New Alumni work at Holly Johnson Gallery

Holly Johnson Gallery in Dallas is pleased to announce the opening of, Garland Fielder: Modulations, an exhibition of recent paintings and sculpture. A reception for the artist will be held Saturday, October 16 2010, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. The exhibit continues through December 18th.

Born in Houston, Texas in 1971, Fielder currently resides in Austin where he is pursuing a Masters of Architecture at the University of Texas. Fielder's education is as robust and diverse as his artwork. He received a BA in philosophy and creative writing from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute, and a MFA from the University of North Texas.

Most recently, Fielder was included in the New American Talent exhibition, a two-year traveling exhibition originating in Austin. For the second time, Fielder will be featured in the juried exhibition in print, New American Painting (West edition #80), published this fall. Other recent exhibitions include; an artist residency at the Red Gate Gallery in Beijing, China; The Focus and Azalea galleries in San Francisco, CA; The University of Art and Design in Helsinki, Finland; The Commerce Street Artist's Warehouse, Houston, TX; and Anya Tish Gallery, Houston, TX. His art criticism has appeared in various arts magazines such as Artforum.com, Art Lies, Glasstire, and Art Papers.

For more information on this and other exhibitions, please visit Holly Johnson Gallery.

CVAD alum to be featured at Artspace 111

Cecelia Feld, a 1976 graduate of CVAD's MFA program, has been producing, exhibiting and selling art for over 30 years. She grew up in New York City and received a B.A. from Hunter College. Cecelia has lived and worked in Dallas, Texas since 1969. She has shown her work in numerous juried and solo exhibits. Her artwork is in a number of private and corporate collections including Frito-Lay, I.B.M. and Delta Airlines. Ms. Feld is the recipient of a MacDowell Colony Visual Artist Fellowship (Peterborough, New Hampshire) and a Residency/Fellowship in printmaking at the Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont. Her prints on paper explore the possibilities of the interaction of line, shape, color and texture in monotypes and collagraphs.

Her most recent work will be featured in a solo show at Artspace 111, 111 Hampton Street, Fort Worth Texas Thursday, May 20, 2010, from 6-9 pm (http://www.artspace111.com/exhibits.html) See CVAD announcements and http://www.studio7310.com for details about the upcoming exhibition and her successful career in art!

Texoma Living article by Giner Mynatt: Have an art filled (pdf)

CVAD Grad to Hold Third Show at James Cohan Gallery, New York

CVAD alum Erick Swenson (BFA Studio Art, Painting and Drawing, 1999) is holding his third show at the James Cohan Gallery in New York. Recent solo exhibitions of his work have also been held at the Savannah College of Art and Design,the UCLA Hammer Museum, Q.E.D in Los Angeles, and Villa Stuck in Munich, Germany. Swenson’s works have been featured in group shows including Art in America Now, Shanghai MOCA (200&) the Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum , NYC (2004), and Springtide at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia (2005).

A complete biography and articles about Swenson’s works can be found at the James Cohan Gallery.

CVAD Art Education Alum receives Oklahoma Governor's Art Award for 2009

Article Credit: "Southeastern Update" November 2009,  Southeaster Oklahoma State University 

Ron English: Redefining culture
By Ernestine Bousquet
UNT North Texan - August 7, 2009 http://northtexan.unt.edu/content/redefining-culture

English crashed his way into popular culture, co-opting billboards and subverting the corporate message to get people to think about what they are consuming.

He got attention during the 2008 presidential campaign when he created his "Abraham Obama" portrait for posters and murals that melded the faces of the presidential icon and the presidential hopeful. The Obama campaign commissioned the piece, though English decided on the image.

He studied photography at UNT with Brent Phelps, professor of studio art, and Skeet McAuley, former professor, who both served as his mentors and as role models of working artists. They coaxed the shy artist out of his shell. 

For English, college was a springboard from his working class background into the world of art. And even though he was a photographer, he approached it with an artist's eye, taking photos from unusual perspectives and experimenting with trickery in his landscapes.

"My art wouldn't be what it was if I hadn't been a photography student first," English says.

It was the political activists he later lived with in Austin who made him rethink his billboard art.

"They thought it was interesting that you give away art to the public," he says. "They said you should use it as a message." English is still influenced as much by the people around him as he is by his own personal philosophy.

And although he now calls himself a pop artist, he was first turned off by pop art's superficiality. But in his hands, billboards of Bart Simpson and paintings of Marilyn Monroe are social commentary.

"Pop art can either be art that is popular or art that comments on the popular culture. And at its best, it's both," English says. "The role of the artist is not to answer questions, but to ask the questions and to get people to think about things."

