Public Art Tragedy

Early Tuesday painters covered the walls of 5Pointz and, as a result, erased the work of hundreds of graffiti artists. This act could be considered meta-vandalism in some senses, as the graffiti artists were, ostensibly, vandalizing the buildings themselves through their work. 

The owner, Jeffrey Wolkoff, purchased the buildings in 1971 and, after leasing the space to a music industry firm, rented studios to artists for a few hundred dollars a month. He was asked, by a person who removes graffiti from walls in the city, if his painters could use these walls as canvases. Wolkoff agreed and, over time, gave them more and more space. In 2002, a graffiti artist named Meres One took the endeavor over, becoming its curator and christening it 5Pointz.

Click here for the full article.

Art alum, Angie, at 5Pointz, this past summer.
Tourists and art enthusiasts from all over the world come to 5Pointz.

This public art tragedy — which was looming over the past year, really—even caused Banksy to come to action.

Banksy's inflatable installation was a call to save a famous 5Pointz. “This is a sideways take on the ubiquitous spray-painted bubble lettering that actually floats...It’s an homage of sorts to the most prevalent form of graffiti in the city that invented it for a modern era . Or it's another Banksy piece that’s full of hot air.” Within hours, the latest piece was in the back of a police van, as captured on Instagram (above).


What's next? Razing the buildings and putting in condominiums.

Pix from Homecoming Reception—Friday 2:15 in the Cochenour

Thanks to everyone who joined us today. Here's a few photos from our event. 

Homecoming Reception—Friday 2:15 in the Cochenour

Organized by my Fall 2013 Curatorial Studies course, this year's Archives show features an accurate history of Homecoming since its introduction in 1923, the evolution of Songfest, a tribute to an individual who embodied the “Spirit of Homecoming,” Coach L.E. “Brad” Jones, and many artifacts that date back to the youngest days of the College.

“90 Years & Counting: Homecoming Through the Ages” offers a glimpse into the past and present and invites you to share your memories with us.

Please join us on Friday, October 11th from 2:15-3:15 for the reception and discussion with the students who researched and created this exhibition: Steven Faulkner, Caity Hagan, Sarai Kidd, Abigail McPeek, Shelby Riddell, Joey Schulte, and Kendall Wills.

Hello and Goodbye, part 2

Dr Decker and Becca
before departing for a drink
and conversation in the Mulberry.

Becca Babel, art history major from the class of 2009, came back to campus today to check in and to let us know what she's been up to.

Many of you know that Becca pursued graduate work in art history and art ed at the University of Cincinnati, finding her love in art and museum education. She's now working in the field of outdoor education — she's full-time outdoors, in the mountains of California.

Becca also visited with Daniel to learn more about how to screen print at home, send-away-places to get film developed, and the amazing CSA(rt) project that's been chronicled on our blog.

Thank you, Becca, for making time to visit campus, check in with us, to meet the new faces on campus—students, faculty, and staff. It was great to see you, to catch up, and to see your passion for art and the outdoors materialize in your current work. Keep in touch, and best wishes:)

Hello and Goodbye

The Art Building is a place to meet up with new and old friends. As faculty, students, and staff, we also carry that connection—that community of art students—with us. Check out stories from our alumni at this link....You'll be amazed to read what a few of our alumni are doing.

Class of 2010 studio major Peggy is coming to campus next week to give a guest-crit with our painting students, Mallory and Steph. We look forward to seeing her and hearing from her. You can check out Peggy's work online and in the Alumni Spotlight in the foyer of our Wilson Building.

One of our senior "art" students is doing an Area Major (a self-designed educational path) in Japanese Studies. I use quotation marks in referencing Dawn because she is passionate about Japanese language and culture and has taken a few art courses that we have been able to offer that have focused on Japanese and Asian traditions. These were taught by me and my colleague, Daniel Graham, along with Michael Rich (who is now on the faculty at EKU—lucky them!). Dawn leaves for Japan this week to begin a new journey studying abroad. She will take Japanese language and culture courses. I was able to spend Monday afternoon with her and to meet her family and friends. Bon voyage and best wishes!

Senior Japanese Studies Major, Dawn, before departing
for Japan this week. Best wishes!

