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ASU faculty artists exhibit work at ASU Art Museum


October 28, 2002

TEMPE, Ariz. – They’re more than great professors. The School of Art faculty in the Herberger College of Fine Arts are also great artists. Recent works created by the faculty will be showcased in the annual Herberger College Art Faculty Exhibition at the ASU Art Museum, Nov. 23, 2002 through Jan. 12, 2003.


The annual tradition offers students and the public an opportunity to see why Herberger College School of Art faculty have garnered such prestigious awards as the Fulbright and the Guggenheim, and exhibit their work in galleries from New York to St. Petersburg, Russia. A free public reception from 7-9 p.m., Nov. 22, will launch the exhibition.


This year’s exhibition features works by approximately 40 studio art faculty in media as diverse as painting, photography, drawing, sculpture, intermedia, fiber and ceramics, as well as research by art education professors. A number of retired faculty members will also participate.


Drawing from such a diverse range of specialty areas, the faculty exhibition features something for everyone. Among the faculty participating in this year’s show are Stephen Marc, Dan Mayer and Jules Heller.


Stephen Marc, known for his digital photographic montages that explore aspects or the African Diaspora, has submitted a work related to the abolitionist, feminist and Civil War recruiter, Sojourner Truth. Among the locations featured in the montage is the Kingston courtroom where she reclaimed her son, Peter, from slavery, and the land on the Hudson River where she was originally owned by the Dumont family.


Also featured in the untitled piece are the repetitive patterns found throughout Marc’s works – this time created by hair braid patterns. Marc completed the work, which is part of his current exploration of the Underground Railroad, during a residency at the Center for Photography in Woodstock, NY.

Dan Mayer, faculty associate with the School of Art’s Pyracantha Press, has created an artist book titled Shrift-werk, which translates as Writing work. The multifaceted book deals with issues of identity and time, and is filled with pieces of Mayer’s family history, from a family tree drawn by his grandmother, to part of his father’s work record.


The sculptural aspect of the book (which folds out in different ways) alludes to dimensions, of which time is often called the fourth. Time is poignantly illustrated in a photo of Mayer’s father as a young man pictured with a friend in a German army uniform. The image is juxtaposed on the back cover with a picture of a bombed out building in Germany during World War II. The Mayer family had to leave the city they lived in, after their home was destroyed in an air raid during the war.


The image of dividing cells on the front cover references both our origins and the process of classification we so compulsively engage in, from biology to a person’s career field. Mayer’s father’s work record is included, and the book spans the generations, becoming part of Mayer’s work.


Jules Heller, retired printmaking professor and former dean of the College of Fine Arts, was recently honored when the Print Study Room at the ASU Art Museum was named after him. Heller is now working with digital technology and the faculty exhibition will feature an abstract piece called J’accuse (I accuse), which he describes as “my reactions to the mad, mad world birthed by our leaders.”


Faculty and lecturers participating in this year’s exhibition are: Lewis Alquist, Brent Bond, Daniel R. Britton, Melissa M. Button, Sue Chenoweth, Robert D. Cocke, Alison Dunn, Mary Erickson, Dick George, Denis Gillingwater, Ben Goo, James Hajicek, Jules Heller, William Jenkins, Tamarra Kaida, Carolyn Lavender, Gingher Leyendecker, Muriel Magenta, Stephen Marc, Kathryn Maxwell, Dan Mayer, Ellen Murray Meissinger, Mary Bates Neubauer, Mark Newport, Jeanne Otis, Cynthia Peterson, James Pile, Don Schaumburg, Betsy Schneider, Anne Schutte, Jerry Schutte, Mary Stokrocki, Clare Verstegen and Todd M. West.


The ASU Art Museum is a division of The Katherine K. Herberger College of Fine Arts. It is situated at the corner of Mill Avenue and 10th Street in Tempe.

Free parking is available in ASU Art Museum-marked spaces at the south end of Tempe Center, located at the NE corner of Mill Avenue and 10th Street. Visitors using the parking spaces must sign in at the front desk in the museum lobby. Please call (480) 965-2787 for more information.

When You Go:

Location: ASU Art Museum, Nelson Fine Arts Center, corner Mill Avenue and 10th Street, Tempe.


Date & Time: The Herberger College Art Faculty Exhibition will run from Nov. 23, 2002 through Jan. 12, 2003.
The free opening reception is will take place from 7-9 p.m., Nov. 22.


Parking: Free parking is available in ASU Art Museum-marked spaces at the south end of Tempe Center, located at the NE corner of Mill Ave. and 10th St. Visitors using museum spaces must sign in at the front desk in the lobby of the Nelson Fine Arts Center. Free parking is also available on weekends in Parking Structure #3 on Myrtle Avenue, Tempe.


Website: http://asuartmuseum.asu.edu


Cost: Free 

Media Contact:
Jennifer Pringle
480-965-8795
jennifer.pringle@asu.edu