ADA, Okla. – The East Central University Art + Design : Media + Communication department presents the 70th Annual Faculty Art Exhibit now through Oct. 29 in the Pogue Art Gallery, located inside the Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center. The exhibit is currently open to the public Monday thru Friday between 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Reception for the exhibit is schedule Oct. 10 at 5 p.m.
"Participating in the Faculty Art Show is an honor because it not only provides a chance to share our creative journeys with the community,” said Sarah Engel, chair of Art + Design : Media + Communication. “But also, an opportunity to inspire, collaborate, and engage with students and fellow educators. It’s a celebration of the diverse talents that make up our academic environment."
Engel herself features artwork in the exhibit, alongside four other faculty members:
Christyn Overstake; Assistant Professor
“I make work about contemporary labor. My objects, installations, and performances analyze contemporary methods and mentalities of production manufacturing and explore our personal and cultural relationships to work. Two pieces in this exhibition are part of my Mend series, using found remnants and detritus of work that have been damaged or destroyed, and using natural dyed fabrics, steel, and copper to “repair” them. These repairs make reference to objects from the Arts and Crafts Movement, and traditional machinery, and are an exploration of the contemporary disposability of utilitarian objects.”
Clinton Wright; Assistant Professor
Wright describes his exhibit, titled Light and Sound, “Light is the fundamental element of all visual art. Intensity, Direction, Color, and Focus allow us not only to see what we're looking at but also change how it is perceived. Sound is equally important to any kind of production media. It allows us to communicate, convey emotion, and shape otherwise intangible environments.”
Narciso Arguelles; Assistant Professor
“The work "Imaginary Spaces Revisited" is a reworking and part of a work from a larger exhibit. Several years ago, I was one of the award winners of Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition's ART 365,” said Arguelles. “ART 365 awards funds artists for a calendar year with a culminating exhibit at the end of the program. My project involved a short film of art interventions in different locations around Oklahoma. The project is about how people of color have to "create" a space in order to feel included, noticed or heard in society.”
Arguelles continued, “I decided to print images from the film and adhere them to police riot shields. On the shields I have an image of a Native American dancer, a water protector, Native American activist, and Jabee Williams a well know Hip Hop singer/rapper. At the time of the film there were clashes with police and counter protesters against people of color who wanted their voices heard. The symbolism is obvious.”
Narciso Arguelles is a Chicano multi-disciplinary artist and educator. He has exhibited in Istanbul, Turkey; Sydney, Australia; South Africa and Mexico. He is currently working on a mural project and is curating the exhibit Momentum 2025 for Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition.
Melina Smyres; Assistant Professor
Smyres exhibit includes four separate pieces of Archival Inkjet Print.