News

Professor Tiffany Calvert will have three paintings in the upcoming show "PROJECT 19: The Prolonged Gaze" at the Zephyr Gallery.

"PROJECT 19: The Prolonged Gaze: Works by Tiffany Calvert, Vian Sora and Nhat Tran" is curated by Miranda Lash, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Speed Art Museum.

Zephyr Gallery
Exhibition: September 1- October 22.
Opening reception: Friday, September 1, 6-9PM

As the eclipse unfolds Monday, one UofL professor will have her camera lens trained to the skies to capture it in a unique way.

Mary Carothers, a Hite Art Institute professor, is creating “Overshadowed,” a “collaborative, experimental exhibition that examines the meeting point between photography, landscape and astronomy.”

Carothers has pulled a team of 17 photographers together to shoot the eclipse, with at least one in each of the 12 states in which the eclipse passes with totality. They’ll use a new technique called slow scan photography, which captures reality in a slow scanning motion across a scene, offering a new twist on the traditional long exposure. The culminating images of the eclipse will be made of nearly 4,000 to 5,000 photographs.

The “Overshadowed” images will be on display at the Cressman Center for Visual Arts, 100 E. Main St., Sept. 22 through Oct. 28.

The opening reception for the show, which is part of the Louisville Photo Biennial, is 5-6 p.m. Oct. 6 during the First Friday Gallery Hop.

Carothers co-created the project with British photographer Brian McClave, a pioneer of the slow scan technique. As a UofL Liberal Studies visiting scholar, he’ll give a talk titled “Space, Place and Time,” from 4-5 p.m. Oct. 2 in the Chao Auditorium of Ekstrom Library. The lecture will overview his 30 years of experimenting with photography and video and will include work on the total solar eclipse and the aurora borealis. 

On Monday, Carothers and McClave will be in South Carolina to shoot the eclipse as it departs American soil and heads out over the Atlantic Ocean.

Others from UofL are involved in “Overshadowed” as well:

• Photography professor Mitch Eckert and incoming MFA photography candidate Zed Saeed will cover different locations in Kentucky.
• UofL Astronomy Professor Benne Holwerda, who is the resident astronomer at Kentucky Dam, will contribute from that location.
• John Jaynes, UofL’s Assistant Director of Sponsored Program Development and an astronomy and photography buff, will shoot from a pontoon in the Land Between the Lakes.
• Several Hite photo alumni will be stationed in other states: Kelsi Wermuth in Oregon, Mary Yates in Illinois, Laura Arrot Hartford in Tennessee and Jimmy Devore in North Carolina.

“For me, this is like a grand performance,” Carothers said. “Each photographer will soon be connected by forces much greater than time and landscape. I do have at least one photographer positioned in every eclipse state … but when it comes to thinking about this rare occurrence, state lines are merely man made boundaries.”

Story by Niki King

Hite alumna Elizabeth Driscoll Smith (MA in Art History, 2016; Advisor: Dr. Jongwoo Jeremy Kim) has been named the 2017-2018 Zvi Grunberg Resident Fellow at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Connecticut. During her fellowship, she will work with Kenneth Silver, the museum's Adjunct Curator and Professor of Fine Arts at New York University, to assist in the planning and creation of exhibitions and manage the development and implementation of adult public programs.

The Hite Art Institute will bring “Type Hike,” a collection of artistic posters that celebrate the National Park Service to Schneider Hall Galleries Aug. 18-Sept. 22.

Designers David Rygiol and James Louis Walker created the project last year to promote and raise money for national parks during its centennial celebration. They invited graphic artists from across the country to submit a poster for each national park. The resulting 60 posters reflected each park’s unique landscape through highly stylized typography.

Meena Khalili, assistant professor at Hite Art Institute, created the poster for Lassen Volcanic National Park.

“I was honored to be included among so many well-known, nationally recognized designers,” Khalili said. “This project also allowed me to see my work do some good and that’s very gratifying.”

Proceeds from print sales have raised thousands of dollars for the National Park Service at a time when federal funding has been cut.

“Type Hike” has been exhibited in galleries across the country, added to the permanent collection of the Library of Congress and received considerable national media attention.

The project recently expanded to include the National Park Services’ protected sea and lakeshores and endangered species.

Schneider Hall Galleries, 2300 S. First Street Walk on UofL’s Belknap Campus, is open 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. For more information, contact Reitz at chris.reitz@louisville.edu.

