested in studying abroad in Copenhagen during Summer 2014, applications (including references) are due on February 1.

 

ARTH 3993 Copenhagen Architecture and Cityscape is a 3-credit course that runs from May 25 to June 14. The course is open to all upper-level students with an interest in art, architecture, urban and open-space planning, and architecture –from the Middle Ages up to and including exciting, new projects currently underway to make Copenhagen a terrific place to live.

 

This is the fourth time Professor Givens has offered the class, and it attracts an interesting mix of students from different fields.  It’s an enjoyable way to meet a major requirement and to introduce yourself to travel abroad.

 

Copenhagen’s many museums are outstanding, and the local art scene in nearby Malmo Sweden has proved appealing for Art and Art History majors, too.

 

 

 

Please contact Professor Jean Givens (jean.givens@uconn.edu) with  questions. And  apply ASAP if you are interested in the course, since space is limited.

  

 

 

Communication Design Students Embark on a Semester of Study in London

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Communication Design students will spend the Spring Semester 2014 in London studying at Central St. Martins under the guidance of Art & Art History Professor Mark Zurolo.  The students are writing a blog, full of great stories and images, to document their experience: http://ucdesignuk.tumblr.com.

The Central Saint Martins BA (Honours) in Graphic Design is structured around small group tutorials, workshops and critiques and emphasizes solving visual communication problems through experimentation beyond the commercially driven constraints of contemporary design practice. UConn students will be distributed across tutorial groups and engage with project briefs and other required and extra-curricular activities as faciliated by CSM BAGD faculty alongside regular CSM degree students. UConn students will concurrently enroll in Communication Design 3 and Design Survey that will be taught on-site by UConn Associate Professor of Design, Mark Zurolo.

Students will live in the Central Saint Martins student housing where they will share kitchen and living facilities with a range of other UK students. By living in the center of London, students will have the opportunity to visit studios, museums, and historical sites, and attend a wide variety of cultural events. The goal of the program is to produce designers with a global perspective who are prepared to develop their interests cultivated upon this trip into their professional and academic lives. Each student will return with an understanding of the international design community, a network of designers whom they can contact in the future, and a skill set honed at the premier art school in the UK.

 

 

AAH Students Are Finishing a Successful Semester in Florence, Italy

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A group of Studio Art and Art History majors has spent the semester studying at the Palazzo Rucellai with Professor Deborah Dancy.  They have used photography, painting and drawing as media for exploring the city, its art, and its history.  They’ll be home soon – changed by the experience.  Some quotes from the students as they prepare to finish their studies:

“I walk through narrow streets, surrounded on all sides by buildings that have been standing for centuries. I use historical and artistic masterpieces as landmarks on my walks to unfamiliar places. I see, touch and have an entire experience with the art I have always studied and admired. It is like a dream.”

“I have seen some of the most beautiful things, [eaten] some of the most fantastic food, and met some of the most amazing people during my time in Florence.  All I want is more. I want to see more, to do more… I wish there was a way I could wander forever; to get lost in the world but be okay with it.  I just want to travel the world and draw what I see.  I feel as if there is not enough time to see all there is to see and experience all there is to experience… Everything seems too short and there is never enough time in a day. I just know this adventure will pass in the blink of an eye.”

“… I still hope to meet the rest of this semester with an open mind because I know for a fact that there are still experiences to be had, even though part of me is already looking forward to [coming back] to a heavy work-load, multiple deadlines, and late nights. The reason for my excitement to go back is not as much homesick as it is an anxiousness to use what I’ve discovered here towards getting my career started. I do believe that this experience has had an incredible influence on me and I’m excited that it’s both almost over, and that there is still a good deal of time left to spend here.”

To hear more from the students, visit their blog at http://uconnflorence.blogspot.com

 

Chronicle of Higher Education: Employers Value Humanities Grads with Digital Skills

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According to a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, prospective employers highly value humanities graduates, in fields like art history and English, who also have digital skills, like building and maintaining websites and managing social media.

One career counselor interviewed noted, “For several years now, I have been meeting with the center’s faculty members, students, and internship directors to learn what they are hearing from employers about our students. Again and again they hear potential employers say things like, ‘We like liberal-arts graduates. They are curious and creative, they write well, they can do research, they are quick learners, and they are good critical thinkers.’ The best of them have the ‘ability to synthesize and distill large amounts of information.’ And ‘we especially need individuals who are good storytellers—who can convey the mission of our organization in a variety of forms.'”

Click here to see the full article.

