Mill and the cross

 Great trailer sent to me by Ed Smith in the Theatre and Film Department.

The Mill and the Cross is inspired by Pieter Bruegel the Elder's 1564 painting The Way to Calvary, and based on Michael Francis Gibson's book The Mill and the Cross. The film focuses on a dozen of the 500 characters depicted in Breugel's painting.  (wikipedia exerpt)

Job Opportunity: Graphic Designer @ the KAC

Graphic Designer Coordinator at the Kentucky Arts Council

Please visit the state’s personnel website to fill out an application. The position will be posted tomorrow and will remain up for 10 days.

GENERAL JOB DUTIES:	The Kentucky Arts Council (KAC) seeks a creative and motivated individual to serve as Graphic Designer. The position coordinates and oversees graphic design projects and performs professional graphic design functions in the creation, development and production of printed, display and web-based materials or products used in agency programs, marketing and promotional efforts or similar purposes.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:	Graduate of a college or university with a bachelor's degree in graphic design, commercial art, studio art or a closely related field. Must have two years of experience in graphic design. Additional experience in graphic design, commercial art, studio art or a closely related field will substitute for the required education on a year-for-year basis.

You may email me for the job description.

If you have any questions, please email Heidi Caudill Heidi.Caudill@ky.gov

Job Opportunity: Photographer

LEX 18 News, Cordillera Communications' NBC affiliate in Lexington, KY seeks a full-time news photographer. Qualified applicant should have at least one-year shooting experience in a news environment. Applicant should possess strong compositional skills and the ability to tell a visually compelling story. Live microwave experience will be considered a plus.

LEX 18 is an equal opportunity employer. Minorities and females are encouraged to apply. Please send resume with cover letter and tape to: Human Resources, WLEX-TV, P O Box 1457, Lexington, KY 40588, or e-mail to humanresources@wlextv.com.

Risk and attic fans

"There are very few risk takers 
left these days, mainly there are 
just risk managers."  -Jim Graham

       My father was in the Navy for most of his life, and through which has had a full gamut of experiences including being on every continent, being thrown out of helicopters, being in wars, having a lung collapse while at sea, spying on Russia, being spied on by Russia, point being he has had to take lots of risks.  This is the home I grew up in.  That being said I was really sad the other day when I asked my freshman seminar students if they had any good injury stories (ice breaker). I was sad since they had none. I realized that they had not done many physical things, and within those they had not taken many risks.
      My father was in town last week and I told him this and his reply was "There are very few risk takers left these days, mainly there are just risk managers.  It was that way when I was leaving the Navy, its a sad state of affairs."  My dad and I have a long history of working together. We enjoy tackling projects that we know nothing about. It started when I was a kid and has continued till this day. A couple of summers ago my dad and I deconstructed the suspension and brake system of my truck.

Most recently we installed an attic fan in my house. It was a fun job and a lot less involved than we had planned for, or maybe because we planned so much it seemed easy.  There is nothing like cutting a huge hole in your house when you kinda dont 100% know what you are doing. I always like the line by artist Janine Antoni when talking about her tight rope walking work Touch. She said it was not learning to be balanced on a tightrope but more learning to be comfortable out of balance. 

 I always remember my dad and I trying to fix things that broke because you "couldn't brake them again".  It is this curiosity and risk that I am scared is leaving our current culture. I know some of it has to do with the complexity of objects, example: I would never try to fix a cell phone, but i would try to fix a rotary phone.  I know it also has to do with a generation that has trouble doing some things independently of others initiatives. Why don't people take risk these days? Is it because of heightened consequence? Fear? Discomfort? Whatever the reason I am becoming convinced this must change. 

Past 2 Art Weeks in Brief Review

Some photo smiles for the weekend!

Dr. Decker and Shelby Riddell with artist Greg Mueller in front of the Ensor LRC

Prof. Kincer and students during the closing reception for (Un) Realized Visions: Works by Greg Mueller

Prof. Zakic and students listening to graphic designer Scott Bruno

One more exciting thing about Study Abroad

Greece KIIS 2011, at the Portara of the temple to Delian Apollo, Naxos

Studying, teaching and understanding classical art in Greece and Italy presents many challenges. Just consider the latest economic news out of Athens as one of many adverse effects on international travel. Within the distractions, political, touristy or otherwise, distilling the “source” that is ancient Greece is all that more convoluted.