Photograph courtesy of Ron English

Story of Art & Life Featured in the Dallas Morning News

Eric McGehearty received his MFA in Sculpture from UNT in 2004. His work has been shown nationally in venues such as the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, the Museum of Fine Art at Florida State University and at the Piedmont Arts Museum in Virginia. Since graduation, he has been active in public art commissions for the City of Fort Worth with his "United We Stand" recognized by the Americans for the Arts as one of the forty best projects in 2007. In 2009 his sculpture will be included in the Armory Show in New York and in a one person show at the McKinney Avenue Contemporary in Dallas TX. McGehearty has struggled with dsylexia throughout his life. He has never, with his own eyes, read a book. As a child, he realized how differently he relates to the written word and to the process of reading. "I approach literature from the perspective of a person who cannot read or who does not have access to written material," says Eric. "By combining the logic embedded in language with the irrationality of thinking without words, my art work engages questions about how we understand the world." Eric's work has been exhibited at the JFK Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC and at the Dallas Museum of Art, as well as at a number of galleries and schools. His "United We Stand" - an outdoor bronze sculpture and window installation commissioned for Fort Worth's Fire Station #8 - was nationally recognized at the 2007 Public Art Year in Review as one of the 40 best public art projects of the year. He is an inspirational speaker working with Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D), a national nonprofit, volunteer organization, sharing his struggles and successes as a dyslexic. His art work reflects his difficulties reading and helps audiences see into the world of print disability.

A story about McGehearty's art and life was featured in this Sunday, February 15th issue of the Dallas Morning News in the Guide Daily Arts and Lifestyle section as well as the Dallas Morning News online. The story was written by staff writer Nancy Churnin. Also a video interview with Eric will be released on the Dallas Morning News website to coincide with the story. The story both describes Eric's newest work, "Locked Behind Words" Fort Worth, Texas as well as exploring Eric's life as a Dyslexic. In the article, Eric credits part of his success to his Sculpture Professor Mike Cunningham at UNT:

"It was in graduate school that he had a second breakthrough that inspired him to create many of his current pieces. He had sculpted a bronze statue of Sisyphus, who was condemned by the gods to a life of eternal struggle, pushing a rock up a mountain that was always doomed to roll back down to him. "My professor told me he could see the struggle in the piece but wanted to know where it was coming from in me. I told him about my dyslexia for the first time. And he said, 'I would like to see your struggle in the work - not just anyone's struggle.' I hadn't ever thought about doing art that was about me. But that gave me permission."

Eric's latest work and Installation "Locked Behind Words" (pictured) is also featured in the article. It is a special Installation by Eric McGehearty in the library of Tarrant County College Northwest Campus in Fort Worth curated by Winter Rusiloski.

To learn more about Eric McGehearty and work visit his website www.ericmcgehearty.com and read the full article here.

Artist at Grand Prairie wax museum sculpts Obama figure

Most of America has seen President Barack Obama at least once in the last several days – in newspapers, on television and the Internet. But Sonya Vasquez has been studying every detail, gesture and expression on his face for quite some time. And she'll continue to do so, meticulously, over the next several weeks as she sculpts a wax figure that will go on display in March at Louis Tussaud's Palace of Wax Museum in Grand Prairie. Video Artist creates sculpture of Obama for Grand Prairie wax museum 01/25/2009 More general news video View larger E-mail Clip More Video News Videos UFC fighter Rashad Evans discusses his professional career Prank posts zombie warning on electronic road sign in Austin TCU professor leads double life as Dumpster diver The $20,000 statue will be located in the hall of presidents – beside such notables as George Washington and on the pedestal currently occupied by former President George W. Bush. Last week, Vasquez continued the delicate task of sculpting the head in her office inside the museum. Her walls are virtually covered with pictures of Obama from various perspectives and with different expressions. The artist decided to present a smiling Obama, because that's how he appears in many of his public events. "We decided to use a smiling face, rather than a serious one," said the former University of North Texas student. "I tried to find pictures in which he has the same expression – looking on the Internet, in magazines and any place I could think to look. "I spend the day watching Obama videos on the Internet to try to capture his character," she added. The wax figure will sport a jacket like the one Obama wore when he took the oath of office Tuesday and will be displayed behind a podium bearing the presidential seal. Vasquez wanted to finish the sculpture by Inauguration Day, but doing an entire statue is not easy – and this one is going to take about three months. The challenge, she said, will be Obama's eyes. "His eyes have been the most difficult for me," she said. "I've been stuck on that for days. It's so much easier to do the smiling face because you have more muscles to work with. But making it look natural is the challenge." When Obama's head is completed, it will be sent to Florida, where another artist who specializes in hair can put on the finishing touches. Afterward, Vasquez will make a mold for the body, using a model with roughly the same build and stature as Obama. "Many people will never get to see Obama in person," Vasquez said. "This may be the closest they'll ever come. So I'm taking my time to make sure I have a really good likeness, so that people can enjoy it." Vasquez has worked at the museum for 10 years and has sculpted dozens of figures, including Britney Spears, Johnny Depp, Lance Armstrong, Marilyn Monroe and Johnny Cash. The latter is still her favorite. "I loved working on the Johnny Cash figure," she said. "I'm a big fan of his music." As a little girl, Vasquez loved to draw. But when she visited the museum, she knew that's what she wanted to do. "That experience really opened my eyes," she said. "I had never thought of making three-dimensional pictures." That also inspired her to study sculpting at UNT, focusing on portraits. She eventually landed a job at the Grand Prairie museum, where she also did the sculpture of former President Bush.

