The School of Art at Stephen F. Austin State University has announced that works by five Nacogdoches and Lufkin artists will be included in “TEXAS NATIONAL 2011,” which will open with a 6 to 8:30 p.m. reception Saturday, April 9, in the Ledbetter Gallery of The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House, located at 329 E. Main St. in downtown Nacogdoches. The show will run through Saturday, May 21.
Among the 114 pieces selected for the national juried exhibition are “Dependence” and “Manipulated,” two sculptures by SFA senior Emilie Gaultier of Houston; “White Elephant,” a photograph by SFA senior Katrina Goins of Timpson; and “Dear John,” a mulit-media piece by SFA alumnus and Nacogdoches resident Byron Lacy.
Also selected were “Untitled,” a digital print by Lufkin artist Jan Anderson-Paxon, and “it’s the little things, 1, 2 & 3,” a series of prints by Denise Stringer Davis, Lufkin High School art teacher.
Created by the SFA School of Art, TEXAS NATIONAL is celebrating its 17th year on the national scene, said Lisa Steed, the university’s interim director of galleries. The competition is open to all artists living and working in the United States and is juried each year by an internationally acclaimed artist.
More than 600 artists from 39 states entered this year’s competition. Works by 98 artists from 29 states were chosen for the exhibition, and cash prizes totaling $3,500 will be awarded to three artists during the show’s opening from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday, April 9.
Lubbock native James Drake, who received The Texas Medal of Arts Award for Visual Arts in March, is serving as the juror for this year’s event. He will announce the winners of the competition during the opening reception.
Running concurrently with “TEXAS NATIONAL 2011” upstairs in the Reavley Gallery will be “James Drake: Recent Works.” At 5:30 p.m. Friday, April 8, Drake will give an artist’s lecture in SFA’s Music Building, Room 160.
Regular hours for The Cole Art Center are 12:30 to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. Both “TEXAS NATIONAL 2011” and “James Drake: Recent Works” are sponsored in part by SFA Friends of the Visual Arts and Nacogdoches Junior Forum.
For more information, please call (936) 468-1131.
