© Mysoon Rizk, PhD / November 2016

On November 3, 2016, a colleague and I drove six students for an hour and a half to Oberlin, Ohio, to hear African-American artist Fred Wilson (b.1954) speak about his work on the occasion of two exhibitions he installed this past year at Oberlin College’s Allen Memorial Art Museum in this small college town (my alma mater). We were already familiar with the artist, each one of us having often admired his black glass sculpture Iago’s Mirror (2009), acquired by the Toledo Museum of Art (TMA) in 2010 — and currently on view in the TMA’s Gallery 6 for the temporary exhibition Shakespeare’s Characters: Playing the Part. Listening to a talk by the 1999 recipient of a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s “genius” grant was inspiring and exciting. Getting to see his work in both a solo exhibition (Fred Wilson: Black to the Powers of Ten) and in the site-specific installation Wildfire Test Pit was amazing.

As a generous, instructive, insightful orator, Fred Wilson was spectacular, sharing slides as he described an artistic trajectory and longtime interest in understanding museums through their collections (“what’s there, what’s not there”). Starting out by invitation from the Maryland Historical Society, his attention began training on the Atlantic slave trade, the Indian slave trade, and movements of oil — or as he came to call such dynamics, Movement of Blackness. Giving form to institutional memory by “mining” museum collections, Wilson would feature decommissioned possessions, like slave shackles or a public whipping post, side by side with an institution’s finest silver and furniture. He spoke about installing over 50 portraits of Daniel Webster at the Hood Museum, in Dartmouth College, at the same time as a series of plaster cast busts identifying human specimens from around the world. In the case of the latter, Wilson hid racial inscriptions with sashes of mourning, to encourage viewers to see them as people, including a cast of Ota Benga, the Congolese youth exhibited at the World’s Fair in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1904 who would end up committing suicide in Virginia 12 years later.

In mining the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin, Mr. Wilson found himself magnetized by Edmonia Lewis whose story “remains obscured by rumor and mystery” as one scholar puts it. An orphan of African-American and Native-American heritage from New York, Lewis began to study art at Oberlin College in 1859. A few months after the Civil War had begun, she was accused of poisoning two (white) friends, beaten by a mob, arrested, and tried. Although acquitted, she remained a target and eventually left without graduating. Heading to Boston, she secured further artistic training, before taking up residency in Rome, Italy for a few years, where Lewis enjoyed success for her marble statuary. After returning to the States she disappears from the historical record. Wilson called the nineteenth-century sculptor a “guiding light” for his site-specific installation at the Oberlin museum, which he entitled Wildfire Test Pit for the Indian name given to Edmonia Lewis and the “archaeological term for a site you dig to see what’s there.”

Our field trip to Oberlin proved intensely rewarding, inspiring reflection long afterward: on the creative process, erasure and exclusion, the construct of race as well as concepts of time or memory, the roles of museums in compressing histories, individuals recorded and those forgotten, objects acknowledged and those to be buried. In the coming weeks, students will be sharing their own thoughts about the opportunity to hear from a practicing contemporary artist and to experience the work firsthand. Please stay tuned! Fred Wilson’s work remains on view at the Allen Memorial Art Museum until June 2017.

The University of Toledo student artwork to appear on area digital billboards January – February, 2016

In collaboration with Lamar Outdoor Advertising, University of Toledo Department of Art students have been invited to display their work on digital billboards throughout the Toledo area. Many students submitted entries. The works chosen will be on display until the end of February 2016.

Assistant professor of art, Barry Whittaker, who coordinated the project, says this is the fourth year UT art students have been invited to have their work displayed. To see the images in this year’s exhibition, visit the online photos album “UT Art Student Billboards 2016” on Facebook.

