Senior Art History majors, Erin Wiser and Catherine Huff, were invited to present their research at the 16th Annual Georgia Undergraduate Art History Forum, held this year on March 3rd at the University of West Georgia. Wiser and Huff were part of a day-long program of 15 papers representing 8 colleges and universities from around Georgia. Each student worked with their faculty advisor to develop research papers into professional conference presentations.

Artist and jeweler Kat Cole will be in residence in the School of Art next week, March 21 and 22, including a public lecture on Tuesday, March 21 in S150 in the main art building. On Monday afternoon, Cole will demonstrate techniques for enameling on steel at 5pm in the Jewelry & Metals studio at the Thomas Street Art Complex. This event is open to all students, faculty and staff. There will be a reception afterwards at 7pm sponsored by the Athens Metals Arts Guild.

School of Art alumna Bryna Bobick co-edited, along with Leigh Hersey,  the recently published book Handbook of Research on the Facilitation of Civic Engagement through Community Art. The book is published by IGI Global and explores the numerous ways that the arts can encourage civic engagement. At 671 pages, it is a comprehensive reference source for emerging perspectives on the incorporation of artistic works to facilitate improved civic engagement.

Congratulations to Dodd Lecturer Eileen Wallace, who joins a group of 11 other University of Georgia faculty committed to developing new courses using the University’s archival material during 2017–18. Wallace is participating in the second annual class of a new program designed to increase the University’s engagement with the archives, called the Special Collections Libraries Faculty Fellows Program.

Wikimedia’s gender trouble is well-documented. In a 2011 survey, the Wikimedia Foundation found that less than 10% of its contributors identify as female. While the reasons for the gender gap are up for debate, the practical effect of this disparity is not: content is skewed by the lack of female participation. This represents an alarming absence in an important repository of shared knowledge.

Associate Professor of Art History Nell Andrew was an invited speaker at the Blaffer Art Museum's Watch Out for Painting Conference last week in Houston. Dr. Andrew’s talk, Moving Modernism from Dance to Painting and Back, posed questions about a crisis in the medium of painting leading up to abstraction’s so-called “invention.”

Artist Rachel Hayes will be in residence at the School of Art the week of March 13th and will deliver a public lecture on Tuesday, March 14 at 5:30pm in the S151 auditorium. In addition to her lecture, Hayes will be working on a site-specific installation in the Atirum of Dodd. Hayes creates fabric structures that vibrantly explore painting processes, quilt making, architectural space, light, and shadow. Her large-scale pieces reflect her interests in both painting and the craft of sewing.

Melissa Harshman will have work on view at the following venues during the Southern Graphics Council International Conference in Atlanta, GA, March 15–18th, 2017: Departures: Off the Wall and Out of the Frame at Eyedrum Gallery, curated by Stephanie Smith, Dodd MFA 1997; Outliers at Callanwolde Art Center; Turn of the Millennium, curated by Cynthia Lollis, Dodd MFA 2000 and Danie Deeg, Dodd MFA 200 at the Loews Hotel; Designing Women at Murmur Gallery; Orpheus at Orpheus Brewery; and Hello. I Love You.

ArtsATL has published a review of Clues & Scientific Method, the group exhibition at Marcia Wood Gallery in Atlanta featuring School of Art MFA candidates selected and organized by Victoria Camblin, editor and artistic director of Art Papers.

The Finishing School, a new exhibition space at the Thomas Street facility of the Lamar Dodd School of Art directed by Assistant Professor of Art, Mike Calway-Fagen, celebrates its opening with the inauguraul exhibition Parallel Play, on view March 1 - 29, 2017. The opening reception for Parallel Play is on Saturday, March 4 at 6 pm.