Students in Art & Design Professor Lenore Metrick-Chen’s class Curating Race, Fall 2020, studied issues of race and visual culture. Their starting point centered on how race is created by society and power systems: it is not a biological or genetic reality, but a social reality. Focusing on Iowan history, and contextualizing this study with national history, they examined how imagery has been crucial in promoting and in challenging ideas of race. The culmination of the course is their virtual exhibition, Race and Visibility- An Online Exhibition. Each student created a room in the exhibition that stands on its own, and collectively they offer a probing and visually engaging exploration of the representation of race and its consequences. This exhibition will be available online through March 31, 2021.
Screen Capture of Madyson Sklar’s virtual exhibition on “Black Hair: The History and Heterogenous Styling.”
Race and Visibility is curated by Professor Lenore Metrick-Chen’s class “Curating Race” in Fall 2020. Please click on each link below to start a “Guided Tour” of each virtual exhibition. Or, if you opt for “Enter Exhibition” instead, you will be able to click on individual art and objects to get more information and, sometimes, music, videos and sound.
Marissa Hernandez is the recipient of the 2020-21 Drake Alumni Artist Residency at Mainframe Studios. She recently completed murals for The Candle Bar, Slow Down Coffee Company, Art Terrarium, and the Conmigo Early Education Center. She graduated with a BFA degree in painting and graphic design in May 2020 during the pandemic. Remarkably, Marissa is more active than ever and has used this time to safely partner with Des Moines businesses and agencies to transform our city.
Marissa focuses on marginalized identities and places Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in idealistic worlds. She uses murals and social media as tools for accessibility and large-scale representation, and she is an extraordinary example of someone using their creative talents to make a true impact to our community.
Watch Marissa’s Artist Talk and learn more about her ideas, inspiration, process and goals. You will be challenged and inspired!
https://youtu.be/3aScOalQ6Js
And be sure to follow Marissa on Instagram and check out her website!
We are fortunate to have Jill Wells, Drake Alum ’05, living and working in Des Moines where she continues to paint and transform our community. Jill is widely known for her colorful narrative paintings and murals, especially those at the Des Moines YMCA and Blank Park Zoo. She is the recent recipient of the 2020 Iowa Creative Incubation Fellowship, and she is represented by the Great Frame Up Gallery. Throughout her career, Jill has worked to inspire at-risk youth and those in addiction recovery and has used her creative talents to advocate for disability rights. Join us Friday, December 11, 2020 at 7pm as we live stream Jill’s artist talk and painting demonstration. Click to tune in!
BIOGRAPHY:
Iowa based artist Jill Wells is best known for her dynamic and colorful narrative paintings that investigate race, history, stereotypes, emotions, and the human condition. Born in 1980 in Des Moines, Iowa, Wells was raised in Indianola, Iowa. She studied at Drake University and earned her BFA 2005. An award-winning painter, Wells has been in practice for more than 18 years with public and private works in Iowa, Mississippi, Arizona and New Orleans. Her artwork is represented in the permanent collections of Iowa Lutheran Hospital, Blank Park Zoo, YMCA of Greater Des Moines, The Annette Nature Center, Polk County Jail (west wing) and Creative Visions Human Development Center. In 2017 and 2019, Wells was the recipient of the Polk County Heritage Gallery Merit Award. In 2020, Lavender and Lime profiled Wells in an online published portrait manifesto series, Black Lives Matter Portrait Manifesto. Most recently in 2020, Wells was selected as one of five artist fellows to participate in the Iowa Creative Incubator through Mainframe Studios. Additionally, Wells was selected as the mural artist for Disability Rights Iowa in October 2020.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT:
My practice begins with a sound, a song, a sent, a texture, a look or glance, an emotion or injustice, a celebration, problem, or memory. Once inspiration strikes, I then move to creating: creating through materials, mediums, space, research, investigating, developing a narrative, creative-thinking and creative problem-solving. I am very mindful when creating and this involves thinking as well as “not thinking.” My practice is somewhat ritualistic when it comes to the actual production process. I work out of a home studio and most recently Mainframe fellowship studio. Art, for me, is about narration, connectivity and addressing needed areas. It is about having internal and/or external conversations with others, as well as myself, and making connections through one’s thoughts, emotions, space.