Student artists participating in this year’s exhibition:

Nikka Geiermann

Katelyn Greenhill

Crystal Hand

Isabel Isaza

Kayla Kirk

Mike Miller

Joseph Okoyomo

Emily Rose

Abbey Ruppel

Brandy Save

Chelsea Thompson

Michelle Trivisonno

Mark Yappueying

Visit the UT Department of Art at http://www.utoledo.edu/comm-arts/art/index.html

The billboards can be found at: Reynolds Road/Corner of Glendale, The Anthony Wayne Trail at City Park, The corner of Alexis and Lewis, Monroe Street/Corner of Laskey, Byrne Road/Airport Highway, Monroe Street/West corner of Douglas, and Erie at Monroe

Source: UT Department of Art – Facebook

Yayoi Kusama in Yellow Tree furniture room at Aich triennale, Nagoya, Japan, 2010 (detail). © Yayoi Kusama. Image courtesy Yayoi Kusma Studio Inc.; Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo; Victoria Miro Gallery, London; and Gagosian Gallery New York

Students in the University of Toledo Department of Art Contemporary Art course will present on a number of contemporary artists over the next few weeks. Artists to be featured, diverse internationally and artistically, include such artists as Yayoi Kusama (left), a Japanese artist and writer. A precursor of the pop art, minimalist and feminist art movements, Kusama influenced contemporaries such as Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg.

A complete list of artists and dates is below. Click the artist’s name to learn more about the artist and their work. All of the presentations are free and open to the public. All are welcome to come and learn more about these amazing artists.
PRESENTATION SCHEDULE
Thursday, December 3 from 12:10-1:25 p.m.)

• Madisyn Watkins–Yayoi Kusama (Japanese, b. 1929)
• Janelle Watkins–James Turrell (American, b. 1943)
• Diana Williams–Barbara Kruger (American, b. 1945)
• Emily Rose–Sally Mann (American, b. 1951)

Tuesday, December 8 from 12:10-1:25 p.m.)

• Brendan Lynch–Rosemarie Trockel (German, b. 1952)
• Yue Zhao–Yue Minjun (Chinese, b. 1952)
• Mallory Hodkinson–Huang Yong Ping (Chinese-French, b. 1954)
• Marilyn Decker–Xu Bing (Chinese, b. 1955)

Thursday, December 10 from 12:10-1:25 p.m.)

• Jesse Quaintance–William Kentridge (South African, b. 1955)
• Christopher Anderson–Kerry James Marshall (American, b. 1955)
• Reem Barakat–Shirin Neshat (Iranian-American, b. 1957)
• Caroline Jardine–Doris Salcedo (Columbian, b. 1958)

Tuesday, December 15 from 12:30-2:30

• Leanne Jones–Gregory Crewdson (American, b. 1959)
• Aaron Lee–Do-Ho Suh (South Korean, b. 1962)
• Reem Badawi–Walid Raad (Lebanese, b. 1967)
• Shaun Nagle–Richard Billingham (British, b. 1970)
• Crystal Hand–Hank Willis Thomas (American, b. 1976)
• Nichele Mccutchen–Kehinde Wiley (Nigerian-American, b. 1977)

The UT Department of Music warmly invites you and your family to join us for one or both of two amazing holiday concert events!

Thursday, December 10 at 7 p.m., the UT Jazz Holiday concert—an annual favorite—will feature performances from all of the UT jazz ensembles, as well as special guests. The program includes a large selection of the best holiday jazz tunes. Come a little early to the concert to take photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus! Bring your cameras.

Then Sunday, December 13 at 3 p.m., the College of Communication and the Arts celebrates the season in style with its Holiday Showcase, a concert combining the musical with the theatrical. The concert is about one hour and 15 minutes and is perfect for the very young and young at heart. This concert also includes an appearance by Santa for photos with you and yours.

The students of the Art Department will hold a Holiday Art Sale before and after the CoCA Holiday Showcase concert. They will be selling student artwork, ornaments, pottery, jewelry and cards—perfect for holiday gift-giving. There will also be Art Department t-shirts and tote bags for sale. They will be happy to hold your purchases for you until after the concert. Proceeds from the sale benefit the students directly and will be used to cover the costs of student travel and scholarships.

Both concerts will be held in Doermann Theater in UT’s University Hall (the building with the University’s signature clock tower). Free parking is available in the lots nearest to Doermann (Area 13 and Area 1N). Plus, golf carts will be on hand to give you a lift to the door.