Monday morning our building and campus welcomed Jim and Mary McCormick, Bob and Elizabeth Williams (Bob and Jim are emeritus faculty members from our department), alum Hal McCoy and his wife Mary, and Rusty Wallace, who has been a visiting artist on campus this past week. Our Gallery Director, Jeanette, hung two of Hal's works from his student days in the art building — they were there to welcome our friends. See the photo of our gathering in the Wilson, amid Rusty's works below.

From left: Elizabeth and Bob; Hal; Rusty; Mary and Jim; and Mary

And, yesterday, alum Matt Hubbard visited us from Athens, Georgia. It's wonderful to catch up with friends, to say hello to new friends, and goodbye to students who will come back, again! 

What's your GC story?

Many times students come to college determined to major in X. Four years later they earn their degree in Y. Along the way, they take an array of classes that perhaps may have never interested them before coming to a liberal arts institution. Students often learn outside the classroom as well, through study abroad, volunteering, and internship. Such educational and professional discernment is something particular to liberal arts institutions—including Georgetown College. 

Five recent alumni, pictured below, have shared their stories with us. And, we're sharing them with you.  Click here to read these alumni stories. 

What's your GC story? How has your liberal arts education served you? What are you doing now? 

How would you put YOUR story in words? My journey as at Georgetown College began in...I came to Georgetown to study... After one semester of ...., I decided to look into other courses and possible professions. 

Want to share your story? Email Earl Grey, Art Department Chair: jdecker1@georgetowncollege.edu 

Mary Margaret, class of 2006

Miles, class of 2007,  the Kentucky Speedway for the
Quaker State 400 NASCAR race, June 28, 2013

Karyn, class of 2008

Peggy, class of 2010

Portia, class of 2012

Congrats to our seniors!

Congratulations to our spring senior class: Daniel Cantu II, Lauren Meister, Elizabeth Metcalfe, Kayleigh Riddell, & Jen Stephenson.

As a little send-off to the seniors, I thought I'd post a few photos of seniors from three years ago - the spring senior class of 2010. These are the seniors who were graduating when the current senior class had just finished their first year at college. Did you have classes with any of these folks?

Red Herring, Exhibition Featuring Georgetown Alumni This Friday at LoT in Lexington

On view at Land of Tomorrow, Lexington
Closing reception at 5pm on Friday, April 27th

Land of Tomorrow, in coordination with the University of Kentucky Fine Arts Department, is pleased to announce Red Herring, an exhibition of recent graduate level work by Jackson Bullock, Peggy Coots, Michael J. Hamilton, Ivy Johnson, Trey Jolly, David N. Martin, and Mayuresh Moghe, produced under instructor Joel Feldman. There will be a closing reception on Saturday, April 27th at 5pm.

Red Herring – A fallacy in which an irrelevant topic is presented to divert attention from the original issue.

Each of the artists in this exhibition and their instructor often explore issues of red herring in terms of art making, whether consciously or unconsciously. Although the artists individually explore their own red herring and how it relates to their art making, they acknowledge that their understanding of the term may differ from one another, the instructor, and their audience. The title of this exhibition can possibly be viewed as the group’s communal red herring.

Land of Tomorrow
527 E 3rd St., Lexington, KY 40508
233 West Broadway, Louisville, KY 40201

This morning: Wilson @ the Wilson

Today we enjoyed the visit of Bob Wilson, chief donor to the Art Department at Georgetown College, to our house—the Wilson Building. See photo below. It's always a pleasure to welcome alumni and new friends to the building.

THANK YOU for your support of the Art Department and its programs.
It's your home too!

Michele, Bob, with students Mallory, Tayler, Alex, Ariel, and Steven
along with Boris and me

More photos about the public art mural being created by Boris' Impasto Painting class will be posted soon. As you can see from the photos, the priming was just underway this morning. Given our gallery is 65' from north to south, you can get a sense of this project's dimensions from the photo. Put simply, every inch of the gallery is in use! 

Old Home Week: Welcome Back Alumni!

