����vlog���� senior Megan Johnson will present her Senior Art Exhibit, “The Nature of Us: Our Way Home,” through May 12 in the Stephens Art Gallery.

There will be an artist’s talk at 5:30 p.m. on May 11, in the Boreham Business Building and a reception to meet the artist from 6:30-7:30 p.m. on May 11 in the gallery, located in the Walton Fine Arts Center.

Johnson, an art major from Oologah, Okla., will graduate with Magna Cum Laude honors from Ozarks on May 15. She was recently named the University’s Outstanding Student in Art for 2021 and had her artwork place third in the 2021 Collegiate Art Competition at the River Valley Arts Center.

Johnson said her exhibit is inspired by the Enneagram, a personality typing tool that breaks down the patterns of human behavior into nine distinct types.

“The Enneagram is an ancient tool for inner enlightenment, though present fads deem it a mere personality test,” Johnson said. “This is a sad minimization to such a great system of understanding, for as Christopher Heuertz said, the Enneagram ‘reveals both the nine ways we get lost, as well as the nine ways we find our way home.’ My work reveals each of the nine Enneagram types’ inner workings by examining core motivations, desires, fears, and ‘essences,’ as well as triads.”

Johnson’s exhibit is a mix of mediums, including ceramics, printmaking, paper making and mixed media. She said her work often embodies the art principle of movement, which is most often seen through line and form.

“I play a lot with the idea of positive and negative space and challenge myself to form the composition with both spaces interacting together,” she said. “Mark-making is also an important component to my play with line, form and space. I use mark-making to expand on what is already present in a work, to intensify the situation, or to disperse it. The goal of these different techniques is to make the audience feel something.”

Johnson said one of her goals with the Enneagram project is for the viewers to walk into the gallery and feel as if they are in a headspace—a dream like state.

“This is also achieved by the lack of figural representation for a psychological theory wholly formed around people, ironically,” she said. “However, this lack of figural inclusion is to amplify the sense of the audience’s belonging within the space, that it was made for them to wander and be. However, the most important take away I want people to have from this show is compassion for one another, and perhaps from conversations about the work they will begin to understand people’s hearts, which will lead to more compassion for their fellow man.”

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����vlog���� art major Madison Clary of Tulsa, Okla., will present her Senior Art Exhibit, “Save the Sea,” from April 13-26 in the Stephens Gallery.

Madison will present an artist lecture at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 14, in Baldor Auditorium. This event has a limited in-person capacity, but will be shown via Zoom at:

There will also be a reception to meet the artist from 6-7 p.m. on Sunday, April 18, in the gallery.

Clary said the motivation for “Save the Sea” was to create “a sense of panic in the audience as they see the effects of pollution in the ocean.”

“My art does not over-dramatize pollution, but presents it in real life scenarios,” Clary said. “The realistic look of my work explores the recurring problem of material over-consumption.”

Clary said her large installations use organic shapes and a variety of materials and colors to explore human impact on the environment.

“I incorporate recycled materials such as plastic bags and bottles and combine them with ceramic pieces to help the viewer connect the objects of their life with their impact on ocean life,” she said. “For example, my installation, ‘S�ɲ������Ƿɱ��,’ is based on how jellyfish interact with the floating blobs of plastic in the ocean. As they capture their prey in the masses of plastic they also mistake the plastic for food. This confusing environment of the entangled jellyfish causes them to mistake their tentacles for food. To create the free and light movement of the jellyfish, I made them out of delicate materials like tulle, wire, and thin porcelain. The jellyfish float in the gallery above the viewers head to create the experience as if the viewer was at the bottom of the ocean looking up.”

Other pieces in the exhibition use mixed materials, such as recycled plastic, fabrics, wires, and add clay, cement, and resin for different weights and textures. Clary said this use of multiple materials “captures the dense, grimy aspects of pollution while also creating moments of beauty to celebrate the tenacity of life in the ocean.”

Clary, who is minoring in marketing and environmental studies, said her aspiration is to convey scientific information in a visually stimulating environment.

“I hope to bring awareness to viewers and to convince them to change their behavior,” she said. “I capture the attention of the viewer through my choice of form and color. From far away, one would see a flowing, colorful, shiny form, but as the viewer draws closer their experience would shift to see a realistic grimy and filthy environment.”

Clary’s exhibit also invites the audience to participate by placing a baby sea turtle in the environment of their choosing.