Tickets to either concert are $10 each and are just $5 for students, children and seniors. They can be purchased at the door or in advance through the UT Center for Performing Arts Box Office. Call 419.530.ARTS (2787) or go online to www.UToledo.Tix.com.

I hope you’ll join us this holiday season for one of these great concerts! For more concerts and events visit utoledo.edu/CoCAevents.

Sarah Emsch, BA in Art History & BFA in 2D Studies, Kristen Guerra, BE in Art Education, and Nathan Perez, BFA in 2D Studies were recognized for their hardwork throughout their time at The University of Toledo.

Sarah Emch is graduating cum laude in both her degrees – a BFA in 2D Art and a BA in Art History – and is receiving departmental honors with her BFA. She has been on the Dean’s list 5 of her semesters, and exhibits her work regularly. In addition to her BFA Thesis Exhibition and the Juried Student Exhibition, both at the Center for Visual Arts Gallery, Sarah’s work has been shown at Imagination Station, LeSo Gallery, The Main Event: Pop-Up Gallery, and the Toledo Museum of Aft Community Gallery. She will be pursuing her MFA in Studio at Maine College of Art next year.

Nominator: For Sarah, art history is a means to understanding more about the world and her place in it, and the more insight she gains the more generously she shares it.

Kristen Guerra graduated with a BE in Multi-Age Ed, concentration: Visual Arts. She was on either the Dean’s List or the President’s List every semester during her time at UT. Her own work has been seen in exhibitions including the Student Juried Show in the Center for Visual Arts Gallery, The Arts Commission’s Art Walk Exhibition, and the Showcase of Arts in conjunction with the Toledo Symphony in 2014. Kristen is already teaching Visual Art at The L. Hollingsworth School for the Talented and Gifted in Toledo.

Nominator: Of particular note is her remarkable understanding of technology and her ability to implement many advanced features in the classes she taught.

Nathan Perez, a magna cum laude graduate, is pursuing a BFA in 2D Art, and will also be receiving departmental honors. He has been on either the Dean’s list or the President’s List for the majority of his time at UT. In addition to this BFA Thesis Exhibition, the Nexus Exhibition, and the Juried Student Exhibition at the Center for Visual Arts Gallery, Nathan’s work has appeared in exhibitions locally and nationally, including at the Secor Gallery in Toledo, and as part of group exhibitions at the SCOPE art show in Miami, and at Artists Take Time Square in New York. He was a finalist in the category of “College Black & White Photographer” for Photographer’s Forum, and his work appeared in the accompanying exhibition and catalog. He has also devoted hundreds of hours of community service to Project Vote, the Boys and Girls Club, Tent City, and other organizations. He is planning to pursue an MFA, and to work as a multi-disciplinary artist in tandem with young adults in order to help transform inner city communities.

Nominator: We applaud Nate’s work and look forward to seeing his work in the future publications and exhibitions.

Eleven Outstanding Students from across the College of Communication and The Arts were recognized for their achievements. Of those eleven students, our very own Nathan Perez was named The Outstanding Student of the entire college of the academic year!

Congratulations Sarah, Kristen, and Nate along with all the 2015 graduating class!

AARON BRANDT:

BA IN VISUAL ARTS STUDENT

Aaron graduated in Spring 2015 with his BA in Visual Arts with a concentration in New Media and Photography

Aaron Brandt was awarded the prestigous Palmer Scholarship from the Toledo Museum of Art to embark on a month-long, cross-country trip to document landscapes, small towns and wildlife in photographs and illustrations that will inform a future artwork.

On top of receiving the Palmer Scholarship this summer, Aaron will be attending Bowling Green State University to pursue his MFA in Digital Art Fall 2015!

Congratulations, Aaron! We are very proud of your accomplishments and look forward to seeing what’s next!

KAYLA DOPFER:

BFA IN DIGITAL & PHOTOGRAPHIC ART GRADUATE

Kayla graduated in Spring 2015 with her BFA in Digital & Photographic Art, her primary medium being photography.

Kayla Dopfer will be working part time for Mary Pencheff Photography of Toledo, OH as a second shooter. Congrats, Kayla!

SHELLY TRIVISONNO:

NEW MEDIA BFA STUDENT

Shelly is a New Media Design Practices BFA student that will graduate in Spring of 2016.