The week before Spring Break, several art alumni came back to campus for a visit -- to take in their old art stomping grounds in the classroom and studios, as well as the Jacobs Collection and Cochenour Gallery and a little further afield -- at Lock and Key.

Thanks to everyone who visited. It was a wonderful week. You're always welcome to come back for another visit and bring another alum with you - we love having our GC art family return home to the Wilson Building! 

Jonathan, class of 2007 and U of L graduate curatorial program '09,

 who is teaching art history and art apprec in West Virginia. He commented to Gallery Monitor and art history major, Lynsey (on the right above) GC'14, "This picture is my jam!" referring to the Jacobs Collection's print by Sam Francis. 

Daniel, Darrell, and Peggy (class of 2010) who is now in grad school @ UK

Cortney (class of 2010) and K-Lev (Guest Blog Poster and grad of '08)
with Earl Grey enjoying an evening of half-priced appetizers at Lock and Key!

Stephanie (class of 2008) with Jonathan reliving their Florence memories
from the Summer of '06 -- yay! study abroad!

Shout out to Josh Howard!

The department wants to send a shout out to Josh Howard, class of 2007, who is one of the young explorers featured on the National Geographic Homepage. Click here.

National Geographic Explorer's Page with Josh and his work

Josh graduated with a degree in studio art with an emphasis in graphic design, although he was also very interested in and pursued photography. Upon graduation, he opened his own graphic design firm and pursued the grant opportunities with National Geographic. In 2008, he was tapped as one of their Young Explorers.

He pursued a project on Mountaintop Removal. See Vimeo clip here.

Readers of this blog will certainly be familiar with Josh's work which is on view with that of several GC alums and others at the Carnegie Center in New Albany, IN. The show "Project Reclamation" was curated by Mary Margaret (Carlton) Sparks. The show aims to raise awareness about Mountaintop Removal and its impact. Read more on that exhibition here.

The NG page that connects us with the NG Young Explorers

In addition, readers of the blog may recall Josh's talk to art majors and others in April 2011, as part of our Art for Lunch series (something we'll be reviving in the Spring -- be on the watch for it!)

Shout out to Josh! And a call to all of our art alums: let us know what you're doing so we can share your news with others!!

And a word of advice to current students: follow your passion! You'll never know where it'll lead you.

PS: Check out Josh's work here.

at home and away. . . art majors create opportunities

Below you'll see two photos from recent years. In the first, Ashley is in the drawing and printmaking studio, where she felt most comfortable. For her senior exhibition in 2010, Ashley developed a body of work that involved both mediums, as well as performance. Beneath, Angie is in the Cloisters, a division of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Fascinated by painting, Angie developed a body of work while she was in New York City during the summer of 2010, when this photo was taken.

Seeing these photos reminded me that art majors create opportunities for themselves to learn, grow, and succeed in the development of a body of work and much more.

BRING IT -- Alumni Donation Challenge!!!

Who doesn’t love a little friendly competition? GC ALUMNI are asked to make donation of $10 or more ---for a challenge....The Development offices from GC and Pikeville want to encourage alumni to make a donation online to see who has the most school spirit! This contest is centered around the February 2 when the women’s and men’s basketball teams play one another. The winner of the contest will be announced between games on Feb 2. All funds will go to student scholarships, but be sure to ask for your donation to fund the ART SCHOLARSHIPS. I would further ask you to direct that donation specifically to McCormick-Williams (a scholarship named after two long-serving faculty).

Gifts must be made online between 4 a.m. EST on Monday, Jan. 23, and Noon EST on Thursday, Feb. 2.

• All online gifts from Georgetown and UPIKE during the challenge period will count toward the challenge total.

• The school that achieves the highest number of unique donors (not the highest dollar amount) within the challenge period will be declared the winner.

• Only one gift per person during the challenge period will be counted.



Consider donating to the Art Scholarships over the next two weeks -- we're getting new scholarship applications already, in house for incoming students for the Fall 2012....Wouldn't it be great to give MORE money to art students? And, if you can't contribute now, consider donating in the Fall.