“This action helps the viewer connect the consequences of their behavior to the ocean life they are affecting,” Clary said. “We are not able to understand how vast the ocean is, so my work serves as a reminder of this huge and complex issue. This is a problem we cannot sense as it is hidden underneath the ocean surface.”

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Two ����vlog���� art students placed among the award winners in the 2021 Collegiate Competition at the River Valley Arts Center in Russellville, Ark., held earlier this month.

Junior Shalley Coffin won the first-place award for her artwork, “Bride of Nature,” (pictured) and senior Megan Johnson took home a third-place award for her piece titled, “Type 7’s Basic Fear: Being Without Support.”

Among the other U of O students who had artwork accepted into the exhibition were, Madison Clary, Skylar Epperson, Paige Vire, and Alaura Streithorst.

The exhibition will be on display through March 26, 2021. The center, located at 1001 East B Street in Russellville, is open from from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday.

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University of the Ozarks has cancelled all public, student and academic events on campus for the remainder of the Spring 2020 Semester and is limiting off-campus visitors in an attempt to control the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

There are currently no reported or suspected cases of COVID-19 on the U of O campus or in Johnson County.

On Friday, University officials announced that in-person classes were suspended for the next two weeks and that the University would transition to an all-online method of course delivery starting March 30 and lasting through the remainder of the semester. The University will continue most normal operations, but is asking departments to utilize remote work and “social distancing” whenever possible.

All University-sponsored events have been cancelled for the remainder of the semester, including the Walton Arts & Ideas Series, Ozarks Fest, intercollegiate athletic competitions, alumni events, University Theatre productions, art exhibits and music department concerts and recitals. The University has also suspended all other public workshops, meetings and conferences that were to be hosted on campus this semester.

In addition, the University is restricting off-campus guests from visiting campus. Campus Perks, the Rawhouser Fitness Center, Robson Library and the residence halls are among the facilities that are closed to off-campus visitors until further notice.

University officials said no decision has been made on the status of the 2020 Spring Commencement ceremony, scheduled for May 16.

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There will be an artist talk featuring Rowswell at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 19, in Baldor Auditorium on campus, followed by a reception to meet the artist from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the gallery, which is located in the Walton Fine Arts Center. Both events are free and open to the public.

Rowswell creates large organic fiber sculptures and installations inspired by nature and plants using found fabrics and materials.

Describing transmutation as the action of changing or being changed into another form, Rowswell said her exhibit represents a meditation on how our trash becomes our landscape.

“Some of the most persistent sources of ecological concern today are the fashion industry and the devastating amount of clothing waste that ends up in the worlds landfills every year,” she said. “What would happen if the heaps of discarded clothing became a living part of the world around us? This work is a cautionary tale of how our waste defines us through the plants we depend on. As well as a visualization of the stories discarded objects can tell.”

Rowswell said the plant forms in “T�����Բ����ܳٲ��پ��Dz�,” have reclaimed textile items as part of their structural anatomy.

“The transmutation of fabric into botanical structures allows me to reimagine exquisite biological designs,” she said. “Each of these pieces is inspired by a native plant species from an ecoregion that I have visited. Through arranging these structures, I reinterpret the space and synthesize an environment.”

Rowswell said, “textiles are an intriguing medium to explore these forms because of their energetic and tactile nature. The challenge is in adding a third dimension to otherwise two-dimensional medium that stretches and sags in response to gravity.  I incorporate and expand upon traditional textile construction techniques in my sculptural components. The seams and frayed edges of a work represent the act of creation. There is something lovely about a glimpse into the structure of a form and seeing the maker’s hand. These rough areas juxtapose ideas of growth and vitality with savagery of cutting.”

Rowswell, who received a BA in art history from Hastings College, has exhibited in galleries and art spaces across the United States. She has also lived and exhibited in Japan. In 2014 she became a fifth level instructor of the Ohara school of ikebana. She is passionate about bringing the tradition of Japanese flower arranging to American students through teaching workshops at the Kemper Contemporary Museum of Art and Powell Gardens.  Formerly a resident of Art Farm Nebraska and an Artist Inc Kansas City fellow, Rowswell is a member of the four-artist group, The Polyartery Collective, that are recipients of the Inspiration Grant from ArtsKC and the Interpretive Grant from Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area, as well as semi-finalists for the Rocket Grant in 2017 for their immersive art experience, “Weaving the River”.