Our own AMAZING Shelly Trivisonno has been awarded the prestigious Clement Internship with the Toledo Museum of Art. This summer, she will be working with the Director of Communications on special projects.

SARAH EMCH:

2D STUDIES BFA GRADUATE

Sarah graduated in Spring 2015 with her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2D studies

Sarah Emch will be attending the Maine College of Art to pursue her Master of Fine Arts Degree this Fall. We will be very sad to see another wonderful student leave but we are confident she will take Portland, Maine by storm!

Good luck, Sarah; we are very proud!

JARED ROBINSON– COCA, COMMUNICATIONS STUDENT

Jared is a Communications Student with a Minor in Studio Art

Every year Vogue and Teen Vogue host “Fashion University” in which important people from the fashion world speak with students about their careers. They hold one-on-one classes and sessions with students who aspire to work in the fashion industry. According to Jared, “[I]t’s like college and classes for fashion.” They have different departments that students apply to: fashion design, photography, styling, editorial writing, and business. Their selection process is highly competitive.  Applicants submit 10 pictures of their best work. 20-30 candidates from thousands of applicants are selected to participate. Once accepted, participants choose the classes they want to take; all are taught by professionals in the fashion world. Participants get personalized mentoring during one-on-one sessions. All of the photography classes/ sessions are taught by famous fashion photographers. This year Nigel Barker, Patrick Demarchelier were there, along with Jessica Simpson, Anna Wintour, and other famous people from the fashion world. The 3 day program is held at Conde Nast (where Vogue and Teen Vogue are housed). Jared participated in the program during Spring break.

Image of space by Xueling Zhao

The University of Toledo Department of Art will be among the stars this spring, beginning Tuesday, April 14 in Ritter Planetarium. As part of the Planetarium program “Stars: Powerhouses of the Universe,” photographs made by students will be on display in the lobby gallery and on the dome as well.

The exhibition, titled “Faux Space,” is the third such photo show at the planetarium. The image on display were made in the Department of Art’s Fall 2014 introductory photo course, ART 2030: Photography, taught by Professor Deborah Orloff. Students were challenged to create photos that evoke a sense of space – in the extraterrestrial sense. They used a diverse range of materials to create their images including food, toys, pots, glitter, fire, lasers, smoke, and oils. All images were made with a DSLR camera; they are not computer-generated or taken from space.

The gallery images will be on display throughout the summer whenever Ritter Planetarium is open to the public.

Student artists featured in the exhibition include:
Shalissa Bailey, Jamie Campbell, Andrea Fackelman, Emily Frank, June Galvin and Danielle Hedger; Qiong Jia, Leanne Jones, Chariti Lockhard, Nicelle McCuchen, Kathlynn Meyer and Kayla Perez; Alexandra Ray, Daniel Rivera, Madison Roy, Jamie Snyder, Drew Tansel, Chelsea Thompson, Xueling Zhao and Yue Zhao.

This fall, five students – Anna Bui, Opal Dunlap, Lydia Sims, Gina Todd, and Shelly Trivisonno – received scholarships from the CoCA Dean’s Office to attend the uHeart Digital Media Conference. We asked them to fill us in on their experiences.

ANNA BUI

What is your major?
My major is New Media Design.

What interested you about attending this conference?
I attended this conference because I love learning about technology and digital media.

What did you learn from the event?
I learned a lot about the business aspects and using social media as a marketing tool.

Did you have a favorite speaker, and what did you take away from his/her presentation?
All the speakers were great and informative! I really enjoyed Brian Buirge and Jason Bacher. They were entertaining and clever. They discussed their many failures with their startup and it is neat to see how far they have come!

How do you think what you learned at uHeart will help you in your school and professional work?
There are more skills I am interested in learning to become a well-rounded professional. As a designer who has an understanding of the basics of programming, I now want to learn more about the business aspect of the industry.

Did uHeart change the way you think about professional opportunities after graduation?
Yes, most definitely. Attending uHeart definitely opened my eyes to possible career options that I might want to venture into.