MOODS, MESSAGES, and PETTY REALNESS 2020 has been “a year” to say the absolute least. Moods, Messages and Petty Realness is an ongoing series that talks about all the many things Jill has and continues to experience and express in relation to 2020.
DISABILITY RIGHTS MURAL IN PROGRESS – DECEMBER 2020:
The mural was commissioned by Disability Rights Iowa in October 2020. The design captures the spirit of the fight for disability and human rights, equality and the love and care in the human experience. I said yes to working with DRI in creating this mural because I strongly believe in their mission and story. Being chosen to create this mural and to be a part of helping people with disabilities and mental illness deal with discrimination is an honor. Daily live streaming of this mural process provides viewers a behind the scenes look at creating artwork of this magnitude, quests and stories of individuals in the fight for disability rights. Location: Disability Rights Iowa 666 Walnut St., Suite 1440 Des Moines, IA 50309.
MURALS IN THE COMMUNITY:
Iowa Lutheran Hospital
Blank Park Zoo
Polk County Jail (west wing)
LIKE MUSIC TO MY SOUL
The Des Moines Symphony Academy commissioned a series of oil paintings celebrating their 15 years of history. Two large-scale paintings were part of this contracted commission in addition to one on-site, live-painting session of these paintings during the April 2018 for the 15th Anniversary celebration for the Academy. Material: Mixed Media | Oil + Piano sheet music + Epoxy on canvas. Size: 48” x 60” each = (96” x 60” total size). Location: Public Works – 5th Floor, Masonic Temple, 1011 Locust St, Des Moines, IA 50309.
2005 DRAKE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE EXHIBITION AND SERIES
The Cotton Memoirs came from the need to address a multitude of issues and learn deeper historical truths and facts. Like life, creating work is a process that does not end; it only evolves and changes. The Cotton Memoirs offers countless memories and accounts, public and private, for reflection. Oil on canvas | Original + Limited Edition Prints Available
Michael Ruh, glassblower and Drake alum, now resides in London where he maintains his glass studio. He continues our series that highlights the impacts of Drake Art + Design graduates.
THE MICHAEL RUH STUDIO creates glassware for individuals and luxury brands. All pieces are designed and crafted by master glass-blower Michael Ruh from his studio in South London.
The Studio was founded in 2004 and is a partnership between Michael Ruh and wife Natascha Wahl (a fellow glass-blower), supported by several assistants. The creative emphasis is on a modern, discreet, purist aesthetic with minimal embellishment in harmonious colour palettes.
Alongside working on unique commissions for luxury interior and retail projects the studio produces exquisitely crafted collections of hand-blown glass tableware, objects and lighting, designed and made by Michael Ruh. Production is limited to a handful of pieces per day and all are made from pure, optical-quality glass. Many pieces feature delicate, abstract line-work spun round the inside. These are Michael Ruh’s signature lines – a process of incising into the near-finished shape when hot. The technique has similarities to Bokuseki calligraphy, in the sense that lines must be applied boldly and assertively – there can be no error as the glass records all.
Kevin Callahan is graduate of Drake University where he studied painting under Jules Kirschenbaum. He now creates works in a variety of media, which include painting, sculpture, photography, crafts, and writing. Kevin studied with world renown Israeli artist Larry Abramson at a Painting Intensive at the San Francisco Art Institute and worked under Phil Hanson and Michelle Grabner at the Ox-Bow School of the Art Institute Chicago. Kevin’s award-winning art hangs in collections throughout the United States, Europe, Canada, and Israel. He currently works and resides with my wife in Parkville, Missouri, where they run The Elegant Line Gallery. Both of their sons are accomplished artists. His philosophy is simple: Composition, Story, Elegant Line. If you find the elegant line, your work will be lyrical. Check out Kevin’s website and support and follow his work.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT:
My acrylic paintings carry overtones reminiscent of both Edward Hopper and Thomas Hart Benton, but they are most often compared to Alex Katz. My work exhibits a slightly primitive look reminding the viewer of the relationship between the camera/canvas/painter/subject. Working from digital images, I capture subjects often unaware in a moment of space and time This invasion/observation offers a very personal connection between the viewer, the artist, and the subject. My work reveals everyday acts yet hints at mysterious unknowns. Individually each work offers a view of intriguing subjects, caught in a moment of time. As a body of work, they capture the essence of the subject in a kaleidoscope of color and movement.
