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Spring 2009
Museum Director Albert Sperath Retiring
By David Hopper
The Daily Mississippian
Staff Reporter
Outgoing University of Mississippi Museum director Albert Sperath will be retiring June 30 after eight years of service to the university.
“It’s been a good place to end my career,” Sperath said. “Up until 2001, I’d been involved in art museums exclusively.
When I came here it was a history, art and science museum so I had to expand my catalog and interest and knowledge to be able to work with scientific instruments and historical artifacts. It was a great way to reenergize myself.”
The Pennsylvania native credits his family for introducing him to the arts. His parents were professional model makers. His father worked for a ship yard, and whenever a ship was launched, he was commissioned to make a model of it.
“I grew up in a family where my mom and dad were always making something,” he said. “They made all my Halloween costumes for three or four years and I always won awards for them.”
Sperath has always been interested in photography.
His original career plan was to become a photographer for National Geographic, but after a few years of studying photography at Ohio University, he said he realized that photojournalism wasn’t for him.
“I discovered that art was a lot more fun than trying to create an image that would communicate in the journalistic level,” he said.
Sperath graduated with a B.F.A. from Ohio University in 1973 and earned an M.F.A. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1976.
In addition to photography, Sperath said sculpture has been a primary interest.
“It’s odd because my degrees are in photography,” he said. “But after leaving grad school, I haven’t made a serious photograph since then.”
Sperath said the choice to pursue a career in museum work was a conscious decision.
After seeing that art graduates were having trouble finding jobs in academia, he decided to go a different route by seizing an assistantship opportunity at the Sheldon Museum of Art in Lincoln, Neb.
“By June of ‘76 I had a job with the Kentucky Arts Commission, running their traveling exhibition service,” he said. “I have been gainfully employed in museums ever since.”
As director, Sperath oversees every operation of the University Museum. His many responsibilities include everything from making sure the museum is clean to seeing that the air conditioning system is working properly. He has to know how to perform the jobs of the five museum staff members under him in case he has to step in for them.
“When I started in museum work I started out as a preparator,” he said. “That’s about the lowest professional level you can start in, the person that does the framing, matting, installing, lighting, shipping and moving. When you start at that level and work your way up to director, you sort of zig zag back and forth between all these other positions like curator, registrar and administrator.
“You bounce into these sort of things as your work on your career and you learn things,” he said.
Sperath has overseen dozens of exhibitions during his tenure at Ole Miss ranging from folk art to models by Leonardo Da Vinci.
“We’ve run the gamut from really popular exhibitions to really controversial exhibitions, which I think a museum should always strive to do,” he said. “As an academic institution we are expected to explore all avenues of thought and questions, theories, facts and relationships.”
Sperath said the most memorable one was the exhibition of anti-Ku Klux Klan art work from William Christenberry because of how controversial it was.
Sperath has also served as an adjunct assistant professor in the department of art. Since 2003, he taught a course for incoming graduate students.
“It’s a real practical course. We look at curriculum vitas, resumes, cover letters, contracts, copyright,” he said. “It’s the nuts and bolts of being an artist.”
Sperath said a career at a museum is something students may want to consider because there are thousands of museums across the country. He said while it doesn’t pay much, he has found his years of experience in museums to be fun, productive and rewarding.
“It’s rewarding because you get a sense that you are helping to frame the culture that you’re working in,” he said. “It will provide a touchstone for future generations to see where we were and what we did.”
A new museum director has not been hired yet. Sperath mentioned some important qualities his successor should possess, including having an open mind and a lot of energy.
Sperath added that the next director needs to understand the museum’s mission in serving the university and Oxford area and should have a real affinity for new technologies. Sperath said it was crucial to utilize technology in order to improve the museum’s inter-activity and reach out to tech-savvy young generations.
“Technology is the entrée,” Sperath said. “If they like what they see, they’ll come and visit you to get the full effect instead of just seeing it on a screen. Technology is like the bridge to the museum.”
Sperath’s retirement plans are to stay in Oxford and spend more time in his studio making art.
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Dr. Nancy Wicker Chosen for Prestigious ACLS Fellowship
Written by Lee Eric Smith
06/01/2009
After years of teaching and serving as chair of the University of Mississippi Department of Art, Nancy Wicker felt she was due for a sabbatical. Being chosen for an American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship to go along with her well-earned leave is icing on the cake.
More than 1,000 scholars applied for the highly competitive fellowships. Normally, the organization chooses 65 recipients, but the economic crisis trimmed that number to 57 this year, which makes Wicker's selection all the more impressive.