Would you recommend this conference to your classmates and colleagues?
I would definitely recommend this conference to my colleagues. It is truly inspiring to be in an atmosphere surrounded by professionals in the digital media industry. Technology is the future and I want to be a part of it.

OPAL DUNLAP

What is your major?
My major is Communication with a concentration on Broadcasting.

What interested you about attending this conference?
I was interested in attending the conference because I am a business owner who needed to acquire more information on building my brand.

What did you learn from the event?
I learned a lot from the event. I learned about not only building my company brand, but also my personal brand. I learned to do what I am passionate about and never hesitate. I learned skills that can help me move my company forward.

Did you have a favorite speaker, and what did you take away from his/her presentation?
All the speakers were wonderful. My two favorite speakers were Brian Kibby and the guys from Good F***ing Design Advice. I also loved Larry Burns.

How do you think what you learned at uHeart will help you in your school and professional work?
What I learned at uHeart will not only help me in my school and professional life, but in life, period. uHeart taught me a lot about digital media and how to use it effectively, but it also taught me to go after what I want passionately, to block out negativity and that failure is a part of success.

Did uHeart change the way you think about professional opportunities after graduation?
Yes. uHeart changed my thoughts on professional opportunities after graduation, because it showed me how to go after them and gave me the courage to do so.

Would you recommend this conference to your classmates and colleagues?
I would recommend this conference to everyone even those who do not own a business. I was honored to win a spot at the conference and even if I don’t next time I will try and get the money to go again. I loved the experience and opportunity it presented to me.

LYDIA SIMS

What is your major?
I have a double major with Communication and Theatre with a focus on broadcasting and performance.

What interested you about attending this conference?
One of the major things that interested me about this conference was the digital media aspect. I wanted to get a deep understanding of what companies are doing to get prepared for our changing world of multimedia. I found this pertinent information because I do want to become a multimedia journalist. Also, I learned that there is huge market for everyone, and you have to be very persistent about knowing what you want plus have goals to measure your success. As a company or as a person you have to be willing to lean new things and adapt.

What did you learn from the event? Did you have a favorite speaker, and what did you take away from his/her presentation?
All the speakers offered great knowledge, but hands down my favorite speaker was Brian Kibby! He was amazing. I felt like he was talking directly to me. Some of the content of the speakers was a little hard to understand if you did not work in the everyday work force. However, Kibby talked in a manner and on topics that everyone could take something away. One of the best highlights from his speech was personal branding. He talked heavily about using social media to only enhance your personal brand. Never be negative on social media and always be positive no matter what is going on in your life. If you are serious about what you want to do, start a blog. This gives your future employer something to read about you before your interview, thus giving you a leg up above your competition.

Kibby also talked about going over and above to be prepared for your interviews. He gave a personal testimony that he said shaped his career. He was applying for a position in a company that was starting a company in a new location. He said he did what he always did for a job interview. Lo and behold, he did not get that job because he did not go over and above. The person that did get it the job took the time to travel to that location and ask around to the employees about making the company better. Kibby stressed the importance of standing out above your peers.

Also, another great speaker was Sean Nicholson. He took the concept of marketing to a whole different level. He took a extremely difficult concept and made it simple to understand with his Prezi presentation.

How do you think what you learned at uHeart will help you in your school and professional work?
The concepts that were shared at the event definitely enhance my school work and will ultimately alter me as a professional worker. One of the key things that I took away was to seek opportunity now and go above and beyond my employer’s expectations.

Did uHeart change the way you think about professional opportunities after graduation?
uHeart definitely changed my mindset about professional opportunity. There were professionals there that had a bachelor’s degree in something completely different then what you’d suspect. However, if you market yourself right and know the end goal you can do anything with your degree. That is another thing learned from Kibby.

Would you recommend this conference to your classmates and colleagues?
I would definitely recommend everyone to participate in this event, it broadened my goals and gave me a position outlook on my future! One of the highlights that I recommend for next time is bringing Brian Kibby back.

GINA TODD

What is your major?
My major is Communication with a focus in Broadcasting.

What interested you about attending this conference?
I was interested in attending this conference because I attended last year and had an amazing experience! I learned so much and had a great time doing it, so why wouldn’t I want to come back?

