Bradbury Gallery hosts second graduating art student exhibition, opening April 15

April 8, 2010 -- The Bradbury Gallery will host the second of two spring exhibitions featuring graduating seniors from the Arkansas State University Department of Art, opening Thursday, April 15, at 5 p.m. The Bradbury Gallery is located in Fowler Center, 201 Olympic Drive, Jonesboro. Included in the Spring 2010 Senior Exhibition, Part II will be Victoria Baureis, Anna Beth Harden, James Jumper, Dustin Knight, Natalie Lavender, and Cindy Province. The exhibition runs through Saturday, May 8, and is free and open to the public.

Baureis was born in Hot Springs and at the age of eight moved to White Hall, where she quickly found an interest in the arts. There she became co-council chairman for the White Hall Junior High Art Club and vice president of the high school’s art club. She received an academic scholarship to Arkansas State University and will earn her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Art Education this December. She is a member of the National Art Education Association, the Northeast Arkansas Art Education Association, and is currently the vice president for the ASU Art Education Club.

In her artist’s statement she explains, “Everything ordinary in our world has the potential to be extraordinary. I love to take those ordinary looks people have and give them a magical feeling.” After graduation, Baureis plans on teaching art to elementary and junior high students.

Harden, from Caruthersville, Mo., will receive her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree this May, graduating with honors. While at ASU, she earned a Nucor Steel Scholarship and a place on the Dean’s list. Her childhood interest in art began with drawings she did for her family. Her studies at ASU have helped her to hone her skills as she continues to create images of family and friends.   Her favorite medium is graphite, which she enjoys using to create her realistic works of art. She has received several commissions for her drawings and intends to continue with this career and possibly teach art after graduation.

Jumper, who was raised in Walnut Ridge, will receive his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Art Education with an emphasis in sculpture this May. During his career at ASU, he was awarded an Art Department Scholarship, had artwork accepted in the Art Student Union Juried Exhibition, and was on the Dean’s and Chancellor’s Lists. As a practicing artist, he has received several commissions for murals at various locations in Arkansas.

In discussing his work, Jumper said, “I tend to use traditional techniques and materials such as wood, clay, and metal. I feel a connection with artisans of the past and the skills that have been used for generations. With each new piece I make, my respect grows for those who came before me.”  After graduation, Jumper plans to work on a master’s degree in Art while teaching high school art courses.

Knight, who will graduate this May, transferred to ASU in the fall of 2007, after completing two years at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. His work includes prints and ceramic sculptures that are primarily concerned with animal and human anatomy. His work, “references icons of the past and images from popular culture, both personal and universally recognizable.” He goes on to say, “However, nothing lasts forever; everything inevitably fades. After these icons deteriorate, we are left with only memories and artifacts, pieces of what they once represented. It is this sense of mortality that I portray in my work.”

In recent years, Knight has shown his work at a one person show at the Trumann Area Fine Arts Council, and in several exhibitions in the ASU Printmaker’s Gallery. He has also produced murals for the Habitat for Humanity House in Bentonville.

Lavender was born and raised in Jonesboro, graduating from Valley View High School, where she excelled in painting and drawing. While at ASU she was a member of the Art Student Union and the Southern Graphics Council.  Her work was exhibited in the “Best of Printmaking Exhibition” and the “Exchange Portfolio Exhibition” in the Printmaker’s Gallery at ASU. She will graduate with the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree this May.

Lavender draws her inspiration from nature. She is, “concerned about our environment and the effects of human beings upon it.”  She says of her layered, epoxy resin works, “Space becomes relative, as layers build up and obscure the items underneath. Memory and illusion float between the layers. I want the viewer to be transfixed by the work, drawn into if from a distance and held by the details on an intimate level.” After graduation this May, she intends to pursue a career in art.

Cindy Province will graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art Education with dual emphasis in painting and drawing. Her work has been exhibited in the ASU Printmakers Gallery as well as the ASU Fine Arts Center Gallery and is included in private collections.

In her artist’s statement, Province says, “The passage of time is the thread that weaves itself through my art. Inspiration comes to me through photographs and from nature where time is always fleeting. Leaves in nature, the oxidation of metal, and photographs, either old or new, are used in my art to tell my interpretation of the unstoppable force of time.”  After graduation, she plans to teach art in the secondary schools.

Bradbury Gallery hours are 12 noon-5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, and 2-5 p.m. on Sunday. The exhibition is free and open to the public. For additional information, contact Les Christensen, director of the Bradbury Gallery, at lchristensen@astate.edu, or call the Bradbury Gallery at (870) 972-2567.

Artwork, from top:
on left, Victoria Baureis, Untitled#4; Anna Beth Harden, Lela Golden; on right, James Jumper, Redemption; on left, Dustin Knight, Structurally Sound; on right, Natalie Lavender, Crow and Roses; and on right, Cindy Province, Grandpa's Dipper.

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