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The exhibit will be displayed in the Stephens Gallery, located in the Walton Fine Arts Center. There will be a meet-the-artist reception from 6-7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 29, in the gallery.

Holder said the “Whence This Glory Perish,” is a selection of work that she created while on sabbatical during the Spring of 2019.

“During that time, I participated in three artist residencies,”  Holder said. “While at the Hambidge Center in the mountains of north Georgia, I focused primarily on research and writing, while experimenting with new techniques to create text-based works. I then spent five weeks at a ceramics residency in Rome looking closely at ancient monuments, which inspired a series of sculptures and site-responsive photographs. Next, I spent six weeks at Guldagergaard International Ceramics Research Center in Denmark, where I continued to create sculptures, photographs, and built a new installation.”

Holder said the sabbatical proved to be a very productive time for her as an artist.

“I not only produced an abundance of new work, I also connected with artists from across the globe and participated in two international exhibitions,” she said. “I am grateful for the support from the university, my colleagues, and the other arts institutions that made this deep creative dive possible.”

The gallery is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. throughout the week when classes are in session. There is no cost to visit the gallery.

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The ����vlog����’ Stephens Gallery will host the five-person exhibit titled “Curious Topographies” from March 1-28 as part of its Artist of the Month Series.

There will be a reception to meet the artists from 5-6 p.m. on Thursday, March 8, in the gallery. There is no cost to attend and the public is invited.

The featured artists are all art professors at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville: Adam Posnak, an instructor in the department; Jeannie Hulen, chair of the department and associate professor of ceramics; Benjamin Cirgin, resident artist, instructor and ceramic technician; Mathew McConnell, assistant professor of ceramics; and Linda Lopez, an instructor.

The gallery, which is located in the Walton Fine Arts Center, is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. throughout the week when classes are in session.

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����vlog����’ Stephens Gallery will host the exhibit, “Spoiled,” by Missouri printmakers and educators Hannah and Blake Sanders from Jan. 22 through Feb. 22 as part of the University’s Artist of the Month Series.

There will be an artists’ talk from 4-5 p.m. on Feb. 22 in Baldor Auditorium and a reception to meet the artists from 5:30-6:30 p.m. on Feb. 22 in the Stephens Gallery. The events and gallery are open to the public and there is no cost for admission.

Hannah and Blake Sanders teach drawing, printmaking and art education at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, Mo. In their artists’ statement, the Sanders said that humanity’s threat to the lasting viability of Earth was the force behind their work in “Spoiled.”

“Much of the art we currently create is an acknowledgement of our complicity in ecological waste and destruction. These works provide a garish reminder of how our growing family, and the creature comforts that go with it, have a negative impact on the environment. We employ printmaking and traditional craft media to discuss how conventional notions of family, domesticity, and success affect our behavior as consumers and planetary neighbors. To practice what we preach, we use green methods and reused materials whenever possible. For example, all the material employed in the fiber works has been recycled or repurposed from various sources.”

They said their work is both an indictment and celebration of domestic bliss.

“Recent collaborations deal explicitly with the joys and trials of toddlerhood. The toddler metaphor is particularly apt as our society, which obviously needs to be changed, seems to be backsliding; we are less likely to share, more likely to throw a fit! The vibrant colors and bold shapes should evoke the garish effects of our mayhem on the planet as we extract, abuse, consume, and pollute. They also reference the thankfully exhaustible energy of the child, and the reserve of energy discovered by the parents during naps and cuddle time. To extend the family/environmental metaphor even further, parents/citizens must be diligent as we follow behind—cleaning up messes and teaching better habits—to preserve a happy home. The future is uncertain, and anxiety is the norm, but this work should evoke a feeling of comfort in our discomfort, hope in our hopelessness.”

About the artists

Blake Sanders is an adjunct instructor at Southeast Missouri State. He earned his BFA from University of Northern Iowa and an MFA from Tulane University and has taught art and printmaking at universities, as well as workshops at colleges and community-based art organizations around the United States. Recent juried exhibitions include the third Global Print 2017 in Douro, Portugal; neo-print prize 2016 in Bolton, UK; the 35th Bradley International Print and Drawing Exhibition; the 25th Parkside National Small Print Exhibition; and the 2017 Delta National Small Prints Exhibition. His work supports environmental mindfulness by illustrating the bond between people and the natural world.