Gretchen Bataille: Artist Jesús Moroles for Texan of the Year

His art took him from the cotton fields of Texas all the way to the White House. His granite sculptures and plazas express art in unexpected places: building lobbies, city squares and public parks.

Born to cotton-pickers in Corpus Christi, Jesús Moroles displayed an artistic talent from a young age and experienced early success as a painter and silk-screener. But it wasn't until he attended the University of North Texas that he had his first experience with sculpting and encountered a mentor who stoked this passion.

Jesús is my nominee for Texan of the Year because he has defied the odds to bring art into our everyday existence and help shape the way we live. Believing that art can make a difference in people's lives, he has shown us that it has value beyond a museum and should be part of the natural world. Art can motivate us to follow our passion, as it has for Jesús, and art can move us, as it has for the thousands of people who have walked through his granite-and-earthen monument for the Houston Police Officers Memorial.

For his achievements, Jesús recently received the National Medal of Arts, the highest award given to artists and art patrons by the U.S. government. He also is a recipient of the 2007 Texas Medal of the Arts Award by the Texas Cultural Trust.

Just as important, Jesús embodies the American Dream, the tale of a man born into poverty who got an education, worked hard and paid his dues to become the success he is today. And he is a man who believes strongly in using his talent and success to lift up our communities. His story is one that we should never tire of hearing, because it is a reminder that education will take us anywhere we want to go, even places we never dreamed about.

His story strikes a particular chord for me, because, as president of one of Texas' largest and most diverse universities, it is my mission to give rise to many more students like Jesús. And as president of Jesús' alma mater, I am proud that we helped launch his career. He took a workshop with Luis Jiménez, who lectured at the university, and after earning his B.F.A. through our College of Visual Arts and Design, Jesús spent a year as an apprentice learning from the master sculptor. He spent another year in Italy, and during a visit to Monte Altissimo, where Michelangelo acquired his marble, Jesús was inspired to create sculptures in harmony with nature.

Since then, Jesús has crafted works that reflect our place in nature. He has honed a signature style to symbolize that relationship, carving and polishing half of a granite slab while leaving the rest raw and untouched.

His work is shown throughout the world, in museums, in corporate and public spaces and in private collections. His piece Stele Gateway graces Lubben Plaza in downtown Dallas, across from the Belo Building. Lapstrake, across from the Museum of Modern Art in New York, is one of his most visible. His work was part of the landmark exhibition Contemporary Hispanic Art in the United States, which was shown at major American museums. He received a Visual Arts Fellowship and his pieces were included in a two-year traveling museum exhibition. He also earned a National Endowment for the Arts Matching Grant for an environmental installation of 45 sculptural pieces and fountains for the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.

In becoming one of the world's master sculptors, Jesús is a role model for anyone who believes that art can change lives, whether one is creating it or experiencing it.

Original article can be found in the Denton Chronicle.

CVAD Alumna has multi-faceted career

Judith Garrett Segura. B.A., M.A., M.F.A., is an independent consultant advising clients on history and archives projects, historical and interpretive exhibits, and fine art acquisition and installation. She retired as president and trustee of The Belo Foundation at the end of 2004, after a 24 year career at Belo Corp. While at Belo Corp. she was also curator of the company’s 300-piece collection of paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, and sculpture by Texas artists, which she began assembling in 1986. She recently completed a scholarly history of Belo Corporation, the oldest company in Texas, which was published by the University of Texas Press and issued in September 2008. The title is Belo: Newspapers to New Media. Segura drew on company archives and private private papers, to document and explore chapters of the rich, cultural life of Texas. Tracing the company’s history from the time of the formation of Texas as a State, highlighting the role of the press in communities from Galveston to Dallas, and revealing the changing technologies from telegraphs to typesetting to the Information Age, she charts not only the company’s history but the changing nature of our society. She currently is heading an archives project for T. Boone Pickens, including development of a new energy research library and museum at Oklahoma State University.

Ms. Segura is also a published poet and author of two other non-fiction books. Her poetry was selected for the DART “Poetry in Motion” project, which places poetry on all of the DART trains, and she has recorded one CD of her poetry. Her non-fiction works are Texas Monthly Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Texas (1987) and Texas Monthly Guide to Dallas (1992). She is also a visual artist, recently commissioned by the University of North Texas System to design and install three permanent creations as part of the architectural plan of the first building on the new permanent campus of UNT Dallas. Additionally, her work in drawing and photography is included in several corporate and private collections.