 

Wall Street Journal: Art Grads Enjoy High Earnings and Career Satisfaction, Low Unemployment

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The Wall Stree Journal recently reported the results of a 2011 Georgetown University study showing that the unemployment rate in the first two years for those graduating with bachelor of fine arts degree is 7.8%, dropping to 4.5% for those out of school longer. The median income is $42,000.

“Artists’ income is comparable to other liberal-arts majors,” noted Anthony Carnevale, director of Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce. “They do a little better than psychology majors, since counseling and social work is a very low-wage occupation.”

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304402104579149060054918936

CROSSTALK @ CAG

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CROSSTALK @ CAG

University of Connecticut, Storrs Campus

Week one – Jesper Just – Nov. 4 to Nov. 10

Week two – Clinton Watkins – Nov. 11 to Nov.17

Week three – The Complaint Choir: Tokyo Nov. 18 to Nov. 24

Week four – Janet Biggs Nov. 25 to Dec. 13

Daily Campus: The UConn Experience is a Unique One for an Art Major

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Caitlyn Hanlon is a 7th-semester fine arts major, focusing on photography.

Her classes start around 9:30 a.m., just like most students. She takes two different types of classes, normal lectures, like Chinese contemporary art history and then studio courses, like photography or drawing. Her studio classes last three hours.

Time management, Hanlon said, is an important aspect of an art student’s life.

“It’s hard to organize, very time consuming,” Hanlon said. “Setting up and cleaning up takes a while. I can’t go to Starbucks and read from my textbook, you have to set up, work on your project and then clean up, it takes a lot of time. One has to plan what to do first and when to do it. For example when you are painting with oil you paint for a while, let it dry and work on another project and wait until it dries to continue.”

To read the entire article, visit The Daily Campus.

To learn more about non-majors taking Art & Art History classes here.

UConn Today: Professor Kathyrn Myers – A Journey Through Indian Art at the Benton

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For Kathryn Myers, curating the exhibition “Convergence: Contemporary Art from India and the Diaspora” that opens on Oct. 22 at the William Benton Museum of Art was considerably less difficult than the first time she organized an exhibition of art from India nearly a decade ago.

The 2004 exhibition “Masala; Diversity and Democracy in South Asian Art” opened a couple of years after her semester-long Fulbright Fellowship to India in 2002, her third trip to India but the first that allowed her to spend an entire semester immersed in the art and culture of the world’s second largest nation. It also was the first time the professor of art and art history in the School of Fine Arts had the opportunity to curate an exhibition.

“We didn’t have enough grant money to hire curators for each section of the exhibition, so I had to do it myself,” she says. “I had a Provost’s Research Grant, so I could take the semester off to work on it continuously. It was like a crash course in India art. I was also able to make a short trip back to India to pick up more works of art. That was the beginning.”

To read the rest of the article, visit UConn Today.

To find out more about the exhibit, visit the Benton Museum of Art.

New Faculty Member Yan Geng Is Teaching Asian Art

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Dr. Yan Geng has joined the Art & Art History faculty as a joint appointment between Art History and Asian American Studies.  She is part of a growing cadre of faculty focused on Asia and the Asian diaspora.  Professor Geng’s research focuses on modern and contemporary Chinese art.

“This focus allowed us to hire people who significantly build upon the established field of Asian studies by engaging contemporary and modern questions,” says Cathy Schlund-Vials, associate professor of English and director of the Asian American Studies Institute. “We’re moving from traditional area studies to a more global focus. At the same time, we are expanding the internationalist work of the faculty in Asian American studies, whose work is shaped by considerations of migration, movement, and diaspora.”

Daniel Weiner, vice provost for global affairs, says, “It’s a very exciting time to invest in faculty with expertise pertaining to Asia. It’s also exciting that UConn has an opportunity to construct the study of Asia in a unique way through inclusion of transnational and diasporic studies.”

In Spring 2014, Dr. Geng will teach a course on the painting traditions of China and Japan (ARTH 3740: Far Eastern Painting), and permission numbers are available for this class.  Be sure to look for more of Dr. Geng’s courses in the future!

Art ReStart: Students in Conversation

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Art and Art History students participating in  SAIL (Student Artist Initiative for Leadership) with Professor Ray DiCapua are engaged in projects to transform the Department.  They’ve installed a chalkboard mural space in one hallway to host student work, are building an alumni network to enhance professional development, and have begun a series of video conversations, “Art ReStart,” to explore what it means to be an art student: http://vimeo.com/channels/607421

 

 

The SAIL group has approached its mission with energy and creativity.  “In my 30 years of teaching here, I have not witnessed anything quite like this,” notes Professor DiCapua, the group’s faculty mentor.

Faculty and professional staff are visiting with the group and offering advice and support for the different projects.  Stay tuned as the work progresses!