1780 – The Official Blog of Transylvania University

1780 | The Official Blog of Transylvania University

New Governor’s School for the Arts session opens June 17 at Transylvania University; Gov. Beshear helps GSA celebrate 25th anniversary

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Kentucky’s most talented young artists from 43 counties will assemble on Transylvania University’s campus on Sunday, June 17, to begin the three-week 2012 session of the Governor’s School for the Arts. The latest GSA class is comprised of 225 rising juniors and seniors from all regions of the Commonwealth who will receive top-level training through daily seminars, master classes, lectures, hands-on workshops and field trips to various arts attractions in central Kentucky. The student-artists will receive rigorous instruction in nine disciplines: architecture, creative writing, dance, drama, instrumental music, musical theatre, new media, visual arts and vocal music. Since 1987 more than 4,500 of the state’s most talented high school artists from all 120 counties have attended the GSA summer program following a highly demanding selection process. Each year 1,500 students have applied annually for one of the available scholarships, valued at $2,800. Transylvania is among 21 colleges and universities that offer scholarships to GSA alumni. The program will culminate on Saturday, July 7, with an all-day festival that celebrates the achievements of the young artists through performances open to family, friends and the public. Graduation ceremonies will be held that day at 5 p.m. in Haggin Auditorium in the Mitchell Fine Arts Center. “The presence of the Governor’s School for the Arts on our campus each summer is an eagerly anticipated event,” said Transylvania President R. Owen Williams. “We feel that our urban setting in Lexington, combined with our

Juried student exhibition runs May 4-18 in Transylvania’s Morlan Gallery

LEXINGTON, Ky.—The Juried Student Exhibition runs May 4-18 in Transylvania’s Morlan Gallery.  All students who made art during the 2011-12 academic year were invited to show their work in the exhibition. There are about 50 pieces, from 30 artists, on display. At a public reception honoring the artists on Friday, May 4, several jurors’ awards were presented, including the Dean’s Purchase Award and the Lampton Prize. Each year, William F. Pollard, vice president and dean of the college, selects one piece to receive the Dean’s Purchase Award and become part of Transylvania’s permanent collection. The Lampton Prize is named in honor of artist Nana Lampton and given to a student of exceptional creative vision, a fierce work ethic and natural leadership. Junior Hunter Kissel, from Louisville, Ky., received the Dean’s Purchase Award for his oil painting, 3. Senior Ryla Luttrell, from Shepherdsville, Ky., received the Lampton Prize. Other awards went to: Printmaking: senior Julia Sebastian, from Nicholasville, Ky. Sculpture: senior Katelynn Ralston, from Winter Haven, Fla. Ceramics: senior Lauren Hatchett, from Henderson, Ky. Video: junior Paul Brown, from Owensboro, Ky., and sophomore Zach Stanley, from Prestonsburg, Ky. Sophomore Raelyn Nickerson, from Springfield, Ohio, received honorable mention in sculpture. Senior Sara Escobedo, from Wheaton, Ill., received honorable mention for ceramic sculpture. Morlan Gallery is open weekdays, noon to 5 p.m., and the exhibit is free and open to the public. For more information go to www.transy.edu/morlan or contact Morlan Gallery Director

Transylvania University’s art program graduates the largest class of art majors to date; senior exhibition, "Ten," runs April 2-20

Hansel’s Sewn. LEXINGTON, KY—Transylvania University’s art program is graduating a record 10 art majors this year: Isabel Barr, Alison Cahill, Sara Escobedo, Allison Fender, Kara Hansel, Ryla Luttrell, Alexis Schuman, Julia Sebastian, Megan Wainscott and Kayla Weber. The culminating event of their Transylvania arts education is their senior thesis exhibition appropriately titled, “Ten,” opening April 2 and running through April 20 in the Morlan Gallery. There is a reception for the artists on Friday, April 20, 5-8 p.m. as part of the Lexington Gallery Hop. The gallery is open weekdays from noon-5 p.m. and is free and open to the public. Barr is a studio art and education double major. She grew up in Takoma Park and Bethesda, Maryland. She plans to receive a master’s degree in art therapy from the University of Louisville and create an after-school program for special-needs children. Cahill is an art major and art history minor from Richmond, Ky. Her primary medium is photography and she has recently worked with Triple Play Productions taking sports action photography. After graduation she plans to pursue her passion for art. She is currently looking into the photography and ceramic fields. Escobedo is a studio art major minoring in biology and Spanish from Wheaton, Ill. She hopes to pursue a career that will lead her to working with animals and expanding her artistic endeavors. She works in digital illustration, ceramic, mixed media sculpture, carving, painting and costume-making. Fender is

“enigmatic remembrances” explores the works of artists Petra Carroll and Rae Goodwin; opens Friday, Feb. 17 in Transylvania’s Morlan Gallery

the body of, of the body (2012) LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University’s Morlan Gallery presents “enigmatic remembrances: new work by petra carroll and rae goodwin.” The exhibit, which opens Friday, Feb. 17 during Gallery Hop with a reception from 5-8 p.m, runs through Friday, March 23. “The premise of the exhibition is investigation of the power our memories have to commandeer our perceptions,” says gallery director Andrea Fisher. “The resulting work takes on a variety of media including two and three-dimensional mixed media that are often site-specific and transform the gallery space.” Working collaboratively, Carroll and Goodwin describe the ideas that motivated their latest work. “Exploration of memory is the exploration of the unknown. Each time we walk down ‘memory lane’ our recollections diverge and vary because we view the memory of the past from a different point in time. Our perception of the past shifts and changes as we shift and change.” Goodwin, director of foundations at the University of Kentucky, lives in Lexington and has taught at Pikeville College and Winthrop University. She ran an arts enrichment business for nine years in North Carolina. Her performance and sculptural works have been shown regionally, nationally and internationally in New Zealand, the McColl Center for Visual Art in North Carolina, Central Park in Manhattan and the Atlanta Contemporary Arts Center. She earned her M.F.A. in sculpture from Winthrop University and her B.A. degree in art from Framingham State College. Carroll, assistant professor

"Beyond Boundaries: New Work by Nana Lampton," runs Nov. 10-Dec. 6 in the Morlan Gallery.

Nana Lampton LEXINGTON, Ky.—Landscape comes alive when seen through the eyes of painter, poet, business woman and world traveler Nana Lampton. The Morlan Gallery will open an exhibit of Lampton’s work, “Beyond Boundaries: New Work by Nana Lampton,” on November 10. The exhibit will be open through December 6, including for the Lexington Gallery Hop on November 18. The gallery will be closed for the Thanksgiving holiday November 24-25. New paintings of the dramatic Andes Mountains and the flowered fields of Nova Scotia will be shown alongside Kentucky’s own vivid land and riverscapes. Poetry and sketchbooks from Lampton’s travels are included in this premiere exhibition. “We think of its vast dimensions, yet we know only five percent is visible to us,” said Lampton. “The artist thinks about the rest, and its effect on us.” A bonus exhibition is in the Shearer Student Art Gallery. Juried by Lampton, the exhibit brings together the artworks of Transylvania students similarly moved by travel and sense of place. Lampton’s “Dark Energy,” 2011 Lampton earned a B.A. in English literature at Wellesley, and an M.A. at the University of Virginia, and she attended programs at the Harvard Business School. In 2004, she received an M.F.A. in writing from Spalding University. Lampton has also studied drawing and painting at the Corcoran School of Art and the Louisville Visual Art Association. She has written several books of poetry including “Bloom of a Split Board,” “Snowy Owl Gathers