Ushering in graduation season, the Lamar Dodd School of Art proudly presents Where the Sidewalk Ends, BFA Exit Show 2023 in the Dodd Galleries, an exhibition organized by and featuring the work of 42 graduating BFA students. This exhibition marks a milestone for studio art undergraduates completing their studies at the Dodd.

To accommodate the volume of art on display, the exhibition is split into two rounds. The first group's opening reception will be held on Friday, April 7th from 6 to 8 pm and will be on view through April 14th. The second group’s opening reception will be held on Friday, April 21st from 6 to 8 pm and will be on view through April 28th. Where The Sidewalk Ends is free to attend and features an array of work, including ceramics, painting, metalwork, photography, and more. 

Wakefield Ausband, No. 1 from the series 7pm Georges Passage, 2023

In this exhibition, the student artists will be showcasing disparate ideas across a variety of practices and media. Artists featured in the show include Wakefield Ausband, whose paintings blend elements of landscape and architectural forms into dynamic, expressive explorations of abstraction. Painter TM Pruitt presents a series of table paintings formed through the collage of personal memory and experience. Jeweler Sarah Bird takes inspiration from childhood games she played and diaries she kept, abstracting traumatic experiences from childhood into wearable jewelry. 

The exhibition title Where The Sidewalk Ends is a reference to Shel Silverstein's poem of the same name. Catie Cook, an exhibiting artist, commented on the resonance of the show's title, “there couldn’t be a more perfect metaphor for the period of transition from college to real life. This exit show is the culmination of our work at The Lamar Dodd and, in many ways, the end of an era. I think we can all, on some level, relate to the sentiments Silverstein put forward in his poem.”

Sarah Baird, Read Me, 2023

Read a brief excerpt below —

“Yes, we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,

And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,

For the children, they mark, and the children, they know

The place where the sidewalk ends.”

What lies ahead is unknown, full of excitement and possibility. As their sidewalk ends, graduating students are mourning a closing chapter in their arts education while embracing an open future inviting many possibilities in the arts.

Instructor Jaime Bull, who is curating the exhibition and has guided this cohort of students in the spring capstone exit course, remarked, “What an exciting semester — team-teaching with fellow instructor Maria Artemis, working with this group of inspiring artists who are engaged in conversations ranging from the climate crisis to dreams and nightmares to identity to exploring personal relationships and so much more. These two rounds of exhibitions, featuring exceptionally talented artists, are going to be stellar and should not be missed.” 
 

William Ballard, Walks with the Old You, 2023

Show 1

Opening reception — Friday, April 7, 6 – 8 pm

On view — April 7 – 14, 2023

Jacqueline Adams 
Wakefield Ausband 
Thomas Brock 
Jordan Campbell
Catie Cook 
Jake Dean
Temple Douglass
Kiry Head 
Emma Knapp 
Sarah Landmesser 
Rachel Leyers 
Eli Macdonald 
Caroline May 
Angelica Millen
Riley Parker 
Ellery Payne 
Zach Thompson 
Siana Tupper 
 

Show 2

Opening reception — Friday, April 21, 6 – 8 pm

On view — April 21 – 28, 2023

Sarah Baird 
William Ballard 
Graham Beveridge 
Nathan Beveridge 
Jackie Foley 
Jasmine Fox 
Tayler Harben 
Ella Hopkins 
Ben Knerler 
SangBin Lee 
Caitlin Marsh 
Emilie Moon 
Aidan Mooney 
Zoie Oliver 
Isabella Owens
Maggie Pennington 
Jean Perkerson 
Claire Power 
TM Pruitt 
Maya Ragbeer 
Madison Riner 
Grace Sizemore 
Hannah Thigpen 
Quynh Tien Tran