Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Sustainability and Textiles-presented by Art + Design faculty -Priscilla Roggenkamp


Priscilla Roggenkamp's topic, Sustainability and Textiles, was a segment of the Ashland University Honors 390 class.  


Exploring the topic, we took a personal clothing inventory, studied how various textile fibers are created and looked into the human and environmental impact of fast fashion.  We researched clothing companies with sustainable practices and discussed ways to be more conscientious consumers.  Lastly, we tried our hands at some repairing practices and even did a bit of weaving.  


Honors Capstone Defense for Kiana Ziegler

Honors Capstone Defense for Kiana Ziegler

Honors Program senior student Kiana Ziegler will present her Honors Capstone, Meditation of the
Flesh - Self-Therapy for Chronic Illness on December 3rd, at 5:00PM in the Coburn Art Gallery.

Kiana's abstract reads, I havebeen diagnosed with chronic health conditions that impact my
everyday life.  In order to help deal with my thoughts and emotions relating to these chronic
health conditions, I paint. My work is a cathartic self-therapy and a meditation on the flesh.
Through it, I express the fear and anxiety I experience in relation to my own body and health.
My path into this topic started with my fear of not wanting or being physically able to bear my
own children, an important part of the future I’ve imagined for myself. In my first three paintings,
I grieve for this lost future and come to an acceptance of what may lie ahead in the
yonic (“yoni” being Sanskrit for the vulva and the female equivalent to “phallus”) flower forms
on the canvas. As I continue along with the series, I begin to mourn the loss of other aspects
of a normal life through related flower forms. The complex forms and textures invite the viewer
to look closely at the paintings, encouraging them to move along the curves and bumps of the
works, contemplating the wonders and horrors that exist within the body. By completing this work,
I gained a better understanding of my process and how I want to communicate while also
helping myself and others who have been through similar experience via catharsis (a release of
repressed emotions).



Kiana Ziegler, from Ashland, OH, will graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Art, with a
painting concentration, and a Bachelor of Art in Commercial Art, with a graphic design
concentration. Ziegler is the youngest of Alma and Charles Ziegler of Ashland. She grew
up in Ashland, graduating from Ashland High School in 2015. She entered her college
career as an Honors Program Scholar, and shortly afterward, was inducted into Alpha Lambda Delta,
an honor society for academic excellence. She received the opportunity to create a mural for the
Writing Center and a portrait for the theater production, Little Women, in 2018. Off campus,
Ziegler completed the illustrations decorating the entrance to Masterminds Escape
Room and Game Library. She has completed several other private commissions as a
freelance artist.

Active in her department, Ziegler served as the Vice President and President of Art Club.
She was granted the opportunity to travel with the Art Department to museums in Chicago,
Detroit, Pittsburg, and New York City. Ziegler was rewarded many art awards, such as
the Bernini Art Award, People's Choice Award, Design and Illustration Award, and
Best in Show in the Juried Student Art + Design Exhibition. During the Spring 2019
Graphic Design Senior Show, Ziegler was rewarded the Outstanding Senior Award.
She showed her artwork along with other projects at the Undergraduate Research
and Creative Activity Symposium. She was on the Dean's List 7 semesters, and
received several scholarships.

Upon graduation, Ziegler plans to either attend Ohio University to receive a Masters in
painting, or to continue working toward her goals of owning a house and traveling to Japan.

Professor Keith Dull, Associate Professor of Art, served as Kiana's mentor for the project.

All are invited and encouraged to attend.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Kiana Ziegler's-BFA Exhibition Inspiration Featured

