Summer MFA exhibition now open at ASU’s Harry Wood Gallery

May 13, 2002

TEMPE, Ariz. - A juried exhibition highlighting recent work by Herberger College Master of Fine Arts (MFA) students is now open at ASU's Harry Wood Gallery. The MFA Summer Exhibition is an annual event and will remain up through Sept. 6.

The 20 pieces in the exhibition were chosen by Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art director, Susan Krane. They include works in metals, photography, prints, ceramics, painting, multimedia, wood and fibers. This is only the second year that the exhibition has been juried and prizes awarded.
Gallery director Lise Hawkos said the exhibition is held each summer to highlight the School of Art's MFA candidates and is the only show that represents all of the various MFA programs in the school. Download Full Image

A striking multimedia diptych by Kathy Sheehan won Best of Show. Titled The Wings of Birds Point to the Reality of the Air, the work has a strong Eastern influence and features hummingbirds and other images.

Second place in the exhibition was awarded to Tension Camera, Nissa Kubly's pinhole camera made of bronze and rubber bands. Michael Lundgren's silver gelatin print, Beauty, Terror and Time #8, won third place. A ceramic work by Kaori Fugitani and an oil painting by Michael Wirtz received honorable mentions.

Entry to the MFA Summer Exhibition is free. The exhibition will run through Sept. 6 at the Harry Wood Gallery in the Art Building, ASU Main, Tempe. (900 Forest Mall on the west side of campus near the intersection of Forest and Tyler Malls.) Gallery hours are Monday-Thursday: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Friday: 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.

The Harry Wood Gallery is one of three galleries on the ASU Tempe campus operated by students, staff and faculty of ASU's School of Art in The Katherine K. Herberger College of Fine Arts. The Harry Wood Gallery features solo thesis exhibitions and group shows by graduate students pursuing master of fine arts (MFA) degrees and group shows by undergraduate students.

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

Leading ecologists to examine human impacts on wetland habitats

May 22, 2002

Leading ecologists and environmental resource management officials from across the West will meet from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wednesday, May 29, at the Arizona State University's Polytechnic campus Campus Union to discuss the best ways to assess impacts to riparian habitats, particularly in the Tonto National Forest. The forest includes both the Verde and Salt River basins.

The conference is the latest step in a review of the U.S. Forest Service's assessment of riparian, or streamside, habitats. The Forest Service is working with researchers from ASU's Polytechnic campus, the University of Arizona and the Rocky Mountain Experiment Station to examine assessment efforts and make recommendations on how to improve them. This workshop is an outgrowth of that study. Download Full Image

Professor John Brock, coordinator of the Sustainable Technologies and Resources Center at ASU's Polytechnic campus, said the work his group has performed, as well as the information that will be presented at the workshop, is vitally important to the state of Arizona. Almost 90 percent of the endangered species in the state and the Southwest live in riparian habitats. So every decision made by forestry officials to mitigate hazards has a widespread impact. And because almost 4 percent of the state's land is located within a riparian habitat, the economic implications are equally as important.

"The habitats are disproportionately important," said Brock. "Anything that human beings do to the habitats has a significant impact."

Riparian habitats can be altered by the effects of livestock grazing, mining, recreational off-road vehicle use, and damming of streams.

"We're looking at the different things they're measuring and making recommendations to them so when they are making land management decisions, they are based on science," said Brock.

The workshop will bring in scientists who have studied the topics extensively throughout the West.

Brock said the efforts are aimed at bridging the gap between the agencies and the people who are using the land in the riparian habitats. Ultimately, Brock said, the goal is to protect the land and its inhabitants.

The event is open to the media and public. Call Brock at (480) 727-1240 for more information.