Professor Rachel Singel will speak at the artist talk and closing reception at Zephyr Gallery on Friday August 18 from 6-8pm.

Project 18: Artist and Curator Talk
Friday, August 18, 6 PM - 8 PM
Zephyr Gallery
610 E Market Street
Louisville, Kentucky 40202

Two drawings by Professor James Grubola have been included in "The Nude," a national exhibition organized by Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati. In this highly competitive juried exhibition, Manifest received 512 entries from 161 artists and selected a show of 21 works by 16 artists. Professor Grubola will have one graphite drawing and one silverpoint drawing in this exhibition.

The Nude: August 18th - September 15, 2017

Preview Reception: Thursday, August 17, 6-9pm
Public Opening: Friday, August 18, 6-9 pm

Artful geography: Hite Art Institute shows professor’s work exploring place

When Meena Khalilimoved to Louisville a little over a year ago to start her job as an assistant professor of design at Hite Art Institute, she challenged herself to get to know her new home in a new way. She would draw a picture a day of her life here. “I’m new here, it’s a new city, and the best way for me to understand it is to draw it,” she said.

The daily practice resulted in “New in Lou,” 365 drawings in seven accordion style notebooks. While the drawings are stylistically similar, subjects range from moments of reflection and snapshots of work life to sketches of many of Louisville’s most beloved haunts and traditions, like the Palace Theatre and the triple crown of running. Intrinsic in the series is a sense of discovery in what Louisville long-timers would consider familiar.

One of the notebooks from the collection is on display in “New Recruits” the current exhibition of work by new Hite Art faculty at the Cressman Center, 100 E. Main St. The entire collection is also on Instagram: @newinlou365.  Khalili said several factors inspired the daily practice.

A Washington, D.C. native, she had lived in several cities in quick succession before landing in Louisville, including Richmond, Virginia, where she earned her BFA and MFA at Virginia Commonwealth University, School of the Arts. “I was happy to settle down for a minute,” she said. At the time, Louisville was grieving the loss of Muhammad Ali. The rich outpouring of respect at Cave Hill Cemetery assured her that Louisville was a special place. “I thought this city deserves a real homage. It deserves to be dug into and discovered and for me to understand where I landed.”

She had already begun drawing intentionally as a way to discover place on motorcycle trips she had taken down the east coast. “I wanted to take a practice I did for fun and put into daily practice,” she said. “The ritual of drawing strengthens my visual skills.”  

Khalili’s work will also be on display in an exhibition entitled “Type Hike” in Schneider Galleries Aug. 18-Sept. 22. “Type Hike” is a collection of artistic posters that celebrate the National Park Service. Designers David Rygiol and James Louis Walker created the project last year to raise money for national parks during its centennial celebration. They invited graphic artists from across the country to submit a poster for each national park. The resulting 60 posters reflected each park’s unique landscape through highly stylized typography. Khalili created the poster forLassen Volcanic National Park.

“I was honored to be included among so many award-winning, internationally recognized designers,” Khalili said. “This project also allowed me to see my work do some good and that’s very gratifying.” Proceeds from print sales have raised thousands of dollars for the National Park Service at a time when federal funding has been cut. “Type Hike” has been exhibited in galleries across the country, added to the permanent collection of the Library of Congress and received considerable national media attention. The project recently expanded to include the National Park Services’ protected sea and lakeshores and endangered species.

Khalili noted that “New in Lou” and “Type Hike” both reflect geography, as is often the case with her work. As a first-generation Iranian American, she’s deeply influenced by geography, impermanence and history. Her academic research explores typography and Persian calligraphy through multimodal media and focuses on design, illustration and book art. Her moving typography work will be showing in Jakarta, Indonesia this fall. 

See more of her design work here.

By Niki King Jones

Current MFA student Zed Saeed received a grant to work with Kentucky Documentary Photographic Project.

The Kentucky Documentary Photographic Project is a visual record of Kentucky from 1935 to 2055. Building upon the success of the work of the Farm Security Administration (1935–1943) and the original Kentucky Documentary Photographic Project (1975–1977), this iteration will be the third time in an eighty year period that photographers have roamed the state recording the landscape and how Kentuckians live, work and play.

AIGA Louisville is proud to host its third annual Louisville Design Week! Design Week brings together designers and other creative professionals for five consecutive days of lectures, workshops and meet-ups, dedicated to celebrating and inspiring great design.

