1780 – The Official Blog of Transylvania University

1780 | The Official Blog of Transylvania University

Morlan Gallery

Transylvania to host Affrilachian poetry, visual arts exhibition

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University’s Morlan Gallery will open its 2017 exhibition year on Friday, Jan. 13, with an exhibition of Affrilachian visual artists and poets. Titled “Black Bone” after the Affrilachian Poets’ first literary anthology to be released this month, Morlan’s exhibition will showcase artists and poets from states in the Appalachian region—including Kentucky, South Carolina, North Carolina and Ohio. They will share how those connected to Affrilachia tell the story of the United States through visual and written culture. The exhibition, which will be free and open to the public, will run through Feb. 14. An opening reception for the artists will be Thursday, Jan. 19, from 7:30-9 p.m. The Affrilachian Poets will give a reading that evening at 6 in Carrick Theater adjacent to the gallery. Coined by Frank X Walker, the term Affrilachia is “an ever-evolving cultural landscape poised to render the invisible visible. Affrilachia embraces a multicultural influence, a spectrum of people who consider Appalachia home and/or identify strongly with the trials and triumphs of being of this region,” according to the group’s website. The “Black Bone” exhibition is part of Transylvania’s Creative Intelligence series, which also includes concerts and lectures. The theme of this year’s series is “Unlearn Fear + Hate,” which is a term from one of Walker’s poems. Artists in Morlan’s “Black Bone” exhibition include: Brian Campbell, Angel Clark, Willis “Bing” Davis, Natasha Giles, Jared Owens, Kelly Phelps, Kyle Phelps, Bobby Scroggins, Bianca Spriggs, Kiptoo

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Silas House to deliver Transylvania convocation keynote, receive honorary degree

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Renowned Kentucky author Silas House will give the keynote address and receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree during Transylvania University’s Academic Convocation on Friday. House, who wrote the national best-selling novel, “A Parchment of Leaves,” will help the campus kick off the academic year at the 3:30 p.m. ceremony in Haggin Auditorium. A book signing and reception will follow. “The Academic Convocation is a very special occasion at Transylvania,” said Laura Bryan, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the university. “This ceremony marks the celebration of a new academic year and gives us an opportunity to focus and reflect on the journey before us. We come together as a community to invigorate our mission and values of a liberal education. Silas House exemplifies our values as an writer, teacher and activist.” House is a champion of the Appalachian region he calls home. In addition to writing five novels, with a sixth to be released this year, he is an environmental activist, columnist and music journalist. His fiction highlights the natural world, working class characters and the plight of rural living. A National Book Award Finalist, House also has written three plays and a collection of oral histories he co-authored with Jason Howard. His many recognitions include the Award for Special Achievement from the Fellowship of Southern Writers, E.B. White Award, Nautilus Award, Appalachian Writer of the Year, Chaffin Prize for Literature, Appalachian Book of the

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Transylvania to host renowned Spanish artists, poets

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University welcomed two prominent Spanish artists and poets to campus last week for their North American debut. Alexandra Domínguez and Juan Carlos Mestre visited classes at Transylvania and two public schools: Bryan Station High School and the School of the Creative and Performing Arts. They also gave a free, public reading of their work on Thursday, Nov. 12, at 7:30 p.m. in Transylvania’s Carrick Theater. Following the reading, a reception in Morlan Gallery featured “Swept Up in Whispers,” a colorful exhibition of their art books, etchings and paintings. Additionally on Nov. 12, the married couple gave an Art Talk at 12:30 p.m. in Morlan Gallery. This event also was free and open to the public. Domínguez and Mestre —who have presented together only once before—have exhibited their works throughout Europe and in South America. Domínguez, who was awarded the Gran Premio Nacional Salón Sur de Pintura in Chile, studied art at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid and Real Academia de Bellas Artes de Sant Jordi in Barcelona. Her poetry collections—including “The Conquest of Air”—also have won awards. Mestre is among Spain’s most acclaimed contemporary poets, winning recognitions such as Premio Adonáis and the National Poetry, National Literary Critics and Jaime Gild de Biedma awards. Though his principal medium is poetry, he is a self-trained artist, working especially with ink and watercolors and as a printmaker. ‘Swept Up in Whispers’ This exhibition is

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Transylvania’s Morlan Gallery to celebrate rural life in photos

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University’s Morlan Gallery this fall will present “Rural Women: Photographs by Maxine Payne,” a powerful collection of 20 silver gelatin portraits with texts compiled from international sites, including the artist’s own rural Arkansas. The exhibition will open Oct. 29 with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m. “Rural Women,” which will run through Dec. 2., will be part of the Lexington Gallery Hop on Nov. 21 from 5 to 8 p.m. Having been raised in rural Arkansas by her grandparents, Payne says she has always been interested in “country” people and spent her career making work that focuses on her experience with residents of rural Arkansas. Payne started the “Rural Women and Globalization Project” in 2006 with anthropologist Anne Goldberg. They have documented the lives of rural women using oral history and photography at five sites: San Luis, Costa Rica; Bagamoyo, Tanzania; Vinh Linh, Vietnam; Douglas, Arizona; Agua Prieta, on the U.S.-Mexico border; and rural Arkansas. The Arkansas Committee of the National Museum of Women selected Payne as the 2013 Scholar Awardee for the Globalization Project. Last month, the Arkansas Committee hosted a reception in honor of her significant contribution to the arts. The ongoing project was the subject of a TEDx talk in February 2014. The Globalization Project was inspired by Payne’s discovery of the photography of Jim and Mancy Massengill. The Massengills worked from 1937 to 1941 as itinerant photographers in rural Arkansas, documenting farmers, young

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Transylvania’s Morlan Gallery recognizes student artists

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  Kara Sparks, “Tayler,” oil on canvas LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University’s Morlan Gallery wrapped up the academic year by awarding 14 prizes to deserving students who submitted artwork for the annual Juried Student Art Exhibition. The university’s Fine Arts program and the dean of the college announced the awards May 2 at the opening reception. The exhibition remains open to the public from noon to 5 p.m. weekdays through May 16. Four students were recognized with $50 Honorable Mentions: senior Jennifer Smith (Fort Mitchell, Ky.) and sophomores Elizabeth Garduno (Fairmount City, Pa.), Trent Redmon (Burlington, Ky.) and Kristen Frost (Sextons Creek, Ky.). Five Excellence in Media prizes, worth $100 each, were awarded to students who produced exceptionally strong work in various media: junior Savanna Barnett (Harrodsburg, Ky.) for digital media; junior Luke Gnadinger (Fisherville, Ky.) for ceramics; junior Chelsea Pharris (Leitchfield, Ky.) for drawing; sophomore Kara Sparks (Pataskala, Ohio) for painting; and junior Stacey Venneman (Southgate, Ky.) for sculpture. The Fine Arts program selected two pieces, Sparks’ painting “Tayler” and Pharris’ drawing “Wii Controller,” to become part of the permanent collection displayed in the Mitchell Fine Arts Center.   Stacey Venneman, Self-portrait, ceramic Dean Michael Bell personally selected two pieces, which will be added to the university’s permanent collection, for the prestigious Dean’s Purchase Award: Smith’s “Oreo” and Venneman’s “Trophies of Mediocrity.” Senior Amanda Stoddard (Crittenden, Ky.) received the prestigious Nana Lampton Prize. Named in honor of the Louisville artist and

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