FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2007
Contact: Lalena Price, University Communications, (304) 746-1989

400 members of nonprofit arts organization headed to Charleston
for conference sponsored by Marshall, WVU

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Marshall University and West Virginia University have joined forces to bring 400 members of a nonprofit arts organization to the Capital City Oct. 17-20.

This is the first time the Mountain State will be host to the Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC), a nonprofit organization that seeks to promote the visual arts in higher education and represents Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.  Membership in SECAC is required to attend the conference.

“Because our state is on the northern fringe of the 12-state region, we never dreamed we would have such an amazing response from members,” said Don Van Horn, dean of Marshall’s College of Fine Arts and conference organizer. “The opportunity to host this conference is long overdue. As a result, those of us from Marshall and WVU are determined to put on quite an event for our visitors.”

The conference provides a forum for the exchange of ideas and concerns relevant to the practice and study of art. During the daytime, attendees will be focused on presenting papers, research and other work.

Evening hours have planned events including a board meeting in the Governor’s Conference Room at the Capitol Complex and a tour of the West Virginia art collection at Marshall University Graduate College in South Charleston. Also on display at the Clay Center will be an exhibit of ceramics from China’s Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, which is in partnership with WVU.

The SECAC Members Juried Exhibition will be on display at the Cultural Center and, at City Hall, the work of West Virginia faculty representing 12 institutions will be shown.

Organizers have planned tours for participants including one of the Capitol building led by Bernie Schultz, WVU Dean of the College of Creative Arts, Cookie Soldo Schultz, adviser in the WVU Honors College, and Chad Proudfoot, vice chair of the Capitol Building Commission. A trip to Blenko Glass in Milton and the Huntington Museum of Art are planned as well as an architectural tour of Charleston.

A highlight of the conference is the announcement of the recipient of the 2007 SECAC Fellowship. Last year’s winner, Barry Freedland, will have a solo exhibit featured at the Cultural Center.

Keynote speaker for the event is artist Willie Cole, internationally known for transforming ordinary objects such as bicycle parts, irons and lawn jockeys into compelling works of art. His work reflects his African American heritage. Cole was born in New Jersey, attended the Boston University School of Fine Arts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts in New York.

Cole’s work is included in numerous public collections such as the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York; the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago; the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis; and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

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