AIGA Louisville, along with event partners: the Speed Art Museum, the PowerAgency, and the Hite Art Institute, are very excited to be hosting keynote speaker, author, curator and director of the Graphic Design MFA program at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Ellen Lupton. Her talk, “Design for the Senses,” will be at the Speed Art Museum on Thursday, August 10th from 6PM - 8:30PM.  Professor Leslie Friesen will give a lecture, Power Tips for InDesign v17+,Wednesday, August 9 at 8:30am to 10:00am at Cressman Center for Visual Arts.

Professor Leslie Friesen

Photo of 2017 Keynote Speaker, Ellen Lupton

Design by student Emi Johnson (c/o 2018) is receiving international recognition. The WCKD GOOD project was completed in Meena Khalili's Spring 2017 Adventures course and encompasses logo design, web design, packaging and illustration. Miss Johnson's work won a Student Design Award from Applied Arts Magazine of Toronto Ontario, Canada. Her work will be printed in the international publication and will soon be promoted on their website. Congratulations!

On View: June 22 - July 28, 2017
Reception: July 27, 2017  5-7PM

University of Louisville MA/MPA degree candidate Jessica Oberdick presents her master’s thesis exhibition Objects and Others: Perspectives on Gender and Sexuality. Featuring the work of Ashley Renee Hoffman, Carrie Marie Burr and Tessa Gartin, Objects and Others: Perspectives on Gender and Sexuality examines the way contemporary culture and the media represent and objectify female bodies, and perpetuate traditional binary gender systems and heteronormativity. This exhibition looks to the ability of the artist to confront these norms, and through visual art and spoken word, challenge these cultural standards and provides a framework for discussion and change.

Evolving from an interest in the text “Trickster Makes this World” by Lewis Hyde, Objects and Others grew from a desire to represent the way artists can act as trickster characters, who confront unfair social norms and policies through the creation of art that acts as disseminators of new information, and encourages alternative ways of thinking and feeling. In this way Objects and Others provides audiences with a unique framework for discussion and social change. “What began as an exhibition meant to focus on the empowerment of women, has had to shift course based on our current climate in the US, and seeks now to give a voice to those being continuously marginalized and silenced.” says Oberdick Together, the work of the artists in this exhibition confronts the stereotypes that attempt to define them, the marginalization of their personhood, the objectification of their bodies, and offers alternative ways of seeing and understanding.

Objects and Others will be on view at the Covi Gallery at the University of Louisville from June 22-July 31, 2017, with a reception and poetry reading taking place on July 27. The reception is free and open to the public and light refreshments will be served.

On Saturday, August 5th, 2017,Objects and Others: Perspectives on Gender and Sexuality full exhibition will open at 1619 FLUX: Art + Activism at 1619 West Main Street in Louisville.  Ms. Oberdick and 1619 FLUX’s Artistic Director, Ms. Jesse Levesque, have been collaborating on this show since the Fall of 2016.  The full exhibition will include additional visual artworks from female and LGBTQ Artists, an interactive installation for audience participation, artist talks, and spoken word performances.  

 The Covi Gallery at the Hite Art Institute is free and open to the public from Monday through Friday between 9:00am and 4:30pm.

View Press Release Here

Professor Rachel Singel had the opportunity to lead a group of UofL students for "Printmaking in Venice" (May 3-19), which took place at the at the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica. In addition to working on their assignments, with the help of Printshop Manager Roberta Feoli De Lucia, students collaboratively printed a limited edition book with the title: "Hite Takes Venezia." During the course, students also visited local art museums including the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and Gallerie dell'Accademia, as well as attended La Biennale di Venezia - 57th International Art Exhibition.

Professor Rachel Singel with Hite printmaking students in Burano.

Printmaking student, Cassie, in the print shop.

Great Meadows Foundation has announced the award of grants to artists in the Kentucky region through the third round of the Artist Professional Development Grants program. Supporting artists from across the state, the grants will enable recipients to travel to visit major exhibitions, conferences, and residencies, and to connect with professionals in the field whose expertise can help them develop their practice.

Two Hite alumni and four Hite faculty members are among the award recipients of the Great Meadows Foundation Artist Professional Development Grants. The Hite alumni are Rob Southard (BFA, 2005) and Matt Weir (BFA, 2004), and faculty members are Mary Carothers, Ying Kit Chan, Scott Massey and Rachel Singel. In addition, Chris Reitz received a Great Meadows Foundation Curator Travel Grant.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to the 2017 Inaugural Class of the Hite Art Institute's MFA graduates: Miranda Becht, Tom LeGoff and Marie-Elena Ottman.  The MFA exhibition continues until May 27.