Somewhere inside Kiana Ziegler’s childhood home in Ashland, there is an envelope full of her earliest artwork.
Her mom kept a lot of what she did then, Ziegler said, including “a SpongeBob that I did with Crayola markers when I was like 5 or 6.”
She’s been through a lot since those days, in terms of both life and art.
Ziegler, who will graduate from Ashland University in December, will have her work featured in the AU 2019 Senior Art + Design Exhibition, which opens Thursday, Nov. 21, with a reception from 4:30 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. at the Coburn Art Gallery in the AU Center for the Arts. The exhibition, which runs through Dec. 14, will include painting, printmaking, photography and digital art.
While Ziegler had opportunities to create art while still a student at Ashland High School, she often was ill, culminating with a thyroid cancer diagnosis when she was just 16. Her thyroid and some surrounding lymph nodes were removed. Radiation followed.
And while a second-year student at AU, Ziegler was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia. Because the diagnosis came early, she required no surgery or chemotherapy, but is on targeted treatment medication and immunotherapy drugs, which she admits make her feel like she has food poisoning.
There are other chronic illnesses as well. “Basically,” Ziegler said, “all the health problems in my family have accumulated in me.”
She turned to her art for both therapeutic and creative reasons. “I think it’s kind of a drive to not let (the illness) completely take over my life,” said Ziegler. At first, the art was representative of her actual health struggles, canvases of a young woman in a hospital bed, consoled by her boyfriend; other pictures centered in a hospital setting.
“It was,” Ziegler said, “like looking into someone’s life as if through a window.” And it was fine, for what it was. But she admitted it wasn’t evoking any kind of emotional response from the people who encountered it. It was Michael Bird, a professional instructor of digital art and graphic design at AU, who sat her down and gave her some frames of reference that would result in her going deeper into her exploration -- not leading the viewers, but challenging them.
The result is canvases of acrylic and oil, the forms based on photos Ziegler had taken of dying flowers, natural but decaying. There’s a contemporary, post-modern influence at work, the fleshy quality unavoidable. “It’s ambiguous,” Ziegler said. “The viewer has to do some work.”
For Ziegler, who admits to “overthinking things sometimes,” the work often starts as a meditation about how her illness has affected her life, how it will continue to affect it going forward and the anxiety she has a result. For someone analytical, as Ziegler said she is, “when I get upset sometimes, I don’t even know what I feel. This was my way of connecting those feelings.”
The exhibition, appropriately titled “Meditation on the Flesh,” will consist of three prints, four photographs, five paintings and four digital paintings, the latter being anatomical diagrams filled with words that Ziegler painted using Photoshop. “Words are very personal to me,” she explained. “But I kind of wanted to move away from words.” The images are more of a way to bridge the space between her early work and the paintings that evolved as a result.
“(Ziegler’s) growth as an artist has been impressive in the time she has spent at Ashland University,” said AU art Professor Keith Dull. “That growth can be attributed to her willingness to engage with the artmaking process and experiment with new techniques. Her determination to find new ways to communicate her ideas and challenge herself with new concepts has led to the success of the artwork you will see in her senior exhibition.”
Ziegler will leave AU with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a painting concentration, as well as Bachelor of Arts in Commercial Art with a graphic design concentration. The next stop is graduate school and then maybe teaching art, and definitely entering shows.
There would have been art even if there hadn’t been illness, Ziegler said, just not the kind of art she came to. “I probably would have gotten swept up by some other something,” she said, maybe the portraiture that she still loves. But without the journey, she said, “I may not have found my strength.”

Dr Wendy Schaller Presents to AU Honors Program

Dr. Wendy Schaller shared her story of how learning about Italian artist, Bernini, in her core art history course in undergrad changed her career trajectory from medical doctor to an art historian. She will delve into both Bernini’s work and her story as a way to share and give advice to students.




This is the first professor event of the AU Honors Program Academic Lecture Series. 

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Kiana Ziegler-BFA Senior Art Exhibition Opens Nov 21st


From the end of November through December, the Ashland University Coburn Gallery hosts the Senior Art + Design Exhibition that features the capstone experience for graduating art majors.

Showcasing the work of graduating senior Kiana Ziegler, the 2019 Senior Art + Design Exhibition will open on Thursday, November 21 with an opening reception from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Coburn Art Gallery located in the Center for the Arts on the Ashland University campus.

“While the 2019 Senior Art Exhibition provides the capstone experience for graduating art majors, it represents more than just students’ studio art experiences,” said Cynthia Petry, director of the Coburn Gallery. “For the student in the liberal arts, the exhibition is the culmination of their undergraduate career at Ashland University.”