"I was thrilled," said Wicker, who specializes in medieval art history and archaeology. "I had no idea how many people applied. The ACLS has representatives from all kinds of learned societies, encompassing all kinds of scholarly research. It is indeed quite an honor."
Starting in October, Wicker plans to conduct research as a visiting professor at Uppsala University in Sweden. There she will continue her study of Scandinavian bracteates, a type of stamped gold pendant typically worn by elite women in fifth- and sixth-century Nordic cultures. Though bracteates are often ornate and beautiful, Wicker is not studying them for their looks.
"I'm concerned with the people," said Wicker, who plans to write a book from her studies. "Who made them? Who wore them? What did they mean to the people who wore them, and why did women wear them to their graves? I'm interested in the social history of these objects and what they say about Scandinavian pre-Viking culture."
While the professor of art was already slated for a one-semester sabbatical this fall, the ACLS fellowship gives Wicker the funding and flexibility needed to take a full year.
"This is such a high honor," said Sheri Fleck Rieth, art department chair. "When you've worked as long and hard as she has, the time away is such a refresher. You begin to work on your own personal work again. That's what's great about this. She's bringing a lot of honor to our department and to the university, and we're very proud of her."
While in Europe, Wicker will present some of her work at seminars and conferences. She's also expecting to add some of her research to "Death's Snug Chamber," a larger research project at Uppsala University on medieval chamber graves. When she returns, she expects the experience to enhance her instruction at UM; she plans to add to her class on the Vikings, their art and archaeology.
"I feel very, very strongly that professors need to stay active in their research and bring it back into their classrooms," Wicker said. "This research will directly inform some classes I plan to teach. I believe in active learning. I don't just stand there and lecture."
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University Artists to Donate Artwork to Memphis
Habitat Homeowners
Written by Lee Eric Smith
05/01/2009
OXFORD, Miss. – One of the first questions many new homeowners ask once they get the keys to the front door is, "What am I going to put on that wall over there?"
But that's a question eight families won't have to ask, thanks to a special partnership between the University of Mississippi Department of Art and Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis.
The project Home is Where the ART Is involves UM faculty and student artists who are providing wall-ready, family friendly paintings for new Habitat homeowners moving in this spring. The homes are being dedicated at 2 p.m. Saturday (May 2) at one of the new homes, at 2614 Pershing Ave. in Memphis. The paintings will be displayed during the ceremony.
MFA student Josh Revord of Memphis contributed this painting to the project.
Besides the artwork, recipients will also get brief artists' biographies and information about when and where the piece was created. The painters hope that exposing the families to fine art will ignite creativity and appreciation – especially among children.
"Several participating artists are international students, and some of the American artists created the art while studying abroad in Italy or France," said Danita Beck, an Ole Miss MFA candidate who is providing some of her work in addition to spearheading the project. "We hope we can spark an interest in not only art but geography and history, just to name a few topics."
The families can view the art before selecting pieces for their homes and will draw numbers to determine selection order. The work is to be distributed in two selection rounds – likely a pleasant surprise for the homeowners, who are unaware they will become art collectors Saturday afternoon.
"Habitat homeowners receive things all the time – gifts, furniture, a full pantry. But I don't know of any time that art has been offered," said Dwayne Spencer, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis. "So bringing the art to them is very exciting."
Besides Beck, participating artists include MFA students Rina Chiu of Taipei, Taiwan; Robbie Carlisle of Amory; Amy Evans of Lake Jackson, Texas; Judy Ford of Oxford; and Josh Revord of Memphis. Faculty members Sheri Rieth Lee, Katherine Rhodes Fields and Lou Haney have also committed to donate artwork. The artists receive no financial compensation, but find the project rewarding nonetheless.
This piece was contributed by MFA student Rina Chiu of Taipei, Taiwan.
"When I approach artists and ask for a piece of art for Habitat, they wonder if it's an auction," Beck said. "When I tell them the art will go directly into the homes of families, they express great excitement and think about what specific piece or pieces they want to give to a family as a housewarming present."
Habitat appreciates the generosity of the UM artists, said Spencer, who added that he hopes to continue the project for years to come.
"If that's a possibility, we're open to it," Spencer said. "The demographic we serve, it's unlikely that many have been exposed to original works of art. They probably don't go to museums or have many cultural outings at all. For some, it'll be their first exposure to original artwork, let alone having an original piece to hang.
For more information on the dedication and display, contact Crystel Hardin, communications and events coordinator for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis, at 901-761-4771, ext. 210. For more about Home Is Where The ART Is, contact Danita Beck at 901-674-1884.