Thanks! Earl Grey

{photos above from 2009 Alumni bball game (left) and our beloved AWW building}

Russ Bellamy at Turner Center

Currently on view at Turner Center, Valdosta, GA. Enjoy --

Alumni Spotlight: Brandon Long

Brandon Long, roof tin assemblage, 32x32 inches (@WAB, Fall 2011)

Georgetown College's, Painting Class, fall 2000

I have followed Brandon Long’s work for over a decade now. He is an artist of principled views of engagement. Even more remarkable, he is temperamentally inclined to follow through on his own terms, too. Neither a validation seeker nor is bothered about any careerist complexes, he just goes about his business.

So in this sense, what to make of the five towering, dingy-clangk, borderline-dangerous “roofing tin assemblages?” The easy answer may be “rustic and farm-boyish,” but you can easily miss the larger picture. Sure, they are held together by the rusty old nails found alongside the very barn-detritus used. Sure, they are also very weighty, beat-up and sharp. Sure, there are no protective bolts, no “Nancy Rubins” tensile cables. If you see wary newcomers to our building slightly lean away from the work’s surface, that’s no surprise. I caught myself at it, too. While the intentions of Long’s work may have appeared quite clear at the quick draw, it has also occurred to me that what I had initially (and narrowly) embraced as a processes of aestheticizing patch-work of rural repairs, was in fact, also steeped in a larger history: as a type of landscapes of protection and/or as a kind of conflicting abstraction of self-preservation. In the walls of the Athenian acropolis today, as a comparison, we can also encounter columnar drums, friezes and metopes of the temples above in the bulwark that is so designed to protect them. The repairs in Athens, as in Long’s sources, are usually made with whatever materials were available and at hand. Long supersedes them only in that it’s done in the name of wall-based painting, accounting for mid-20th sensorium at the precipice of our Blue Grass today: “Inspired by…the collages and assemblages of Kurt Schwitters and Robert Rauschenberg,…I often have to remind myself to not overanalyze any elements of composition, but to let the materials respond to their juxtaposed placement.” (from Long’s wall text, 2011)

Brandon Long, class of 2001, is currently a Programming Director at the CAC Danville. The work is on view through December, 2011.

Invite to GC Art Alums Gathering, May 12th

“Where are they now?” If you’re curious what your classmates are up to these days, or would like to share some of your recent exciting projects, art-related or not, consider joining us for an evening of networking. The art department will host an “Art Alum Re-connect” on Thursday, May 12. We have talked about doing an Alum event that is geared toward current seniors for some time, but could never come up with an adequate time and format. Finally, it’s a go: the seniors will be having their exhibition closing, the finals are over and the graduation ceremonies just a few days away. You probably remember these few days of “intense quiet” yourself. I will send an e-mail invitation, based on our compiled list of addresses (it is far from complete, but it’s a start), in the next few days.

Also, on Dr. Decker’s behalf, I would like to invite you to her “hopefully annual” end-of-the-year-dept-party on Last Day of Class, Wednesday, May 4. For the direction to her house please e-mail.

*Images from Archives of 2004/2005 school year (by faculty and students). Other years will be coming soon--

Art for Lunch: Thursday 4/7/11 @ around 12:00

Join us for a special guest star on Thursday (tomorrow). Josh Howard, class of 2007, will share his recent work with us. See above for a sample of Josh's work (from his website artisticbydesign.com) We'll start a few minutes late this week (closer to 12:10). Those of you with 12:45 classes, please come and feel free to leave a little early. Special note to afternoon photo students: Josh will be joining you this afternoon for class, also.

Papa Johns pizza lunch will be provided. Hope you can join us!

Advice for the class of 2010 (and others?) by way of Matt Snow

This link and posting comes to us by way of Matt Snow, GC art alum from 2006, who is a web designer at the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Thought I'd pass it along. Check it out...Hey other alum out there -- send us a link to something you think we should share with the department. We'd love to hear from you!

If I Knew Then What I Know Now:
Advice for Young Creatives

Never content to accept conventional wisdom, creatives love to learn things the hard way. But is it absolutely necessary? We chatted with a handful of 99% Conference attendees about the things they wished someone had told them when they were just starting out. A shortlist of the takeaways: never sacrifice what you love, find great collaborators and share your ideas, learn how to say no and stay focused, and always, always stick to your guns.

video link