In her volunteer community service, Ms. Segura is currently vice-chair of the executive advisory council of the Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a member of the executive board of the Central University Libraries at Southern Methodist University; and the advisory council of the College of Visual Arts and Design at the University of North Texas in Denton. She is a former trustee of the Old Red Foundation, which operates the Old Red Museum in Dallas, the Dallas Police Foundation; the Dallas Historical Society; and Paul Quinn College.

Painter wants viewers to "want to laugh while taking a cold shower"

Born in Houston, Howard Sherman completed his MFA at the University of North Texas. Since graduating, Sherman has enjoyed critical successes, sold-out and near sold-out gallery shows. Mr. Sherman is two-time finalist for the highly coveted Hunting Prize; one of a very few emerging artists to make the final round of consideration amongst veteran Texas talent. He is a finalist for a slot in the ArtPace 2009 Residency program. Sherman's work has been printed in several art periodicals, including the juried regional New American Paintings book. This fall, the Museum of South East Texas in Beaumont, and the Galveston Arts Center will host a traveling solo exhibition of Sherman's paintings and drawings.

Green Tongue, 2007
oil, acrylic and marker on canvas
80 X 70 inches
Copyright 2008 Howard Sherman, courtesy Gerald Peters Gallery.
Photo: Harrison Evans

Howard Sherman strives to make viewers "want to laugh while taking a cold shower". Sherman deftly infuses his work with wry humor. Urban modern iconography's heroic neo-Abstract Expressionist canvases pay subtle homage to some of art history's greatest masters. Francisco de Goya's powerful masterpiece "Saturn Devouring His Son", Francis Bacon's "Figure With Meat," Helen Frankenthaler and Morris Lewis' stained canvases, Wassily Kandinsky's lyrical use of line and color, as well as the gestural abstraction of Franz Kline, Wilhelm DeKooning, Jackson Pollack and Arshile Gorky live symbiotically within Sherman's contemporary context of narrative cartoon and vector-based mark making. Aggressive and physical brush strokes coupled with heightened color palettes bring attitude and life to the work.

Designing Man

Michael Faircloth's designs in one word are elegant.  He fully understands the relationship of the woman and the design - the extension of the individual through the created garment. The statement Michael's designs make for his clientele is one of quiet assurance, grace. That intuitive pulse is intrinsic; the creations are impeccably tailored with 'flattering precision.' "My intention," says Michael "is to enhance a woman's own style and attitude." Michael established his first couture salon in Dallas in 1983 after graduating from the School of Visual Arts at North Texas, a place where examination of garments by designers such as Cristobal Balenciaga, Oscar de la Renta and Hubert de Givenchy in the Texas Fashion Collection provided him with an inner view to genius, the first architects of modern couture. "That was an experience that few Schools can provide at that level. The Collection is one of the most unique and impressive in the country," comments Faircloth. Michael Faircloth gained international recognition when asked to design the inaugural wardrobe for First Lady Laura Bush, a client for over 13 years. The gown made a strikingly beautiful statement about the incoming First Lady. This tradition of designing inaugural gowns is now being passed on to the first woman president of the University of North Texas, Dr. Gretchen Bataille. The upcoming inaugural for the new president on April 13th, 2007, will unveil a new Faircloth design. "This is a wonderful opportunity to create something for UNT's first woman president in its 116 year history. She is a beautiful, strong and creative individual, capturing that in the design is quite exciting." Following the inauguration, the gown will find its home in the Texas Fashion Collection. For more information about the Inaugural activities and to reserve a table for the Inaugural Emerald Ball, whose focus is the creation of new needs-based undergraduate scholarships, visit www.unt.edu. Join in the celebration.

Shirin Askari: Classroom to Catwalk
Posted on Wed, 08/05/2009 to the North Texan 
By Michelle Hale

Shirin Askari sewed her first dress at the tender age of 7. Seventeen years later she's putting the skills she began learning so young to the test on the megahit reality show, Project Runway.

Askari honed her skills at UNT, earning a bachelor of fine arts degree in fashion design in May, 2008. Later that summer, after scrapping plans for a trip to Europe due to a knee injury, Askari found out about Project Runway's selection process. With only 3 days until the application deadline, she put together an audition video and submitted it along with her designs for consideration. She sailed through the interview process and got the call to join the cast for the show's 6th season at its new home on Lifetime.

The season premiere airs Aug. 20, and with the show's taping finished, Askari talked in a phone interview about her experience with reality TV, her UNT education and her love of fashion.

Shirin wearing one of her designs.
(Photo by Paul Hayashi)

For the full interview and related materials, read the original article at The North Texan.