Marie-Elena Ottman, Tom LeGoff, and Miranda Becht.

Miranda Becht

Marie-Elena Ottman

Tom LeGoff

Professor Chris Fulton, Professor Meena Khalili, Professor James Grubola, Dean Kimberly Kempf-Leonard, Professor Tiffany Calvert, Miranda Becht, Professor Scott Massey, Tom LeGoff, Professor Mary Carothers, Professor Ché Rhodes, Marie-Elena Ottman, and Professor Ying Kit Chan.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1728204277196693/

On View: May 11th-August 4th, 2017 
Opening Reception: May 11th, 5-7pm 

The Schneider Hall Galleries at the Hite Art Institute are pleased to announce Nick Hartman’s master’s thesis exhibition, “MAN/BOY,” on view in Covi Gallery. Hartman’s work explores manliness, machismo, and masculinity and the ways in which such behavior is learned by, and expected from, contemporary men. As Hartman says of his work, “Cultural iconography and expected gender norms are tropes I confront within my artwork. Drawings of seemingly everyday objects act as fetishized objects of supposed unobtainable ideals that deal with masculine societal norms.” Hartman draws on a variety of iconographic material for this exploration, from Popeye to Elmer Fudd to Charlie Brown. 

View press release

MFA Program and Application

The Hite Art Institute is pleased to present the 2017 Master of Fine Arts (MFA) Thesis Exhibition. Held in conjunction with the 70th Anniversary of the Hite Art Institute, the 2017 Exhibition celebrates the University’s very first class of MFA program graduates and introduces the city to the next generation of artists trained in the theory, practice, and materials of contemporary art making.

The 2017 MFA Thesis Exhibition features Miranda Becht, Tom LeGoff, and Marie-Elena Ottman.

Becht debuts work ranging from the discreet object to installation. Taxonomies and rituals form a dissociative dissonance as our longing for innocence is slowly displaced by the decay of our imagined past, the death of our ideal memory of identity and place. The politics and trauma of display and the subversion of patriarchal archetypes merge with the semiotic potential of kitsch and domesticity as feminist identity icons in a simulacra that she deftly casts from two sides of the same coin, the self and the other.

LeGoff’s project is concerned with disparity and reconciliation. His photographic cabinet cards recreate the traces of a non-existent town destroyed by either natural disaster or human design. This parafictional no-place exists somewhere between historical recuperation and artistic fabrication, a split identity that reflects the photographic medium’s capacity for both documentation and deception.

Ottman’s work takes up a bifurcated media practice. Her organic and botanical forms appear to be both handmade and naturally occurring material. She uses these in-organic objects to explore themes of human connectivity, communication, and labor. Her work is particularly invested in the experience of immigration, migrant labor, and translation, which Ottman sews together in her plantlike constructions.

The 2017 MFA Thesis Exhibition is on view at the Cressman Center for Visual Arts from April 25th to May 27th, 2017. An opening reception will be held Friday, April 28th from 6-8pm.

Professor Ying Kit Chan receives the 2017 College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Faculty Award for Full-time Teaching.
 
Professor Chan joined the faculty of the Department of Fine Arts in 1984, and has since worked with thousands of students from the freshman to doctoral level. He has integrated teaching into his own research and creative work by establishing curriculum that incorporates environmental and social justice issues. In his 32 years at the University of Louisville, Professor Chan has been a remarkably passionate, innovative, and responsive teacher. He has taught over 35 courses, renewing course content each semester to include new technologies, accommodate student needs, and reflect emerging pedagogical theories. He taught computer art beginning in the 1980s and then introduced Web design, coding, Flash animation and Net Art in the mid 1990s. In 2009 Professor Chan became a member of the first cohort of the U of L Greenthreads to receive support from the Provost’s office to incorporate sustainability in his courses.

Professor Chan has directed 95 independent studies, served on ten Ph.D. committees, chaired one undergraduate student’s CODRE/EVPR-sponsored research project, and four Honors theses. One of the most recent honor theses he directed received the “Best College Honors Thesis Project In Humanities” award ("A world in flux : envisioning climate change from an ecocentric perspective," Katlyn Brumfield, 2016).