For five weeks in the summer, I join a team of tight-knit professors – if not staunch classicists than specialists from a related field, like the arts, literature or history – trying to navigate through a flurry of misinformation and engender the most appropriate educational model. The “touristy” distractions are often embraced. With proper guidance, there is much reinforcement to be gained from the knock-off-statuary at Athenian Plaka, the legion-clad mimes of the Colosseum, even from the beach-life and dance clubs at Mykonos. The diverging agendas of other travelers and paddlers along the way are of great use, too. Consider, for instance, all the similarities, in both purpose and form, between Pliny’s account of ancient painters and the latest gift shop catalogue found at any of the sites from Delphi to Naples. Pausanias’s “Guide to Ancient Greece” from the 2nd century CE still serves as a quasi-itinerary for the study of the ancient sites today, and after all, for a very good reason.

You will also, unavoidably, examine the very issues of experiencing the classical world in its own setting. How is embracing the role of a traveler helping or hurting the experience? What is there (and then) for an art student to gain from the experience of ancient culture? Actually, it is only when you get there, that you begin to "enjoy" its answers.

Why Study Abroad?

The Art Department at Georgetown College encourages students to study abroad for a short-term or longer stay. Studying abroad is a fantastic way to learn about another culture and experience art, museums, and so much more. Our faculty travel to and lead classes in Europe every year. For example, Boris taught drawing in Greece this past summer (see his post here) through KIIS. Darrell taught a course on photography in London and Dublin. I have taught study abroad courses in London and London/Dublin and I'll be returning this winter (December 26-January 8) with a course on the history of museums. See my earlier post here and the link to the course here. This is an opportunity to take a class with a GC faculty member and to earn academic credit in the Spring. This course is open to ANY GC student, regardless of major. Fantastic! (NOTE: photo above from a site visit in 2009-10 to the Natural History Museum in London)

The U.K. and Greece are not the only places where GC art students and faculty travel. Currently, we have two art majors who are studying in Florence, Italy. Elizabeth and Evelyn are studying at the Lorenzo de Medici School. They are joined by two other GC students. Elizabeth has a tumblr blog. To follow her and live vicariously through her posts, click on the tab to the right "FA 11 Elizabeth in Florence." Evelyn has a blogspot site where you can read about her experiences. To view, click on the tab to the right "FA 11 Evelyn in Florence." Art majors have enjoyed this program over the last several years, and I am certain that E&E will enjoy their stay as well. Beyond the undergraduate experience, I am pleased to announce that Cortney has undertaken her MA in Art History & Visual Culture at Richmond University's program in London. To follow her, click on the tab to the right "FA 11 and beyond: Cortney's MA in London."

Clearly, studying abroad has educational benefits in allowing you to learn on site in galleries and museums as well as historic locations. Students are also provided learning opportunities that differ from the GC offerings. Consider that the LdM program offers an entire course on Marble Sculpture, something that GC does not offer. And, what's fantastic is that students in that course travel to Carrara, a town nestled off the coast of the Ligurian Sea, to select their own marble to carve. Carrara is the town where Michelangelo selected some of his finest stones.

There are other, personal reasons to study abroad. As a student you have the opportunity to travel and learn in a way that may enable you to increase your self-understanding and confidence. I'll never forget the time that I used the Tube in London all by myself while researching abroad. I was so proud; it didn't matter that my destination was closer than I thought and that, truthfully, I could have walked to my destination quicker than the time it took to Tube it. But, I learned how to ride the Tube and to this day, I can still read a Tube Map and distinguish between open and closed circles on it. Studying abroad also broadens your world view while (potentially, depending on the program) increasing your foreign language skills. Finally, studying abroad can help you to appreciate both worlds: your home (family, friends, and all) as well as your new home-away-from-home.

If you have questions about studying abroad with art faculty, please contact any of us! If you have more general questions, contact the Office of International Programs. Also, feel free to check out their student blogs from previous semesters (but still enjoyable!)

UPDATE 9/29/11: check out Evelyn's post to the GCVA page here.

Graphic Designer by Design

Last spring, several students in Jessica Shields' publishing class reviewed 100 posters designed for art exhibitions at Cincinnati's Weston Art Gallery.  See several of the works they chose for Georgetown College's own show and meet graphic designer Scott Bruno during a reception on Thursday, September 8 from 4:30-6:30PM in the Cochenour Gallery.  Scott will be speaking at 5:30 (NEXUS event).  The exhibition 16/100 by Scott Bruno is on view through September 15--check it out! 

Gallery Hop Next Friday

The first Gallery Hop of the semester is coming up next Friday, September 16. Grab some friends and head to downtown Lexington to view a wide variety of shows, eat some food and make some new art friends. Click here to download a map of participating galleries and venues.

And while you're there, consider making your way of to Transy to visit their new show Unveiling the Painted Curtain: 21st Century Interactive Art. Click here to find out more.

Hope to see you there!