What did you learn from the event?
I learned quite a bit at the conference, but the greatest thing I learned was how important it is to market yourself. My generation is full of innovators and we are a lot more powerful than we think! Being intelligent is a power itself but it’s wasted if you don’t know how to sell or present yourself.

Did you have a favorite speaker, and what did you take away from his/her presentation?
My favorite presentation was the one we saw from the founders of Good F***ing Design Advice. Of course, it was hilarious and definitely stood out beyond other presentations, but the message lying beneath all of the humor was also very powerful. I loved that they showed us all of the mistakes and struggles they dealt with when starting up their business and how they got through it. I’ve always been a positive person but the biggest part I took from their presentation is that positivity should be permanent, even when things are going terribly wrong.

How do you think what you learned at uHeart will help you in your school and professional work?
What I learned at uHeart will help me in school and professional work because I now have a better understanding of marketing myself and making myself stand out above others. There is always going to be someone better and worse than you at something, and how much you shine in a room full of people with the same qualifications and experience you have is completely up to you.

Did uHeart change the way you think about professional opportunities after graduation?
uHeart completely changed the way I think of opportunities after graduation. I want to do everything I can right now to have a great social media presence because that is what I really want to work with. I’ll start with getting ready to create my website and hopefully a blog! I never thought I’d leave the conference wanting to work in media as badly as I do now, and I am extremely interested in working for Google!

Would you recommend this conference to your classmates and colleagues?
I would definitely recommend this conference to my classmates and colleagues. No matter what your major is or whether or not you have your own business, we are living in a digital world. Media controls absolutely everything nowadays and understanding ow to function within media is crucial. Businesses cannot survive without digital media in this generation, so I would strongly advise everyone to start creating a positive digital footprint.

SHELLY TRIVISONNO

What is your major?
New Media Design Practices BFA

What interested you about attending this conference?
As a design student, I think it is important to see what professionals are doing and how it relates to what I am learning in my classes. As a business minor, I was interested in seeing how people used both marketing and design within their specific field.

What did you learn from the event?
There was quite a wide variety of speakers that presented at the conference. Many entrepreneurs spoke about the many failures they encountered along the way before they found success. Many spoke about the importance of innovation and staying relevant in the marketplace through rich engagement with their customers.

Did you have a favorite speaker, and what did you take away from his/her presentation?
Lacie Sandstom from Google and Brian Kibby from McGraw Hill were both exceptional speakers. Lacie spoke about aligning utility within the market and how to keep customers interested and coming back for more. She gave a lot of good examples of how Google and other companies are constantly reinventing themselves and their brand.

Brian Kibby spoke a lot about creating a genuine personal brand and how hard work goes a long way. He also spoke about optimism and enthusiasm being the key to sustained success and keeping up these standards on the web and social media.

How do you think what you learned at uHeart will help you in your school and professional work?
uHeart Digital Media Conference was an amazing experience. It further reinforced the importance of passion and determination in the field while also informing us on the new technologies and social media tactics being used by some of the big players in digital media.

Did uHeart change the way you think about professional opportunities after graduation?
I am always nervous about getting a job after graduation. uHeart showed me the wide range of work there is in this industry and all of the passionate people I have the opportunity to work with. I also was able to talk to some of the speakers that really resonated with me.

Would you recommend this conference to your classmates and colleagues?
I would definitely recommend this conference to classmates and colleagues. When I walked out of the first day of uHeart, I was completely inspired and couldn’t wait for what the next day had in store. At this part of the semester, it seems that deadlines are colliding and coursework is getting harder to handle. uHeart got me out of this mid-semester slump and reminded me that I am in the right field and gave me that second wind of inspiration that I really needed.

In this edition of “The President’s Message” Dr. Lloyd Jacobs visits the 2014 Juried Student Art Exhibition at the UT Center for Visual Arts, next to the Toledo Museum of Art. Dr. Jacobs visited the exhibition on its opening and spoke with the exhibition’s juror, Dustin Hostetler and Art Department Gallery Director, Greg Jones. Several pieces from the exhibition are also featured in the piece.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqkXa9HCcUs