Western Carolina University will present the School of Art and Design biennial faculty exhibition from Wednesday, March 24, through Saturday, May 8, at the Fine Art Museum. The exhibit, titled “System + Structure, will open with a reception from 4 to 6 p.m. March 24.
The exhibit will feature the work of 17 WCU faculty members, all teaching artists, who work in a wide range of media including ceramics, sculpture, painting, drawing, printmaking, installation, book art, photography, graphic design, new media and video.
Faculty participants are Cathryn Griffin, Claire Van der Plas, Erin Tapley, George Rector, Greg McPherson, James Kirkpatrick, Joan Byrd, Jon Jicha, Kelly Popoff, Marie Cochran, Martin DeWitt, Mary Anna Lafratta, Marya Roland, Matthew Liddle, Ramonray Menze, Richard Tichich and Susan Martin.
“The exhibit is intended to demonstrate not only the diversity of the School of Art and Design, but also the creative innovation and conviction of its faculty members, who teach and exhibit their work nationally and internationally,” said Martin DeWitt, director of WCU’s Fine Art Museum.
“The ‘system and structure’ concept revolves around each faculty member’s art-making process. The exhibit reveals the dynamic mode of expression, process and creative conviction of each artist,” said DeWitt.
The exhibit includes four works by Griffin, a photographer and professor in the School of Art and Design, that capture vacation complexes near the ocean built during the housing boom that now stand empty.
“My photographs attempt to describe the enormity of this endeavor, and hope to suggest the abject alienation that is sure to follow. There were no people there, and almost every unit was empty. It was very quiet, as if a disaster had just happened,” said Griffin.
Fine Art Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday. The museum is closed Sundays, Mondays, university holidays and academic breaks