This fall’s exhibition, which will run from November 21 to December 14, include painting, printmaking, photography and digital art.

Kiana Ziegler, from Ashland, OH, will graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Art, with a painting concentration, and a Bachelor of Art in Commercial Art, with a graphic design concentration. Ziegler is the youngest of Alma and Charles Ziegler of Ashland. She grew up in Ashland, graduating from Ashland High School in 2015. She entered her college career as an Honors Program Scholar, and shortly afterward, was inducted into Alpha Lambda Delta, an honor society for academic excellence. She received the opportunity to create a mural for the Writing Center and a portrait for the theater production, Little Women, in 2018. Off campus, Ziegler completed the illustrations decorating the entrance to Masterminds Escape Room and Game Library. She has completed several other private commissions as a freelance artist.

Active in her department, Ziegler served as the Vice President and President of Art Club. She was granted the opportunity to travel with the Art Department to museums in Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburg, and New York City. Ziegler was rewarded many art awards, such as the Bernini Art Award, People’s Choice Award, Design and Illustration Award, and Best in Show in the Juried Student Art + Design Exhibition. During the Spring 2019 Graphic Design Senior Show, Ziegler was rewarded the Outstanding Senior Award. She showed her artwork along with other projects at the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Symposium. She was on the Dean’s List 7 semesters, and received several scholarships.

Upon graduation, Ziegler plans to either attend Ohio University to receive a Masters in painting, or to continue working toward her goals of owning a house and travelling to Japan.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Benefit Pop-Up Art Sale -November 21st

Just in time for the holidays, the Coburn Gallery and the AU Art Club will host a one day Benefit Pop-Up Art Sale in the Center for the Arts building 1st floor lobby on Thursday November 21 from noon-6:30pm. 100% of the funds will be collected on behalf of  Becky Hale, 2018 AU Art Education graduate that passed away suddenly in October. Becky had a passion for teaching young artists and did so through the Coburn's Art Saturdays program, Summer Art Camp and most recently through the Salvation Army Kroc Center.
Patrons can browse the artful hand crafted items created by Ashland University Art + Design students, alumni, faculty, and community members. “We are honored to host a unique and temporary pop-up experience for art lovers in our own backyard while raising funds in memory of Becky Hale” said Cynthia Petry, director of the Coburn Gallery. Credit cards, checks and cash will be accepted. For more information about the shop, or to donate artwork or make a monetary contribution contact the Coburn Gallery 419.289.5652 or coburngallery@ashland.edu

Monday, September 30, 2019

AU Art + Design Department-Study in Tuscany: Art & Politics

Ashland University Art + Design Department-Study in Tuscany: Art & Politics

Aesthetics or Social Science Core
Mid-May- Mid-June
2 Weeks

ABOUT THE ARTISTS & SCHOLARS’ RETREAT
Art students will use on site studios to work on pieces which reflect on art as it relates to institutions of political power. Students will have to the opportunity to study and interact with artifacts in Italy.
Political Science students will reflect on how Italian thinkers contributed to the Enlightenment. They will primarily focus on the thought of Machiavelli. The retreat is designed to highlight the way that art and politics influence one another, and will allow students to experience the art and history in its original location.
Courses: ART160 (all concentrations), any art major in 200/300/400 level studio classes, POLSC345 Early Modern Political Thought



TENTATIVE ITINERARY LOCATIONS
Most days will be spent studying, working, and relaxing on the monastery grounds. Students will also spend a weekend in Rome and take a day trip to Florence.
 ON-SITE ARRANGEMENTS
Students will stay in a dormitory space in a renovated monastery outside Siena, Tuscany. The monastery includes three-studio classrooms for artists, several discussion rooms, and presentation spaces.

CONTACT

Dr. Dan McDonald
227 Center for the Arts, 419.289.5130
dmcdona1@ashland.edu

Dr. Greg McBrayer
125 Andrews, 419.289.5380
gmcbraye@ashland.edu

Study Abroad Office
Bixler 211, 419.289.5870
studyabroad@ashland.edu