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Painting Professor Seeks to Move Viewers with 'Still Life Theater' Exhibit at University Museum
Written by Edwin Smith
04/08/2009
OXFORD, Miss. - Objects portrayed at rest can move the intellect and emotions. Just ask Philip R. Jackson.
The assistant professor of painting at the University of Mississippi presents the exhibit "Still Life Theater," an 18-piece display of his work at University Museum. The exhibit runs through May 3, with a reception for Jackson scheduled for 2 to 4 p.m. April 26.
While the subject matter of each painting is easily identifiable, the artist's arrangements are intended to cause viewers to walk away with their own interpretations.
"I myself was deeply moved while viewing paintings by masters such as Morandi, Vermeer, Shardan, Velasquez and Uglow," Jackson said. "Seeing these masterworks had a huge, instrumental impact upon my direction as a professional artist. I became serious about using still lifes to make people think more about their surroundings."
Albert Sperath, museum director, thinks Jackson's own paintings achieve his objective.
"Philip's exquisite still lifes evoke a question mark in my mind," Sperath said. "They are reminiscent of traditional super realism, but as objects are presented in odd juxtapositions, strange relationships begin to form and a whole new world is created in his theater tableaus."
This is precisely what Jackson desires.
"The process of discovery is what I want - for each viewer to be surprised by the different types of visual and emotional tensions," Jackson said.
The pieces in Jackson's show were all painted between 2004 and 2009. He said he uses a technique first employed by master artist Jan van Eyke. The artist starts each painting as a grisaille (monochromatic tones of gray), and slowly adds thin layers of color on top, thereby infusing them with illumination and life.
"I want each painting to be saturated with vibrancy and life," Jackson said. "Behind each work, there is a story."
For example, "A Family Experience" came out of the birth of Jackson's daughter, Sophia Grace. Born in 2007 with Down syndrome and severe heart defects, she had to have two open-heart surgeries before she was a year old. Jackson and his wife, Nicole, have a second daughter, Julia, who was born a year later.
"While the iconography reveals a tragic experience, I believe it also portrays hope," Jackson said.
A Cincinnati native, Jackson earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in fine art from Columbus College of Art & Design and Bowling Green State University, respectively. He also studied at Studio Art Centers International in Florence, Italy, and toured the great galleries found in London, Paris, Barcelona and Madrid. He joined the UM art department faculty in 2006.
Some of Jackson's work is owned by the Evansville (Ind.) Museum of Art and the Fort Wayne (Ind.) Museum of Art. While an artist-in-residence at the former, he was the youngest ever to be given a solo show. Jackson received a $10,000 award from the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation in Montreal. He received an Individual Artist Grant and Research Fellow from the Mississippi Arts Commission in 2008.
University Museum, Fifth Street and University Avenue, is open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday. For more information or for assistance related to a disability, visit http://www.olemiss.edu/museum/ or call 662-915-7073.
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Walter Anderson's Enchanting Works Celebrated At Oxford Conference for the Book March 26-28
Written by Rebecca Lauck Cleary
03/16/2009
Free event also includes sessions with schoolchildren, readings, panels and more
OXFORD, Miss. - The life and works of Mississippi native Walter Anderson, one of America's greatest artists, are to be celebrated during the 16th annual Oxford Conference for the Book, scheduled March 26-28 at the University of Mississippi.
A renowned painter, writer and naturalist, Anderson (1903-1965) constantly sought to understand life's meaning. Besides thousands of paintings, sculptures, block prints, figurines, pottery and murals, he produced more than 10,000 pen-and-ink illustrations. His writings include poems, stories, journals and letters, many of which interpreted the natural world of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where he spent his life. An extensive reader, he was greatly interested in books of poetry, art history and natural science.
"There are many artists who explored a story but few who fused with it," said Patricia Pinson, curator of exhibitions at the Walter Anderson Museum of Art in Ocean Springs. "The book to Anderson was a way of life, part of the quest to find realization and meaning. It was the distillation of the timeless epics that gave him the grasp of the significance of the moment. Great books and great art are about insight, and Anderson gives us insight into both."
The conference also includes sessions with authors of books for young readers involving some 1,000 local schoolchildren, a panel on how a disaster - such as Hurricane Katrina - affects writing, a presentation on book and author promotion, a fiction and poetry jam, a marathon book signing, a program commemorating the 100th birthday of writer Eudora Welty, a conference edition of "Thacker Mountain Radio," and various other addresses, readings and panels.
Presented in conjunction with the conference is a theatre performance celebrating Anderson's work. Three performances are scheduled at no charge but tickets are required. Optional offerings preceding the actual conference and calling for pre-registration and fee payment are a Mississippi Delta literary tour and a daylong workshop for writers.
