Everything Nac

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art will host two exhibitions – a showcase of alumni art work and an exhibition of artist books from the Booklyn Gallery – Oct. 27 through Jan. 14 in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

A reception for the double opening with artists in attendance is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, at Cole Art Center. The exhibitions are a presentation of the Stephen F. Austin State University College of Fine arts and School of Art.

The mixed media “SFA Alumni Showcase” will be the first of its kind in several decades and will feature a variety of paintings, sculpture and other work, according to Gary Parker, retired SFA School of Art instructor and the curator of the show.

“I left it up to the individual artist to curate their own section,” Parker said. “I gave each artist a certain amount of wall space and all the floor space they wanted, but most will be traditional work.”

Parker has been an advocate of an alumni exhibition for many years. After his retirement, Parker was asked by the School of Art to turn his idea into a show that he would curate.

“I’m glad we’re doing this, and I hope it becomes a biennial event,” Parker said. “I think there are enough SFA art alums out there who are doing good things that we could feature them in this way for years to come.

“I want current students to be aware that there is a future for them in art, if they go get it,” he said. “They need to understand there is life after graduation, and that they can pursue an art career and be successful at it. If you have examples in front of you from previous students who have succeeded, it’s encouraging.”

Artists who now reside in New York, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas have work in the show. Participating artists include Celia Eberle, Greg Elliott, Rachel Gardner, Mike Lanagan, Emily Sloan, Matthew Sontheimer, Sara Sosnowy, Mary Jo Vath and Holly Wilson.

Keeping up with alumni across the country who have had thriving art careers is important for not only recruiting purposes, but also for documenting SFA’s history of generating successful artists, Parker said.

“That’s what current students need to see,” he said. “Not only does this give validity to SFA itself, but it gives students a certain amount of hope for the future.”

“Artist Books from the Booklyn Gallery: High Performance Printmaking,” the second exhibition, addresses the evolution of printmaking in the 21st century. The exhibition proposes that printmaking in the 21st century “will thrive as a social practice moving beyond the pop, decorative and empty abstraction that defines the commodity-driven ‘fine’ print world, and continuing to further the goals of socially engaged and experimental printmakers ranging from Goya to Judy Watson and beyond,” states Marshall Weber, curator of the exhibition.

“I propose that there is room for an urgent, attentive, attached, and ‘awoke’ printmaking practice,” Weber said, “… a practice that engages with the world both passionately and compassionately and has commitments to aesthetic integrity and social and ecological justice. In these artists’ work, aspects of public and private performance, of choreography and gesture, are a crucial conceptual and/or material part of the printmaking process.”

The Booklyn Gallery is an artist-run, nonprofit artist and bookmakers’ organization headquartered in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York.

Exhibitions are sponsored in part by the SFA Friends of the Visual Arts and Nacogdoches Junior Forum. Admission is free.

The Cole Art Center is located at 329 E. Main St. Gallery hours are 12:30 to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. For more information, call (936) 468-1131.

From newspaper floral arrangements and locally sourced food to a fashion show featuring clothing created from recycled materials, sustainability was the name of the game last Wednesday night as Stephen F. Austin State University students presented Green is the New Black.

SFA fashion merchandising and hospitality administration students partnered to coordinate the event, which raised awareness about sustainability.

Inside SFA’s Culinary Café, hospitality administration students led by classmates Haley Howland and Ivory Comeaux worked as event planners and served a three-course dinner based on the farm-to-table sustainability concept, meaning food ingredients were locally sourced from Appleby Community Farms. Phi Mu Alpha music fraternity members also provided entertainment during the dinner.

“This is hands-on learning at its best,” said Dr. Gina Fe Causin, SFA assistant professor of hospitality administration. “The service team’s goal was to have a memorable evening for the guests and indeed it was.”

Following dinner, attendees toured the fashion gallery that highlighted the Blue Jeans Go Green project, which SFA’s fashion merchandising students have been organizing. Cotton Incorporated is sponsoring Blue Jeans Go Green, and the project challenges people to donate denim to be upcycled into UltraTouch denim insulation. This is the third year SFA has participated in the project.

The gallery showcased denim with a few twists. In one corner, students created a denim gown, and mannequins displayed the different ways people wear denim. Plaques throughout the gallery also explained the process of turning denim into recycled insulation.

The evening culminated with a fashion show in the Human Sciences South Building on the university’s campus.

“For the past two years, the fashion show has served as our community event for denim collection for the Blue Jeans Go Green project,” said Jamie Cupit, fashion merchandising instructor in SFA’s School of Human Sciences.

The show’s theme this year was “The Fifth Element,” as students were inspired by the four natural elements of water, wind, earth and fire. The fifth element was denim. Students enrolled in Cupit’s advanced textiles and fashion promotion courses were required to utilize recycled materials and incorporate denim into the garments.

“The event turned out the way we intended,” Cupit said. “There were a lot of creative designs. The meal and gallery were amazing, and the show was a success.”

Newspapers, water bottles, aluminum cans, plastic bags, denim and more found a new life in the students’ creations. Fashion merchandising seniors Cheymar Wright of Fort Worth and Karlye Fleniken of Lufkin, along with classmates Alexis Epps and Ashley Sellman, designed a dress titled “Demeter Island” from a broken umbrella, old tablecloths, cans, water bottles, fake moss, recycled zippers and denim.

“Our inspiration for the dress was Demeter, a Greek goddess. She is known as earth mother or Mother Nature as we know it,” Wright said.

Naomi Kossie, Killeen fashion merchandising senior, designed and modeled her design, “Phoenix.” Kossie’s drive to be her own boss was her inspiration to create a garment with a fire theme. She used grocery bags, water bottles, denim, baby formula bottle tops and diaper packages to assemble her creation.

“It wasn’t as easy as I thought. I’m creative, but I’ve never done anything like this,” Kossie said. “I feel this will help me in my future career.”

Students have set a goal to collect more than 10,000 pieces of denim by the end of October. Donations can be delivered to drop boxes located in the Human Sciences North Building lobby and the fashion gallery in the Education Annex Building on the SFA campus. For more information about denim donations, contact Cupit at (936) 468-2238.