AU Art Majors Serve As "Power of the Press" Exhibition Research Assistants

One of the goals of the exhibition Power of the Press, which features socially and politically themed prints, was to provide a unique opportunity for Ashland University art majors to be fully immersed in the experience of planning and implementing an art exhibition.  Senior art majors, Kaylin Henry (graphic design), Danielle Rhonemus (art education and printmaking), Randi Schimmoeller (printmaking), and Hannah Thome (art education) were selected as research assistants, bringing a broad range of artistic knowledge and skills to the project.  Beginning in fall semester 2014, these students worked closely with the exhibition curator, Dr. Wendy Schaller and Coburn Gallery director Cynthia Petry to plan the exhibition and determine how best to engage and educate viewers through the experience of the art of the print.  Initial brainstorming sessions led to the decision to complement the Ashland University print collection with a juried exhibition of contemporary prints that shared a similar theme.  Students assisted in writing the call for entries for this portion of the exhibition which received a very positive response from artists across the United States.   These students designed the marketing logo, advertising posters, postcards and even a Power of the Press t-shirt.  They prepared the gallery space and installed the works of art.  At the exhibition opening they demonstrated printmaking techniques and fielded questions from the public.  

Additionally, they volunteered through the Art Saturday program to educate area school children by creating prints that focused on the theme of bullying.  Most notably, these students engaged in research on the historical artists featured in the exhibition as well as into the various printmaking techniques represented in the show as a whole.  Students were then tasked with learning how to condense their research into concise, but engaging and informative panels that would speak to a broad audience.  Given the success of this initial project, we hope to be able to offer similar opportunities for our students as a regular part of Ashland University’s art program.

WASTE LAND FILM- October 5

Waste Land: What happens in the world's largest trash city will transform you-

Filmed over nearly three years, WASTE LAND follows renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world's largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There he photographs an eclectic band of “catadores”—self-designated pickers of recyclable materials.

All films will be shown at 7:00 pm in the Ashland University Hawkins-Conard Student Center auditorium and will be followed by a brief discussion. 

The film series is part of the AU College of Arts and Sciences Symposium Against Indifference, which this year is focusing on environmental sustainability. 

All are welcome; free admission.

Art Dept Faculty Member Exhibits in "Fiber Arts of Ohio"

FIBER ARTS of OHIO
Featuring AU Art Department Professor Priscilla Roggenkamp

VISITING ARTIST TRACI MOLLOY - OCTOBER 8

VISITING ARTIST TRACI MOLLOY - OCTOBER 8

Traci Molloy -a Brooklyn-based artist and social activist will be coming to Ashland University as part of the "Power of the Press" exhibition events. Traci's work explores adolescent culture, loss, and violence through photography, digital arts, installation, painting, and printmaking. 

Public lecture October 8 at 7:00pm Dauch-Ridenour Center.

On Friday October 9 -Traci will be working with AU students and community members in a hands-on art collaborative project that relates to Social Justice revolving around the topic of bullying while expanding participants thinking around activism and social change. Time to be announced. Location -Center for the Arts

Sponsored by the Art Department , Coburn Gallery, Ashland Center for Nonviolence, Psi Chi International Honor Society in Psychology and Student Activities.

Printmaking Workshop Sept 19th

Printmaking Workshop at Ashland University on Saturday September 19 from 10am to 2pm / Ages 16 and over/ $30.00 includes all materials.

This is the perfect opportunity to become acquainted with a variety of printmaking techniques. AU Printmaking Professor, Keith Dull, will provide demonstrations on copper plate etching, and polyester plate lithography, and linoleum relief printing, that will be followed by an opportunity for participants to draw, process and print their own image using one of these techniques. Be sure bring aprons, and an idea for a print, so we can hit the ground running! 

The workshop is offered in conjunction with the AU Coburn Gallery’s Power of the Press printmaking exhibition, so participants will have the additional opportunity to see the artistry of printmaking through the works of contemporary printmakers and the historical prints of Daumier, Goya, and Kollwitz.

AU Art Alumni News

Ashland University Art Alumnus Matthew Schiemann is featured in September 2015 issue of Ceramics Monthly- "From Idea to Finished Form".

Matt Schiemann's flask, 6 in. (15 cm) in height, wheel-thrown stoneware, natural ash glaze, wood fired, 2014.

Matthew Schiemann is a second-generation potter that grew up watching and helping his dad create ceramic works. This early exposure taught Matt to appreciate the handmade object and eventually to choose the field of ceramics for himself. He received his Bachelors of Arts in Sculpture and Ceramics from Ashland University in 2005 and his Masters of Fine Arts in Ceramics at Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2009.

While in graduate school, Matt worked as Harris Deller’s personal assistant and as a Teaching Assistant for the wheel throwing and industrial design courses. During this time, he began building his own body of work focused on functional pottery fired in atmospheric kilns.

After graduating from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Matt was accepted as an artist in residence at the St. Petersburg Clay Company. Shortly after being accepted as A.I.R. Matt became an adjunct professor at Eckerd College for PEL program’s ceramics department. In October of 2010, Matt became co-owner/director of the St. Petersburg Clay Company.
Matthew is now currently the manager for the St. Pete Clay Artist in Residence Program at the Morean Center for Clay and is an adjunct professor at St. Petersburg College.

Ashland University Art Alumnus -Joshua Risner Artist Talk- Rediscovering Allegory

Thursday September 10- 6:00 PM · Mansfield Art Center

Joshua Adam Risner grew up in rural central Ohio.  Following high school he pursued a career in commercial art holding jobs such as sign painter, graphic designer, creative director and business owner.  At the age of thirty he left the commercial art industry to attend Ashland University where he earned a BFA in painting with an art history minor.  After finishing his undergraduate degree Risner moved to Michigan to pursue a graduate degree.   He earned his MFA from Kendall College of Art and Design where he received a full tuition fellowship.  He has won numerous awards for his oil paintings and drawings.  He considers his artwork to be a material representation of the process within himself that seeks to understand his reality.  Risner’s work might best be described as allegorical images that appear to be from the past, but speak a language that could only come from the present.  He considers them amalgamations of the entirety of human history, not just a fragment of his contemporary situation dislocated from history.  They are objects culminating from the past and filtered through the present.  His current research interests include topics related to allegory and narrative. 

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