The conference kicks off at 11:30 a.m. Thursday with a program and luncheon at UM's J.D. Williams Library, opening the exhibition "Walter Anderson and World Literature." Curator for the exhibit is the artist's son John Anderson of Ocean Springs, who along with Pinson will offer comments.
Two panel presentations are scheduled Thursday afternoon. "Bringing Walter Anderson to the World," moderated by artist William Dunlap, will feature Pinson, publisher Seetha Srinivasan and authors Patti Carr Black and Christopher Maurer. "Living With Walter Anderson: His Children Speak Out," moderated by Anne Prichard Morris, features Anderson's children as panelists. They are Bill Anderson, John Anderson, Leif Anderson and Mary Anderson Pickard.
Dunlap, a landscape painter who lives in McLean, Va., said he is honored to be involved with the book conference for the seventh year.
"I think it's courageous and innovative of the book conference to take on a painter who is far more than just an illustrator," Dunlap said. "I'm fascinated by Walter Anderson because all he is doing with a brush and a pen is telling stories in a different language."
A panel discussion is planned Friday to celebrate April's distinction as National Poetry Month. Moderator is Ann Fisher-Wirth, UM professor of English, and panelists are poets Jimmy Kimbrell, UM's John and Renee Grisham Writer in Residence; and Camille Dungy, associate professor of creative writing at San Francisco State University.
Also on Friday, literary scholar Peggy Whitman Prenshaw will present an address commemorating the 100th anniversary of Eudora Welty's birth. "I plan to talk about the whole range of Welty's career - the writings, the life and the interviews," Prenshaw said.
For the sixth year, two sessions with young authors are scheduled. On Friday morning, Trenton Lee Stewart, author of "The Mysterious Benedict Society," will speak to Oxford-area fifth-graders. Stewart's book is winner of the 2008 E. B. White Read Aloud Award. The second session, on Saturday morning, features Jay Asher, author of "Thirteen Reasons Why," who will speak to students from Mississippi high schools. These two sessions are sponsored in collaboration with the Junior Auxiliary of Oxford, the Lafayette County Literary Council and Square Books Jr.
On Friday, following the sessions with the fifth-graders, programming includes the annual panel presentation "The Endangered Species: Readers Today and Tomorrow." Moderator is educator Elaine H. Scott and panelists are Claiborne Barksdale of the Barksdale Reading Institute, Hattiesburg librarian Pamela Pridgen, and authors Asher and Stewart.
Ted Ownby, director of UM's Center for the Study of Southern Culture, moderates a panel Saturday on "Writing After Katrina." Panelists Emily Clark, a historian at Tulane University; Jerry Ward, a poet; and Joyce Zonana, a memoirist and literary critic, will discuss the challenges and processes of being a writer in the years after the storm.
"The session is not about writing about the hurricane, but instead it is about how the process of writing is affected by a disaster," Ownby said.
The second annual daylong workshop for writers, scheduled March 25, is to be directed by fiction writer Margaret Love-Denman, an Ole Miss alumnus and former Oxford resident. The workshop fee of $250 includes evaluation of a manuscript and a private session with Denman.
Conference sessions Thursday afternoon, as well as Thacker Mountain Radio that evening, take place at the Lyric Theatre, located at 1006 Van Buren Ave. Friday morning sessions are at UM's Fulton Chapel, with Friday afternoon sessions at the Lyric Theatre, with book signings and open mike Poetry and Fiction Jam that evening at Square Books. Saturday's sessions are scheduled at UM's Nutt Auditorium in the Music Building.
Preceding the conference for the sixth year is the Mississippi Delta Literary Tour , based in Greenwood, with visits to Indianola, Tutwiler, Clarksdale, Merigold and Greenville. Scheduled March 22-26, the tour costs $575 per person for program activities, eight meals and local transportation. Group accommodations are available at the Alluvian Hotel at a discounted rate of $170 by calling 1-866-600-2501 and requesting the literary tour rate. Rooms also are available in Greenwood at the Best Western, 662-455-5777, and Hampton Inn, 662-455-7985.
The conference is co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, Square Books, Junior Auxiliary of Oxford, Lafayette County-Oxford Public Library, Lafayette County Literacy Council, Oxford Middle School PTA, Mississippi Library Commission and Mississippi Hills Heritage Area Alliance. It is funded in part by a contribution from the R&B Feder Foundation for the Beaux Arts and grants from the Mississippi Humanities Council, National Endowment for the Arts, Mississippi Arts Commission, Oxford Tourism Council and Yoknapatawpha Arts Council.
For more information, a complete schedule or to register, call 662-915-5993 or visit http://www.oxfordconferenceforthebook.com/ . For assistance related to a disability, call 662-915-5993.