Hannah March Sanders is an assistant professor in the Department of Art and serves as the area head of printmaking at Southeast Missouri State. She is also the letterpress area coordinator of Catapult Press at arts entrepreneurship venture, Catapult Creative House, in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Sanders is currently the managing editor of the Mid-America Print Council Journal. The Sanders operate , an artist collaborative that organizes portfolio exchanges, exhibitions and other art events. She has exhibited work in group exhibitions across the globe in Estonia, Ireland, Japan, and New York. Recent solo and duo exhibition locations include University of St. Mary in Leavenworth, Kan.; College of the Sequoias in Visalia, Calif.; Gadsden Museum of Art in Gadsden, Ala.; and the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri in Cape Girardeau.

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Arkansas Tech University Art Professor Jessica Mongeon will present a collection of her acrylic paintings in the exhibit, “Cascade of Scales,” from Nov. 1-21 in the ����vlog����’ Stephens Gallery.

The exhibit is part of the University’s Artist of the Month series and is free and open to the public.

There will be an artist talk from 4-5 p.m. on Nov. 8 in Baldor Auditorium and a reception to meet the artist from 5-6 p.m. on Nov. 9, in the gallery, which is located in the Walton Fine Arts Center.

Mongeon explores geographic formations, organisms and natural phenomena through the medium of acrylic paint. She said “Cascade of Scales” refers to a succession of devices or stages in a process, each of which trigger or initiate the next.

“My work has evolved in a similar way: I started painting landscapes that have changed over a period of time, each series initiating the next step,” Mongeon said. “These paintings explore the idea of scale in nature based on self-similarity. Self-similarity is when an object is similar to a part of itself; if you change the scale, such as looking at an object in a microscope or from a distance, the object will look the same. Fractals are examples of exact self-similarity and scientists have studied river networks as natural fractal structures. I observe nature through photography and scientific illustration and then abstract it through intuitive painting. The selected hues are vibrant and expressive rather than naturalistic, evoking a strangeness that appeals to the senses rather than reality.”

Mongeon said she often combines lichen and mushroom imagery with human neurons.

“Temporality and scale are examined as I depict human neurons on the same scale as lichen or roots,” she said. “Lichen operate on a much longer geological time scale compared to humans, with some species of lichen living over 1,000 years. Neurons must connect and communicate to keep the mind and body alive. Similarly, lichen is made of a fungus, an alga and often a yeast that work in symbiosis. By acknowledging our embodiment of nature, perhaps we can care for the ecosystems that sustain us as much as we care for our own bodies.”

Mongeon has shown her artwork nationally and internationally, including group exhibitions in New York City and Shanghai, China. Her artist residencies include Vermont Studio Center; the Anderson Center at Tower View, Red Wing, Minn.; and the Sam and Adele Golden Foundation in New Berlin, N.Y. She received a master of fine arts degree in painting from Montana State University and a bachelor’s degree in visual arts from the University of North Dakota. She grew up in rural North Dakota and now resides in Russellville, Ark., where she is a visiting assistant professor of studio foundations at Arkansas Tech University.

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Henderson State University Associate Professor of Photography Margo Duvall will present her exhibit, Returning Home, in the ����vlog����’ Stephens Gallery from Oct. 3-27.

The exhibit is part of the Artist of the Month Series and is free and open to the public. There will be a reception to meet the artist from 6-7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 4, in the gallery, which is located in the Walton Fine Arts Center on campus.

Duvall, who has taught photography at HSU since 2014, said Returning Home, is about “the space in between; in between the places we call home, in between the memories that are tied up in a landscape, in between the people we associate with it. It’s about a familiar space, where the light looks the same, but everything is different. Returning home after 10 years is full of contradictions. There’s both a longing for the sense of what we know, and a simultaneous fear of moving backwards.”

Duvall said the exhibit is an attempt to find balance.

“I’m trying to find a balance between past and present, between memory and possibility, between being connected and disconnected, to both the landscape and the people around me,” she said. “Through these images, I hope you’ll look for the space between. In between narratives. In between memories. In between fact and fiction. In between our feelings of being home.”

Duvall earned her bachelor’s degree in studio art from Humboldt State University before earning an MFA in photography from San Jose State University. Her photographs have appeared in dozens of exhibitions, including the Arkansas Arts Council’s 2017 Small Works on Paper, and the Arkansas Art Center’s 59^th annual Delta Exhibition.

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