Having served as the Head of Studio Programs for 17 years and Department Chair for five years, Professor Chan has played an important role in shaping the curriculum in Fine Arts. He drafted the M.F.A. in Art & Design curriculum and shepherded the degree proposal through the approval process.

Professor Chan has worked diligently with national organizations on issues of pedagogy, curricular standards, and foundational courses. In 1986, Professor Chan organized the first national conference of FATE (Foundation in Art: Theory and Education, a national organization dedicated to promoting excellence of teaching in art), and later served as the President of the organization (1995-1997). Professor Chan's commitment to undergraduate studies is exemplary. He consistently teaches between two and four freshman classes per year.
 
Professor Chan’s teaching philosophy is founded on the Aristotelian idea of eudaimonia, which encompasses fostering students’ understanding that any educational pursuit is part of a holistic achievement of self-development and self-expression. “This ethic,” he explains, “motivates students to attain a fulfilled life while at the same time contributing to a better world.” At the core of his teaching is a concern with fostering students’ intellectual growth, creative capabilities, and engagement with the world. Professor Chan encourages students to think critically about their choices as artists, their opinions as readers and spectators, and their actions in society. He establishes a safe classroom space in which an airing of different ideas can occur, with critiques and class discussions directed at a weighing of multiple positions.
 
Professor Chan has not only educated his students to be first-rate artists, he has also inspired them to become responsible citizens and community leaders. The list of outstanding graduates who have been influenced by Professor Chan includes Jelly Helm (BA 1987), Sharon Scott (MA 2003), Hallie Jones (BFA 2002; MAT 2010), Taylor Beisler (BFA 2015), and Jessica Bellamy (BFA 2012).

Professor Chan is a current member of the Humanities Ph.D. Program's Steering Committee and Global Curriculum Committee, the Asian Studies Program, the Social Change Program, A&S Community Engagement Council, the Conservation and Sustainability Faculty Research Group and the University-wide Sustainability Education and Research Committee.

An acclaimed artist and revered teacher, Professor Chan models a way of life that encompasses creativity, social engagement, and continued learning.

Picture: Professor Chan organized and led a group of forty students to visit the Chicago Contemporary Art Expo in September 2016.

The UofL Board of Trustees has approved the promotion of Mary Carothers to full professor. Congratulations! Professor Mary Carothers joined the faculty of the Department of Fine Arts in 1998. Her artworks are often site-specific, using a socially engaged process as a way to bridge memory and identity with a certain place or group of people. Carothers’ collaborative project Frozen Car (2008) was featured on the Discovery Channel, Floating Seeds (2013), juried by COD+A (Commission of Design and Architecture), received an international merit award, and her sculptural commission Beneath the Surface (2015) was recognized by Americans for the Arts as one of the 38 most outstanding public art projects created in 2015.

Beneath the Surface was recreated in 2016 and is now part of the Great Meadows contemporary art collection owned by Alfred Shands. Professor Carothers has presented her research at conferences in Tunis, Tunisia; Prato, Italy; Prague, Czech Republic, Glasgow, Scotland; Oxford, England and at numerous locations in the United States including Michigan Technological University and Pratt Institute. Additionally, Professor Carothers has taken her students abroad to study in Italy, Germany and Panama. She has received grants from agencies including The Johnson Foundation, The Humana Foundation, Kentucky Foundation for Women, The Frederic L. Morgan Fund and The Great Meadows Foundation. In the last ten years, Professor Carothers has participated in over 50 exhibitions, nation-wide and internationally. Professor Carothers is particularly noted for interdisciplinary collaborations with other colleges, businesses and institutions throughout the region.

Examples of collaborations include Ghost Signs with Ekstrom Libraries, Empower with St. Josephs Children’s Home and Shelter with TARC (Transit Authority of River City.) Most recently 36 Miles, Revealing the Ohio, a collaboration between Hite Art Institute’s Photography students, Gresham Smith and Partners and University of Kentucky, won a Communications Award from the American Association of Landscape Architects.

Beneath the Surface (2016)

Floating Seeds (2013)

The Frozen Car (collaboration with Professor Sue Wrbican, George Mason University, 2008)

Three Hite Art Institute professors have received internal research grants for 2017:

Professor Rachel Singel has received an Arts and Sciences Research and Creative Grant Award for her studies in non-toxic printmaking.

Professor Jim Grubola has received an Arts and Sciences Research and Creative Grant Award for producing a series of new drawings and presenting them in an exhibition.