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Katherine Rhodes Fields Exhibition
Please join us for another Gallery 130 Artist's Lecture by our current
exhibiting artist, Katherine Rhodes Fields. The exhibition and artist's
lecture are sponsored by The University of Mississippi's Art Department
and The Ole Miss Student Art Association.
Where: Gallery 130 Meek Hall, Ole Miss campus
When: Tomorrow, Tuesday, March 3, 2009 from 2:15-3:15 with a reception
immediately following.
Katherine is our Visiting Assistant Professor in Art, Printmaking and Book Arts. Katherine comes to us from St. Louis, Missouri where she was an Instructor of Printmaking at Webster University and joined our faculty in August of 2008.
The artist's talk will focus on the conceptual nature of her print work (from 2004-present) and how she refines her quest to "seek empirical communication with the use of literary devices within the visual realm."
The most current body of work, which is on display in Gallery 130 is
titled "33." The cohesive body of work represents the artist's ruminations
on the coincidences, conspiracies, events, and awkwardly strange
realizations with the number 33. All of the prints were created using
polyester lithographic plates on an Arches Cover substrate. To further the
underlying concept of the Conceit (the main thesis of Katherine's work
over the past several years). A considerable amount of the research was
done using "unreliable sources" from the internet (a.k.a. Wikipedia, etc.)
to supplement the intended usage of bathos and bombast as directives in
image choices and compositions in this series.
The exhibition will be on display until Friday March 6.
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Mississippi Collegiate Art Competition Awards
Hosted by Lewis Art Gallery, Millsaps College
Congratulations to Kristen Vise and Ross Turner for their Awards of Excellence!
Juror:
Louisiana State University Professor of Painting and Drawing , Michael
Crespo
Best of Show:
Krystina Cirilli (Mississippi State University)
Awards of Excellence:
Kristen Vise (University of Mississippi)
Ross Turner (University of Mississippi)
Grahame Snider (Mississippi State University)
Certificates of Merit:
Shana Gibson (for Computer Imaging; Mississippi University for Women)
Jerry Wolf (Clay Arts; Mississippi State
University)
Cynthia Waites (Drawing; Mississippi University for Women) Jessy Ingram
(Design; Mississippi University for
Women)
Sarah Powers (Printmaking; Mississippi State
University)
Teri Lynn Hubbard (Fiber Arts; Mississippi University for Women)
Andrew Snyder (Photography; Mississippi University for Women)
Lialah Putnam (Painting; Mississippi State University) Laura Sewell (Mixed
Media; Mississippi University for Women)
Adam Terry (Sculpture; Delta State University)
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Empty bowls to raise funds for pantry
By David Hopper
2/12/09
Eighteen local eateries will showcase their soups as they participate in the “Empty Bowls Luncheon Fundraiser” today at Oxford-University United Methodist Church.
From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. today, participants will fill their bowl with their choice of soup from places such as Newk’s, Ajax, City Grocery, Proud Larry’s and Pearl Street.
The cost is $15, and participants will be able to keep the bowl. The proceeds will benefit the Oxford Food Pantry.
Local potters and the UM Mud Daubers, an organization comprised of students enrolled in ceramics classes in the Ole Miss department of art, have donated the handcrafted bowls.
“It’s a great place to have lunch. The soups are delicious,” Oxford Food Pantry director June Rosentreter said. “It’s a nice atmosphere, and (participants) are helping out a very worthy cause.”
Rosentreter said there have been six “Empty Bowl Luncheons,” beginning in 2003. The profits have increased each year, she said.
“We made a little over $15,000 last year,” she said.
Each of the soups will be warming with an electrical cooker. Participants get to select their bowl. There will be a soup line where participants will choose their soup.
“We ask that clients use their bowls to eat the soup,” Rosentreter said.
There will also be a bread table with rolls donated by local bakers, such as Honey Bee Bakery and Bottletree Bakery.
The Oxford Food Pantry is a volunteer organization that provides food for needy people in the Lafayette County area.
Nearly all money earned by the Food Pantry goes to buying food with a small amount set aside for building maintenance. No Food Pantry staff members are paid, Rosentreter said.
“We are serving probably 100 families each week,” she said.
Elderly people are provided with a week’s worth of food each month. People under 65 are served food twice a year.
The Food Pantry is classified as a temporary emergency food service by the United States Department of Agriculture, Rosentreter said.
OU Methodist Church is located on 424 South 10th street. Reserved parking will be available in the church parking lot. The luncheon will be held in the activities center at the church.
http://flickr.com/photos/25692014@N03/sets/72157611329605398/
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